Finallly, Someone demonstrating a 4 track with a real drum kit mic'd up. Sounds great.

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

I'm all about recording real instruments! Check out this other vid specifically on recording drums on a 4 Track. Thanks for watching! kzread.info/dash/bejne/c5p3mM6NktPOiLw.html

@dennisgarcia7590

4 жыл бұрын

Agree

I've used this machine for years to do all kinds of stuff. I even did the basic soundtrack for a film with it. I'm a lot older than you, and actually started recording my band in the early 80s on cassette. I still have a porta studio 02 in my "studio " that I play with from time to time. I use a 58 mike for vocals and cheap effects Box for guitar and pre amp. Good video man. I get some good results once in a while. It's easier than digital recording for me!

Great video, I still own and use a couple of Tascam 4 tracks. I get extra tracks by mixing 2,3 or 4 tracks onto another tape(as you do anyway on mix down) and then using that mixed tape as an input on a single track on the Tascam, then add to it. I love tape and analogue. I have a collection of analogue FX pedals on my board and love valve amps with spring reverb. A young guy said my old fender twin was crap compared to his Line 6 as his line 6 has more effects.

@DaveZula

5 жыл бұрын

Paul Evans Analog for the win!

NoiCe - Love the focus on the music instead of the process ... PeaCe

I love them too! Im glad I kept my machines from the 90s and early 2000s.

What a beautiful professional demonstration and great playing man👌

@DaveZula

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you kindly!

Excellent job. Informative too!

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

jumbosilverette Thank you for watching! Let me know if there are any other topics you think I should cover in a future video.

I used to have one, you can't punch in. So, that got me to learn to how to do live takes. It wasn't too bad of a 4 track.

@DaveZula

5 жыл бұрын

JRPowell3_Music You can KIND OF punch in by just hitting the record button at just the right time, but it won’t let you monitor the armed track before the punch. I think some of the other machines did let you fully automate punch-ins. Definitely better to just do it as a full take like you said, though. Thanks for watching!

Great content, thank for the upload (Y)

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

Gergely Nagy Thank you!

Sounds dope

@DaveZula

Жыл бұрын

Thank you

Love this, Dave! Reminds me of the old days when I had to write out the track's flow and actually be able to play all the way through it for each track! Recently grabbed a Yamaha MT100 to get back into the old school. Oh, and lovely chromatics in the lead part! :-)

@DaveZula

7 жыл бұрын

ambiguation Nothing like analog recording! Thanks for watching!

hell yea

On another video, someone suggested using window cleaner on the pinch roller.

I could have sworn the hiss was one of the quirks of the Porta 02, and that the key was to run a hot as you could (before the sound goes to hell) to try to cut through over the hiss. But for me, and I think some people in general, the hiss is just kind of distinctive and desirable. Maybe not for everyone though. Try running over 0 and going in hotter, and possibly post your results in doing so.

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

Ron Barriault I'm fine with a little tape hiss, which is normal for any four track, but that type of hiss should go away when you stop the tape. This is something different.

@ronbarriaultjr

6 жыл бұрын

David Paul yeah I think it's just the way the machine is built. Sorry, I didn't realize that you meant the hiss continues when the tape is stopped. I'd still try attempting to bury the hiss by running in a loud as you can without ruining the sound of the instruments Alternatively you may have to fix it in post production using something like izotope for noise reduction if you end up digitizing your recordings after.

To stop the hiss reduce the faders during playback

@DaveZula

5 жыл бұрын

Matt Mitchell Normally yes, but the hiss is there regardless of the faders on this machine. I think it’s just noisy amplification in the monitor circuit. Thanks for watching!

Sounds good to me

Sounds great! Nice tutorial! I have a fostex x26 I got it used in 2013, it's noise is worse lol. I activate the noise reduction while recording and playing back it helps a bit. The unit creates hiss just being turn on. Its holding up pretty good considering the condition I bought it. I think the extra hiss is put there on purpose to make up for the lost frequencys above 12k lol. I believe the Tascam goes up to 16k, I'm not sure. Keep up the good work!

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

MrMetalclay Interesting. I have never tried the Fostex. At least it does have the noise reduction. Does it run at high or normal speed? Because that's probably the biggest downfall of this machine: no noise reduction and no high-speed. Because of that you really have to be aware of the fighting the tape noise on top of the ambient hiss it makes just being turned on. I still think it's a cool machine despite all that though!

@MrMetalclay

6 жыл бұрын

David Paul it has a speed pot, I'm not sure if I goes 2x. I couldn't notice any quality improvement with more speed, although I got better punch ins. I think getting the hottest signals without distorting helps. Your recording has great clarity, I think that's all that matters. I've ended up with loads of mud sometimes that can't be fixed. It all ends up digital at some point, I just use software to remove a small amount of hiss to avoid artifacts.

Hi David, I have used this model in the past and you are right, the high end hiss is bad, but not on the recording. Strange but it's jus because of it being a bottom of the line recorder. Kind regards. Paul.

one of the worst mistakes i ever made was selling my tascam 424 mk3 it had the best sound i have ever gotten outta any of my recordings over the last 25years . it puts all of the DAWS i use to shame and the reason i believe besides tape just sounds better but everything was done by what you heard and not what you see on a screen . i went on ebay recently looking for one because i got boxes of music i want to hear and they are now selling upwards to 700.00 dollars now i only paid about 399.00 for mine in 1999

@DaveZula

5 жыл бұрын

richard spight Keep your eye out, they do turn up for a bargain sometimes. Usually they might need a new belt or something, but that’s not a huge deal. Thanks for watching, Richard!

