Idea(vhs-recording)

Just a quick question/ idea... Wondered if anyone else tried it, if not just another way to record...

So I am sitting there, pissed off with my digital recorder, pissed off at my 4 track, just pissed off, herb running low... And start thinking, and do
some research about vhs tape quality. "In terms of hi-fi, vhs tape is amoung the highest quality "analog tape" that can be used in the consumer market."(some random site) So I'm like alright, sounds good, heads sample from it, its gets griity, and its low fi, in a way...

Then the hamster in my brain, starts running in that damn wheel... If heads record from vhs, and supposedly if done correctly, its supposedly high quality, why not record audio into a vhs tape...

Now understandably, quality might be an issue, but let's look at the pros. Vcr technology has reached its peak, and costs keep going down... Second, its an another analog, often unlooked upon medium in terms of audio creation... (I did a search on yahoo for recording audio or producing using vhs, and not one site regarding recording just music...) True its made for audio/visual applications, but just pull out the yellow video feed, and just use the red/whites... VHS
can be found cheaply, and depending on record mode can hold various amounts (huge amounts really)... Everyone and there mother has an old vcr still hooked up or in the basement... Oh and if your bored, record anime, cartoons, whatever, when recording the beat, thus you'll have a way to entertain heads, in a different way, in stead of just playing them beats, show a cartoon with it... Smoke a blunt, sit back and enjoy, whats negative here???

Cons, well if you have the loot there are vcrs that excell in terms of audio replication, they cost anywhere from 500-1000, do a check on ebay.. Not cheap, rather just buy reel to reel, 2 inch tape whatever, instead.. Not really a long term storage method, but if cared for, whatever...And its just rcas... Big problem unless it has digital out and in... Don't see many vcrs with 1/4 inch or xlr....

Some heads use cassettes then transfer to digital.. Why not vhs to original, same process... Might add something... Haven't done enough testing to show any results.. Heads choose dvds now because of the clearity.. If your looking for a grittier sound, might work... Isn't the quality of vhs better then a small cassette?

So if your someone like me, on a budget, bored with cassettes, just dig up your old vcr, and start messing around with recording to it... Only reason I say this is I have two studios in my house, one in the basement, and one in a room, vcrs in each place, and basically I have a different way of bringing the dirty basement to the clean room.. In stead of the normal means...

If its been said before, my bad, if anyones done it explain experiences.. I'll write more when I have examples to go by...

time to smoke...

one

my boy has some old sessions recorded on 4 different vhs tapes (8 tracks, 2 on each tape) . he wants me to dump em' into protools, and I'm dying to see how they sound. Hes looking for them now so when it happens ill post up the experience.

the one thing that you might have overlooked is being able to sync the tapes (if you are using more than one vcr to gain more channels, two per tape). I think he mentioned that he synced the vcrs using that 8th inch sync input on the back of the vcr. you would of coarse need a tv in order to see the timing. punch ins are out of the question (if you have ever noticed how tapes react to multiple over dubs, and queing up start points to record shows). it probably would be better to just record everything in one take.

I have thought about this before. You should also consider mini disk. You will get a real punchy sound out of a minidisc even at its highest recording quality. I have a few minidisc recorders laying around the place, and use em from time to time. If i rebebmer correctly, the the highest sample rate on a minidisc is 14-bit, and somewhere around 33.1-khz. it uses atrac compression, whic eliminates the audio frequencies the human ear cant "render", but being that i sit in front a pair of monitors all day (im sure you guys do also), you can tell the difference.

and if you record in mono, or better yet use more compression (the different record modes for longer play, lp2, lp4, ect), things will get interesting.


sorry for rambling on......

You might be onto something here.
VCR's are much easier to operate than tapemachines, and i bet you can get them for free now.

I used to have a vcr that had a special mode for recording just audio. You could set it at two quality settings too, and it claimed to be a lot better than small tapes.
The brand of this vcr was Phillips, i don't know the model though.

ADAT and the Tascam DA-88 are 8 track recorders that use the same technology as VCR's as far as recording medium. 8 ins, and they keep dropping in price too.

I knew a DJ 11 years ago whop recorded his sets to VCR, sounded really good, but you'll need one with a meter so you can tell what your levels are, and if you don't get a good one you're suseptible to noise just like regular tape.

IS VCR tape really recording the audio analog? or is it Digital? You can record digital to tape.

True the vcrs I saw on ebay, the expensive ones, had meters.. I think the cheapest one was a buy it now at about $650ish... Made by sony, thing looked old too.... like 80s, but also looked more like something for video production.. Regardless, might add something to a setup..

If it doesn't have a meter, any way to tell what level the tape records at? Other then using db meters on gear going into the tape...

Either way with noise, without meters, using similar technology to adats and the like its probably a beneficial means for low-tec heads to add something to the song...

Oh in terms of analog, isn't recording the audio analog, because its an analog format? Even if its digitial in.... Like the site said, hi-fi vhs is one the highest analog recording medias in the consumer market...

In terms of limitation, I say, yeah its prolly better to use a 8 track mixer, into the the ins on the vhs, and try and record in a one go...

Oh in regards to minidisc, I have a few disks of recorded material I did with a mc505... My friend currently has it.. And Also another friend has a minidisc recorder digital 8track.. Sounds pretty great too...

mini disc sounds great????????


I advise having your hearing checked, preferrably by a professional

Its all relative, sounds great for what it is, and what it could do for the time... Again this is coming for someone growing up listening to cassetes....

Dude. Duuuuuude.
This is a good idea.
One reason I haven't done this is that
typical audio I/O on a consumer
VHS deck is RCA jacks, which are
unbalanced and subject to a ton
of RF noise. So, if you overdrive
it to get some tape crunch, that
hiss/noise will pop out alot. But
like he said, the higher quality the deck, the better the
performance. You could probably get a couple
professional ones for free from some
old post production lab that fell off.
There is a huge difference between
ADAT and just analog audio on the
VHS tape. The DA-88
or the ADAT just store
zeros and ones on the
magnetic tape, like
a zip disk. There is
no analog tape
compression going on there,
becuase it's just a digital
streaming/storage medium.
But this guy's right about
using the analog VHS as
a two track. I think I'll master some beats
to a VHS, then dump them back into PT
for export/burning.
Good looks mang.

Its good to see my original post was not a wasted idea...

I know cats that used to run their shows of VHS.


also I used to hear of people mastering to VHS


considering that no one makes analog reel tape anymore. This is a viable analog mastering device.


I just bought a tape deck, to master to. You know for that anaolog tape saturation. I like to record my samples, after i edit on computer, to cassete at real hot almost distorted levels. Sample these into my eps. then filter out the distortion. Kinda sounds like 9th wonder style


vhs could do this very well. I think some mastering houses accept vhs , as well

you could use a vhs camcorder for field recording

I just checked ebay. You can find some decent deals, if you search, VHS in pro video equipment.


also, a pro camcorder might have xlr inputs

also pro editing decks, might have smpte, witch you can skave to your mpc, and hook up multiple machines for multitrack.

i love this thread

jaem wrote:mini disc sounds great????????


I advise having your hearing checked, preferrably by a professional

it sounds good, but not great. even when they used to sell albums on minidisc, they didnt sound as good as a cd. its is good though, for getting a different sound for your samples.

post # 477

this one has balanced xlr audio & smpte




http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 85162&rd=1

Lord Toranaga wrote:this one has balanced xlr audio & smpte




http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 85162&rd=1

but it solves the sync problem i mentioned erlier. and im sure you can rack mount that thing.


post # 479