Under the Ashes - Cassette Recording

[ksounds]

Here's my latest recorded on the Tascam 424 mkII cassette recorder. It's kind of an experimental ,science fiction song, spoken word thing that I made out of a poem I wrote about man's quest to leave this earth. It's pretty heavy handed, and I'm not entirely happy with the mix, so please, suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance for taking the time to listen, headphones recommended. The song is "Under the Ashes".

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/defa...&content=music

 

[ksounds]

For whatever reason, that link didn't work...try this one:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=805880&content=music

 

[Greg_L]

I think it sounds pretty damn good for a 4-track cassette recording. I'm not a big fan of this kind of music, but I wasn't wishing it would end either. Not bad.

 

[mellotron]

Cool song. It really reminds me of Grandaddy, especially the mix of acoustic guitar with synth. I think you'd like Chad VanGaalen, if you haven't heard of him already. He does a lot of sci-fi stuff too.

I'm listening on computer speakers, and I agree, it sounds really nice for a four-track cassette recording to me. Did you have to do dolby noise reduction or something? You must have a killer room to record in, because everything sounds really crisp to me.

 

[ksounds]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Cool song. It really reminds me of Grandaddy, especially the mix of acoustic guitar with synth. I think you'd like Chad VanGaalen, if you haven't heard of him already. He does a lot of sci-fi stuff too.

I'm listening on computer speakers, and I agree, it sounds really nice for a four-track cassette recording to me. Did you have to do dolby noise reduction or something? You must have a killer room to record in, because everything sounds really crisp to me.

Mellotron,

Yeah, I use the Dolby NR on the unit. You really need to with all the cassette portastudios as it does help keep things quiet and sounds better in my experience than recording without it. As far as the room I record in, it's not treated acoustically or anything like that. It's a bonus room and there are some angles to it. I only have one microphone available, a Rode NT-3. It's a battery powered, hypercardioid mid size diaphram microphone that does double duty on acoustic and vox. I think it sounds stellar and is perfect for portastudios cause there is no phantom power built in to the units. It does a decent job with noise cancellation as well. I did use an old dbx 163x compressor to tape for everything. Barely have to crack the preamps on the portastudio, which sound good to me in their own right. I also used a Lexicon Alex and an Alesis Midiverb II for the fx. The synth is an alesis micron, which I absolutely love and is the best deal going in the synth market imho.

I'm working on my singing. There are a few pitchy moments on this one, especially with the choruses, but I'm happy enough with it to move on, unless anyone points out anything glaringly wrong with it that I may have overlooked.

Big fan of grandaddy, but have not heard of VanGaalen, will check him out for sure. Thanks for the recommendation and the comments!

 

[Riffmaster]

Nice mellow listen. Kudos on such a good sound on 4 track cassette.

 

[heatmiser]

Kick ass sound quality!...great clarity - nice and crispy, yet smooth and mellow at the same time. The reverb sounds nice too. All hail the dying medium!

I use 8-track cassette and and have a long way to go sonically to get to this sort of sound. Nice goin'.

 

[ido1957]

It pretty clean and has a nice reverb to it. I've just listened to about 10 other tunes on this page and this one sounds a whole lot brighter and punchier. I'd attribute that to the medium and the processors.

BTW - cool tune too.....

 

[ksounds]

It pretty clean and has a nice reverb to it. I've just listened to about 10 other tunes on this page and this one sounds a whole lot brighter and punchier. I'd attribute that to the medium and the processors.

BTW - cool tune too.....

Thanks. I really like the character the Lexicon Alex and Midiverb II have. I think these older effects processors are full of character! Also, for whatever reason, I love rack gear and being able to punch in a patch from a menu list. Could it be the LED lights???? Not sure, but it's great. I highly recommend both units. They are quiet, affordable, and sound great!

As far as recording on 8 track cassette, it might be a bit more difficult to achieve the samefidelity as a 4-track cassette, simply because each track utilizes less space on the tape. Still, I've heard great recordings made on an 8-track cassette recorder.

BTW, I've made it a point never to bounce - in order to maintain fidelity. 4 tracks can be a wonderful thing. It's limitations can be empowering, simply because you have what you have and that's it, stripped down minimal. I'm into minimal these days

 

[rayc]

4 Track CAN rule. Mine is a Yamaha MT100 (in fact I have 2).
VERY nice sound - clean too.
Nice track - the mic does a sterling job as do you in performance.

 

[mellotron]

Thanks for the info. I've been looking to use my Tascam Mini-Studio Porta02, as it's collecting dust at the moment. What model of dolby module did you use? Do you have to spend a lot to get a decent one?

Cool, I have an Alesis Micron too. The only problem is that I get lazy and try to use the sounds that came with it without trying to tweak it.

Yeah, I agree that limiting the tracks is a good thing. I tend to want to be ambitious and add drums when I'm not even good at creating drum patterns. Or add too many instruments and have no idea how to fit them all in an arrangement.

 

[ksounds]

Thanks for the info. I've been looking to use my Tascam Mini-Studio Porta02, as it's collecting dust at the moment. What model of dolby module did you use? Do you have to spend a lot to get a decent one?

The 424 has dbx built into the system. You just engage it via a switch on the back. Not sure yours has that option. If you are serious about getting into cassette recording, I would just hit up ebay and get you a 424 mk I, II, or III in good used condition. They all have noise reduction built in. The 414mk I or II will work as well. You can find any of these models in very good used condition on ebay or craigs list.

Cool, I have an Alesis Micron too. The only problem is that I get lazy and try to use the sounds that came with it without trying to tweak it.

That's all I use are the presets. I think they sound stellar and there are plenty of good ones to choose from (unlike the not so great presets on the microkorg I once had-which all around pales in comparison to the micron imho).However, I do turn the dry/wet mix all the way to dry and use my external effects processors instead of the built-in effects to wetten up the sound.

Thanks for the listening and I hoped this helped.

 

[mellotron]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if mine has dbx built in, probably not. Would I need a mastering recorder?...I'd probably be better off just getting a new model on ebay with dbx built in. Did you get yours on ebay too?

Yeah, for some reason I thought that it was an unspoken rule to tweak the sounds, but I've found it really hard to improve on the sounds that are already there.

 

[superbeatballer]

Amazing! The biggest sound in the mp3 clinic comes from 1/8" tape.

 

[superbeatballer]

Actually, I'm not surprised. Good job.

 

[ksounds]

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if mine has dbx built in, probably not. Would I need a mastering recorder?...I'd probably be better off just getting a new model on ebay with dbx built in. Did you get yours on ebay too?)

The 424 mkII is a mastering recorder. That's all you need, aside from something to mix down to. I mix down to my imac via the 1/8" input jack straight into garage band. And export using the share command. Super easy! And yes, scored mine off of ebay. Just make sure when you are shopping on ebay that you buy from a seller with excellent feedback, and that you look at the condition of the unit via the pictures. If there are plenty of pictures, and the unit looks good, then you have a better chance of ending up with a quality unit. Try and stay away from buying stuff that looks really dusty and dirty. If the seller isn't motivated enough to clean the item, at least moderately, then they probably haven't been motivated enough to properly care for the item. It's a good indication of the condition the item is in-inside and out. That's my rule of thumb anyway. I love ebay. I got all my stuff off ebay, minus the micron and nt-3 which I bought new.

Amazing! The biggest sound in the mp3 clinic comes from 1/8" tape.

Never underestimate the power of cassette Just keep those heads clean and use the best tape you can find. I use maxell ms-60 audio pro studio tape Type II High Bias.

I appreciate the encouraging words everyone! Thanks for taking the time to listen.