Frustrating aspects of analog recording.

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grimtraveller

grimtraveller

If only for a moment.....
What do you find to be the most frustrating thing about analog recording ?
For me it's the fact that tape never runs at exactly the same speed twice, despite the 15 or 30 ips measurement.
Even George Martin and Geoff Emerick had the same problem trying to get the orchestra tracks in line with the vocal/instrument tracks in "A day in the life". So we're in good company !
 
That I never have enough time...

Well OK, repatching and flipping switches (or more accurately forgetting to do so, and wasting time wondering where the signal went....) I;m guessing the same could be said for digital recroding, substitute forgetting to double click on whatever....
 
grimtraveller said:
What do you find to be the most frustrating thing about analog recording ?
For me it's the fact that tape never runs at exactly the same speed twice, despite the 15 or 30 ips measurement.
Even George Martin and Geoff Emerick had the same problem trying to get the orchestra tracks in line with the vocal/instrument tracks in "A day in the life". So we're in good company !
Click to expand...

That would only be a consideration when synchronizing two tape decks or a tape deck and DAW...etc....otherwise, with a multi-track tape/deck...your tracks are ALWAYS in sync on that given tape.
You record a few tracks, then play back while recording additional tracks, they are ALWAYS in sync with each other, because even if there are minute tape speed fluctuations, they affect the entire tape, and therefore all tracks on the tape will fluctuate equally and at the same time, and therefore stay in time.
You don't get tracks 1-4 fluctuating differently than track 5-9...etc...etc.
Also...on a decent deck, you will NEVER hear or feel those tape fluctuations while playing/recording...only when synchronizing to a different reference might you hear/feel them...maybe.


I never had any real *frustration* with analog...though everything has some kind of limitations, working SOP. Analog is no different. If you understand what that is, you just accept it and work with it. It's only if you fight it or don't understand it that it really becomes frustrating.
I've been more frustrated at times with editing in the DAW than I ever was working with tape...though of course, editing tape was minimal at best, so you simply accepted it and moved on. With the DAW, you get frustrated because you know you can keep messing with it. :D
 
Any two recording devices will drift apart if not synced. Two digital devices will drift apart as well. But even synchronization in analog isn’t perfect and IMO is a PITA to sync two decks. However, syncing digital to analog or MIDI devices to analog is a piece of cake.

The most frustrating aspect to me is the price of tape. New tape is twice what it was before the Quantegy debacle. For example the street price of 1/2 Quantegy 456 was about $36.00. I often found it for even less than that. RMGI 1/2 SM911 is between $80.00 and $95.00 depending on where you look. ATR is so far out there I'll never use it.

Cassette prices have increased by an even greater percentage. But the most frustrating aspect in this case are the f**king idot “Audiphiles” we have to compete against when buying. They think they’re buying something “Rare” but it’s not at all. There are so many NOS (New old Stock) good cassettes in the world we could carpet bomb Afghanistan with them and cover the Taliban 8-feet deep in tape... and still have plenty left over to record with for the next 100 years.
 
The frustration of analog is knowing that you're fully ready to record a good performance in as few takes as possible. Since there's only time to do 3 or 4 takes before rewind and wiping you have to be on your game. But you should be on your game anyway when recording. We can't be like Tegan & Sara who seem to excel in what appears to be recording with what appears to be all the energy of a good nap.
 
That ez-willis is gonna pounce on this one. :D:D:D:D
 
miroslav said:
That would only be a consideration when synchronizing two tape decks or a tape deck and DAW...etc...
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's what I should've mentioned.
Lance Lawson said:
The frustration of analog is knowing that you're fully ready to record a good performance in as few takes as possible.
Click to expand...
Actually, that's a plus for me. Although I've done 30 takes of something, I'm really a one or two take man. I just want to get it down quickly. I see no virtue in 100 takes !
 
Aligning the machines. A royal pain but worth the effort.
 
I'd say reliability, like the kick drum track's wonky head connector that failed at my last session...except that when the new mediocre take failed to erase the old mediocre take and the band HAD to do a better one (after a 10 minute soldering break), it turned out to be a minor victory...LOL! :D

I could have just as frustratingly been clicking a ProTools glitch into submission....

The tape cost these days...now THAT is a damn shame! Is it so wrong to want a reliable, affordable supply of real Quantegy 499?
 
Running out of tape with about 30 seconds left on a take! :mad:
 
Sticky tape, The A**holes who sell it, and the poor schmucks who buy it...
 
Got two frustrations regarding analog:
1. Repairs can be a pain in the ass, especially when not a really technical minded person.
2. There's no way to download an illegal copy of a Studer A80.

But compared to digital it is IMO really small problems. Got sick of EQing for hours to get a nearly acceptable drum sound - on tape it's fairly easy.
 
SteveM said:
His biggest complaint is how to avoid getting knocked to the floor & wrapped up in 2" tape while he's wearing his watermelon sweater. :D
Click to expand...

Wrapped up in 2" tape??? That would be an expensive sweater!! :P
 
Being limited by the quantity of good equipment that I have. I would love to have 8 channels of compression, 8 channels of high quality equalization, but I don't have the money or physical space for that.

By the way, my definition of "plugin" is: Yeah, want a compressor on that? Plug it in - here's the patch cables! :)
 
Lo Fi, if you have *time* and don't mind DIY, check out prodigy-pro or gyraf.dk. You can build some pretty high end stuff and even get PCB's to make it easier. E.g., there is a two channel tube optical compressor called the D-AOC, I think it runs somewhere between $300-500 depending on your parts selection. The guy that came up with the "What Compressor" built an 8 channel version. Also, I haven't built it yet, but there is a very simple optical compressor called the "LA-Light" using a vactrol and an opamp. Of course, if I had a quarter for every unfinished project on my work bench I could just go out and buy the completed product....

As for EQ, PAIA has an opamp based four channel parametric kit, it's about $100 or so,
 
Blue Jinn said:
As for EQ, PAIA has an opamp based four channel parametric kit, it's about $100 or so,
Click to expand...

I might be interested in that! Is it 4 band or 4 channel? I found what I think you were talking about which is 4 band, and I bookmarked the page. I need to look up reviews. I wonder how the quality is.
 
SteveM said:
I might be interested in that! Is it 4 band or 4 channel? I found what I think you were talking about which is 4 band, and I bookmarked the page. I need to look up reviews. I wonder how the quality is.
Click to expand...

It's four independent channels. I run it off a +/- 15v supply. You could probably upgrade the opamps etc and get it quieter and with more headroom and run off a higher supply voltage. It's freq, Q, and boost/cut. I've used it e.g. to tame some 60hz buzz. I've not found it to be noisy, the purists at Gearslutz will probably say different though ;-)

Altronics in Australia also has a three band single channel for about half as much +shipping though.
 
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