Wow im such a n00b!

[oldskooldave]

I Need some advice, I just spent..an amount worth hiding from your partner on a fostex Reel to Reel tape recorder, 16 track.

Unfortunately I know nothing about reel to reel recording, Ive put all the wires in, all 16 inputs and 16 outputs, to be fair im waiting for my mixer to arrive and can't do anything yet, but I need to know which way the tapes go, as stupid as that sounds, obviously there are 2 reels one full one empty, at the moment ive got Empty on left and full on right...is this correct? for recording???

Im going to finish soundproofing my garage *how cliche* ive built a 'control room' with a window, all the wires will run under this fake wall its gonna be basically:

Computer connected to the internet - Tape outputs to this and recorded tracks will be recorded as a single WAV track onto...well cubase at the moment, unless anybody knows a better program for simply converting files and uploading them.

Reel to Reel - FOSTEX B16 - input by 12 track mixer - Behringer Xenyx 1202, then obviously input to the computer afterwards, Im going to do all live recordings, so Im buying a few things here and there, mostly building little mdf screens and coating them in soundproofing tiles.

Currently using an oktava mk319 for vocals, need a few more condensers for drums: any advice? and a couple dynamics for guitars, im thinking sm57 it has to be, also wanted to use a condenser or ribbon for bass amp: any advice? also just direct input for keyboard..IS THIS FOOLISH>!>!>???


Beyerdynamic DT100 headphones for general isolation purposes, and I need to know the best mid range monitor speakers. Im not rich, I work a crap job and its gonna take me like...7 or 8 months to put this all together.

Im very exited.

But yeah..how do I load the tapes?

 

[Dogbreath]

DaveDude

I'm goin back a few years here but I'm pretty sure the empty reel goes on the right. As a side note, I used to use a R to R and I "discovered" that the tape will record on both sides. One won't sound as good. Just look at the tape. You'll see.

Haven't looked yours up but I'm assuming it has a "tape speed" switch. For crap work, I'd set it to slow and not care about all the added noise. For stuff I wanted to keep or work with, I set the speed to it's fastest. Ya go thru more tape but your recordings will sound better, less noise and hiss.

As to the keys and bass guitar....I go direct on both of em. They sound good.

Some of the other stuff you mentioned...
I dunno.
But there's been quite a few threads that have dealt with this stuff, like mics for drums and guitar cabs, and I think you'll find what you're lookin for.

Peace-n-shit.

 

[M1Fanatic]

I don't think the Behringer mixer is going to cut it for a 16 track machine. You might want to re-think your mixer choice.

You will have no direct outs, and not even an insert to pull the signal from the board to the machine. Not to mention getting it back into the mixer even if you had the outs to work with.

 

[Moseph]

I Need some advice, I just spent..an amount worth hiding from your partner on a fostex Reel to Reel tape recorder, 16 track.

Unfortunately I know nothing about reel to reel recording, Ive put all the wires in, all 16 inputs and 16 outputs, to be fair im waiting for my mixer to arrive and can't do anything yet, but I need to know which way the tapes go, as stupid as that sounds, obviously there are 2 reels one full one empty, at the moment ive got Empty on left and full on right...is this correct? for recording???

...

But yeah..how do I load the tapes?

Well, it depends. On a brand-new, blank tape, you load on the left (the "supply" reel) and normal playback will cause it to spool onto the right (the "take-up" reel).

A little bit of knowledge is required for tapes that aren't brand new. Once you record onto the tapes, you have some options for storage. Basically, there are two ways to store your tape.

The first is to take the now-full take-up reel and place it in a box and back on the shelf. This is called "Tail Out" because the "tail" of the tape is on the outside of the spool. However, if you were to try to drop this onto the supply side next time, you'll find that the audio will play backwards. That's because you're feeding from the outside to the inside, and in tail out, that means you're starting at the end and heading toward the beginning.

The second way to store the tape is the opposite, "tail in." Once you've finished recording, you would then rewind the tape back onto the supply reel, and then store THAT reel spooled as is. This makes the reel ready for playback because it's spooled such that it will unwind from start to finish.

Why make the distinction? Well, it has to do with storage. Tape is a fragile and ferric medium, so the data thereon is both fragile and susceptible to mild magnetic fields. Generally speaking, the last little bits of the reel (the tail) will not contain important data, so there is an additional bit of safety precaution in storing tapes tail out. Should the loose end of the tape be a little bit crinkled, bent or otherwise damaged during handling, it's less of a big deal if you're only affecting empty inches of tape, as opposed to the first notes of your first recordings. I'm pretty new to tape myself, but I've generally seen tail out storage more commonly than tail in storage in my limited experience.

However, in either event, it's probably smart to label your tapes as "tail in" or "tail out" on the reel, regardless of which you actually choose for storage. That way you can quickly determine if you need to rewind for playback, and if somebody else ever picks up the tape, they'll also know right away.


EDIT: This link also has some good beginner info, though some of it is pretty specific to the facilities it was written for:

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/equipment/analog_recorders/Analog_Recorders.html