New analogue studio set-up advice sought

  • Thread starter Thread starter super 8
  • Start date Start date
S

super 8

New member
Hi folks!
Just looking for some personal insights from people here (who obviously know what they're talking about!) Any advice shared MUCH appreciated in advance! OK here goes ....

I first started off on a Tascam 4 trk portastudio then quickly advanced (??!) to digital! Current machine is a standalone, all-in-one BOSS 1600CD portastudio (which I've just finished recording my debut solo album on). Anyway, enough of the history (but please feel free to visit www.myspace.com/super8musicuk if you wanna hear some of my stuff).

For my second album I'm looking to record ANALOGUE style as I feel that the 'sonic warmth' of analogue recording is more suited to the type of music I make (a kinda retro yet original, sixties, acoustic-based folk/rock sorta thang!)

To give you an idea of what I'm looking to achieve soundwise ... I'm craving that simple, organic & pure 'straight to tape' sound that McCartney achieved on his first solo albums post-Beatles. Many moons ago I actually read a very informative article revealing his exact gear & the recording techniques used for the first solo album he recorded (in a makeshift studio in his farmhouse on the Isle of Mull) but unfortunately I lost the mag!

So, what would you folks suggest? I realise I'll need a GOOD, properly functioning pro reel-to-reel player/recorder but what make/tracks? How about peripherals? I recently bought an ART TUBE MP valve preamp & a really cool RODE NTK valve condenser mic (XLR connection). I'd appreciate some advice on what mixdown machine to use too (my BR1600CD perhaps?) & some indication of what I can expect to pay for this kinda set-up too! I'll be consulting Mr eBAY no doubt!

Apologies for so many questions!! ANY advice/thoughts whatsoever much appreciated folks. THANKS!
TRiP (super 8)
 
Honestly, with a decent (and properly calibrated) Tascam or Fostex recorder you make some excellent sounding recordings! Be carefull on Ebay!! Most sellers don't even know how to package/ship these things, it's best to try and find something in your local area and check it out to see the condition up cloase, and the wear and tear on the heads, good luck.

super 8 said:
Hi folks!
Just looking for some personal insights from people here (who obviously know what they're talking about!) Any advice shared MUCH appreciated in advance! OK here goes ....

I first started off on a Tascam 4 trk portastudio then quickly advanced (??!) to digital! Current machine is a standalone, all-in-one BOSS 1600CD portastudio (which I've just finished recording my debut solo album on). Anyway, enough of the history (but please feel free to visit www.myspace.com/super8musicuk if you wanna hear some of my stuff).

For my second album I'm looking to record ANALOGUE style as I feel that the 'sonic warmth' of analogue recording is more suited to the type of music I make (a kinda retro yet original, sixties, acoustic-based folk/rock sorta thang!)

To give you an idea of what I'm looking to achieve soundwise ... I'm craving that simple, organic & pure 'straight to tape' sound that McCartney achieved on his first solo albums post-Beatles. Many moons ago I actually read a very informative article revealing his exact gear & the recording techniques used for the first solo album he recorded (in a makeshift studio in his farmhouse on the Isle of Mull) but unfortunately I lost the mag!

So, what would you folks suggest? I realise I'll need a GOOD, properly functioning pro reel-to-reel player/recorder but what make/tracks? How about peripherals? I recently bought an ART TUBE MP valve preamp & a really cool RODE NTK valve condenser mic (XLR connection). I'd appreciate some advice on what mixdown machine to use too (my BR1600CD perhaps?) & some indication of what I can expect to pay for this kinda set-up too! I'll be consulting Mr eBAY no doubt!

Apologies for so many questions!! ANY advice/thoughts whatsoever much appreciated folks. THANKS!
TRiP (super 8)
Click to expand...
 
I second fred s' advice and would like to add or underline a couple of key points:

Make sure you go after local deals or ones where you can drive to pick up and forget the shipping. You're in Scotland but there's a ton of stuff available the closer you get to the major cities, especially London, based on what I see on eBay UK.

Get yourself a nice 4 or 8 track TASCAM and even a 3440 TEAC ... but you MUST be well versed what to look for. There is indeed some know-how involved in picking the best machine. You don't want a worn or a badly stored one.

No matter what you get, replace all rubber, including the pinch roller and belt. That's not optional. Know that machines of this age will need to be properly serviced. Either you will want to do it or pay someone to do it.

Honestly, a good Analog system, which will satisfy all but the most picky, is your typical TASCAM 4 to 8 track with a matching mixer. I tend to lean toward a TASCAM most of the time but certain Fostex and the TEAC 3440 can be great too.

