Chose the 4-track tape over a laptop interface for our last basement session

Our band had $60 for recording gear and I picked a used Tascam 4-track instead of a cheap USB interface. The take came out rough and hissy, but my drummer said it sounded like us, which was the point. Anyone else go backwards on gear to get a better vibe?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary8366d ago

My buddy spent $60 on a USB interface back in 2017 and we still laugh about how flat everything sounded. That hiss you got, that's the room and the tape pushing back, not a plugin trying to fix it. I get the appeal of a laptop, but you can't name a song you recorded on one the same way you can name the tape that made you stop overthinking. Rough and hissy beats clean and lifeless every time, at least for what a band actually is. So no, I don't see it as going backwards, I see it as finally going forward.

foster.ruby5d ago

Read an interview where a producer swore his best drum sound came from a four-track, and @mary836, that stuck with me all day.