mixing from tascam 424mkii to computer

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adrabbe

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I just bought a tascam 424MKII and am interested in using my Toshiba Notebook for mixing my tracks and burning my songs onto CD. I also am interested in using my computer as a drum machine in order to lay drum tracks onto my songs. i play the guitar, bass, harmonica, and sing but don't have access to drums.

So, a few questions:
(1) I don't want to spend alot of money on a sound card and I was hoping someone could recommend one?
(2) what software do you recommend I use as a mixer?
(3) Are their software programs that act as a drum machine where I can add drum tracks to my songs?
(4) Is it possible to say lay a guitar, bass, and vocals track on my 424, hook it up to my computer, and then once I have recorded the song onto my hard drive add a drum track with my software program?

Answers to these questions and any helpful information you can add would be great! I'm new to the world of home recording but so far it has been all I do besides work!
 
If you're using a laptop, I suggest using one of the USB recording devices available. MAudio makes one called the Quattro that is pretty nice.

There are a lot of free/shareware rhythem programs out there. One of my faves is Leafdrum. It uses .wav samples instead of MIDI sounds. http://www.leafdigital.com/Software/leafdrums/

Adding a drum track AFTER guitar and bass is difficult. Tape transports wander and there will by sync/timing issues.

If you can, lay down the drum tracks first and everything else after. If you've got tunes you want to add drums to where it isn't possible to record drums first, then you're in world of hurt. You'll have to get your Tascam tracks to the PC, then pretty much add drums in sections... 3 or 4 measures at a time.

The way I did it was I already had a drum machine drum track recorded with 3 tracks of guitar/bass/vocal. Then using the drum machine track as my "guide" I lined up my drum loops and stretched/shrunk as needed every few measures. Worked like a champ, but it took many moons to get it nailed.
 
Thanks for the advice JR. I have played around with Leaf Drums and have put together a few good beats, although I need to download more sounds to make it interesting.

I have one more question:
Were you implying that I create the drum track on my PC and then record it to track 1 one my tascam 424? If so, how one earth would I do this? Would I go from my the line out on the PC to the Mic line in on track 1 on the 424?

Thanks Again.
 
That would be it. But why not just track into the computer and leave it there? You'll get a cleaner sound, higher track count and the ability to edit your tracks.
 
follow up question

WHile you're on the subject of recording from a porta studio to a laptop.....What's the best way to hook up a Tascam 414mkII to the laptop running Cake walk?

I'm starting out as well and have read that EQ is critical especially since the porta studios are limited. Is there a way to EQ the siganl on the way from the tape deck to the laptop?
 
follow up question

WHile you're on the subject of recording from a porta studio to a laptop.....What's the best way to hook up a Tascam 414mkII to the laptop running Cake walk?

I'm starting out as well and have read that EQ is critical especially since the porta studios are limited. Is there a way to EQ the siganl on the way from the tape deck to the laptop?
 
I don't know about another device between the Portastudio and the soundcard, but what I do is run an eq through the effects loop of the Tascam.

Problem is that there can be a lot of noise generated by cranking up the effects send/return controls. But this has worked as a stop-gap for me and I've reduced noise by balancing the effect send returns from master and track.

Regarding hook-ups: I run an RCA.1/8" and go from the Line Out on the Tascam to the Soundcard line in on the pc. this works fine for Cakewalk and any other PC based recording.
 
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