what do you track on your 2488, vocals? instruments?

[CoolCat]

Tracking,Mixing,Mastering

yeah wearing out patience... alias song burn out.
like the DJ said " i loved Stairway to Heaven....the first 1000 times!!!"
(and this song ain't near that.)

yeah i was comparing some mixes, tried some JBL Control 5's i picked up/trade..great deal..their in great sound shape...strange box.

anyway of a few mixes, one of 'em just stood out.... took first place you could say. but there was a couple sour notes on that cut...and the other takes seemed to be losing the "groove", slowing down..whatever...

I think it's time to learn this Editing function, this could fix it...and I don't have the original takes anymore!

its fun, don't get me wrong appreciate all your inputs... i think its time for a new tune.

 

[BMWerks]

I hear ya Cool. Song burn-out. True, it hapens to every great composer, songwriter, engineer, producer, instrumentalist, and painter. PAINTER? you ask? Yup. Painters too get burnt out from working the same canvas for too long without breaking away some times.

I loved when they asked Pablo Piccaso what his favorite painting that he did was; "the next one".

 

[CoolCat]

B's Mixing school for the Frustrated

love the Pablo quote.

yeah i started a new tune and will be ready to start recording again, as soon as it's there.

if you've seen, i ran across some JBL control 5's for a trade.
i got them really,really cheap. trying to sell them and get some extra $.
but they're not selling...i'm not out any money anyway.
i got em around a 1/5th of what they cost new...and they play nice.

but as you've shown, the skills and performance take precedence.

but being a gearhead..its fun plugging in new equipment, but i have yet to see my "monitor" making as big of a change as did going from headphones to monitors, if you know wht i'm sayin. for example.

my mixing is still falling apart.... i got lucky on one mix, didn't take notes, ran out the door and haven't been able to duplicate it since....
yeah its frustrating but fun!

 

[BMWerks]

B's mixing school for the deaf.

I've been having fun tracking and mixing since 1962. When it stops being fun, I put it aside.. I think that's the difference between a hobbyist and a true professional. When the playing becomes work, the hobbyist leaves it alone. But the true professional doesn't stop when the playing becomes work. He/she continues to be challenged by the "problems" encountered, solves them and searches for more. (Challenges) I guess I sometimes fit the second category too. Because recording and mixing isn't my sole means of income, I would have to consider myself a hobbyist.

 

[CoolCat]

i get it...the headphones sitting "idle". thats heavy.

potential not being used... or does it imply, the eng is taking a break?

wait..maybe it means nothing and that the photographer accidently snapped a shot with the camera pointed down..???hmmm

Paul McCartney is DEAD rumor is tied in somewhere here. see NO ONE is left to put on the headphones....??? am i close B? whats the meaning to the picture?


I'm stilling goofing around.
Control 5's and running errands, a fhkng errand boy in short..geez.

I'm thinking of taking a bit of a break away is good,
you told me that..about "prying you off the mixer"..hehee
but yeah, if there isn't a timeline demand, slothism can set in....

but in the end, the goal is to enjoy or make someone enjoy or make some money...some money to buy headphones so you can't hear anyone bitching at you? doh!


i don't have new questions as i ain't done sht in several days as far as Mixing.

MIXING .... this is the goal. How to learn basic mixing foundation skills that can be applied to every frkn tune.... the fancy creative sht will follow?

 

[BMWerks]

I made an appointment to use them.

Tooo freakin funny man!!!

Didn't really intend it to be heavy. But, now that you mentioned it? Na. It had no meaning except that they're a thing of beauty.

I wonder now, if they told me I could only use my 2487 and keyboards and all for one hour every night and only up to 8 hours on the week ends, I would work the gear like a child works an ice cream cone.

Or, what if I were in jail and all I had was a harmonica?

Send me a picture of your brain. But take it out of the frying pan first. Yursofunny

Why did McCartney cross Abby Road? To get to his headset on the other side in his bare feet!

