playing back a mixed down cassette on a 4 track in stereo?

[a27thletter]

is it possible to play back a mixed down stereo tape back in a 4 track player and still keep it in stereo? someone told me to hard pan one track left and the other right but that didnt sound right to me. what i'm trying to do is add stuff to the song on the 3rd and 4th track while playing the original recording on the 1st and 2nd tracks. i mixed down my original recording onto a cd and then recorded it onto a cassette tape, and thats what i'm adding to, . i was just wondering how i would need to pan things to keep all of my stuff in the original mix panned the same way as the original recording

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo 27th & counting:

If you have mixed down one set of tracks to a CD, the resultant stereo track is fixed or finalized. So, if you RE-record it into your 4 track, you really don't want to try to do much with it.

However, if you are going to add a couple more tracks, and then RE-mix and burn another CD, you can do whatever you want to the new tracks.

If, for instance, you have put reverb into the first mix, you really don't want any more reverb on that re-recorded material. So, you have to make sure you only mess with the newly recorded tracks, eq, reverb, dynamics.

If your recorder can handle that, you can then mix away. Up, up, and AWAYYYYYYYYYYY.

I often use recorded background music for vocals and only tweak the vocal tracks before burning a CD.

Green Hornet

 

[Rokket]

Which 4-track are you using? The higher end ones can record a stereo track and keep the stereo picture (you have to pan the two tracks it will record to), but the cheaper ones like a Tascam MF-P01 or Fostex X-18 will not. Also the higher end 4 tracks will allow you to bounce your tracks down to two tracks and alleviate the need to burn it to cd and re-record it. Let me know what you are using, and I will try to help you with this.

 

[a27thletter]

its a fostex x 12

 

[Rokket]

Ok, I can see why you are doing things the way you are. It's tough to do because you don't have bouncing capabilities with that machine. I outgrew mine pretty quick. I think an alternative would be to mix it down to a standard cassette tape, so that you have all four tracks mixed onto two, but check the manual. It's been awhile since I had one, and I can't remember if all four tracks are in a line, or if it's 1/3, 2/4 line up with the heads. If it's in line, you may be able to record the other two tracks on after mixing it to a standard tape. The X12 plays at the same speed as a standard cassette deck so that shouldn't be an issue.
So, long story short, try this: connect a standard cassette deck to your x12 and mix down the tracks that you have to stereo, put that tape in your machine, and using the faders, check to see which tracks the new mix is playing on. You should then have 2 blank tracks to record on. I hope this works for you.
You may want to think about upgrading if you can afford it. Those little machines are great for jotting down ideas, and learning how to record, but you outgrow them once you get serious.
I hope I was helpful. I also hope someone else will read this that has a better idea than what I gave you!

 

[a27thletter]

so do you think that the two tracks that play back on teh tape in my 4 track will be in stereo? all i really care is just to keep everything panned the same way. i've pretty much gotten as far as you described in that last post, and i've added with the remaining two tracks and it sounded ok but i'm not positive that it stayed in stereo that way or if it ended up being in mono

 

[Rokket]

so do you think that the two tracks that play back on teh tape in my 4 track will be in stereo? all i really care is just to keep everything panned the same way. i've pretty much gotten as far as you described in that last post, and i've added with the remaining two tracks and it sounded ok but i'm not positive that it stayed in stereo that way or if it ended up being in mono

They should be because you mixed them down in stereo when you record it on the cassette deck, all you need to do is pan them and it should be stereo. Try to pan the tracks and see what it sounds like. I think it should be OK....

 

[Rokket]

One thing I will add: The more you record using this method, the more sound quality you will lose. Each time you mix it down to stereo, you are making a recording of a recording. Don't do it too much or your songs will end up sounding muddy. Your best option is to save some money and either buy a higher end 4-track or move up to digital...
But that's totally up to you. If you like the sound you're getting, by all means, go for it. Like I always say, you gotta have fun with it. That's what's most important.

 

[a27thletter]

alright, so the tape, which the stereo mixdown was recorded onto will be in stereo, and when i play it on the 4 track it plays through tracks 1 and two, track one is the left side of the stereo spectrum and track two is the right side of the spectrum, am i correct so far? so if thats the case, what your saying is all i have to do is just pan the two tracks correspondingly left and right 100% and when i mix it back down again it all stays in the same stereo spectrum .