Members Deeprig9 Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 The guy recording our next album (starting tomorrow) insists on tracking with 8 track reel-reel, then mixing and "effecting" in cubase, the dumping back to tape to master. He says it makes everything warmer. He says this is how the local hot-{censored} studio in town does everything (he interned there last year, recent clients include Booker T and Drive By Truckers). The musical style we are doing is piano and guitar-based rock-pop retro a la Cars meets Devo meets Dead Kennedy's, in case that's important. Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 Have you heard any of his work ? That's alot of work for sure . Cubase 4 and 5 sound awesome though but I could see going to tape for a final mix if you have the gear but it may or may not be needed . If he has great results than no worries . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 His work is awesome, the cubase stuff, but the tape machine is brand new (used from the early 90's) and he hasn't completed a project with it. There is no resume` with the tape machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 so it's an experiment for him , is it on your dime ? I could see going with it though for at least 1 tune , see what happens . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 It's an experiment for him in that he's never done it on his own, but was an intern for a studio that's done it, so he's got some experience. And yes, it's on his dime, so to speak. He's a member of the band, truth be told. I like the idea, he knows more about recording than me. I really just want some input. Even though the recording is "free", it's not really free because we want to record this album one time. Anything to be careful of, watch (listen) out for? Regeneration issues? Should we wear anti-static bracelets while handling the tape or the machine or cables? Does the Cubase phase digitalize the process to the point that tracking on the tape is pointless, or mastering on the tape pointless? Analog v Digital philosophy issues, cable shielding issues? Is this project a fools errand? He played me some digitally tracked drums into cubase, then played back some tape drums, he talks about the data source from tape being better than the digital source direct, I personally couldn't tell much difference, but like I said, I don't have the knowledge or experience that he has. I'm not even second-guessing him, I'm really just starting this topic to provoke some conversation that I might gleen some knowledge from, and share in sessions. He values my input. I would like to have some input. And here we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted March 22, 2009 Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 actually I think it's a great idea and does have it's benefits tracking to tape , it's still done and if he knows what he is doing it should pay off . Yeah tape machines really need to be well maintained , the heads wear out the parts wear out etc.etc. and the tape itself needs proper storage , I have heard great results with 1/4" so my guess is it has potential to turn out killer . I think Cubase sounds fantastic these days so really it sounds like a win win for you. I think you will need to time sync the tape with a "stripe" and IIRC this uses a track so with 8 track minus one for tape sync , not sure how that will play into things but you could ask . I'm interested in the whole thing so please share your adventure here Good Luck and have Fun ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2009 I will share the adventure. As far as time sync, I think the plan is that everything will be synced in cubase, so with overdubs our headphone will be coming out of cubase and our track will be on tape, then he'll make a new track in cubase off the tape and sync it up manually. Everything has to go through his board too, so the tape recorder and the computer are only 2 factors in a 4 factor equation, the console is a 16 track ancient piece of something I am not qualified to comment on, and the 4th being the origin of the sound source, the Twin Reverb amp we are borrowing and the JC120, the 1960-something Gibson Falcon 1x12 class A, the wall of basses ranging from a P-Bass to a Shechter to a neck-thru 80's Ibanez to a hollow-body bass of unknown (to me) origin. He's an enigma to me. He won't use cheap cables, but he will insist on tracking a guitar solo through a $25 Peavey practice amp from 1990. He's an accomplished chef with nothing in his fridge but pickles and High Life. He hates folk music, but owns a banjo and a mandolin. He frowns upon racial jokes, but has dead-baby jokes for days. He loves Barack Obama but believes the federal government should be smaller. I guess all that makes him a genius. He's not a bad guitar player either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted March 23, 2009 Members Share Posted March 23, 2009 Cool ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 24, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2009 After months of shopping and research, and finally the purchase, we began tracking yesterday, it was a full 8 hour day. The sounds were absolutely amazing, everything was sounding and working better than expected. Then we start hearing clicks and other noisy type stuff. Checked all cables. Found a bad cable. Found a bad loop cable. Found a bad jack on one of the basses. That eliminated 90% of the weird clicks. Then the tape machine starts acting funny. Squeals. Eventually just basically stopped working. We just bypassed the tape machine and ended up with all the tracks direct to cubase. Still sounds good, the console still delivers it's warmth, but it was such a huge disappointment. I haven't heard an update yet on the status of the tape machine. I hope it's something simple like a squirt of oil and a head cleaning that it needs. Not so much because recording in Cubase is bad, but because so much time and effort in planning and acquiring the machine, the snakes, the tape, the books, the research, all down the toilet if the machine is seriously screwed, because it means my friend got ripped off and because we can't just put off recording until it gets fixed, this was a big-time passion for him, recording on tape. Going to do another half-day tomorrow, will give update then. So far: Two songs are tracked with drums, bass, dry direct rhythm guitar, all live tracked. The best dry drums I've ever heard in a studio, not that I've heard a whole lot, but I've heard enough to know we've got a good thing going with this setup. I would tell you exactly how he's micing the drums and the room, and with what mics, but I don't know what extent he regards that as a trade secret and wouldn't want me sharing that in the web, but it is very similar to what an engineer did recording Led Zeppelin drums, allegedly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fretless Posted March 24, 2009 Members Share Posted March 24, 2009 hang in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lawrence Farr Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 Sounds like you guys will just end up tracking to Cubase... not tape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deeprig9 Posted March 28, 2009 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 Looking that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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