Something like a TASCAM 22-4, 34, 34B, 44, 38, 48, 58 and the TSR-8 would be good and are rather plentiful on the used market, along with the TEAC A-3440, which I love btw. All are great machines as are other models I haven't mentioned.

Remember that your recording technique is very important and that getting an analog setup will not necessarily mean you will sound like McCartney but there's definitely a vibe with such gear!

Another thing you may consider and I'd def check it out if I were you:

http://www.proaudioeurope.com/index2.htm

(click on "used gear")

They're based in London and they sell some cool stuff, mostly pro gear. Check out their analog multitracks and mixers. Quite pricey but it's worth a look.
 
Thanks!!! Ps: .....

I'll investigate the above suggestions. For the time being does anybody have any thoughts on the AKAI M8 (TUBE) & whether it would be good enough for making semi-pro recordings with? I've been told there's one up for grabs & can get a viewing tonight! What do you think folks?
Cheers
TRiP
 
If you can play all the parts live then something like an M8 can be good but then again, it's just an old consumer model never really intended for your typical recordist. I'd be worried about the condition of this old deck and it needing more than the typical servicing. I've heard people using the tube amps for some nice color but I can't speak further about that. Yeah, it will sound good, if in good condition, serviced, including all rubber (ie: pinch roller) replaced or rerubbered but exactly what functionality are you looking for ? You can't overdub on it you know, not as far as I know.
 
super 8 said:
Hi folks!
Just looking for some personal insights from people here (who obviously know what they're talking about!) Any advice shared MUCH appreciated in advance! OK here goes ....

I first started off on a Tascam 4 trk portastudio then quickly advanced (??!) to digital! Current machine is a standalone, all-in-one BOSS 1600CD portastudio (which I've just finished recording my debut solo album on). Anyway, enough of the history (but please feel free to visit www.myspace.com/super8musicuk if you wanna hear some of my stuff).

For my second album I'm looking to record ANALOGUE style as I feel that the 'sonic warmth' of analogue recording is more suited to the type of music I make (a kinda retro yet original, sixties, acoustic-based folk/rock sorta thang!)

To give you an idea of what I'm looking to achieve soundwise ... I'm craving that simple, organic & pure 'straight to tape' sound that McCartney achieved on his first solo albums post-Beatles. Many moons ago I actually read a very informative article revealing his exact gear & the recording techniques used for the first solo album he recorded (in a makeshift studio in his farmhouse on the Isle of Mull) but unfortunately I lost the mag!

So, what would you folks suggest? I realise I'll need a GOOD, properly functioning pro reel-to-reel player/recorder but what make/tracks? How about peripherals? I recently bought an ART TUBE MP valve preamp & a really cool RODE NTK valve condenser mic (XLR connection). I'd appreciate some advice on what mixdown machine to use too (my BR1600CD perhaps?) & some indication of what I can expect to pay for this kinda set-up too! I'll be consulting Mr eBAY no doubt!

Apologies for so many questions!! ANY advice/thoughts whatsoever much appreciated folks. THANKS!
TRiP (super 8)
Click to expand...


Look at the good 'ol TASCAM 80-8 or an Otari MX5050 8 tracks.

If you need 16 tracks or above, you will be stuck with TASCAM msr16 and Fostex B/E-16s. Both 1/2" 16 channel recorders.

Next step up is like MCIs. Studers etc where you get 16 or 24 tracks on 2" tape. You can get 5-10 of the narrow format 1/2" machines for the cost of the 2" machines. The 2" machines also cost an arm and a leg in tape costs and weigh 5-600 LBS as well as being the size of an avarage small washing machine.

The shipping alone would pay for any of the 1/2" tape machines listed above.

And, as a side note, as far as I am aware Paul McArtney recorded the majority of his debut album at Abbey Road when they were recording "Abbey Road" (their last album).

I find that any info from any of the fab four themaselves is usually about %10 accurate. Lewison's book about the Beatles is probably the most historically accurate publication of the Beatles and from the sudio's own notes, had Paul booked pretty much straight through his album (he used another studio room, sometimes on the same day as the "Abbey Road" sessions) I am sure he did something at his home studio, but not much.


Good luck with a recorder.
 
super 8 said:
I'll investigate the above suggestions. For the time being does anybody have any thoughts on the AKAI M8 (TUBE) & whether it would be good enough for making semi-pro recordings with? I've been told there's one up for grabs & can get a viewing tonight! What do you think folks?
Cheers
TRiP
Click to expand...

