recording to tape

Discuss the various methods you use in music production, from compressor settings to equipment type.
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Re: recording to tape

By mr_debauch Wed May 11, 2011 3:00 pm
zork wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:[quote="nogginj"
in ten years we will have people asking how to get that CD sound.


To each his own, but i think there is *great* difference between analog sound from tape and digital "CD sound".
.


and you are right... never said there wasn't...

but I will tell you, i HIGHLY doubt the older rza tracks like incarcerated scarfaces was done through an SSL or any of that.

That was likely made with an ASR 10.

Re: recording to tape

By zork Wed May 11, 2011 3:18 pm
mr_debauch wrote:
zork wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:[quote="nogginj"
in ten years we will have people asking how to get that CD sound.


To each his own, but i think there is *great* difference between analog sound from tape and digital "CD sound".
.


and you are right... never said there wasn't...

but I will tell you, i HIGHLY doubt the older rza tracks like incarcerated scarfaces was done through an SSL or any of that.

That was likely made with an ASR 10.


I read on gearslutz some posts of Carlos Bess, who was mixing 36 chambers, and i can tell you they were using quite a lot of expensive gear to record it. You don't record on ASR, you only use it to compose tracks on it, so i'm really not talking about dirty samples etc. or anything prior to mixing and mastering stage.

And RZA was only an example -- i can hear this tape effect very clear on Incarcerated Scarfaces, but i'm hearing the same on any classic record like Mobb Deep, Nas. from that era....
They were all recording to 2" tape at that time, cause it was basically the standard back in the days... I think i will just buy some studio time and employ some people who really knows how to operate these analog beasts. The more i read the more i got a feeling that even if i bought Studer i wouldn't be able to capture *that* sound from it. I'm not a mixing engineer.
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Re: recording to tape

By mr_debauch Wed May 11, 2011 3:52 pm
zork wrote:
mr_debauch wrote:
zork wrote:To each his own, but i think there is *great* difference between analog sound from tape and digital "CD sound".
.


and you are right... never said there wasn't...

but I will tell you, i HIGHLY doubt the older rza tracks like incarcerated scarfaces was done through an SSL or any of that.

That was likely made with an ASR 10.


I read on gearslutz some posts of Carlos Bess, who was mixing 36 chambers, and i can tell you they were using quite a lot of expensive gear to record it. You don't record on ASR, you only use it to compose tracks on it, so i'm really not talking about dirty samples etc. or anything prior to mixing and mastering stage.

And RZA was only an example -- i can hear this tape effect very clear on Incarcerated Scarfaces, but i'm hearing the same on any classic record like Mobb Deep, Nas. from that era....
They were all recording to 2" tape at that time, cause it was basically the standard back in the days... I think i will just buy some studio time and employ some people who really knows how to operate these analog beasts. The more i read the more i got a feeling that even if i bought Studer i wouldn't be able to capture *that* sound from it. I'm not a mixing engineer.


I know what the ASR does... sorry you didn't think that contributed to the way rza's productions sounded. But since you got it all figured out already... yeah, maybe you should go pay pros at some analogue studio to answer your questions.
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Re: recording to tape

By nogginj Wed May 11, 2011 10:19 pm
I think i will just buy some studio time and employ some people who really knows how to operate these analog beasts. The more i read the more i got a feeling that even if i bought Studer i wouldn't be able to capture *that* sound from it. I'm not a mixing engineer.


I think in this case, if you don't want to try the tricks suggested, this is a good idea. If you blow your money on an old, expensive tape machine, be ready to blow more money on keeping it working. The money you spent on the machine and maintenance would quickly overshadow the money you'd spend on studio time, with someone who knows what they are doing.

Having said that, I'm not sure how many quality analog studios are around these days; it's something of a niche market. I can only recommend one where the engineers would be able to help, and I'm not even sure how public it is. It's also definitely not the studios RZA and other hip-hop guys were using (if those are still around, and using tape).

Having said THAT, maybe one of those boxes you suggested is a good idea.

Re: recording to tape

By EQUANIMOUS Tue May 17, 2011 5:07 am
actually anyone worth their salt on the ASR-10 knows that you CAN record into it, especially for processing vocals thru its FX.....yes, WHILE the beat is playing. Yes the ASR was in-fact advanced for its time. With memory maxed you can get a couple minutes of sample time....long enough to record ODB's verse for a song to be called ShimmyShimmy and then play it back in reverse..........the ASR is sooooo slept on....
and
it ain't about doing what RZA did or does or who or whatever. Its about me & what I like to do; What I want to learn; MY relationship to music, to myself & what I want to be hearing & FEELING from my music.

Thank you

Re: recording to tape

By zork Wed May 18, 2011 9:44 pm
Equanimous --> yeah ASR can record to disk, but you will lose precious DA conversion, and *that's* where the true sound from ASR shows up...
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Re: recording to tape

By jonestown massacre Wed May 18, 2011 10:18 pm
zork wrote:you will lose precious DA conversion,



Please explain. :?: :?: :?: :?:

If you record to your ASR, you are recording to disk via an ADC (Analog to digital conversion)....When you play the sounds out through the ASR (via outputs) the sound is the run through a DAC (Digital to analog) converter, out the outputs.


Sorry, but you have no idea what you are talking about.
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Re: recording to tape

By Ill-Green Sun May 22, 2011 11:58 pm
dopedee wrote:VHS or cassette if your on a budget.

analog recordings should stay in analog format IMO though.


Yes, ill basslines for days.

Re: recording to tape

By zork Wed May 25, 2011 11:03 am
jonestown massacre wrote:
zork wrote:you will lose precious DA conversion,



Please explain. :?: :?: :?: :?:

If you record to your ASR, you are recording to disk via an ADC (Analog to digital conversion)....When you play the sounds out through the ASR (via outputs) the sound is the run through a DAC (Digital to analog) converter, out the outputs.


Sorry, but you have no idea what you are talking about.


jonestown, basically when you use so called disk recording inside ASR, your sound will not be coming out of your analog outputs but will be recorded straight into CF card/hard disk.
IMHO the true sound of ASR can only be audible by using analog outputs, bottom line.

Re: recording to tape

By grassroots Wed May 25, 2011 11:05 am
was fortunate enough to be in a very nice studio the other day that had a fatso - tried running some drums through it and tweakin for a while - cool yes but it ain't the holy grail. The engineer was fond of a plug in called tape head though and it made shit sound like you had overdriven an mpc 60 - yes softened it up nicely - probably not too expensive either! Go the tape head plug in or run/trigger you drums from an s950 (the same sample engine as the mpc60). you have to overdrive the pre amps of the 60/s950 to get that soft compression though! these are some more cheaper options...Funny enough in that same studio I wanted to run some tracks through the 2 track Studer deck they also had there and we wired it up only to find that it was in bad need of a service and we couldn't use it at all. Tape = Mo Problems :-(
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