Change your 4-track to 7-track?

T

tmcbrinn

New member
Is it track bouncing you are trying to do? For that, all you do is record 3 tracks, then "bounce" then record the 1st 3 onto track 4. Then you have 1, 2, and 3 free. You can do this multiple times, but you loose a bit of quality each time. I'd say you can fet 10 decent sounding tracks this way.
 
I've just realised that it is bouncing...thanks, but why do people still get 8 tracks then? Just quality>?
 
I’m on a really tight budget of just over $500, and I want to make decent quality recordings. I know a little about the topic, and apart from a bit of info, I am a beginner. I basically until recentally wanted a just a Tascam 414mkII 4-track (because it was recommended to me), and then a good mike. The trouble is that I really want an 8-track for backing vocals and a couple of guitars. The 488mkII 8-track would be perfect but is simply out of my budget…..same old story. Can you recommend a something for me from maybe another company? But my main question is that, to save money, why can’t I convert my 4-track into an 8-track. What I would do, I record my first 4 tracks as normal, and then mix them down onto a normal cassette. Then start a normal track, and for the first track on the next recording, attach the 4-track to the line out of my tape player, and play my 4 tracks that I recorded before onto 1 track of my next recording, therefore compressing 4 already mixed tracks onto 1 track. This would leave 3 more tracks free, theoretically converting my 4-track into a 7-track. I realizes that this would mean a lack of quality as the first 4 tracks would be second generation, but is it feasible? If not, what is my next best option? Thanks.
 
Yes, it's quality and other things. For one thing when you bounce 3 tracks to one, it's going to be mono, not stereo. Also, you can only record 3 tracks at a time this way.
I bounce tracks on my ADAT, but it has 8, so I bounce 6 tracks down to 2 in stereo.
 
Thats why you can only bounce 3 at a time. Here's a little suggestion. Instead of repeating the record 3 then bounce to 4 process, try grouping tracks together that you can mix well, such as putting all guitar tracks together.
 
What, I might just be really slow, but who needs a destination track, why can't you just mix down to normal cassette, and then run it off a normal cassete player to a whole new casette in the 4-track, or, can you record the first 3 tracks, then record track 4 and play tracks 1,2 and 3. The while this is hapenning, attach a cable from the line out of track 1,2 and 3, to the line in of 4. If so, what cable do I need to use and will I have to buy it?
 
It is possible and sometimes desirable to Sub-mixdown to a second cassette recorder. But better yet is a Minidisc or CD recorder. (Less noisy and better frequency response). You could mix a basic track of let's say Drums bass, Keyboard and guitar in stereo down to a second tape unit. then using a mixer re-record those along with a "Live"vocal on to tracks 1 & 2...thats 5
and add other lead guitar, or vocals on 3 and four. That makes 7 tracks with a stereo basic.
If you mixed all 4 original tracks in mono to 1 track then you could get 8 tracks!

Dom Franco
 
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