I've got an M-6 (two before the M-8). Great machine sonically, BUT, it took about $200 to get it right on top of the cost of the machine. If you get something called an Echo adaptor it will allow you to overdub on sound on sound recordings (both Teac and Sony made one, the sony one I have is very neat and pop up on ebay probably twice a month). If you're only recording a couple tracks, it may work just great and give you exactly what you want (especially with an echo adaptor), but it'll almost definitely have to be gone through by a tech to make it right.
Tascam- I like Tascam. You can get parts for a Tascam through Tascam and they can be serviced, plus they're not bad little machines. I had a Fostex R8 and as wonderful as 8 tracks and Dolby NR were, you couldn't get a single part for it when it broke down.
I would go for the M-8, worst comes to worst you have a wonderful mix down machine.
 
Thanks (once again!) - AKAI M8 questions ....

Cheers! Some very interesting info folks. In the meantime I've managed to secure an all-valve AKAI M8. I'm not saying this will be my main machine but I couldn't pass it by - I'm sure I'll put it to some good use. Still looking for THE ONE but anyone got any info/links on the M8? It's yet to arrive & I'll be needing to get a manual. I'm interested in the sound-on-sound Echo adaptor mentioned above, how does that work with one of these machines? Also, what sort of tape would one recommend for such a unit. Sorry for what might sound sound like dumb-ass questions but I'm new to this reel-20reel thing and, what with not actually having said machine in my posession yet, am trying to find out everything I can about it in advance. Thanks again folks - absolutely any advice is VERY much appreciated! Apparently I've already made a mistake by just presuming that I can use this AKAI machine like my very first audio-cassete Tascam 4 track portastudio. I was under the impression that I could record on tracks 1-3 then do a submix bounce to 4 then back to tracks 1&2 to record over with other parts before bouncing to track 3, etc - this is not the case with the 'sound-on-sound' AKAI M8 no?? I'm already confusing myself 'cos I'm driving blind without a machine infront of me & can't find much info on the web as to how to make physical recordings with it.
 
super 8 said:
Cheers! Some very interesting info folks. In the meantime I've managed to secure an all-valve AKAI M8. I'm not saying this will be my main machine but I couldn't pass it by - I'm sure I'll put it to some good use. Still looking for THE ONE but anyone got any info/links on the M8? It's yet to arrive & I'll be needing to get a manual. I'm interested in the sound-on-sound Echo adaptor mentioned above, how does that work with one of these machines? Also, what sort of tape would one recommend for such a unit. Sorry for what might sound sound like dumb-ass questions but I'm new to this reel-20reel thing and, what with not actually having said machine in my posession yet, am trying to find out everything I can about it in advance. Thanks again folks - absolutely any advice is VERY much appreciated! Apparently I've already made a mistake by just presuming that I can use this AKAI machine like my very first audio-cassete Tascam 4 track portastudio. I was under the impression that I could record on tracks 1-3 then do a submix bounce to 4 then back to tracks 1&2 to record over with other parts before bouncing to track 3, etc - this is not the case with the 'sound-on-sound' AKAI M8 no?? I'm already confusing myself 'cos I'm driving blind without a machine infront of me & can't find much info on the web as to how to make physical recordings with it.
Click to expand...
Right. First thing is that the M8 is stereo. It has four tracks but that's only so you can turn the tape over like a cassette and use both sides. You can only write to or play back two tracks at a time.

Some machines like the Revox series allow you to write the tracks independently, (i.e. just the left or just the right) which allows you to do something akin to sound-on-sound but I don't know about this one. It might only allow you to record a stereo pair.

While people have worked miracles (Giles, Giles and Fripp recorded an entire multitrack demo album in 1968, supposedly using a single Revox F36, and White Noise did the BBC trick of running six Revoxes in parallel), I think what you really need is a real multitrack machine.

If you're dead set on the 1969/1970 sound and damn the expense, try to get a 1" 8-track machine. The Brenell Mini-8 was a popular machine in the UK and was used by most of the members of Genesis in their respective home studios circa 1978-1983. It is one of the only lightweight machines in that format. The only other I can think of is the modular Soundcraft machine (I forget the model). Beyond that, you'll have to buy a cooker-sized machine.

More realistically you'd probably be looking at a 1/2" 8-track machine like the Tascam 38, TSR-8 or the Otari 5050-8. There are a few others in that format as well. The Fostex R8 is well-thought of, although it's a 1/4" machine so the tape width is the same as cassette. Whatever happens with regard to tape supply, 1/4" is THE most widely-used format so it's worth looking into although 1/2" is higher quality.

Then as others have mentioned, there are the 16-track machines like the Fostex B16, E16 and G16 or the Tascam MSR-16. The Fostex E16 was used in a huge number of small studios and several commercially successful albums were actually done on these machines. Traditionally Tascam are better for parts than Fostex, but with the MSR-16 I'm not so sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top