Analog Adventures with Encloaked
Apr 12, 2020 2:50:59 GMT -5
Post by element0s on Apr 12, 2020 2:50:59 GMT -5
I figured this thread would make a fine little journal of sorts as I practice working with this new (old) medium on some of my tracks. Looking forward to reading some comments, answering questions and getting some tips from the veterans who have been doing this kind of thing for a while.
Last week I saw a picture of Andrew (of Diplodocus) with a laptop, a tape deck and a rats nest of cables on Facebook. He was doing a final master of an album by running the audio from his DAW into his tape recorder, then replaying the audio back into the computer. A flash of inspiration struck me and I realized that I probably owned everything I needed to own to pull a similar stunt. What kind of delicious, lo-fi sounds could await me?
I dusted off the Fostex 4-track recorder sitting in my drawer and rooted through my locker until I'd pulled free a mass of cables and adapters that had been lying dormant and unloved for years. I pried everything with either an RCA plug or a 1/4” jack free from the pile and I dug out my decrepit Behringer mixer from some dark corner of my closet.
***
Let's start by mapping out my signal flow:
DAW > Interface XLR Stereo OUT > Mixer Stereo IN > Tape Stereo OUT (RCA) > Fostex IN (1/4”) > Fostex OUT (RCA) > Interface 1/4” Stereo IN > DAW
Got all that? Here's a drawing if it helps:
And a picture of my setup:
You're gonna need headphones for this unless you've got a soundcard with a lot of output options. I started by plugging my headphone directly into the tape machine, since the sound is ending up in there first. I patch the headphones back into my interface when recording back into the computer.
For reference, My cassettes are “TDK B90 Normal Position Type I” tapes. Make of that what you will.
If you've never done this kind of thing before and if you're not a super tech-savvy guy to begin with, it's a great feeling to get the whole chain routed and working. When the tape machine is running and the DAW is spitting signal into it and back into a fresh track on the computer, you kind of feel like god for a second.
***
Check out the SoundCloud link below. It's got a playlist of test “masters” on a new track I recorded a few weeks back. They are all different takes of the same song. Some of the differences between the tracks are pretty subtle and you may need headphones or good speakers tell the differences.
soundcloud.com/user-908389654/sets/analog-adventures-belverus/s-KW4l5rx7Mtf
“Belverus NO TAPE”
-This the track mixed down without any analog processing at all. Just the software VSTs.
-Obviously this track sounds clean as a whistle with lots of stereo width
“Belverus COLD TAPE”
-For some reason, the stupid track is real quiet on input. Whenever I twist the output on my interface up to what I think is a normal level, my headphones scream in agony as the track feeds back. Took me about 30 minutes of recording weak-ass signals to tape before I clued in: my Fostex main out and headphone outputs are the same knob and I've got it up WAY too high. Oops.
-In any case, this is the first acceptable tape bounce I was able to get from the track. The song wasn't hitting the tape very hard, generally hitting between -3bd and 0db. I didn't input very hard back into the DAW either because the tape hiss seemed overpowering in my headphones.
“Belverus HOT TAPE”
-Once I discovered the secret of the headphone output on the Fostex, I decided to slam the tape machine real hard on input with the track. I was peaking around +6db on certain parts of the song.
-Really listen to this one on headphones, especially the percussion elements. They get completely smashed to pieces. The chordal section at 1:50 gets smeared to fuck here. It's raunchy as hell.
-I could see myself using a really hot tape bounce like this as an effect on a specific element of a mix. Maybe not a full mix like this
-The sound is way more compressed here, like it's packed into a tight ball. There's even less tape hiss compared to the other versions.
“Belverus MEDIUM TAPE”
-On this one I tried to find a happy medium. I had the track hitting the tape between 0db and +3db on input and the feed going into the cassette seemed way healthier this time around.
-This one worked for me the most. It had a little more of the saturated character I was hoping to get, but not completely crushed to shit like the “HOT” take
“Belverus MEDIUM TAPE – SOOTHE”
-As an added bonus I decided to try using the Soothe 2 plugin from Oeksound
-On the previous tape tracks I was noticing a lot of really hot overtones coming from the high notes at 1:36 and elsewhere in the track. This plugin was able to tame them in about 30 seconds
-This would be my “final” version of the track
***
So what does the tape “do” exactly?
Firstly, it makes everything mono. At least, my recorder does. It has pan functions which I have to use to balance the stereo field on input, but when it goes back into the DAW it seem to be recording completely to mono. Not sure if this is normal for my equipment or user error
Second, it narrows the bandwidth of your recording. You'll lose of load of high end information, and also a lot of low-end. The recording becomes very focused in the midsection. This is probably why you often hear people use the term “warm”.
Next, it compresses the track. When I listen to the original track with no tape, there's a lot of separation in the mix between all the instruments. The tape track compacts them into a tighter space and has a nice sonic “glue” element that is kind of lacking in the original.
Also, when you hit the tape with enough volume you get a badass saturation effect that adds a lot of lo-fi, DIY grit to your track.
It's sexy.
