Squeezing 16 channels into 8 channels

[soupking]

Okay,

This situation is kind of silly, but then again, some might think spending $2000 on a pre-amplifier silly. So I bring this question to GS.

I've got some compositions that are relatively simple. Relative meaning that they involve a guitar, bass, vocals, and drums. I thought I could get 4 instruments into 8 channels. Well, I can but what I'm learning is that it's quite limiting.

I'm recording to tape so I'm having to find new ways to organize micing etc. I'm also thinking maybe I should record onto 2 tapes with a click track; 1 main, and another for extra instruments, and then synch them together digitally since I'm using tape as my main print.

I don't know. I'm trying to explore possibilities. Anybody have any ideas?

[Dave Peck]

Best way to do this is with a simple 8-buss mixer. Standard old school 8-track setup:

1. Assign Bass to buss 1 (tape track 1). You can use multiple mics & multiple mixer channels on the bass, but once you get a mix of them you assign them all to buss 1.
2. Mic up the drums however works best, could be three mics, could be nine, and get a good stereo drum mix and assign it to buss 2 & 3. Optionally, you can maybe keep the kik on a separate buss & track for more control during mixdown. If you want to do this, assign the kik to buss 8 / track 8.
3. Assign guitars to the next pair of busses / tracks (4 & 5).
4. You now have two or three more tracks left for vocals.

BTW, the reason for putting bass on 1 & kik on 8 is that you do NOT want a critical vocal track or one half of a stereo track on an 'edge' track.

If you need more than that, you can fill up all eight tracks with the instrumental tracks, do a stereo mixdown of these to a good quality two track recorder (analog, good CD recorder, maybe a good DAT), then bounce (copy) this stereo mix back to tracks 2 & 3 of the 8 track on a fresh section of tape and you now have lots of empty tracks for adding vocals to the stereo instrument mix.

That's the way just about everybody used to do it.

DP

[soupking]

BTW, the reason for putting bass on 1 & kik on 8 is that you do NOT want a critical vocal track or one half of a stereo track on an 'edge' track.

Rock on, Dave. That's awesome info. All of it.

Thanks a bunch!

[Cojo]

I also think it's awesome info and I don't even own an 8 trk...