me want record! Seriously

[benbanoozo]

I want to be able to record with my analog four-tracks, then somehow find computer software with hardware, I'm guessing interface, to go from analog multi-track through interface to computer program to sync, edit, add effects, mix down, master, burn, copy, send...produce my non-digital music through an enhancing digital kinda all inclusive deal. Before I buy anything I'd like to know transferring, syncing, editing, saving, organizing, and enhancing is going to be possible and hopefully fairly quick and painless. It sounds fun and efficient to drop some cash on computer recording soft and hardware. The biggest problem I've been warned of is syncing up separate analog audio inputs to a recording program. Someone please tell me what I'm trying to do is possible and semi-affordable. I just wanna put my songs down without sounding like a speak and spell or a musical birthday card. I want my recordings to sound visceral and like they're done from my home...with some cool, out there sound effects as well. Still organic enough though. Please someone help me out!

 

[bouldersoundguy]

What you need is a four input interface. Your four-track machine will have to be able to send the tracks separately. Connect the four-track outputs to the interface and record them in the multi-track software of your choice. Then tweak away.

At this point you may find the only advantage of the four-track recorder is portability, and you could get that from a digital version that also served as an interface.

Don't expect to be able to put two tracks at a time into the computer and sync them up. Motor speeds vary just enough to make that an exercise in frustration.

 

[TetraFish]

You can probably find an interface that includes a copy of cubase 4LE or something like it.

Unless you really have to use the analog 4 track you should record direct to the computer, you're going to lose a lot of sound quality using the 4 track.

 

[Dr. Varney]

I want to do this as well...

Dr. V

 

[Washburn100]

I can't believe I'm typing a reply. Here goes,

Ask yourself why you want to do this. When you figure that out, enlighten us all.

 

[Dr. Varney]

Tell us why you think anyone would want to do this then enlighten us all on why not.

Dr. V

 

[Armistice]

I'll have a go...

It's this "lo-fi" aesthetic thing that seems to be popular at the moment. To the OP, recording to an analogue 4 track is part of that. A self-imposed constraint.

Art is full of self-imposed constraints.

It's not something I'd do personally - but lots of people seem to want to follow this path.

Like distressed guitars... I just don't get it, but whatever...

OP - as has been stated, if your 4 track can't output 4 individual tracks, then you may face pain as if you try to do it two tracks at a time, the variations in motor speed could well make it impossible to accurately sync.

 

[Richard Monroe]

The simple fact of how difficult this is explains why so few people would want to do it. First, what 4-track are you talking about, and does it have 4 separate track outputs?-Richie

 

[Washburn100]

I want to be able to record with my analog four-tracks, then somehow find computer software with hardware, I'm guessing interface, to go from analog multi-track through interface to computer program to sync, edit, add effects, mix down, master, burn, copy, send...produce my non-digital music through an enhancing digital kinda all inclusive deal.

OK, somehow you find computer software and hardware. Try a metal detector on a beach, you may get lucky.

Before I buy anything I'd like to know transferring, syncing, editing, saving, organizing, and enhancing is going to be possible and hopefully fairly quick and painless.

Well, you could record into the software, that's quick and painless... humm, maybe just a little too quick and painless..

It sounds fun and efficient to drop some cash on computer recording soft and hardware.

Woohoo, let the good times roll!

I just wanna put my songs down without sounding like a speak and spell or a musical birthday card.

Dude, it's 2010. A DAW no longer runs in DOS at 2 bits.

I want my recordings to sound visceral and like they're done from my home...with some cool, out there sound effects as well. Still organic enough though. Please someone help me out!

Oh.... why didn't you just say you wanted visceral home sounding cool organic sound effects. Well, the only way to get this is to record 4 tracks on an old analog machine then sync, edit, add effects, mix down, master, burn, copy into some software..... ah, never mind!

 

[pandamonk]

Without buying anything, other than maybe a 2 phono to mini jack cable, you could easily get get these 4 tracks onto your pc. Simply take the output of the 4-track into the line in of your pc. Pan tracks 1&2 left and right and mute tracks 3&4 on your 4-track. Record these and then repeat for 3&4. You might have to drag the tracks about a bit to get them in time, but this shouldn't be tough. You could do this very easily with audacity (free software).

Once you've played around with this, you will probably want to upgrade to a decent interface such as the Presonus FP10 and software such as Cockos Reaper.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

Without buying anything, other than maybe a 2 phono to mini jack cable, you could easily get get these 4 tracks onto your pc. Simply take the output of the 4-track into the line in of your pc. Pan tracks 1&2 left and right and mute tracks 3&4 on your 4-track. Record these and then repeat for 3&4. You might have to drag the tracks about a bit to get them in time, but this shouldn't be tough. You could do this very easily with audacity (free software).

That won't work. Analog never plays back exactly the same speed. The pitch and performance length of tracks 3 and 4 would be different than tracks 1 and 2.

You have to capture all 4 at once.

 

[pandamonk]

That won't work. Analog never plays back exactly the same speed. The pitch and performance length of tracks 3 and 4 would be different than tracks 1 and 2.

You have to capture all 4 at once.

It is usually close enough... I've done this before without problems. However, that was years ago, before I seriously got into recording. Might as well give it a go... If it doesn't work, you could get a better interface.