I think they're very sexy. (the head phones) I love my AKG K-240 56om Studios. Very very important part of my studio gear. Especially at around 1 or 2:00AM.

"i don't have new questions as i ain't done sht in several days as far as Mixing." Ahhh! Now I see the connection. Yur feelin guilty, the empty head phones, etc.. (just kidding Cool)

You've been working hard at your projects I know. You really do deserve a good break. You might be right. Maybe in some sublimital way I was trying to tell you something. Hmmmm.

I've been doing a lot of backups and restoration myself (the last 4 days) for a project for a music library out there in Valley Village, CA. Remixing, editing and remastering for 10, 30 second and 3 minute spots. My 2487 is holding out, burnning lots of CDs and keeping it busy in general.

 

[CoolCat]

well, been mucking about.

Mixing 101 still in progress. I think I'm still high from the Tracking and want to stay in the buzz for awhile.

What would you do, next step/procedure, after getting a good tracking job down?


yeah, i get the ice cream cone analogy... we'd be all over the 2487.

 

[BMWerks]

What would you do, next step/procedure, after getting a good tracking job down?

Stay in the buzz for a while.


Then get your but to work on the "performance" of the master mix.

May the pan pot Gods be with you!

 

[CoolCat]

2488 what would you do?

i'm buzzin....

its been a vacation from the hobby hole. Moved some acoustic foam, got turned down for selling these JBL Control 5's, been peddling a kids drumset, been a peddler of junk basicaly...

did fill up one of the partitions on the 2488 tho! a first for me.
had to copy the tune using partition 2...
time to back-up and get organized.
i don't know what to do...i think back ups are cool but, seems its easy never to get back to an old take, usually just move on.

ran into a goathead retailer, he started babbling about mixing, you could tell he had no clue what he's talkin about....why is it so hard for some to say "i have no fhkng idea either?"..instead of babbling a bunch of bllsht that no one buys, really...

i had cheese and spam for lunch.

 

[BMWerks]

"hobby hole"????????????????????????????????????????

HAAAAAAAA HAAAAAA HHHHHHAAAAAAAA

AAAAA!
"i'm buzzin...."

Yeh, I bet.

What kind of cheeze? Wish I had some.

Found a way to upload my music to the web for free without having a web page or site. A?

 

[CoolCat]

i still haven't gotten there yet, to the internet thing. thats great B!

i've been listening alot more to the computer- Indie's or whtever they are, more so than my old CD's for a change.
some really great stuff out there. i would imagine the PR's do the same.
this new listening material brings to mind how the performance is more important than the pristine-sonically mixed/master...imo.
of course sonic bliss and the groove is the best of course.

i think i'm done peddling gear for awhile. have a new old-JBL monitor set and picked up some brand new AKG 271 headphones tonight. had some old stuff laying around rotting...so i put it to use in trades instead of cobwebs.
would have liked the cash, but no one was buying.

I think i decided to learn how to Edit next, before the mixing.
i want that permanent smile you mentioned...cut a couple sour noises, instead of starting from scratch...keep it fresh is the goal. or maybe this is part of mixing?

so B ...did you ever have to splice Tape? how the hell did the engineers do that, without having bleeps and skips?? i don't get it, unless it was as hard as i imagine it to be!

 

[BMWerks]

Rock the tape.

All the above is true man.

You monitored the tape, watched the VU meters, listened carefully to where the sound was, rocked the tape back and forth till you got on the precise position. That was the first step. Must I go on? I have to get up for work in the morning.

Depending on how much you did it, (how good you were at it) you could get where you couldn't notice the difference when played back at normal speed.

They've made editing on the 2487 much the same. You can "rock" the jog/data wheel back and forth and see the sound waves on screen to determine where to make your cuts, stops and starts. Only much more precise, quicker and error free. More fun too.

I have some info for you. Send me a PEM so I can get your EMA and I'll send it to you. Check your PMs.

