Tribute to Portastudio Beginnings: Post 4-Track Recordings!

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

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markesquire
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Tribute to Portastudio Beginnings: Post 4-Track Recordings!

Post by markesquire » Sat Nov 28, 2009 1:20 pm

Many of you have said that you began on cassette 4-tracks. I've been using one exclusively for a few years, and while I'm starting to record on my computer, my tape stuff is much better, probably just due to the familiar process.

I'd like to hear as many 4-track recordings as you've got!

mhoiland
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Post by mhoiland » Mon Nov 30, 2009 1:56 pm

Word to Tascam in all it's glory. I tracked this in 1999. We thought it sounded great back then.

http://www.villageten.com/bin_of_doom/0 ... eation.mp3
Logic 9, Metric Halo ULN-2 Expanded, UAD-2, a box of mics and a bag of cables.

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austin
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Post by austin » Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:20 pm

This album was recorded on a cassette 4-track (the Tascam 414):
http://privateeleanor.bandcamp.com/albu ... companions

Still proud of how it sounds, for the most part!

markesquire
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Post by markesquire » Mon Nov 30, 2009 8:40 pm

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Keep 'em coming. Those are all EXCELLENT. Inspired me to achieve quality with my Tascam that I assumed I couldn't achieve.

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Snarl 12/8
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Post by Snarl 12/8 » Mon Nov 30, 2009 11:14 pm

Do fostex 8-track recordings count? It's the same track width.
Carl Keil

Almost forgot: Please steal my drum tracks. and more.

fucdemas
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Post by fucdemas » Mon Nov 30, 2009 11:18 pm

http://www.myspace.com/lasestrellaspequenas

all 4 track. dumped 4 tracks to computer for 2 track mix compression and some delay automation on one tune.

still has that awesome distorted 4 track drum sounds

these songs were jams. nothing prewritten.

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AlexP
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Post by AlexP » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:49 am

I have two tascam 414 MK II's but neither of them power on :cry: I have the proper power supply and one of them did power on and function (once). Got them from ebay so I guess I should have expected as much.
Austin, any experience with power up issues in the past?

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austin
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Post by austin » Tue Dec 22, 2009 11:25 am

AlexP wrote:I have two tascam 414 MK II's but neither of them power on :cry: I have the proper power supply and one of them did power on and function (once). Got them from ebay so I guess I should have expected as much.
Austin, any experience with power up issues in the past?
The power supply for mine eventually died a few years ago. For a while it worked only if the cable was positioned a certain way, and then it stopped working altogether. I looked into getting a new power supply, but it would have cost more than the entire 4-track cost originally!

donny
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Post by donny » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:17 pm

http://www.myspace.com/ecchoingbleu

all 4-track cassette recordings from 2004-5 ... nothing mind-blowing but a decent live band sound
http://www.trounrecords.com

your life is beautiful / a seed becomes a tree / a mountain into a sky / this life is meant to be

doug deeper
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Post by doug deeper » Tue Dec 22, 2009 1:05 pm

heres a rough mix of a song of my bands (mmoss) new album we're working on.
it was recorded on a tascam 238 (cassette 8 track).
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8485015

sluzbenik
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1997 noisepop

Post by sluzbenik » Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:14 pm

I still like this song, from my college band, it sounds so warm and stuff. Pre-autotune days lol :)

http://www.filedropper.com/allstarlow-deaddecember

grinningidiot
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Post by grinningidiot » Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:57 pm

Not my recording, but a friends project, I dig it!

http://www.myspace.com/vonhayes09

Seej
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Post by Seej » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:48 pm

http://www.myspace.com/seejmusic

Apart from a couple songs, everything was recorded on my 414. Click "lyrics" for recording info.
"You can have a crappy drum set and still be a good drummer. And then you can have a $15,000 drum set with all these drums and the drummer's crap."-Mike Gibbins (1949-2005)

http://www.soundcloud.com/Seej1982

den121961
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Post by den121961 » Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:12 am

Cool Topic!
This is around 1980, I had one of those yamaha setups where they sold you a mixing board, a 4 track cassette recorder, and a little desk type thing to put it in. That thing went everywhere with me. I took it to a drummer friend's place to do the drums (his mics, not sure what they were), took it to a church camp a girlfriend was working on to grab the hammond, and took it to a local music store to record the synth solo on a brand new just released Prophet T8. I was a freshly out of high school kid back then, and could point to a million things I did wrong, but here it is in all it's bounced glory!
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=319235
Den

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Brett Siler
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Post by Brett Siler » Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:32 pm

I just remastered an old album of min that I recorded all on a Tascam portastudio. Listen here:

http://sludgephone.bandcamp.com/

It has all sorts of recording notes on each song too!

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