How to retain the cassette 4-track sound without actually ..

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Vera,

> Is there an outboard unit that would warm up and compress the sound like
the tape does <

I think you're asking the wrong question. A recording medium should be
transparent. You can buy plug-ins for distortion, or come up with other ways
to mangle a track or full mix afterward if you actually like that sound.

--Ethan

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

"Vera Cruz" <veracruz@email.si> wrote in message
news:ZpfYe.329$h6.110197@news.siol.net
> "Ethan Winer" <ethanw at ethanwiner dot com> wrote in
> message news:4ZOdnfUxJoMg96zeRVn-tg@giganews.com...
>> Vera,
>>
>>> Is there an outboard unit that would warm up and
>>> compress the sound like
>> the tape does <
>>
>> I think you're asking the wrong question. A recording
>> medium should be transparent. You can buy plug-ins for
>> distortion, or come up with other ways to mangle a track
>> or full mix afterward if you actually like that sound.

> I suppose you're right, it's just that I'm not used in
> thinking in this way. With my budget, it was always a
> question of my recordings sounding sterile and lifeless,
> or somewhat muddy but warm and fuller. So let me ask the
> question this way - what outboard unit would do a good
> job of turning a sterile recording into a warmer one?

How about this plan:

(1) Zoom into the 21st century where we often obtain warm,
full recordings using clean audio gear, the simplest
possible way.

(2) If you've got problems with sterile recordings, maybe
its your room, your mics, or how they use them.

(3) If you want to change the color of a recording - use the
simplest easiest possible means - the equalization that's
built into most audio recording software.]

(4) Failing all of the above, take a look at the numerious
plug-in software that gives you the colors you can't mix up
for yourself.

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"Vera Cruz" <veracruz@email.si> wrote in message
news:yQcYe.321$h6.109787@news.siol.net...

> On a related note, I know that a compressor squashes the mix to make it
louder
> (in layman's terms) - is that similar to the effect you get if you turn up
a
> song very loud on the headphones - I'd love to get that sound from the
speakers
> on lower levels, as well (especially with the drums), but I never seem to
be
> able to.

Some of these digital recorders come with built-in effects such as
compression.

But first I suggest you get some audio files and tinker round with audio
editing software to see what the various effects available do. If you have a
Windows PC, then Goldwave is pretty cheap, and it's a free download for
evaluation purposes. It can also use "Plug-ins", some of which are free for
downloading.

(There are plenty of other audio editors, which will have similar
facilities.)

A compressor doesn't actually make sound louder, it makes it quieter.
However, it does that by reducing the loud sounds more than quiet sounds -
so you can turn the volume up more, without the loudest passages rattling
your windows.

I doubt if you make make sound played quietly through speakers ound similar
to sound played loudly; however, what you can do is use EQ to boost LF and
HF sound. At low sound levels, the ear's sensitivity to LF and HF falls
more rapidly than its sensitivity to mid-range sounds. That might help;
why not try it and see?

Tim

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Laurence Payne <lpayne1NOSPAM@dsl.pipexSPAMTRAP.com> wrote:

> There is a certain effect you get from wide-track tape at high speeds
> that some people like. But you aren't getting that from 4-track
> cassette. You're just getting lousy performance, traded off against a
> cheap entry into the world of multi-track recording. Learn to like a
> more accurate recording.

But cassette 4-track does have a distinctive sound that I associate
with a few albums I enjoy. Old Ween records have that sound, but there
are also all those basement tapes made by friends that have a nostalgic
appeal. The sound of a cassette 4-track has a lot to do with the
narrow dynamic range and the distortion of the low-headroom transistor
electronics. But most of all it comes from the one effect built into
most cheap cassette 4-tracks: Vari-speed. These kinds of tapes almost
always have pitch shifting going on someplace, usually on vocals, and
usually a whole lot of it. So if the OP wants to recreate the sound of
a cassette 4-track, he can use a Radio Shack speaker phone or a Smokey
pocket-sized amplifier for guitar sounds (use it as a mike preamp
too!), record in a dead room or closet with a shitty dynamic mike, and
then use varispeed plug-ins and not much else. It shouldn't be too
hard, as long as you can resist the temptation to use reverb,
sophisticated EQ, or high-quality analog front end gear.

ulysses