 

[CoolCat]

2488 Mixing with the B

I kept getting error messages like, writing process incomplete, please shut down, retry, etc...QUOTE]

it was mentioned on the Tascam 2488 forum, one member was offering to give up his working-disc as he didn't need it anymore. I'd like to get a known good disc to do the upgrade. I'm at 1.01 and ready for 1.02. maybe this would work??


Mixing -
After listening to your songs on the internet charts, I then wanted to revist some takes.
Your recordings were immaculate. Loud, clean, groovin'....mixed very nice.
did you have these mastered or are they right off the 2488??
sounded really good.
Keep the tunes goin'....or uploading? or downloading?

anyway..i used the 2488 "demo track" tonight to do some listening and then thought!! hey?!
the panning & eq settings for the demo is on the 2488 to check out!!

it was there..they used for example: Track 6-13 for drums alone!
track 5= bass Pan=Center etc.. mixing 101. interesting. EQ settings too.
of course it sounds excellent sonically.

think i'll go back and record a simple 4pc. and learn to mix this instead of going for 24tracks Mix right off the bat...it should be a snap to Track!! Mono, clean, oh yeah...confidence is much better in this place.

Mix a good 4 track...kinda learn to walk again before you run mentality?

drum kit, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vox...some percusions..
ok..ok..... 6-8 tracks thats it tho....

 

[CoolCat]

2488 Mixing bablleen

been playing mixing engineer 101.... i think its the bass tracks mucking it up.
acoustic..ok, add, piano ok, alittle drum stuff and percussion ok....

manual bass.., try a second bass off the Boss DR-5...sounds ok alone but not in the mix.??? started playing guitar and having fun...and 6 f*&^n hours flew by!! daaang.

"When your enthusiasm outweighs your patients, you get frustration.

When your patients outweighs your enthusiasm you get lazy.

Think; Yin Yang. Balance in everything. However, let not mediocrity take over balance."

something to say for staying focused.. i read sometime ago one of the worst songwriting habits is to start having unfinished crap laying all over in your head.... finish it. move on.

another topic 2488:
have you started using the other HD partition???
i filled up partition 1 and had to start on partition 2!!
go to song, disc or some sht....

also tried the digital in... go to mixer, preferences..turn the knob for SPDIF input ...pretty simple. ( i didn't hear any difference coming in digitally versus the Standard inputs...but fiber optics the future).

?? Do you do anything on the computer post- 2487, normalize, edit, limit??
your stuff sounded really good on the volume, placement was great- nothing stepping on each other....

your band was pretty good at getting out of each others way... listened to it several times.

 

[BMWerks]

Grasshopper on the Internet Charts!

"something to say for staying focused.. i read sometime ago one of the worst songwriting habits is to start having unfinished crap laying all over in your head.... finish it. move on."

Such execellant advise. Wish It was me who said it. But, I see grasshopper, you've absorbed many of the really important things I've shared with you. And, that pleases the fader gods!

But really, thanks Cool. And I can't wait to listen to your work on the "internet charts".

Yeah, the boys over at the lab think my stuff is too clean. Fake sounding. Too MIDIed. I have to go back in and "muddy-up" some drums and some other parts to make the stuff sound more real like. It's ironic that I've spent all my recording years to produce nice, clean, clear sounding instruments only to have to go back in and muddy-up stuff for "realism" sake. F^%#@$ng sucks man.

I don't do any further post 2487 on computer stuff. After the premaster gets recorded and becomes the master, stick a fork in it. It's done. Unless of course, I need to do some additional tracking or editing. Then I'll restore the backup CD to the 2487 and go for it there. I tried to USB patch to my PC but nothing on either unit came up to read. Don't even know about that. I wanted to transfer the finished master in the 2487's library of stored songs to my PC. Nothing ever came up on the monitor. Until iI find a way to do it, I'll be running a burnt master CD into the PC and uploading that way.

