Playing Back Old 4-track recordings

[4tracker]

Hey guys. I am trying to playback old recordings I did on a Yamaha MT50. I am now using a Tascam 244. They play back much faster. I didn't want to mess up the heads so I turned it off.

What is the reason this won't play back at the same speed?

Do I risk ruining the machine playing them back like that? I ask because I wanted to try to use the pitch control to slow it down if it wont' do harm.

Thanks

 

[Illsidgus]

Hey guys. I am trying to playback old recordings I did on a Yamaha MT50. I am now using a Tascam 244. They play back much faster. I didn't want to mess up the heads so I turned it off.

What is the reason this won't play back at the same speed?

Do I risk ruining the machine playing them back like that? I ask because I wanted to try to use the pitch control to slow it down if it wont' do harm.

Thanks

Hi, the 244 records and plays back at 3 3/4 ips rather than the 1 7/8 ips of a normal cassette player. You will need to find a multitrack that has a switchable tape speed. I know that some of the other Tascam portastudios do but I am not sure which ones.

 

[Wish]

Another option would be to record the speeded up tracks to a computer, and then use software to slow it down. If you already have an interface, you might want to give that a shot, and see how it sounds.

 

[4tracker]

Hi, the 244 records and plays back at 3 3/4 ips rather than the 1 7/8 ips of a normal cassette player. You will need to find a multitrack that has a switchable tape speed. I know that some of the other Tascam portastudios do but I am not sure which ones.

Interesting idea, but will I ruin the 244 playing the recording back at the wrong speed? I fear ruining it because I just got it serviced.

Thanks for the responses both of you.

 

[Wish]

Nah...it won't hurt the 244....it's running the tape at the 244's normal speed. It doesn't matter that the tape you are playing back was recorded at a different speed.

 

[The Ghost of FM]

True. The tape speed difference won't hurt the 244.

Cheers!

 

[Illsidgus]

Another option would be to record the speeded up tracks to a computer, and then use software to slow it down. If you already have an interface, you might want to give that a shot, and see how it sounds.

Good idea, since I have never used recording software I would never have thought of that solution.

 

[famous beagle]

The Yamaha MT50 records at double speed too, so I don't think that's the issue. I think the problem is one of three things:

1) The pitch control knob was turned down when recording on the Yamaha MT50. This would mean that they play back faster on the 244 (which has the pitch knob at normal).

2) The Yamaha MT50 was running a bit slowly when recording due to mechanical issues.

3) The pitch control knob on your 244 is turned up unknowingly?

Do the recordings sound twice as fast (like chipmunks on speed), or does it just sound a good bit faster than normal (but still sound like the same song)?

If it's the latter, you should be able to just adjust the pitch control knob on the 244 down until it sounds right - like you originally thought.

 

[A Reel Person]

You say you had the 244 serviced recently, but...

If the 244's capstan drive belt becomes stretched, it may drop down and ride on the flange, instead of on the middle of the pulley where it's supposed to be. This change in position and diameter will cause a noticeable speed-up of the tape mechanism. This may or may not be the case, and there may be other issues causing this problem, many of which were covered above.

 

[ashcat_lt]

If you do end up running it into a computer, record it at 88.2K or 96K sample rate if at all possible, otherwise you'll lose the top octave of everything on the tape. This is not always a bad thing, since it knocks down some of the worst hiss, but the program material may be significantly darker, with less air, than was originally intended.

 

[4tracker]

A reel person, I hope it's not that because I just had it serviced by TEAC/Tascam.

So I tried it again today, and I realize that some tracks are playing back at normal speed, but the vocal track (which I believe is on track 4) is much faster (sounds chipmunk!). What the heck!

So I am new to this machine and want to make sure I have the playback settings right. The "monitor" should be set to "remix", is that correct? And each tape input should be "tape", is that correct? I honestly have not recorded on 4 track in 20 years so I forget the settings. Anyone have any idea why some tracks play back at the right speed yet some do not?

 

[4tracker]

It is very odd. Some songs work totally fine, but on some it is as if the guitar tracks are playing normally but the vocal is playing backwards...wtf!

Edit: I flipped the tape over and played it. The songs on the other side are all very fast, even with the pitch control turned down. I have no idea what this means! I know I once was able to play these back in normal speed on the MT50. The only thing I can think of is that these tapes are mislabeled and I am actually playing back the mix in the four track right now. Would this cause these problems?

 

[A Reel Person]

Yes.

Yes. The mislabeled tape theory is the most probable scenario, based on wrong speed, backward tracks, etc. Simple mistake. Throw it in a normal cassette deck and see what it sounds like.

 

[4tracker]

Yes. The mislabeled tape theory is the most probable scenario, based on wrong speed, backward tracks, etc. Simple mistake. Throw it in a normal cassette deck and see what it sounds like.

I have to find one...haha. I think my GF has one in her car. If you guys don't hear back from me that was the error.

 

[4tracker]

Hi, the 244 records and plays back at 3 3/4 ips rather than the 1 7/8 ips of a normal cassette player. You will need to find a multitrack that has a switchable tape speed. I know that some of the other Tascam portastudios do but I am not sure which ones.

I am trying it right now. It is hard to get it to sound natural. I'm using cubase, and it's a mix of tempo with pitch shift. I haven't found a combo that sounds good yet. I wonder if there's a mathematical way to determine the right pitch and tempo.

Edit: update...got it to sound pretty darn close to the original. It's not perfect, but it's listenable and good considering these are actually mixed down tapes

 

[Wish]

Good deal!

 

[4tracker]

From what I can tell, in Cubase it is possible to correct pitch and tempo like this:

If you know the key you recorded the song in, go into "pitch shift", set the "root key", and then reduce pitch by 11 to 12 semi-tones.
Uncheck "time correction"--doing this will reduce the tempo to where it was recorded.
Fine tune it using the "cents" tab.

This is for my situation where I am actually trying to pull songs off a mixed down tape. If it's the original un-mixed recordings the formula could be different. If you don't know what key you originally played the song in that might change things, too.

It won't be perfect, but it's good enough for my situation (trying to preserve old demos).