Making the switch ... uh ...

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

User avatar
foley
pushin' record
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 09, 2003 7:58 am
Location: Urbana, IL

Making the switch ... uh ...

Post by foley » Tue Dec 27, 2005 6:37 pm

So I'm posting this in rec. tech because I think it is actually a discussion about technique. Whatever. Here goes ...

I bought a 1/2" 8 track (Otari) about five years ago. I cabled it up by myself, made a couple of nice recordings, and really got into the sound. I dug it.

I don't know what happened, but over the years I've pretty much stopped using the thing. I keep going to the mac, and I keep loving it more and more. It just seems a lot easier to me, and more intuitive.

I have a fairly huge project coming up with a wide variety of musicians and singers coming through the studio. It is going to be at least 15 different songs with a wide variety of styles, etc. It's going to be great.

And there is no way in hell I am doing it on the 8 track. So ... I think I'm gonna sell her and use the money to upgrade my computer set up.

But this is it - I know I won't go back. Talk me out of it?

User avatar
;ivlunsdystf
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3290
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:15 am
Location: The Great Frontier of the Southern Anoka Sand Plain
Contact:

Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Tue Dec 27, 2005 6:55 pm

How much do you want for it?

User avatar
curtiswyant
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 729
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2004 10:08 pm
Location: Boston

Post by curtiswyant » Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:03 pm

nope. do it. tape machines and computers are creative tools, no more and no less. i grew up on computers so using multitrack software/in the box mixing is very natural for me, and probably for you too.

Knights Who Say Neve
buyin' a studio
Posts: 985
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 6:27 pm
Location: The Mome Raths Outgrabe

Post by Knights Who Say Neve » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:00 am

With something not easily replaced, wait until you're sure.

Besides, a working one will be worth more money in a few years.
"What you're saying is, unlike all the other writers, if it was really new, you'd know it was new when you heard it, and you'd love it. <b>That's a hell of an assumption</b>". -B. Marsalis

User avatar
Mark Alan Miller
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2097
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Western MA
Contact:

Post by Mark Alan Miller » Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:58 am

I'd keep it for a while - you never know when you might want to crush something to tape for the sound of it, and it would be there for you.
Do I think your switching to computer-based recording is bad? Nope, whatever works for you, but for the few bucks you'd get selling the 1/2", I think it would be more worth it to keep for options - until you're 101% sure you'll never use it again (including transfering all the 1/2" reels you have to data files. All of them! - 'Cause you never know...)
he took a duck in the face at two and hundred fifty knots.

http://www.radio-valkyrie.com/ao/aoindex.htm - download the new record (free is an option!) or get it on CD.

User avatar
;ivlunsdystf
ghost haunting audio students
Posts: 3290
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:15 am
Location: The Great Frontier of the Southern Anoka Sand Plain
Contact:

Post by ;ivlunsdystf » Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:29 am

Yeah, seriously, I haven't sold off very much music stuff over the years but every time I did let something go, I came to regret it later. Keep it, take a break from it, make a triumphant return to it in 14 months, etc.

User avatar
Mark Alan Miller
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2097
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Western MA
Contact:

Post by Mark Alan Miller » Wed Dec 28, 2005 6:38 am

I started learning my lesson about considering what to sell, what not to sell back in '88 when I sold a Roland SH-101 for $75. It was only worth $75 that year, but that soon changed. Big mistake - I regret it. (I was thinking "it's not MIDI and I could use the cash towards another keyboard..." when a little bit of my (scrawny, but existent) paycheck would have easily sufficed.) Nothing else sounds like that thing. I borrow one from a friend from time to time for sampling reasons. I should just find one and buy one again, but it kills me that they're like $400 - $500 - a little more than what I paid for it in the first place. D'oh.
he took a duck in the face at two and hundred fifty knots.

http://www.radio-valkyrie.com/ao/aoindex.htm - download the new record (free is an option!) or get it on CD.

User avatar
joelpatterson
carpal tunnel
Posts: 1732
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 5:20 pm
Location: Albany, New York

Post by joelpatterson » Wed Dec 28, 2005 7:03 am

The man's right, you never know when some situation will arise and you'll say, "Well, yeah, I do have an 8 track right here, let me fire it up."
Mountaintop Studios
~The Peak of Perfection~
Petersburgh NY 12138

mountaintop@taconic.net

User avatar
foley
pushin' record
Posts: 251
Joined: Fri May 09, 2003 7:58 am
Location: Urbana, IL

Post by foley » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:41 am

Yeah. The old adage is "you don't know what you've got til it's gone." Or maybe it's "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." Or something like that.

