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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 8:56:44 GMT
I’m not a hipster honest. Loads of music i love was recorded years ago on tape in someones kitchen. I’m tempted to try. Has anyone used one and are they a pain to use? It might make me sound great, you never know.
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Post by RodB on Feb 14, 2019 9:21:11 GMT
Rather than an actual Reel to Reel recorder, you would probably be better off using a tape plug-in to recreat the saturated sound. Not only do old Reel to Reel recorders need quite a bit of TLC, but you would need to figure out a way to get an output into your computer.
I bought a Reel to Reel a few years ago, then had to find a second one to use the bits to get the fist working. It was worth the effort as I had tapes with my Dad and other relatives singing, etc., but it was quite a project!
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Post by Phil Taylor on Feb 14, 2019 9:39:09 GMT
I can't offer any advice but I do recall using my father-in-law's machine and in particular the sound on sound facility. Worked quite well. It was before my fingerpicking days and I did Apache. Lead and rhythm guitar plus bass with tapping the top for tom-toms
Phil
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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 10:08:43 GMT
Rather than an actual Reel to Reel recorder, you would probably be better off using a tape plug-in to recreat the saturated sound. Not only do old Reel to Reel recorders need quite a bit of TLC, but you would need to figure out a way to get an output into your computer. I bought a Reel to Reel a few years ago, then had to find a second one to use the bits to get the fist working. It was worth the effort as I had tapes with my Dad and other relatives singing, etc., but it was quite a project! Yeah i worry about the fixing bit.
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Post by ocarolan on Feb 14, 2019 10:13:56 GMT
I have a reel of tape of me and two mates recorded playing and singing in ?1967. I also have an LP made from it at the time. The quality is dire. Might post some extracts from it if I can find the time - will probably be the earliest recordings to appear in the Plucky Duck!
Keith
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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 10:19:22 GMT
I have a reel of tape of me and two mates recorded playing and singing in ?1967. I also have an LP made from it at the time. The quality is dire. Might post some extracts from it if I can find the time - will probably be the earliest recordings to appear in the Plucky Duck! Keith We want to hear that Keith.
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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 10:25:49 GMT
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Post by scorpiodog on Feb 14, 2019 10:47:04 GMT
I'm no expert on recording, but surely unless you need no editing on the recording the output must become digital at some point (unless you fancy the razor blade and special sticky tape approach I remember). So what's the point of using a reel to reel machine at all? Good mics and ambience must be the best way of going about things to get the basic digital signal directly from the instrument to the point of editing. Otherwise you're just adding an extra step to the recording process. Of course, if you are just going to record onto tape and then listen to the tape, that's a different issue, but there has to be some signal loss every time you transfer from tape to tape in order to build up the recording. I rather suspect that the old kitchen recordings (Bert Jansch and John Renbourn spring to mind here) must have been done through necessity rather than desire, and I suspect they are "live" recordings. Somebody correct me please, before I make an even bigger idiot of myself (note to self: Don't make comments on things you know nothing about).
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Post by andyhowell on Feb 14, 2019 11:04:10 GMT
This thread is getting a bit mis-leading!
The great thing about digital is that it is so clean. The bad thing about digital is it is too clean! We prefer things that are a bit messy and a bit distorted.
There are some great saturation/distortion plugins out there which might set you back 30 to 40 quid without having to buy a tape machine. Some of them are straight emulations of tape emulations. I haev a plugin from Waves which emulates the tape delay from Abbey Road and it's pretty cool.
I really don't buy this analogue is better argument, at not least for much of the stuff we would produce ourselves.
I was having a conversation with a recording engineer friend about this a few months ago. He referenced Wish You Were Here as his favourite mix. I flawed him by asking which mix. This has been remastered at least four or five times over the years.
The clincher in this conversation was Scorpio's point. At some point it all has to be converted back to analogue and you are only as good as your A-D conversion.
Top engineers have many individual ways pf doing things but some of the best mixing engineers today choose to work exclusively in the box to minimise the amount of D-A conversion that they have to do.
I might produce a video on distortion or saturation.
There is a superb article in the current Sound on Sound magazine which features one of the most in-demand re-mix engineers who is taking old classics and remixing for high resolution, 5:1 and so on. Sometimes he is working from original multi tracks, sometimes from comped down tracks and sometimes from an actual album itself. This is a very funny article. Apparently one of his biggest problems is the original artists asking if something can be changed as they never liked this or that. But it is a classic album and so should sound more or ess as it always had! well worth getting hold of this.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2019 11:21:52 GMT
Yeah if you just want tape as an effect I'd recommend doing it with a plugin. A real reel to reel needs a lot of time and money thrown at it to sound its best.
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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 11:23:03 GMT
Analogue isn’t better just different. I’ve got the Waves complete plugins and have tried the tape plugin. Maybe i just like the idea of doing it old school. It might be terrible but it might not.
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Post by ocarolan on Feb 14, 2019 11:28:48 GMT
I have a reel of tape of me and two mates recorded playing and singing in ?1967. I also have an LP made from it at the time. The quality is dire. Might post some extracts from it if I can find the time - will probably be the earliest recordings to appear in the Plucky Duck! Keith We want to hear that Keith. Be careful what you wish for..... It was recorded on a Philips reel to reel in front rooms and the music room at school. Transferred to vinyl by a firm we saw advertising in Melody Maker. The results were a bit disappointing even then, though the prestige of "having an LP out" seemed worth it at the time. Limited edition too - I think we had about 15 made. I have only just reclaimed my copy from my brother who had treasured it and listened to it every day forgotten he had it. I think I'll just stick my Zoom recorder in front of my hi-fi speakers. Should pick up the lo-fi-ness beautifully! Keith
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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 11:43:54 GMT
We still want to hear it Keith. We could have a dig out your old recordings thread. I have some old recordings from a metal band i was once in. That is really funny.
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Post by ocarolan on Feb 14, 2019 11:47:40 GMT
We still want to hear it Keith. We could have a dig out your old recordings thread. I have some old recordings from a metal band i was once in. That is really funny. Excellent plan - The Hecklers Corner section of the PD might be a good place for such a thread - feel free to start things off if you get yours ready before I do (very likely!). Keith
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Post by bellyshere on Feb 14, 2019 11:52:23 GMT
We still want to hear it Keith. We could have a dig out your old recordings thread. I have some old recordings from a metal band i was once in. That is really funny. Excellent plan - The Hecklers Corner section of the PD might be a good place for such a thread - feel free to start things off if you get yours ready before I do (very likely!). Keith Mine is on old cassettes. I’ll have a go at converting them at the weekend.
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