 

[miroslav]

It's really not that difficult to do.
I do it all the time...track to my 16-track, dump to DAW...etc.

OK...I have enough I/Os with my DAW setup (24 A/D/A channels)...so that part is not an issue, and my deck has on-board microprocessors that keep the tape speed pretty solid…down to the SMPTE frames...
...which is more than good enough for R&R.

But yeah, if you can sync-lock the DAW and deck, it makes for simpler/easier transfers, as all you need to do is tell them both at which SMPTE point to start/stop, etc.
Of course, if you don't/can’t sync-lock the DAW and deck, then each track dump to DAW will need to be manually aligned with the previous one, you just slide them into position.
That said...tape transports being what they are, if they are not in top shape, they will introduce a small amount of timing differences from pass to pass...BUT...if in good shape and if your deck has some sort of on-board capstan servo clock that keeps the tape speed rock-solid and adjust constantly for any transport timing issues, you can get it pretty tight, at least no worse than the timing differences you get when playing live with 5 other guys.

If you are going to be doing stuff that is more time-critical and requires razor precision...it may not be the best choice, as you will have to do some editing in the DAW to align/slide tracks or portions of tracks here and there to tighten things up...but without trying it, you can't be sure how bad it will be.

What brand/model 4-track decks do you have?
If they are real old…chances are the transport will be more of an issue.
And yes….you will need at least a 4-channel A/D/A interface to connect your 4-track with to the DAW.
AFA software…man, there’s all kinds out there. I would suggest N-Track as a very inexpensive ($64) but feature-full DAW to start off with (you can get something else once you dig into it deeper).

http://ntrack.com/

What do you have right now AFA gear?

 

[Washburn100]

I can't believe I'm typing a reply. Here goes,

Ask yourself why you want to do this. When you figure that out, enlighten us all.

Well, it nice to see the op that started this thread has answered all our questions, and graciously thanked all contributors for wasting their time.

Maybe he will post some of those visceral home sounding cool organic sound effects he's so fond of making!

 

[Todzilla]

If the OP deliberately wants the lo-fi aethetic of 4 track tape (and that would be the only justification, IMO), why does (s)he want to dump it into the DAW world?

It doesn't make sense, unless of course, the OP has some Studer 1/2" 4 track machine running at 15/30 ips and a bitchin' front end that saturates beautifully.

But I suspect it's a cassette format (couldn't tell from posts) in which case either stay entirely in that realm for the lo fi, or leave it behind for all-digital.

 

[Armistice]

Well, it nice to see the op that started this thread has answered all our questions, and graciously thanked all contributors for wasting their time.

Happening a lot lately.. esp. in Newbies forum.

The decline, the decline...

 

[Dr. Varney]

Well, it nice to see the op that started this thread has answered all our questions, and graciously thanked all contributors for wasting their time.

Maybe he will post some of those visceral home sounding cool organic sound effects he's so fond of making!

Possibly because of comments like this ^.

If the OP deliberately wants the lo-fi aethetic of 4 track tape (and that would be the only justification, IMO), why does (s)he want to dump it into the DAW world?

Well, I wouldn't want to do this myself and I'm not sure where this 'lo-fi' aesthetic comes from but at first, I suspected, in the absence of a ready supply of money and vintage gear, the DAW was there to substitute for analogue effects.

I can understand the desire to collect and use vintage analogue gear - even build an entire studio based on older technology. It hardly needs to be said, the few eccentrics who want to keep alive the solid-state character of the past, are going to be purists; collectors and, in a sense, historians. No different to retro/vintage car enthusiasts.

Or the other way around - an old 4-track recorder substituting a digital one... though this rules out analogue purism.

I want to do this as well...

Probably I misread the OPs intentions? At the time, I was thinking of getting hold of a digital 8-track to widen the choice of recording environments and capture sounds 'in the field'. Also I can get better sound quality by mixing reverb in, on my analogue mixer, so it makes sense to have an outside source of input.

All this, in the pursuit of 'hi-fi' rather than 'lo-fi'.

But if someone wants to experiment with this sort of gear, to get a certain effect, then obviously there's a few things to be learned through it.

Dr. V

 

[noisewreck]

See, lo-fi to me is like torn jeans. Back in the 80's we just wore them out and kept wearing them even after they tore, cuz they kinda looked cool. Now it's a fad and you can buy designer jeans that are torn in pretty patterns. To me, kinda misses the point.

 

[Armistice]

See, lo-fi to me is like torn jeans. Back in the 80's we just wore them out and kept wearing them even after they tore, cuz they kinda looked cool. Now it's a fad and you can buy designer jeans that are torn in pretty patterns. To me, kinda misses the point.

Yeah, I don't get it either, having been lo-fi when that was the only game in town for HRers..

 

[Dr. Varney]

See, lo-fi to me is like torn jeans. Back in the 80's we just wore them out and kept wearing them even after they tore, cuz they kinda looked cool. Now it's a fad and you can buy designer jeans that are torn in pretty patterns. To me, kinda misses the point.

Agreed. It's faking the experience. If my jeans are torn, it's because they tore, whilst doing something. People don't have to actually do anything to get the look and to my mind it reminds me of purchasing a fake degree...

But that wouldn't stop me from purchasing a t-shirt with a fake bullet hole print.

Dr. V