Tascam 388 advice (opinions welcome)

[Mr. Honesty]

Let me start by saying i have lurked around this forum for years and i greatly respect many of the people here for their dedication not only to using/maintaining analog equipment, but to music as art form as well.

I recorded a music project (full length album) awhile back that has grown alot larger than i thought it would. The album was done mostly digital and i had to work my ass off using vintage mixers/mics/tricks/etc to get the warmish dark tone that i wanted. Digital was used mostly for ease of use and availability. Plus, i truly believe its the song not the format that matters.

BUT (haha)

I have access to a Tascam 388 if i want it. I did a favor for a friend awhile back and now his 388 is being passed along to me. We are about to start recording for the next record in the next few months.

Ive recorded alot of music on both cassette and 1/2" reel before, but never using a syncable reel such as a 388. I am thinking about trying to use the 388 in tandem with the CPU to get the darkish sound i wanted the first time, but this time i want it to be authentic.

My questions are:

1. What are the potential problems that come from trying to sync a 388 to PC?

2. What workflow options will i have if i use this setup?

Id like to ideally treat the system as a 388 with unlimited tracks and digital editing. But also id like it to be as hassle free as possible even though i know it wont completely be.

Thanks for any help, i know these must seem like total noob questions, but ive never done analog/digital syncing before. Im completely in the dark as to how it works and how the recording process changes under those conditions.

Thanks.

 

[famous beagle]

Let me start by saying i have lurked around this forum for years and i greatly respect many of the people here for their dedication not only to using/maintaining analog equipment, but to music as art form as well.

I recorded a music project (full length album) awhile back that has grown alot larger than i thought it would. The album was done mostly digital and i had to work my ass off using vintage mixers/mics/tricks/etc to get the warmish dark tone that i wanted. Digital was used mostly for ease of use and availability. Plus, i truly believe its the song not the format that matters.

BUT (haha)

I have access to a Tascam 388 if i want it. I did a favor for a friend awhile back and now his 388 is being passed along to me. We are about to start recording for the next record in the next few months.

Ive recorded alot of music on both cassette and 1/2" reel before, but never using a syncable reel such as a 388. I am thinking about trying to use the 388 in tandem with the CPU to get the darkish sound i wanted the first time, but this time i want it to be authentic.

My questions are:

1. What are the potential problems that come from trying to sync a 388 to PC?

2. What workflow options will i have if i use this setup?

Id like to ideally treat the system as a 388 with unlimited tracks and digital editing. But also id like it to be as hassle free as possible even though i know it wont completely be.

Thanks for any help, i know these must seem like total noob questions, but ive never done analog/digital syncing before. Im completely in the dark as to how it works and how the recording process changes under those conditions.

Thanks.

This should work, and, assuming all your equipment is working properly, there shouldn't be too many problems. (Of course, beware of Murphy's Law.)

The first time I tried to sync my Tascam 414 (cassette 4-track) to my CPU, it went off without a hitch. However, I've also had to spend about 10 hours before trying to figure out how to sync a drum machine with my old Yamaha AW16G (stand-alone hard disk recorder), and I would have thought that'd be easy, both being MIDI ready and all that.

The 388 will have to be the master, and the CPU will chase that. Therefore, I don't know if you'll be able to edit with beats/bars as you would when the tempo is set inside the DAW. Of course, you could record the basic tracks (or just the drum tracks) and then set up a tempo map, changing tempo slightly every 4 or 8 bars or something if necessary so that the DAW click tempo would stay in sync throughout the song.

Treating the 388 as unlimited analog tracks with digital editing is a common hybrid method, and it should work fine --- again, assuming Murphy doesn't have it out for you too bad or anything.