Hello, I'm a new to this forum

[nicksayle]

Hello all,

I am new to this forum however, I have already absorbed much great shared knowledge from reading through various threads. Thank you all to those who have taken time to give your input.

I am a drummer of some 35+ years and have decided to do all my recording at home from now on. Many years ago this was simply out of the question, today it is very achievable.

So far, having gone through six months of ebaying, both buying and selling (bought a few things that didn't fit the bill) I have ended up with a very usable system. My requirements were the ability to record up to eight audio tracks from live mic's simultaneously and have the ability to mix and master those tracks to two track stereo. I tried the computer recording thing when Cakewalk pro audio 9 was new and had no intentions of going down the computer route again. I couldn't live with the latency problems or the endless crashing and slow speeds. I accept that things have improved since then but it left a sour taste. So, I decided to go for an all in one type workstation and bought a Roland 2480CD, now DVD) thinking it would do all I needed without the need for spaghetti everywhere. I love that I have a 32" widescreen monitor plugged directly into it!! My "simple" recording system ending up with the Roland using it's fantastic mic pre's going direct out through a patch bay to a Tascam TSR-8 reel to reel recorder for initial tracking then back to the Roland for mix down and mastering. Going to tape for a drummer is just the best!! I play a beautiful vintage Hayman drum kit and the last thing I want to do is colour the sound with over processing and the tape is the answer for that "real" sound. As I only play snare, tom floor and kick I use a very simply 7 mic system leaving one track on the tape for SMPTE. I have a need to send drum track off via the internet in 2trk mastered format as uncompressed as possible. The Roland can produce a redbook CD but this can be a little long winded writing disc etc. so I was soon on the hunt for a digital SD/USB recorder. There are a few of these on the market and I went for the iKey Audio RM3 rack-mount unit. It records in 3 levels of MP3 as well as pure WAV. Straight onto a stick or SD card. It makes transferring and uploading tracks so easy. So with dozens of cables hanging on the coat hooks and about 3 feet of rack units I wholesale failed in my quest for a simple recording system. However, it works and sounds amazing. I'm now hunting for a 16u rack stand..oops

 

[diggy_dude]

Welcome, Nick! Rather an odd place for an introductory thread, but no biggy.

I remember reading back in the 80s that they preferred to record drums on analog, even if the rest of the tracks were digital. I think they were limited to 44.1 kHz in those days though.

I feel your pain about the rack space. I have three 10U rack stands sitting on tables in here. I may get ambitious and try to figure out a better arrangement one of these days. I have one of those clothing racks on casters that I hang my cords on.

 

[nicksayle]

I posted on here as a Tascam user, it is quickly becoming my favourite bit of gear. I know it has it's limitations but it does the job for me. I'm sitting with my headphones on making patch leads!! total rock and roll Saturday night!!

 

[diggy_dude]

I don't have any experience with reel-to-reel. How is the TSR-8 limited?

 

[nicksayle]

I had a choice between the TSR-8 and a Tascam 48. The 48 has the extra head so you can monitor the actual recorded sound, albeit at a slight delay, but at least you can heard what you are sending to it. The TSR-8 is a far more modern machine and usually considerably cheaper as it is only a 2 head device. I managed to find a very low mileage one in mint condition. My main reasons for using tape is the beautiful full sound and the headroom for drums. Ok, so you can get a bit of tape hiss if you don't track well, but it's worth it for the depth of sound. You can always notch it out later or use the dbx. I have never used anything midi and cut and paste music, it's not really my thing, but I have discovered some real benefits with SMPTE for linking the analogue up to my Roland multitraker.