Noob-- have a couple question about analog???

[JusBeCuzz]

Wassup?? New to this forum and have always aspired to work in a home studio without the use of computers cuz everyone is too reliant on them, and i think they are overrated pieces of machinery for recording. Would consider buying a reel to reel, but i would need to know the type of work i would have to put in i...

1.) Say I wanted to grab a drum machine and connect it to an external mixer, and from the mixer to a reel to reel via TRS (or XLR, or some attachment, don't know which...), would I be able to record some tracks??

2.) About reel to reels: What type of maitenence would it need? How often? Are there still available tape retailers (that I can officially buy from, not Ebay)?

3.) Is there any other way of converting reel to reel to any other type of media without the use of a service??

 

[Massive Master]

Don't take this the wrong way, but at this point, you'd be way over your head with an analog rig. Digital is a fraction the cost and a tiny, tiny fraction the cost for maintenance. A decent 2-track machine can set you back a few $k. A really, really crappy 16 track might cost you $1k - if it works - and it won't sound as clean as digital (digital done well) and you won't have anywhere near the editing and mixing capabilities without going tens of thousands more into it.

Although - most people "brought up" on analog tend to understand things like basic gain staging much better than those brought up on digital. The understanding is a good thing. But the gear isn't necessarily better -- Don't get me wrong - I'm an analog freak. But if I have the choice between "decent" digital gear and "decent" analog gear, I'm going digital.

And even when tracking - I pull right off the repros to digital. You can't compete with that kind (the digital kind) of flexibility.

 

[Epicureous]

Reel to reel is beautiful... It has a sound all on to its own, but even pro studios that use reel to reel still transfer to the digital format... It's used to give the piece a warm defined sound.

But if you're into analog sound why are you using a drum machine? It's like a movie producer that uses 16mm but shoots everything on a green screen...

Best bet (especially for ease of use) is to go digital and to use an analog chain (if you're looking for that sound)... Use a reel to reel for effect of sound (or as a mix down device) not for an entire piece though. There's a lot to the process and it can get really complicated really quick, especially if you're new to recording....