Dumping to Tape then Back to Pro Tools:

[BlackSoultan]

I'm an L.A. emcee who doesn't really know a ton about engineering/mixing/mics, but I'm learning from sites like this. One engineer from the famed spot "Rehab" told me that (a) I should use a sony c800 and (b) I should either mix in analog or dump down a pro-tools mix to 2 inch tape then back into pro-tools.

My questions are:

1. Sony or U87ai?
2. What does dumping to 2 inch tape then back into the HD rig do??!?

[filterayok]

nothing-----dumping to tape is supposed to warm up the sound, and add a little compression, and all the c8oo is gonna do is put a SHITLOAD of high end on your vocal...for like 6-8 grand... ask yourself... is the kind of tracks i'm dealing with, and the kind of music i'm making so relient on MINISCULE frequency issues, that its worth the trouble and money of doing this shit.... Hit records are made all the time without ever leaving ProTools, or using an 8 thousand dollar mic.... use that money to support a tour, or manufacture cd's, or to pay a famous mixtape dj to put your song on his compilation, but PLEASE dont splurge that kind of money on something so dumb... and in the time it takes you to dump all your tracks to analog, and back, you could've got halfway thru creating an entire new song, that could possibly be the song that ignites your career....the guys that do the analog thing, are guys like dre, and kanye, who do it simply cause they CAN, and why not...they got more then enough time and money...

[Agzilla]

I agree on the mic...but..the benefits of tape are real, okay it's a huge luxury, but talking about the kinds of records someone makes as not reliant on details in frequency etc and suggesting it's for the likes of Dre and Mr West as though it's somehow eccentric....is ironic..

When so many threads are devoted to the mysteries surounding their great "sound"

It's no coincidence i reckon...

Most shit does not leave pro tools, that is probably true, but give the option and i'll have as much analogue as i can get...

But not to say you can't do great shit without...

All a matter of budget....

Peace.

[filterayok]

no i'm just sayin when your making records that will be distributed as the "bar" of the cutting edge of hiphop, records that may be future classics, then yea, the subtle differences analog makes are worth it-----but i just say before you go spending time and money on tape, assess whether the OTHER aspects of your music are up par.... "hey, i got an average generic track, with a less then average rapper, using played out production, but it went thru a STUDER!!!" of course no-one wants to believe their music's not up to par, but unless your planning on worldwide distribution, does joe blow down the block give a **** about your studer???"



as for the "mysteries" of dre's and kanyes sound, you think their records wouldnt sound good if you took away their studer

[Agzilla]

I hear you.. i think if we bothered to go through it all we'd kinda agree..

I feel you on the generic average point, true that most wouldn't notice the difference i guess, at least as far as being aware of it anyway..

Maybe we're both right...depending on the instance, but i mix stuff itb in Logic all the time at the moment so maybe i'm just wishful thinking...lol

Peace.

[superburtm]

[QUOTE=


as for the "mysteries" of dre's and kanyes sound, you think their records wouldnt sound good if you took away their studer[/QUOTE]

I could be wrong but I doubt at this time Dre is using tape or Kanye for that matter. For that style of music I don't see what the big advantage would be anyhow. Waste of time and money IMO. YMMV

[No4PCs]

I think if you can get an good old ampex 1/2" stereo tape recorder, you can pay low price, and recording 2 channels each time and down the 2 tracks into pt, i think will get more powerfull tape sound.A friend of mine make this trick with cassete 4 track tape and sounds interesting.Than you can sync correctly the tracks tempo in the software. You can make a test before buy the good old reel tape.New tape and aligned bias head help a lot.

[filterayok]

Originally Posted by superburtm

I could be wrong but I doubt at this time Dre is using tape or Kanye for that matter. For that style of music I don't see what the big advantage would be anyhow. Waste of time and money IMO. YMMV

no theyre probably not---i know for (almost) a fact that dre at one point WAS doing it, but i heard that a few years ago, and i remember reading about Kanyes record going thru a neve and all this vinatge stuff, but same principal applies---a neve aint makin it a hit either

[jonnyclueless]

Definitely the u87.

What you can do (a trick of mine) is to just take a 1/2" 2 track on the repo head, send the vocal ot it and record it back to another track. Then visually line it up to make up for the head delay. Put it in a playlist of the vocal track and you can switch between the two to see whcih is better.

When I do this I generally run at the lowest IPs and try to distort the vocals as much as possible. The good thing about the repro ead is you can treak the 2 track settings while hearing it. But the down side is that it won't be in time. It generally works best when the vocals aren't so good.

Just something to consider.