I've got a Tascam Portastudio 244 and I wanted to use it to demo some stuff really quick before I record it with my digital rig. The problem: I use three mics for drums and have no mixer. I'm sure it's possible to record the three mics to the 4-track and then mixdown the output from tracks 1 2 and 3 on to track 4, but how?
Im only familiar with my 4 track (a Tascam PortaTwo from the 80s, not the moden Porta02)
Mine has a L/R output jack on the left side, and because of the limited tracks I usually prefer to work in mono. So I use a cable to connect the Left output jack into one of my inputs. I arm the track for recording, press record, and now I have 3 tracks bounced down to one track. You have to pay a lot of attention to getting your levels right. Too low and it will be hissy, too high and there will be distortion. The problem is (at least on mine) you cant hear excatly whats going to tape since you hear the 3 original tracks PLUS the 4th track currently being recorded. I usually have to record 10 seconds and then go back and listen to it to make sure everythings right.
Sometimes depending on the 4 track there can be feedback issues which makes internal bouncing impossible, im not sure why some have this problem and not others. Also it seems like the best thing to do would be to use another mixdown deck- another 4 track would be the best. Then you could record 4 tracks on one, then bounce those down to 1 track on the other, and keep going back and forth.
Good luck!
This inspired me to start using my PortaTwo again. I was really into it when I bought it a few months ago but with nearly unlimited tracks on my computer I got greedy
