starting recording with my tascam

E

Ed Wood

New member
Hello to everyone, i'm a musician new to tascam world. I bought on ebay a portastudio 5, and i'd like to start recording some folk solo music with that. I play folk crazy music in Beck style. My equipments are:
Tascam porta 05
Shure sm58......

nothing more

Considering that i want a really lo-fi kind of recording, i don't need crazy equipment, just the essential. I was thinking about a small preamp for the mic...could it be useful?
My recording will basically be all with the mic, from the voice to the acoustic guitar, to some toys and a small bontempi toy keyboard.
After i will pass everything on the computer to clean a bit maybe. I've got an external sound card called creative mp3, with rca input.
What else?
I really hope to have a lot of answers, i need help, i'm just a complete newbie in recordings.

Thaks

Antonio
 
Antonio,

a decent preamp, even small will be very useful...u want lo-fi, but im sure u want dimension..i cant speak for the pres on the porta5, but i would take a wild guess that they're not that good...having a 3D sound can really help you, lo-fi or not...dont go looking for the lo-fi on the preamp, thats not where you wanna cut corners believe me.

for a decent preamp that wont break your bank, get a dmp3 from M-audio..if u go anywhere below that, might as well use the preamps on the portastudio. but that said, this is a great preamp, i own it and like it a lot..its a lot of preamp for 130 bucks or whatever its going for these days..

if u want that "one foot to the grave" sound, make sure u use cheap as hell guitars ;)

i used to love that record..but the only thing i can hear from him now is Mutations..i think its his best ever.

if u're gonna use the cheap guitar method, the 58 can help...its forgiving..i have a 57 and its...well, forgiving might not be the word, but its not brutal fidelity either...if you're using a good guitar, u could score a condenser for cheap that will really enhance your recording (again, lo-fi or not)...it will bring out a richer and more organic sound...check out a MXL 603, small condenser, ideal for acoustic guitar..

if u want a wide sound on the guitar, get a large condenser (Studio Projects B1)...if u want focused and detailed, get the 603.

this will give you a lot to work in terms of sound...the tape will do the rest in terms of lo-fi...but be assured, u want a good sound going into the recorder, thats not where u wanna go looking for lo-fi. ;)
 
First, thank you for the answer.
You exactly found the kind of record i want to play like :) I think i am a bit less lo-fi that "one foot to the grave", considering that between my influences there's Elliott Smith, Nick Drake and Eels. I'll try to find more infos i can(and maybe some good prices on ebay..) about the pre-amp. Actually i saw that the tascam can't really give me boost, the sound is always a bit too low...I've got a Behringer small 5 tracks mixer, maybe that one can work? it's an EURORACK UB502
What about passing everything to the computer after recording? do you know any good and simple program?

Bye!

Antonio
 
Antonio,

you're welcome. one foot to the grave was one of my favourite records for many years...but i grew out of it and traded it for a second hand "Loveless" by My Bloody Valentine and also a used "Velvet Underground with Nico"...as it was in mint condition (one foot to the grave reaches 25 euros here - crazy) i ended up with two records i really really needed, for one i didnt really listen to anymore.

the sound on that record is just pure "joy" lol..u know, beck did that with the K label after he signed with the major...so he's a little extra folk freak there. its all really dirt cheap guitars and probably portastudios ;)

i really like nick drake as well..have all his records and he's a major influence on me too...

if you want the nick drake detailed sound, u should defenetly get a DMP3 and a MXL 603...itll get you there.

lower than the DMP3, dont bother. the beringer mixer..i dunno Antonio, it could be a temporary solution, but i dunno, i would look for something better, its your choice really..u can try to max out the potential on that and see what u get..but if you want that sound for cheap, the DMP3 and a 603 is the way to get it...the DMP3 is also a dual channel pre, wich means u can run two mics at the same time through it...u could mic the guitar with another mic if you wish, at the same time.

good and simple...with recording software these two dont match...i would recomend cool edit pro 2.1.

i really think dumping the tracks from the porta into the computer is the way to go. you'll have tape caracther/lo-fi and all the tracks you want (computer).
 
great Diogo thank you again! I'll try the behringer, but i'm already looking for second hands or cheap dm3 to try them. Here "one foot to the grave" is around 30 €, crazy! i had from a friend, that's luck. I love My Bloody Valentine but i preferer "Isn't anything". Did you ever heard the early ep's, like strawberry wine?

Thank you again, i'll let you know if i find something to boost my recordings :)
Ps. Are you using a portastudio too? any tip?

