Sennheiser
New member
I used to do that too. Now I just play the hell out of it until it stays tuned. Don't even ask me about my Hamer.
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Pepper249
New member
Embarrased
I'm really embarrased about that darn huge pic..but thanks for the compliment....LOL!
OK -- back to the taping...I got the drum beat on track 1 and i got the guitar on track 2 (after having to play it so many times my fingers hurt) but now i think i am gonna run out of tracks...i know there is an answer in all this paperwork somewhere....i have 2 tracks left (that i know of for sure) -- one i need for vocals and another i need for harmonies but where am i gonna get one for one or 2 more guitars? I am hoping -- but not really sure -- can i plug a guitar directly into the back of the machine and tape it on track one yet keep the drum beat on track one as well? and can I do the same thing with track 2? plug another guitar in there and record along with the guitar that i already recorded on track 2? I guess my main question is can i double record a few tracks?
I'm really embarrased about that darn huge pic..but thanks for the compliment....LOL!
OK -- back to the taping...I got the drum beat on track 1 and i got the guitar on track 2 (after having to play it so many times my fingers hurt) but now i think i am gonna run out of tracks...i know there is an answer in all this paperwork somewhere....i have 2 tracks left (that i know of for sure) -- one i need for vocals and another i need for harmonies but where am i gonna get one for one or 2 more guitars? I am hoping -- but not really sure -- can i plug a guitar directly into the back of the machine and tape it on track one yet keep the drum beat on track one as well? and can I do the same thing with track 2? plug another guitar in there and record along with the guitar that i already recorded on track 2? I guess my main question is can i double record a few tracks?
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Axe4Yahweh
New member
One thing I haven't seen posted in this thread is the position of the Pan controls while recording on a Tascam 414 (or 424 for that matter) If they are not set properly, you will have bleedover from one track to the other. I had to learn it the hard way.
Your Pan Controls MUST be set left/right and right/left on Tracks 1-4 when recording and stay that way until you start the Stereo Mixdown process where you put them where you want them in that stereo picture in your mind.
I still have my lil 414 MKII and use it even though I'm slowly building up my PC DAW. It's a great lil machine and it's capable of making some decent recordings.
CR ><>
Your Pan Controls MUST be set left/right and right/left on Tracks 1-4 when recording and stay that way until you start the Stereo Mixdown process where you put them where you want them in that stereo picture in your mind.
I still have my lil 414 MKII and use it even though I'm slowly building up my PC DAW. It's a great lil machine and it's capable of making some decent recordings.
CR ><>
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bbbkeys
New member
Pepper249 said:
Patti, I also was in your shoes with the 414 and when after a while, everything falls into place. It all may seem like greek to you now, but with the correct instruction, you will be amazed as to how easy it really is. You said in your original post that the Tascam 414 manual was of no help. I actually found it to help a lot. I did learn from it. The problem is that the TASCAM management really needs to hire some professional writers. LOL
If you permit me to give you some detailed experience in this one thread I will. What I like doing with the 414 and what I find to be the most important thing to do is make your orignal recording stereo with it. By now, I assume that with all the helpful posts above mine that you have a lot more experience with the 414 than you did when you first created this thread. Here Goes:
Get the original tracks stereo - 3 easy steps with the 414
If you purchase a stereo Y cable from your local music supply store, it is only $5 and will do a world of wonders for your 414. You plug the single end into your mic or musicial instrument and each end of the Y cable into tracks 1 and 2 of your 414. Then, when you record your tracks, turn the track one Pan knob all the way to hard left and track 2 Pan knob to hard right.
Move the record function switch to L for track 1 and R for track 2.
Finally, you want your levels slightly different for tracks 1 and 2 and you will have a smooth stereo recording and one that sounds nice and 3D. When I say levels, I mean the faders and the EQ High and EQ Low knobs. Make track 1 volume a little lower or louder than track 2 by keeping the faders a slightly different altitudes. Also, make the EQ highs slightly different or the EQ Lows, but not both.
Effects
The Tascam 414 really has no effects of its own. You need to use an external effects unit. Like it was mentioned above several times, reverb is the first effect that comes to people's minds because it is so easy to understand and sounds pretty professional. However, don't dismiss the other effect goodies like chorus, flange, plates, stereo, delays. You really need to purchase or use another effects unit and plug it into the Effects Send 1 and adjust the Effects Send 1 knob for whatever track you want it for. You then need to adjust the Channels 5-6 knob. You can find some really good used effects devices cheap on ebay or if you want a brand new one, you can get the, pretty cheap for under $150. Even cheap effects can sound good if you use the right levels on them. I find that any reverb is better than a plain dry signal.
