What would you guys call lo-fi?

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jedblue

jedblue

beep beep beep beep beep
Do you have it? Do you use it? How do you use it?

I guess I'd call it 'cassette tape based equipment minimalist' - say a four track cassette recorder and a single microphone.

Here's my little Tascam rig, an MF-P01 with a BeyerDynamic M58 omni & a nice pair of JVC headphones. I use for four track only, acoustic instrument, solo cassette projects. Usually type II C12. It's got no eq, just panning and level control only, so what you get from the mike is all you have to work with. I don't bother bouncing with it. Mix down is to an Akai GX-95 cassette deck. Type II with Dolby set to B. There's a bit of hiss but it does all right. Not "lo lo fi" at all.


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This other little rig I'd call ultra lo-fi. It's a Marantz PMD222 mono field recorder, again with the Beyer omni mic on it. 3 x D cell battery or mains powered. I use this for room rehearsal recordings of my various bands, usually to Type I C90. No mixdown on this - what is on it is what you get. Quality depends on the mike placement and the recording level. It's usually ultra lo-fi "lo-fi" as a result. No noise reduction on it.

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What have you got?

Jed
 
It's funny but I also have a TASCAM MF-P01.:D It was a demo, unused tho, at my local music store and I bought it for $50. Cool little unit and easy as heck to operate. The sound is actually not bad but that's what I would call lo-fi.
 
OK, in high school I used an 8-track cartridge recorder (can't remember the brand) with an Akai cassette deck.The 8-track cartridge motor was slow, so everything was out of tune playing back to it. That was a horrible lo-fi experience. In grade school, I once recorded an out of tune acoustic guitar on one of those portable interviewer cassette thingy's.
 
Lo-fi for me means I'm getting a sound I don't like...;)
 
To me, lo-fi and minimalist are not necessarily related. In fact, minimalist can often be of the highest fidelity and realism, partly because of the integrity of the performance which is required by the minimalist process. Fidelity is basically a measure of the linearity of the recording process. Processing and production tend to reduce fidelity.

Cheers,

Otto
 
I'll Slam Dunk Y'all Now!

To me, lofi is... this!:eek:;)
 

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Bite me, Dave...its got a TONE CONTROL. you're not fooling anyone...!

:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
I can get that puppy to really sing with that single Tone control!

..................:eek:;)
 
Ah, yes...

Now we're getting there Dave.... Here we have the Audiotronics 'Classette 152 S'. So hideous that I have been unable to think of any possible audio use for it.

However, apparently it can be syncronized with a spirit duplicator...

Still got that danged tone control though.

:rolleyes:
 

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jedblue said:
Now we're getting there Dave.... Here we have the Audiotronics 'Classette 152 S'. So hideous that I have been unable to think of any possible audio use for it.

However, apparently it can be syncronized with a spirit duplicator...

Still got that danged tone control though.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
:D I wonder how the "sync" works on that thing. It's only one track, so, obviously has no sync track. I thought maybe it could be used for a slide show controller, but, without the second track that won't work. By the way, here's a service manual if you ever need to "fix" it. ;)
http://www.kmr.com/manuals/atc/cassette/152.pdf Oops, that's not the "S" model, so no sync function. Maybe there is a second track on yours, in which case it probably was designed for a slide sync operation. Audiotronics made a bunch of slide show control systems in their day.
 
Hey jedblue, I don't think I could put your equipment in the Lo-Fi category for the simple reason you have great sounding recordings. I can tell it's analog and love it. I think I would agree with Blue Jinn on the ol' 8 track tape thing. The sound was less then desirable.
 
I have two Sony TCM-929 tabletop cassette recorders that I manage to hook up to a little Behringer UB802 mixer to do lofi "sound-on-sound" recordings. That's about as lofi as one can get. I can really only get a couple of passes before it becomes unbearable, but through trial and error with the volume levels, it has an interesting sound.

Why I do this is a small mystery since I own a Tascam Porta 02 for basic stuff and a Tascam DP-01FX for the special stuff. I guess for me it's just a cool exercise for me to try things like this with the most crude of the crude methods, just to see if it will work, basically. It's a complete throwback to the way I used to record before I'd heard of proper multitracking. And I think it keeps me from getting too lazy with better equipment.
 
Oh YEEAAAHHHH!!! :cool:

We've got one like that, Tim, only the case on your is WAY cooler...you can get some awsome feedback effects with the little mic.

My five year old was in the habit of making routine announcements with it in the house for awhile.

I was listening to some U2 on it the other day.
 
You know when I was a teen my first guitar overdrive device was a Panasonic cassette recorder. I discovered it by accident. I DI’d my guitar into the recorder to record something and I plugged the headphone out into my guitar amp. The automatic level circuit in the cassette recorder acted like a compressor and with the amp created the sweetest overdrive and sustain you ever heard. I wish I still had it. I was listening to some old tapes not too long ago and man there is no other way I’ve found to get that sound.

It was a Panasonic slim-line of some kind. I had an Epiphone Les Paul and a Roland keyboard amp. It was a combination I've never been able to replicate... one of those happy accidents that we mad scientist musical geniuses stumble upon now and then in the laboratory. :)
 
I used to have a working wire recorder. From what I recall that would qualify.
 
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