All this crap isn't making me any money but it feeds the hobbist in me.

"it was mentioned on the Tascam 2488 forum, one member was offering to give up his working-disc as he didn't need it anymore. I'd like to get a known good disc to do the upgrade. I'm at 1.01 and ready for 1.02. maybe this would work??"

I'm still in the original. I'd like to have the 1.01 disk. I don't know why though.

I think I used up a portion on the 2487 because once while I was tracking this real neat sequencing program I created, it just stopped. No message. Just wouldn't "play" when I pressed "play". scared the shit out of me. thought I fked it up somehow. So, I did the old backup your files thing, deleted about 4 or 5 songs, went back to the tracking session and everything was fine after that. I guess I must have filled the partition. But, I can get 12 to 15 songs on until it overflows.

 

[CoolCat]

spot the looney

Yeah, the boys over at the lab think my stuff is too clean. Fake sounding. Too MIDIed. I have to go back in and "muddy-up" some drums and some other parts to make the stuff sound more real like. It's ironic that I've spent all my recording years to produce nice, clean, clear sounding instruments only to have to go back in and muddy-up stuff for "realism" sake. F^%#@$ng sucks man.

you could like cough or laugh in the back ground... muddy it up thats funny...
the placement was great... but thats funny, it isn't but the bizarness of it is!... muddy it up...
add a "tape hiss generator" effect to it...or maybe a poping/crackle intro like a record player?? just joking..

I don't do any further post 2487 on computer stuff. After the premaster gets recorded and becomes the master, stick a fork in it. It's done.

damn... i guessed wrong, thats really impressive ..how the hell did you get the volume like that it sounded store bought?? geez...mine sounds like mud, maybe i'll someday get those tracks to you, you can cut paste some mud into your tunes. i also have plenty of sour vocal notes too... you can have some for your mixes.!!!

So, I did the old backup your files thing, deleted about 4 or 5 songs, went back to the tracking session and everything was fine after that. I guess I must have filled the partition. But, I can get 12 to 15 songs on until it overflows.
i just found out you go to another partition, like 3 hard drives...
i'm on 2 starting to fill it up...1 is full.

gone troppo

 

[BMWerks]

The kitchen?

"i just found out you go to another partition,"Like go into the bathroom. Right?

Can you burn one CD with some songs from partition #1 and some from partition #2, and combine songs from 3 three partitions to go on one CD?



Geeeeze! where'd you get all those great suggestion from. I'll enter them in to the "WEB CHARTS" forum! Maybe someone else is having the same "Problem" I'm having. These aren't "Trade secrets" are they?

 

[A Reel Person]

"Gone Troppo",...

as well as being the name of a George Harrison album, I've heard is British slang for "gone crazy". Going-nutzo, etc.

Although I don't own one (yet), I firmly believe that all the menu driven gimmickry of the 2488 would have me "gone troppo", in a short time.

 

[BMWerks]

Nutzoh Indeed.

It's a crazy kind of nutz though, cuz every discovery I make on the 2487, the closer I get to the fader gods! ...... ........ ?

 

[CoolCat]

the fader gods.

i think their pissed at me for filling up partition one with crap.
then instead of back-up and deletes, i started filling up partition 2!!

serious, is it ok to fill up 2 & 3?
i don't want to write over some machine code language and have the unit shut down...or Display a tiny little pop-up "YOUR FUCKED YOU OVERWROTE PARTITION 3!!"??!!

oh well. I finished some DIY stands. my wife came out and saw me..she said "hey those look like toilet flanges?"

thats when i thought..ok, i'll have to paint these fhkng things... geez.

B your stuff sounded mastered or good-kinda loud? whats the secret?
no Alessis Masterlink or pc Mastering run??

damn i'm liking this 2488 better and better....it has the potential to do that sht!! thats a good feeling in my book, to have the hinderence on the skills and not the equipment. skills and practice is free and fun!