Frustrated.

[AllenM]

I honestly wish I had 8 tracks to record with. I've been trying to record a song that I wrote and it has just been problem after problem. I figured it would be easy but its difficult, especially when your surrounded by musicians that are a JOKE. So yeah I have track 1 down, I finished it 2 weeks ago. Track 2 was supposed to be Lead guitar, organ, and bass. But my bass player has been a jerk off, lie after lie, saying he'll be at my place to record and never comes. Honestly I can't depend on anyone but myself. So tomorrow I plan on recording
track 2 with lead guitar only. Track 3 would be vocals. Track 4 would be backup vocals with organ. Gonna be tough but oh well. I gotta get things done.

 

[AllenM]

Is it possible for me to record music on all 4 tracks then somehow merge those 4 tracks onto TRACK one?

 

[Strryder]

Is it possible for me to record music on all 4 tracks then somehow merge those 4 tracks onto TRACK one?

Submixing, I haven't done that in a while!

If you have only one 4 track you should be able to record onto 3 tracks then bounce them down to the last track, the disadvantage of this method is that when the bounce is done, you will be then be recording over the original 3 tracks, and at that point there's NO turning back, also some machines may have issues with this method due to feedback.

If you have a second 4 track (or even a good 2 track machine) you could record onto all 4 tracks of machine #1, then bounce to 1 track (or 2 tracks for stereo) on the second machine. If using a 2 track for the bounce you'll then bounce back to 1 (or 2 for stereo) tracks on the first machine to continue working on the song, (don't forget to advance the tape far enough so that you don't record over the original tracks!).

The advantage of the second method is that you can keep the original tracks, so you can always start over again with a new bounce if you need to.


Generational Loss...

Either way, you might want to use a little HF boost and LF cut on the original tracks as you do the bounce because you'll lose a bit of the high end and get slight boosting of the low end during the bounce, this will happen with each generation down from the original recording you go with any given track, tape hiss will also multiply with each generation.

 

[SteveM]

Is it possible for me to record music on all 4 tracks then somehow merge those 4 tracks onto TRACK one?

Not all 4 tracks but you can do up to three. You need a free track to bounce to. Just assign the 2 or 3 tracks from the tape deck the same way you would an instrument input to the free track. After bouncing it turn the other tracks off and solo it to make sure you have a good mix before recording over the others.
Don't worry about asking more questions if you have them.

 

[dodgeaspen]

Good points guys. I have a few thoughts on the band thing. I have gone through people in the band saying one thing and doing another. I only put up with it for a few times then out they go. If someone can't keep their word about laying down a bass track then you don't need him\her. I realize things happen, but time after time is UNEXCEPTIBLE!!! Let me get off my soap box. I think you can buy a 38 for a good price if you can find a local seller. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

 

[nate_dennis]

Don't forget that if you are bouncing three tracks down to one, you can play in a live part on to that last track at the same time. EXAMPLE

Drums (in mono) on Track 1
Bass on Track 2
Rhythm Guitar on Track 3

Bounce those down to track 4.

While the bounce is recording you can add in your Tamborine (or whatever)

So you effectively get four tracks of recordings, but you have to work for it.

 

[The Great Cobb]

Hey man

Have you thought about this? Record all your rhythm tracks, then burn them to a cd, then play the cd back to the tape on just one track, then record the last 3 tracks. Its not as good as having a ton of extra tracks, but, it works, and people do this kind of stuff and the results speak for themselves. In some ways it might even force you to make creative decisions based on necessity. You might want to bounce the tracks to cpu, then back to the reel to reel rather than use a cd burner, but its all up to what equipment you have.

By the way, dude, i did all the same things you are doing when i first got my reel to reel. Thinking that because i had a great artistic vision that recording would be easy. But, it turned out that no matter how great your songs are, recording is an art form of its own, and it takes a ton of patience and more and more experience to get the results you want. Fighting with the equipment is part of that, especially when you are just one guy. One of the hardest things for me at first was getting the sound of the reel turning and machine running out of the microphone. And also, seeing the VU meter on the record input from across the room etc. There were a ton of things at first that i had a hard time with, and because of my newness, just didnt understand. Im still terrible!

Just dont feel alone though, everyone feels that way at first. At least youve got the guts to try the analog method rather than instantly defaulting to digital like most new recordists do. You may end up running a hybrid setup eventually, and be trying to make the best of both worlds work for you.

And about band members crapping out... thats a problem as old as bands themselves. I bet when the first cavemen were beating on logs there were always a few that didnt show up cause they were too busy clubbin females to care.

Speaking of cavemen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlRXQEA0yj0

 

[samth3mancgp]

I kind of like that creative limitation. It's fun to have to setup the drum mics so that they will be mono compatible etc. I haven't multi-tracked yet, but it was fun to record each part of the jam to a separate track by itself. Then instead of having 6-12 tracks of drums, there's just one. And each recording is different because you dont have the option of just mixing it to perfection afterwards in protools.

 

[Terry Wetzel]

Is it possible for me to record music on all 4 tracks then somehow merge those 4 tracks onto TRACK one?

If you could beg barrow rent or steal another tape deck, (4 track)you could record 4 tracks on deck #1, mix the 4 tracks from that machine to track #1 of the 2nd machine and that would leave you 3 open tracks to record other instruments on. That gives you 7 final tracks. 4 are 2nd generation and 3 are first generation. If you've been careful with the mixes you should be in good shape at that point. If you try this, use a mixer with fairly good eq and you shouldn't be able to tell much difference in the quality of the first 4 tracks and the newer ones. I'd record the rythym section, drums, bass, r.guitar and keyboard bed on trks 1-4 on the first deck, then lead guitar and vocals on the last 3 tracks. This also gives the option of saving all 7 tracks. I hope this helps.