Recording on cassettes

Anybody else here do it? Sometimes you just need that tape hiss.

I have a sony micro cassette… Just wish it had a line in… The built in mic has a character of it’s own though…


Used it for the intro to this track - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9lCawXwdZI

I do sometimes, on an old tascam 4-track! It’s actually really clean though- no real hiss at all, but it’s fun and I think it adds a little something to the sound…

I love tape. I recorded this live to an old Fostex 4-track, using a TR-626, an MC-202, an old Akai DJ sampler and my beloved OP-1…

http://soundcloud.com/motone/jack-terrier-jackson-house-music

I’ve got my tape deck always in paused record mode on my stereo receiver. If anything sample worthy is playing, I hit record. Then I plug my op into the headphone out- poof ! Warm tape samples

One thing I think I’m going to do is buy the mountains of old, shitty, worthless cassettes they have at Value Village and make tape loops out of them. Add some OP-1 and Octatrack magic and BOOM


I got a lot of blank Type II cassettes made up at duplication.ca and I think they will last me forever

i don’t have an interface and didn’t have a mixer for a while so i straight up had to record stuff onto tape and still tend too as i like the noisyness of it.

I made an album several years ago recording just about everything onto tape. I got a Radio Shack “desktop recorder” (pictured on the album), which they were still selling new at the time for some reason. I recorded just about every part into the tape recorder using either the built-in mic or line in. Sometimes i would play a part through my monitors and hold the mic of the tape recorder up to the speakers. Then I played everything through the line out into Ableton and did the arranging there, Pretty fun stuff: https://wingo.bandcamp.com/

I made an album several years ago recording just about everything onto tape. I got a Radio Shack "desktop recorder" (pictured on the album), which they were still selling new at the time for some reason. I recorded just about every part into the tape recorder using either the built-in mic or line in. Sometimes i would play a part through my monitors and hold the mic of the tape recorder up to the speakers. Then I played everything through the line out into Ableton and did the arranging there, Pretty fun stuff: https://wingo.bandcamp.com/

That’s a pretty sick album, actually

whats a good affordable 4 track tape recorder ive been wanting to make tapes

whats a good affordable 4 track tape recorder ive been wanting to make tapes

nobody is making 4 tracks anymore, probably eBay and craigslist is the best options

I liked the Tascam 424 mk 2 . The Fostex 280 was high end at the time. You would get more mixer features on the bigger models,but either of these makes with smaller versions will do as long as the tape is working.

Yes, good one @wingo

I have a Vestax MR 300 4-Track, should use it more often…
In the old forum there was a big thread about 4-Track Recorders, they even made a list about who owns which recorder, funny. I remember @KrisM was vey active there. Those were the times!

I was look at that korg 4 track the other day. Guy wanted $100, so I was trying for $50, haha.

the one with the speakers? CR-4 ? Besides the speaker it has Amp modeling and other useful effects. 100 is not that expensive ; )

I have a TASCAM, 424 MKII I think. I quite like the EQ section, very nice sounding. Headphone preamp is noisy as hell, though, so I run it through monitors.


The main (bad) temptation is making everything on the OP-1 or Octatrack and then just recording it to one track on the TASCAM, but then you have 3 tracks going to waste! Actually building tracks on the tape itself is much trickier but more rewarding.

Of course, OP-1 owners understand this quite well…
I love tape. I recorded this live to an old Fostex 4-track, using a TR-626, an MC-202, an old Akai DJ sampler and my beloved OP-1...

That’s pretty awesome :slight_smile:

I’ve got a tascam 424 mkiii portastudio coming to me in the post. I’m excited to see whether its limitations and general vibe are going to influence what sort of music I make with it. Like, in the op-1, we have tape markers which makes adding a new rhythmic part dead easy. I imagine it’s much harder on a real portastudio. Perhaps that limitation will push me in a specific direction… exciting :slight_smile:


I like that video doing the rounds where somebody has recorded different chords for 20 minutes on each of the tracks and then plays the portastudio like an instrument, using the track faders to run through chord progressions: http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2014/09/16/how-to-use-a-tascam-portastudio-as-an-instrument/

Another one I thought of was to try to do a dub tune (a la Lee Scratch Perry) by treating the portastudio as a little mixing desk with delay and reverb on the sends and returns and then play around bringing in different elements of the tune and dialing in different amounts of the send effects.

Anybody else got any creative tips and tricks for a portastudio?

flip tape for reverse/preverb predelay trcks of course… one of the best tips - cover the erase head with paper and double track over an already recorded track…play around with noise reduction like record with it off and playback on or vice versa

Oh brilliant! Will have a bit of fun with that reverse thing!