greetings to all my fellow people and recorderers

[bobbydj]

Good evening everyone who is in internet land

Let me take a moment to introduce myself, my intentions, and all that I stand for. First and foremost I am a writer of songs and a recorder of them too. Up until now I have used primarily the following means of capturing sound: A Tascam 424mkiii.

In fact, I have owned at least four 424mkiiis. I will be glad to put the days of cassette far behind me. And in fact, did so more than ten years ago. Since then however I have not recorded much if anything at all. And it is with a Tascam Model 12 that I now plan my return to recording.

Despite contending with the limitations of cassette-based recording, I enjoyed the format's ease of use. I mixed down to stereo cassette, and also CDRW. I used a Yamaha KX580SE for the former, and a Sony CDR-W100 for the latter. I'm not sure why I ever bothered with the former, tbh - I think primarily it was as some kind of analogue backup format, in case the CDRW disc didn't age well. In any case, I basically used to do two separate mix-downs - which was easy enough, not least because my songs were short, and usually consisted of e.g. acoustic guitar and vocals on track one, then another acoustic guitar on track two, then shakers on three, and backing vocals on four. I also did a lot of songs that were bass and drums on track one, vocals on two, electric guitar via POD on three, backing vocals on four. My arrangements were basic, and better for it.

I tend towards overtly simplistic arrangements. And don't really plan on moving away from that. One of the things I liked most about the 424 was that its limitations forced its users to become imaginative and also to focus on the strength of the initial idea itself.

I got very used to committing to an effect (such as slap back echo on vocals), and tracking ("printing") with that effect. I've never really cared about flexibility and maximising my options for the mix - and this is one of my misgivings with the Model 12. From the very little I've managed to glean, it seems that it's actually quite difficult to record with EQ.

Here is what I want to do with the Model 12 - i.e. how I envisage a typical "session" i.e. a normal, everyday recording method. It's the way I've always worked, and how I ideally want to continue to record as I get back into the process:

Drums to track one (probably mono - not an issue for me tbh). Bass to track two. Main vocal to track three. Guitar on four. Backing vocals on five. Percussion on six. Second guitar on seven. Kayboards / incidental noises / shenanigans on track 8,

I feel like this will be an absolute luxury if I can do this. I have used 8 track formats before - namely a Fostex R8 (1/4" tape) - and made some decent sounding recordings, and basked in the options that and extra four tracks created.

I have A LOT of questions - embarrassingly simple ones, so basic that it makes me wince to even try and formulate them. For instance, what SD card capacity is best? How much recording time will fit on a 128gb card. Do I even need one?? I am planning to mix down using my old Sony CDR-W100 deck onto re-recordable discs. I dunno. I just want to avoid laptops if I can. But am open to advice, of course. In the mean time I'll read all the relevant threads and try watch the best youtube tutorials for the Model 12.

Thanks everyone.

 

[shredd]

Wlecome to the show! We have some lovely prizes for you, just for participa-
Sorry. I watched a lot of TV as a kid.

ANYway. Your intro was very interesting, and hopefully your new-generation move to digital MTR is fruitful. It seems to me that if you accomplished what you want on 4- and 8-tracks, you can surely thrive on a Model12, despite the steep learning curve and potential obstacles such sophisticated gear presents.

The Modelxx does present some real challenges - well documented here on the forum - but also has some incredible capabilities, the most notable of which (IMHO) is the ability to interface directly with your DAW (from which, of course, you could mix/master, then "print" to your Sony deck and/or CD-writer). OR you can use an on-board SD card, and record there.
I don't own one, so I'll be no real help - but there's a good many users here.

The first thing I'd say: be sure to read the "sticky threads" - pinned at the top of the Modelxx forum - the smart folks here put a ton of time into presenting the most vital and useful info, and will probably save you a TON of time with asking simple questions. There's some truly accomplished people here who put a ton of work into this, to help the rest of us. Yes, we're looking at you, @-mjk- , @Mark Richards ,@Phil Tipping , et al. THANX GUYZ!
The other thing is: learn to use the "search" function - 'cuz 94% of the stuff that you'll run into has already happened to someone, been asked about, and answered.
Lastly - not to be a pryk - but RTM ("read the manual"). Despite the US Congress being the only entity in existence that's worse at it's job than the Tascam manual-writing department...there's valuable info in there, which also will answer many of your ?'s.

Good luck!