Plus, I want to spend the extra cash on the computer, and we all know the resale value of computer upgrades. :roll:

We'll see. Thanks for the psychoanalysis.

KennyLusk
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2037
Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 10:22 am
Location: Ramah, New Mexico

Post by KennyLusk » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:46 pm

I agree with all the previous posts and would have a tendency to lean toward keeping the deck, personally.

However, I've also learned to simply let go of stuff to help finance purchases I want to make now. If you look at it as a personal finance issue or a business decision then it makes perfect sense to sell the tape deck to help finance your upgrade efforts here and now.

Sometimes you have to let being pragmatic outweigh the sentimental attachments that can dictate your "logic".

As tough as it may be, just sell it man and use that money to make these upgrades the best investment you've made yet. Just my opinion.

drumsound
zen recordist
Posts: 7474
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:30 pm
Location: Bloomington IL
Contact:

Post by drumsound » Wed Dec 28, 2005 3:45 pm

What are the chances that projects done on the 8-track will be re-visited?

User avatar
Mark Alan Miller
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2097
Joined: Wed Apr 14, 2004 6:58 pm
Location: Western MA
Contact:

Post by Mark Alan Miller » Wed Dec 28, 2005 4:09 pm

drumsound wrote:What are the chances that projects done on the 8-track will be re-visited?
That's why I suggested transferring everything living on 1/2" to data before letting the machine go. That way they're all played back with (hopefully) the same heads, azimuth, zenith and other alignment being at least really close to when they were tracked, as opposed to some other 1/2" deck rented, borrowed or bought somewhere down the road when an old project needs reworking...
he took a duck in the face at two and hundred fifty knots.

http://www.radio-valkyrie.com/ao/aoindex.htm - download the new record (free is an option!) or get it on CD.

User avatar
weatherbox
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 774
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:59 am
Location: Virginia
Contact:

Post by weatherbox » Wed Dec 28, 2005 5:11 pm

my personal rule is that anything vintage, rare, or otherwise "special" can't be sold unless it's to fund something else in that same category. Computers depreciate madly; I'd never sell a perfectly functioning analog machine to upgrade there. If your current computer-based setup can handle the upcoming project, stick with it. I wish I still had my Otari.

User avatar
AnalogElectric
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 463
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 12:36 pm
Location: Gilbert, Arizona
Contact:

Post by AnalogElectric » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:15 am

I'm kinda in the same boat.

I had a TASCAM 1" 16-Track that I hung on to for 10 years before I sold it this month. But of course I do have an Otari 2" 24-Track (for the last 8 years) but I'm going to be selling my 2" in the next couple months as well. Reason: I'm moving cross-country to a very small one-level. I went hybrid last year and I find myself using the 2" for initial tracking (at LEAST drums) and everything else has been in the 'puter. I did a few a/b tests where I'd record a band's song in two different ways: analog and digital (independently - different takes, same tune, ya'know?) and I was pleasantly happy with the digital recording, enough for me to justify parting ways with my 2". I'd love to keep the 2" but it's not something I want to move again (I've moved it locally three times).

It's a little different than something you haven't used in quite some time. Sure, I think you'll miss it and if you miss it enough you'll find the money to buy one again down the line.

I go thru the same feelings with mics. I used to have close to 100 mics of all different vintage varieties, later to sell off most of them due to lack of use or just narrowing down what I actually like to use. Sure, I go back and listen to recordings I did with the ELAM251, U47 tube, C12, M50, etc... and I wish I still had them at times and eventually I'll re-purchase a few I miss but right now I'm doing just fine with what I have.

-- Adam Lazlo
AnalogElectric Recording
Gilbert, Arizona USA
http://www.analogelectric.com
http://www.myspace.com/adamlazlo

drumsound
zen recordist
Posts: 7474
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:30 pm
Location: Bloomington IL
Contact:

Post by drumsound » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:48 am

Mark Alan Miller wrote:
drumsound wrote:What are the chances that projects done on the 8-track will be re-visited?
That's why I suggested transferring everything living on 1/2" to data before letting the machine go. That way they're all played back with (hopefully) the same heads, azimuth, zenith and other alignment being at least really close to when they were tracked, as opposed to some other 1/2" deck rented, borrowed or bought somewhere down the road when an old project needs reworking...
Yes I agree, But, if he's like me and makes clients take their tapes with them...

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot], joninc and 45 guests