Friendly warning
Using 4 tracks with 3 instruments and a vocal track may sound like a good idea at the time since you get four good tracks, but you will end up with a mono recording. Using 4 tracks leaves no room for stereo and mono is like a pan all in the middle and can sound pretty flat. I suggest you read the section on bouncing tracks where you can combine tracks 1 and 2 onto track 3 or any combination of tracks. Bounce only once for source track, because after a while, you start hearing unwanted hissing and we all know how nice that sounds. LOL
Well, Patti, I hope this helps in addition to the great people above here.
Bruce Chambers
http://www.songwriterstreet.com
http://www.brucemusic.com
Free MP3s at http://www.javamusic.com/brucechambers
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Pepper249
New member
THANKS BRUCE!
It is so nice to have you response, Bruce -- cause today since everyone is going back to work i can have some time and silence to work on this more...I am getting better with the tascam but certainly did not know i was not getting stereo -- but now that you mentioned it I realize it. Everything sounds flat....now i know why....i'm gonna try everything your way and i appreciate you sharing your experince with me...Thanks, Bruce and everyone else, too! Patti
It is so nice to have you response, Bruce -- cause today since everyone is going back to work i can have some time and silence to work on this more...I am getting better with the tascam but certainly did not know i was not getting stereo -- but now that you mentioned it I realize it. Everything sounds flat....now i know why....i'm gonna try everything your way and i appreciate you sharing your experince with me...Thanks, Bruce and everyone else, too! Patti
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Pepper249
New member
MORE QUESTIONS
I have a Peavy amp here with reverb -- can I use that to make the vocals less flat? Where do I plug it in? And do I sing at the same time its pulgged in or is this something i use at mixdown?
And mixdown -- whats suggestions do you have as a source for mixdown? I used a boom box and its ok -- but would like it to be better... i think i would really like something that mixes directly on to a cd... got any suggestions? I tried to use one of my computers but I could not figure it out and probably did not have the right connections or any softwear that could change it from analog to digital.
I have that Y cable cause thats what my friend used to get something into my computer from the tascam -- but now I can not figure it out and even if I did figure it out i think the little sound recorder softwear that comes with windows xp only allows 60 seconds. Thanks again for all your help! .. Patti
I have a Peavy amp here with reverb -- can I use that to make the vocals less flat? Where do I plug it in? And do I sing at the same time its pulgged in or is this something i use at mixdown?
And mixdown -- whats suggestions do you have as a source for mixdown? I used a boom box and its ok -- but would like it to be better... i think i would really like something that mixes directly on to a cd... got any suggestions? I tried to use one of my computers but I could not figure it out and probably did not have the right connections or any softwear that could change it from analog to digital.
I have that Y cable cause thats what my friend used to get something into my computer from the tascam -- but now I can not figure it out and even if I did figure it out i think the little sound recorder softwear that comes with windows xp only allows 60 seconds. Thanks again for all your help! .. Patti
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bbbkeys
New member
Re: THANKS BRUCE!
You're welcome, I am on vacation until Monday. Took the week of Christmas off all the way to Jan 6. It is nice. Didn't go on vacation, but staying home with my wife and getting things done that I normally don't when I go to work is nice. I also worked on my web design business.
I am glad I helped you realize that your recordings were mono. The key thing to remember is that stereo requires two tracks. This actually makes the 414 very limited since you can only get 2 stereo tracks (4 divided by 2). However, you can probably get 3 tracks if you want it, by using one stereo track with 2 monos. Usually a guitar or piano sounds much better stereo. You can probably record your vocals mono as you could leave the Pan knob in the middle and put the record function switch using 3 or 4 instead of L or R. Keep in mind that the record function switch should be at L and R for your two stereo tracks and not 1 and 2. Bouncing is not a good idea on the 414 since you are limited with tracks. An eight track is better for bouncing.
As for your question of your friend (which I forgot to answer), recording to CD, that menas nothing to stereo. CDs can be mono too.
Pepper249 said:
You're welcome, I am on vacation until Monday. Took the week of Christmas off all the way to Jan 6. It is nice. Didn't go on vacation, but staying home with my wife and getting things done that I normally don't when I go to work is nice. I also worked on my web design business.
I am glad I helped you realize that your recordings were mono. The key thing to remember is that stereo requires two tracks. This actually makes the 414 very limited since you can only get 2 stereo tracks (4 divided by 2). However, you can probably get 3 tracks if you want it, by using one stereo track with 2 monos. Usually a guitar or piano sounds much better stereo. You can probably record your vocals mono as you could leave the Pan knob in the middle and put the record function switch using 3 or 4 instead of L or R. Keep in mind that the record function switch should be at L and R for your two stereo tracks and not 1 and 2. Bouncing is not a good idea on the 414 since you are limited with tracks. An eight track is better for bouncing.
As for your question of your friend (which I forgot to answer), recording to CD, that menas nothing to stereo. CDs can be mono too.
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bbbkeys
New member
Re: MORE QUESTIONS
Yuck, Patti! Don't use anything that comes free with any version of Windows. Remember, Bill Gates is the CEO of Microsoft, but he probably knows nothing about recording music. LOL.