***
I'm rather enjoying the effect. It's bringing out a nostalgic quality to my tracks and there's something quite musical about the whole thing. It's a fun process and really doesn't take a lot of time, setup or equipment. I'm even considering going back to some of my previous work and doing some DE-mastered versions for shits and giggles.
Last week I saw a picture of Andrew (of Diplodocus) with a laptop, a tape deck and a rats nest of cables on Facebook. He was doing a final master of an album by running the audio from his DAW into his tape recorder, then replaying the audio back into the computer. A flash of inspiration struck me and I realized that I probably owned everything I needed to own to pull a similar stunt. What kind of delicious, lo-fi sounds could await me?
I dusted off the Fostex 4-track recorder sitting in my drawer and rooted through my locker until I'd pulled free a mass of cables and adapters that had been lying dormant and unloved for years. I pried everything with either an RCA plug or a 1/4” jack free from the pile and I dug out my decrepit Behringer mixer from some dark corner of my closet.
***
Let's start by mapping out my signal flow:
DAW > Interface XLR Stereo OUT > Mixer Stereo IN > Tape Stereo OUT (RCA) > Fostex IN (1/4”) > Fostex OUT (RCA) > Interface 1/4” Stereo IN > DAW
Got all that? Here's a drawing if it helps:
And a picture of my setup:
You're gonna need headphones for this unless you've got a soundcard with a lot of output options. I started by plugging my headphone directly into the tape machine, since the sound is ending up in there first. I patch the headphones back into my interface when recording back into the computer.
For reference, My cassettes are “TDK B90 Normal Position Type I” tapes. Make of that what you will.
If you've never done this kind of thing before and if you're not a super tech-savvy guy to begin with, it's a great feeling to get the whole chain routed and working. When the tape machine is running and the DAW is spitting signal into it and back into a fresh track on the computer, you kind of feel like god for a second.
***
Check out the SoundCloud link below. It's got a playlist of test “masters” on a new track I recorded a few weeks back. They are all different takes of the same song. Some of the differences between the tracks are pretty subtle and you may need headphones or good speakers tell the differences.
soundcloud.com/user-908389654/sets/analog-adventures-belverus/s-KW4l5rx7Mtf
“Belverus NO TAPE”
-This the track mixed down without any analog processing at all. Just the software VSTs.
-Obviously this track sounds clean as a whistle with lots of stereo width
“Belverus COLD TAPE”
-For some reason, the stupid track is real quiet on input. Whenever I twist the output on my interface up to what I think is a normal level, my headphones scream in agony as the track feeds back. Took me about 30 minutes of recording weak-ass signals to tape before I clued in: my Fostex main out and headphone outputs are the same knob and I've got it up WAY too high. Oops.
-In any case, this is the first acceptable tape bounce I was able to get from the track. The song wasn't hitting the tape very hard, generally hitting between -3bd and 0db. I didn't input very hard back into the DAW either because the tape hiss seemed overpowering in my headphones.
“Belverus HOT TAPE”
-Once I discovered the secret of the headphone output on the Fostex, I decided to slam the tape machine real hard on input with the track. I was peaking around +6db on certain parts of the song.
-Really listen to this one on headphones, especially the percussion elements. They get completely smashed to pieces. The chordal section at 1:50 gets smeared to fuck here. It's raunchy as hell.
-I could see myself using a really hot tape bounce like this as an effect on a specific element of a mix. Maybe not a full mix like this
-The sound is way more compressed here, like it's packed into a tight ball. There's even less tape hiss compared to the other versions.
“Belverus MEDIUM TAPE”
-On this one I tried to find a happy medium. I had the track hitting the tape between 0db and +3db on input and the feed going into the cassette seemed way healthier this time around.
-This one worked for me the most. It had a little more of the saturated character I was hoping to get, but not completely crushed to shit like the “HOT” take
“Belverus MEDIUM TAPE – SOOTHE”
-As an added bonus I decided to try using the Soothe 2 plugin from Oeksound
-On the previous tape tracks I was noticing a lot of really hot overtones coming from the high notes at 1:36 and elsewhere in the track. This plugin was able to tame them in about 30 seconds
-This would be my “final” version of the track
***
So what does the tape “do” exactly?
Firstly, it makes everything mono. At least, my recorder does. It has pan functions which I have to use to balance the stereo field on input, but when it goes back into the DAW it seem to be recording completely to mono. Not sure if this is normal for my equipment or user error
Second, it narrows the bandwidth of your recording. You'll lose of load of high end information, and also a lot of low-end. The recording becomes very focused in the midsection. This is probably why you often hear people use the term “warm”.
Next, it compresses the track. When I listen to the original track with no tape, there's a lot of separation in the mix between all the instruments. The tape track compacts them into a tighter space and has a nice sonic “glue” element that is kind of lacking in the original.
Also, when you hit the tape with enough volume you get a badass saturation effect that adds a lot of lo-fi, DIY grit to your track.
It's sexy.
***
I'm rather enjoying the effect. It's bringing out a nostalgic quality to my tracks and there's something quite musical about the whole thing. It's a fun process and really doesn't take a lot of time, setup or equipment. I'm even considering going back to some of my previous work and doing some DE-mastered versions for shits and giggles.