Antonio
 
30€ is a lot :/ i dont think its worth that! i was happy with what i got in return, but even 23€ is too much for it. i think mutations is a much better record.

the DMP3..its really what you want believe me...if you can swing for something more expensive let me know, and ill sugest other stuff...but this is really the best thing till u get to something like the RNP (really nice preamp), wich will go for something like 500€...lower than the DMP3, dont bother..unless u want something for effect, like an art tube preamp...those can deliver interesting results if u aproach the tube in it as an effect, and not as a real tube preamp, wich is not. still, it wont reach the performance of the dmp3...the dmp3 is really that good..for what it is, excelent. gives you dimension, something that most entry level mixer pres cant deliver. its also very clean..dont let this be a turn off for the lo-fi thing...clean is really what u want when it comes to acoustic guitars..u can colour the sound later (effect unit or just tape saturation).

the condenser mics will also give u a detail u're not used to with the 58..i would recomend at least one MXL 603..they're great..im getting one myself soon.

mbv...im in the process of getting "isnt anything"..but i think loveless is a landmark Antonio..really! notice how things change if u turn up the volume..or vice versa...that album was done before overly compressed madness invaded the world...when u turn up or down, thing actually change, u can hear differently...its a spectacular record. i hate track 3 though lol

i had the early eps, but sold them all...i dont like them one bit i must admit..nor i care about the glider ep for that matter either...i think the two albums are really mbv's WORK/CRAFT, the rest doesnt cut it for me..

im not using portas...i bought one (the 488MKII) but the seller backed out on the deal..im still pissed. im trying to score a 246 if i can ever find another, to mix my stuff down to and warm things up...but for now ill just go digital (either a tascam dp-01 or a yamaha aw16g)..im without a recorder now and need something really fast.

best of luck to you Antonio!

let me know what u find..and dont settle for anything less than a dmp3...if u want more thats different...less is not advisable.
 
i really think i'll get one, with only my mic the volume is sooo low and the quality sooo poor...how can i improve it a bit?
 
ciao Antonio,

its something like this...you're going with a portastudio to make your sound interesting, right? what you want there is tape saturation, and a cleaver use of the EQ section, wich you will figure out just by using it..ive never used a porta so i wouldnt know...but dont overdo stuff...let everything breathe. again, you're going with tape for caracther right? thats the logical reason and my own as well...the natural compression, that feeling that all is blended together...

thats your lo-fi right there..tape saturation..the rest is surrounding your porta with the best equipment possible, acording to your needs and possiblities..i would say that something like a DMP3 is vital to get a decent mic level into the recorder..plus, itll give you a 3D sound you simply cannot get with the pres in the porta. if u go with the condenser mic, you'll also notice how rich, deep and detailed your sound can be! just swing the money for it, these are things that will last u a long time (probably years) before u feel the need to upgrade, plus they're really cheap. if u want quality, the only cheap way to get it is the DMP3..i would then get the MXL 603 for a focused guitar sound, or the Studio Projects B1 for a wider less focused sound.

just get these things and you'll be ok. ;)

in the meantime just use your behringer mixer into the portastudio, it should be better than the pres on the porta.
 
diogo said:
Antonio,



i really think dumping the tracks from the porta into the computer is the way to go. you'll have tape caracther/lo-fi and all the tracks you want (computer).
Click to expand...


I use a 424 mkIII and love the sound of it, but want to 'dump' the tracks into my computer. , but after i made the initial dump, and went back to dump the new batch of tracks to put with the original tracks, i couldnt line them up for the life of me! I could what sounded like a correct line up in the begginning of the song, but by the middle - end parts of the song, the second batch of tracks were noticably off.
how could i do this right??
 
hey Mayte,

i dunno, maybe you could like clock exactly 3 seconds or something before u start playing, and make that a standard, then they should all line up..i guess..i dunno..maybe its best u post a thread about it cause the folks here can certainly help you, but not if by any chance they miss this thread. ;)
 
The only way I know of,...

would be to stripe track 4 with sync-code, and then chase-lock (slave) your 'puter to the 424mkIII's timecode output, as it plays back the (analog) tracks (in the dub-transfer process). That would at least keep the time-slice intervals even as it dubbed from analog to the 'puter, and compensate for any electomechanical speed variations you'd get on each pass of the tape. You'd also have to leave at least one "original" (first-pass) bed-track as a guide track, so all the subsequent overdubs stay in exact sync with the first one, within the confines of the analog environment.

That's based on what I know of the sync capability of the 424mkIII, and I admittedly have not tried this myself. I believe this should work. This is where I'm obliged to say, "YMMV".

Give it a try, & maybe report back on your results, eh?

Thanx.
 
i reply here not to create too many topics...how can i clean my tascam? i mean the cassette deck? water it's ok?
 
Mayte,

i think alchool will do just fine, used moderatly, but dont take my word for it, let someone with actual knowledge confirm it. i would also sugest to use a cloth that doesnt leave any traces behind, dont use cotton. i dunno, just common sense here, as i never used or cleaned one of these things.
 
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