As for your Peavy amp with the reverb: I don't see how you can use the reverb from the amp at mixdown. Effects devices work well for that, but I guess you can try it. Try this: At mixdown, trying hooking a 1/4" cable from the Effects 1 Send cable on the 414 to the input of the amp and then another cable from the output of the amp (if you have one) to the Stereo Input 5 & 6 on the 414. Then, adjust the Effects 1 Send knob with the appropriate track. It just may work. If not, then you need an effects device. Keep the amp turned down and experiment with all the levels.
As far as a source for mixing down, I guess a boom box could work, but I use my Sony tape deck. I think some mix down sources may throw some of its own system hiss into the mix. So, you have to experiment. Using a mixdown source with Dolby might help out with hissing problems.
I mix down to my Tascam CDRW 5000 CD burner and it works really well.
If you have a CD burner on your PC, then that may be all your need. Acid, EMagic and Cakewalk are all good choices for recording software for the PC. Cakewalk is a little expensive but has a good reputation. I use a really cheap program and it works well for me. I use Magix Audio Studio and MIDI studio and it is no more than $50 in the computer store. I think it works really well and gives you lots of great EQ, 24 tracks, stereo tracks with linking between the stereo tracks, where you can move one fader and they both move. Also, you can solo and mute tracks and it has good built in effects for reverb, delay, etc. For $50 you cannot go wrong. Go to the MAGIX home page at magix.com for more info on the software.
And for your question of how to do it on the computer:
When you record to your 414, put the Pitch Control wheel all the way up to its highest position at hard right. It will move faster and unfortunately use up more of the cassette, but the hissing will be much lower. Also, use only high bias or Type 2 tapes like TDKs or Maxells. I think Memorex sucks for recording.
Then, on your 414 I think it is safe to hook up a stereo cable from the Phones jack to the 1/8 jack on the sound card of your PC. Make sure both ends are stereo with the 2 black rings around the metal end of it. If your cable has 1 black ring around it, go out and get buy a stereo cable. Radio Shack has all that stuff for under $10. You may have to buy some adapters to switch around on the end.
After you do all this, you can do some nice hard disk recording on your computer and make it all digital without any hiss and in stereo. You need a nice sized hard drive, approximately, 400 megabytes for each song you produce on the computer.
Bruce
Pepper249 said:
Yuck, Patti!
Don't use anything that comes free with any version of Windows. Remember, Bill Gates is the CEO of Microsoft, but he probably knows nothing about recording music. LOL. As for your Peavy amp with the reverb: I don't see how you can use the reverb from the amp at mixdown. Effects devices work well for that, but I guess you can try it. Try this: At mixdown, trying hooking a 1/4" cable from the Effects 1 Send cable on the 414 to the input of the amp and then another cable from the output of the amp (if you have one) to the Stereo Input 5 & 6 on the 414. Then, adjust the Effects 1 Send knob with the appropriate track. It just may work. If not, then you need an effects device. Keep the amp turned down and experiment with all the levels.
As far as a source for mixing down, I guess a boom box could work, but I use my Sony tape deck. I think some mix down sources may throw some of its own system hiss into the mix. So, you have to experiment. Using a mixdown source with Dolby might help out with hissing problems.
I mix down to my Tascam CDRW 5000 CD burner and it works really well.
If you have a CD burner on your PC, then that may be all your need. Acid, EMagic and Cakewalk are all good choices for recording software for the PC. Cakewalk is a little expensive but has a good reputation. I use a really cheap program and it works well for me. I use Magix Audio Studio and MIDI studio and it is no more than $50 in the computer store. I think it works really well and gives you lots of great EQ, 24 tracks, stereo tracks with linking between the stereo tracks, where you can move one fader and they both move. Also, you can solo and mute tracks and it has good built in effects for reverb, delay, etc. For $50 you cannot go wrong. Go to the MAGIX home page at magix.com for more info on the software.
And for your question of how to do it on the computer:
When you record to your 414, put the Pitch Control wheel all the way up to its highest position at hard right. It will move faster and unfortunately use up more of the cassette, but the hissing will be much lower. Also, use only high bias or Type 2 tapes like TDKs or Maxells. I think Memorex sucks for recording.
Then, on your 414 I think it is safe to hook up a stereo cable from the Phones jack to the 1/8 jack on the sound card of your PC. Make sure both ends are stereo with the 2 black rings around the metal end of it. If your cable has 1 black ring around it, go out and get buy a stereo cable. Radio Shack has all that stuff for under $10. You may have to buy some adapters to switch around on the end.
After you do all this, you can do some nice hard disk recording on your computer and make it all digital without any hiss and in stereo. You need a nice sized hard drive, approximately, 400 megabytes for each song you produce on the computer.
Bruce