Please be patient and help me. I'm italian and it's very hard to find good recording advices/instructions here.
I'm gonna buy an analog recorder (I don't know wich one - fostex 12 or maybe tascam 4 track - anyone can tell me wich is better ? Is there something better at the same price ?) I'd like to record on it drums vocals guitar and bass.
questions:
- how can I put the music recorded on the tape into a cd ?
is it possible and how ? how will it sound ?
- how many mics will I need ? One (voice ?)
other instruments are plugged directly in the recorder ?
- what to do with the drums ? (drum machine ? a mic some feet away from the drums ?)
You will run your master outs/stereo outs from the four-track to the CD burner. It's that simple. The CD will only sound as good as your initial recording. It will not make a crappy recording sound better. In fact it will make it sound that much worse.
It depends on how many sources you wish to mic. One for vocal definitely. Drum machines require no mics unless you want to mic an amp. Bass you can run direct. Guitar cabs are usually miked.
If you are recording individual tracks separately, one mic should get you by to start off.
There are a number of ways you can transfer tape to CDR or CDRW: Here is what I do.
I use the Yamaha 2816 and I really like to take stuff I've done with the Tascam 488 and my MD8 and pipe that into the 2816 on one or two tracks.
Then, when I record the "stereo" track which is needed in order to burn the CD, I can tweak the tape track a bit. It's amazing what a touch of tweaking will do. Again, since I don't have control of ALL the tracks that went into the tape, I can't work a miracle; however, I've been really pleased with a few cuts that I've burned to CD from cassette or MD8 to cassette or direct.
You just need to get in there and, as the BEAR says, push up the faders and hit record.
Is it possible for you to use your computer for your recording
purposes?
You could use the money for a new or better soundcard (with more InS/OUTS), instead of buying a 4 track.
But............... if you have to go the 4 track route, then purchase a digital 4 track instead of an analogue 4 track (unless of course, your budget won't allow you to buy a digital 4 track).
Another plus about using the computer for your recording purposes would be the fact that you would be able to burn your CD's easier (the music will already be on your hard drive).
You'll find that on this board there are basically two kinds of folks...Digital and Analog. Personally, I prefer Digital for the clarity, others say it's too "sterile". The fact is you'll find a wide range of complaints against both.
Take your $300 and go buy a FOSTEX MR-8. You can't beat the price for a 8 track digital machine.
