analogue tape question

[elheehaw]

just started a home recording, and have the luxury of being able to record drums to tape, its only a fostex 1/4" 8 track but still pretty excited about it, ive never recorded with tape before and was doing some tests the other day to try and get my drum sound rockin, obviously i was slamming the levels to tape pretty hard in search of that magical tape compression, but when i played it back off tape into protools( im running a 002R, 6.1 on 10.2.6: dual 1.25 G4) i got quite a low level. there doesnt seem to be any way of adjusting the volume out of the reel to reel. any ideas on this, or any other general tape tips would be most appreciated.

[mindnoise]

try adjusting your input levels in the digi hardware setup. PT/setups/hardware.

regs

[Ben Jenssen]

If you can compress the drums before going to tape, you will be able to push the tape sound even more. Just a thought.

If you dont have eight outboard comressors, then maybe compress just the overheads. My drum sound is mostly based around the overhead mics, anyway.

Ben.

[A2D D2A]

Do you really think he can get the sound he's after with the narrow format 8-track?

[dBHEAD]

You'd be surprised how good a Fostex 8-track can sound. I have a friend who did exactly what this guy did and I couldn't believe how good the drums sounded. I could listen to that kind of sound all day without getting tired of it.

I'm not sure what's causing the level problem, especially if you're really slamming the tracks going into the Fostex. We were able to get pretty healthy levels going into Pro Tools. You might be getting healthier levels than you think. What I would suggest is this: click inside some of the most active tracks (snare, kick, overheads, etc.) with the grabber, then call up the GAIN plug-in from the AudioSuite menu. Click the "find peak" button. If you're recording at 24 bit, you still have quite healthy levels with peaks at -12 dB, and acceptable levels at -20 dB. You don't actually have to apply any gain in those circumstances.

Still, if those levels aren't good enough, you might try the suggestion above of recalibrating the interface.

[APinkFloydSound]

Sounds like the heads on the tape machine are out of alignment. Use frequency generator in protools and start with 20Khz and let it stand there and gradually move down to 20hz pausing here and there to get a good estimate. Send those levels in at 0VU on the tape machine. Once you have recorded them, play it back and you will be able to tell if they aligned or not, if not you will lose a lot of frequencies in the process. When I did that with my fostex 1/2" I lost around 12db from 20khz to 1.4khz... If it is out of align then you will be in the same situation I am in right now, you must find a test tape...

[A2D D2A]

If a narrow format impressed you then a 1" 8-track would be an instant heart attack.

[valvebrother]

Sounds like the heads on the tape machine are out of alignment. Use frequency generator in protools and start with 20Khz and let it stand there and gradually move down to 20hz pausing here and there to get a good estimate. Send those levels in at 0VU on the tape machine. Once you have recorded them, play it back and you will be able to tell if they aligned or not, if not you will lose a lot of frequencies in the process. When I did that with my fostex 1/2" I lost around 12db from 20khz to 1.4khz... If it is out of align then you will be in the same situation I am in right now, you must find a test tape...

Not neccesarily, the machine may just need calibration and setup overall. Most machines have record and repro gain settings somewhere (often on small screw pots) which you can tweak so that 0 in at 1k = 0 out for a quick calibration. It could also be that the machine is set-up for another tape formulation or the heads are shot or shot repro electronics or a mis-seated repro card...Anyway, welcome to the analog world

BTW, I still rue the day I sold my 1" 8 track MCI. Big as a damn fridge but oh' so sweet. The day it tool 4 guys to struggle to move it down from my second floor studio into a moving truck was sad indeed....Luckily, I get to work on analog quite a bit anyway.

D

[dBHEAD]

If a narrow format impressed you then a 1" 8-track would be an instant heart attack.

Oh you're right about that! We actually have an old Ampex 8-track at work -I believe it used half-inch tape- and it's out of calibration and in storage now, but I still love listening to some of the stuff I recorded on that years ago.

Yeah, the Fostex can't compare to the old Struders or Ampex machines but it still sounds good.

I miss tape. I haven't found any plug-in or pre or comp or pre/comp combo that can give you that sound. I love all the benefits of digital recording/mixing and would never want to give them up but that analog tape SOUND! There's just something about it that makes me relax and really enjoy the music.

[sugarfuzz]

I have no experience in this department, but am quite interested in trying it, but has anyone tried recording to RADAR and then transfering the files to protools to mix?

I have read RAVE reviews on RADAR, and am very interested to see what you guys think about the whole idea.

I know I have never recorded to tape and mixed on it, but one plug in that I feel helps my mixes out tremendously is DAD VALVE. I hear a huge difference on drums especially on the kick.

Just throwing my 2 cnts out there.