how would an mpc sound when tracked out in a portastudio?

im thinking about getting an old used 4 track, so i track out my mpc beats and then go to studio and mixing them properly in a daw or digital console. im thinking of doing this to achive a "retro" sound. how would you think it would sound, i mean have you got any examples? i am sceptical, because i think cassette quality may kill completely the low end. is it posible to happen?

odd nosdam, the producer of clouddead (experimental hiphop group of my vfavourite hiphop collective, anticon) used this method on early tracks. heres an example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnTSmInzdr0 i think i like it very much.

i dont want to achive a sound that would bang the club or car stereo speakers, just something more experimental and close to my aesthetics, but in the same time listenable and enjoyable. i dont expect the result to be Timbaland but in the same time i dont want it to sound like i was farting on the mpc so to say.:p

cassette tape will be fine, but you do have to watch your bass...if you give it too much it will kind of disappear...but too much can really be a lot, so just try to be reasonable...or don't.

but basically, it will definitely give you a lo-fi sound. with cassette it helps to have real defined sounds...cassette is good for the boom bap but maybe not so much for very subtle stuff.

a good friend of mine once said 'tape is nice cause when you hit it hard you get something beautiful like hand grenades'.

also the faster the run your tape, the 'cleaner' it will sound. get in there and experiment.

I still use old Tascam Portastudio 424, just as a mixer. The cassette deck works fine, but I don't use it. I want to get a real mixer, but for now, I can get by. It requires high bias (type II) cassette tape, which has become expensive commodity today. I think it is easy to find cheap cassette MTR, but cost of high-bias cassette might put you off. With double speed and dbx noise reduction on, it is actually sounds punchy and it wound give nice tape sound. Also, dbx would give sound artifact called "breathing", which you may actually like it as an effect.

When I hear late 80s' to late 90s' hip hop, many of them sound like they are done in 4 track.

Good question. I like odd nosdam's sound. I wasn't aware he went through a portastudio. I've been meaning to ask a similar question. Did he really sample from a blender on that track?

I've been tempted to get one for a while, I love the retro sound.

You gotta love the old casette sound man! I find that effects like compressors and the likes come out a lot stronger once recorded to a tape.. will post up some of my stuff soon as an example.
I think it's def. a good way to go.
The overall outcome of the sound also depends on the unit ur workin with.. be it a multitracker or a cassettedeck. And also the tape itself obviousley.
Tapes do have a diffrent frequency range. highbias(type2) tapes have a diffrent range again..

thanks for the answers guys. i think ill buy one as soon as i find, in the end they are damn cheap.

here's odd nosdams interview on sos that i was talking about http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar02/a ... ?print=yes

I think cassette enhances bass and gives it a gritty sound. I've got Hip Hop groups on tapes and cds and they do sound different. On tape the bass is natural feeling and wholesome but the same track on cd, the bass is there but not as natural and kind of lacking. I also recorded the same cd to tape and the quality was louder and richer than the manufactured tape version. But when the tape got transfered to cd it got dumbed down by the hiss and the vocals kind of muffled.

Just mentioning an experiment I did back in '97, I had the Tascam 424 at the time. Its dope but the monthly maintenance led me to the DP-01 which is still kicking in my set up.

i would be very happy to hear some examples if you have..