@levijessegonzalez3629

4 жыл бұрын

Are they better than the mk2

Oh I forgot to mention that the hiss is normal for all these decks. And, you can bounce tracks, but it's really sloppy and there's a ton of hiss. Don't bother to try. I did and the results were not too good!

hey dave, how did you run the external mixer to the 4 track? i have the same device and a cool little 70s yamaha mixing board, but wasnt sure what advantages there were to going through it, as it was my understanding that the tascam porta studio mkii doesnt have the capacity to process the EQing, compression, etc...im not a recording veteran, just looking for tips as ive just started working with this specific 4 track device. thanks!

@DaveZula

7 жыл бұрын

STRANDSBEACHMUSIC I use the external mixer for a few reasons. I find that having any sort of external mic preamp really improves the sound just by giving it a better level without having to boost it on the Tascam. The Yamaha mixer's preamps sound pretty good to my ears, and it gives you more clean gain than the Tascam. I also use the mixer for its built-in EQ, compression, and effects such as delay and reverb. The other advantage is that it's really easy to blend multiple mics and record them onto one track, as you might want to do with a drum kit, or like I did in this video with the rhythm guitar. You have a lot of control over the level and tone of each mic this way, which is crucial because when it's all going to one track you don't have much control of the sound after it's recorded. As far as how to hook it up, it depends on your mixer, but I took one of the 1/4" outputs from the Yamaha and ran it into the track 1 input on the Tascam. If you have XLR ins and outs that is generally a better choice. Depending on your particular machine you could possibly also use the RCA jacks although right off the top of my head I'm not sure how the routing would work. There's a ton of possibilities! Let me know how it works for you.

Hi Dave! Great video! By any chance do you know how's this model different from the Porta03?

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

Andrés Gualdrón Hey Andrés, it looks like the biggest difference is that the Porta03 has Dolby NR. I think that would be a pretty significant upgrade over this machine, especially considering the low tape speed. The only thing it doesn't have that the Porta02 does is the mono switch. That is a really cool feature to have that you don't see on many machines. It's a really easy way to check the mono compatibility of your mix, among other uses. Obviously not something you need, but definitely a handy feature. Overall though, I'd prefer the Porta03.

@andresgualdron

6 жыл бұрын

Great, thanks for the info!

Very good stuff. Now, i wanted to ask something i havent quite understood about this unit: Can i record a stereo signal using both inputs of the machine? Will they be properly separated and panned? I ask because my synth chorus is stereo.

@ZenMountain

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, you can.

Amazing!!! Where´s the video of the mix? Which amp is that? Thank you

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

Eduardo Coelho No mix video, nothing too exciting going on there. I just took the feed from the Tascam and hit record. The amp is a Fender Champion 600 5 watt tube amp with a 6" speaker. Thanks for watching!

Hey, nice video. That's a pretty good jam, actually. I happen to have a porta 03 mkII, which looks essentially the same as your porta 02, except for the dolby noise reduction option. I'm also experiencing the same overwhelming white noise issue... on the headphones output. It's quite OK with the RCA jack output. Maybe that's the same on your recorder?

@DaveZula

7 жыл бұрын

Pierre Lemaire Hi Pierre, yeah I think that's the issue with mine. And I didn't know the Porta 03 had noise reduction. Maybe I should have bought one of those instead. Thanks for watching!

Hello, very interesting video, I congratulate you. I want to ask you one thing, I have a condenser microphone with phantom, to use it with the Porta 02 I need a pre amp like an Art tube MP Studio V3, or is it not possible to use it with that studio holder? Thank you for your time, see you soon and best wishes.

I have the same model but it wont turn on i tried a new adapter and still no power and suggestions?

The hiss could be probably from a type 1 cassette.

Very Good Job!! I'm wondering,,Does this machine have DBX or any other noise reduction?? ALSo..The noise couldn't be coming from your Yamaha Mixer could it?

@DaveZula

5 жыл бұрын

Clifford Pearson jr. I’ve basically narrowed it down to noisy amplification in the monitor circuit of the 4 track.

@cliffordpearsonjr.9748

5 жыл бұрын

ohhh.. Okkee dokkee

Enjoyed the video! I had one of these in 90s and might buy another one soon. Would it be easy to mix the 4 track recording into garage band? I have a Mac Pro laptop. If so, how can I connect the 4 track to my computer? Thanks for help.

@jonathanhandsmusic

4 жыл бұрын

You can mix out to Audacity if gb won't work. I used to do it with Audacity and had good results.

@DaveZula

3 жыл бұрын

Many different ways. In the old days my computer had a line-in jack. Now you probably need an interface with at least two inputs. Plug stereo left and right into the two inputs and you can just record your mix. Or, with certain four track machines you have separate tape outs, and you can send each track on your cassette to its own track on the computer if your interface has four inputs, then you can mix "in the box." Lately my favorite way is to run the Tascam into my little Yamaha mixer. It has a USB port and it can work as an interface.

@Busywave

3 жыл бұрын

@@DaveZula thanks. I haven’t found a tascam yet but when I do this info will help. The interface I have has two inputs. One for a mic and one for an instrument.

David question for you i would just like to record my beats to the portastudio with with left and right outputs of my mpc is this possible I can only get them to record on track 1 which assume is in mono

@DaveZula

7 жыл бұрын

Future D Films Yes, it's definitely possible. Anything recorded on a single track will end up mono. You would need to send the left and right signals from your mpc to two different tracks. Go to Tascam.com and download the manual for the Porta 02. Page 17 describes the process of recording a stereo source on two tracks.

@FutureDFilms

7 жыл бұрын

thank you david I figured it out I think track 2 on mine doesn't work so I have it 1 and 4 left and right and it worked for me

@DaveZula

7 жыл бұрын

Future D Films Ah, makes sense!

I just picked one up and it has a lot of hiss, even with no tape in the machine! The line out seems to sound better but still has some hiss.. It doesn't seem like one can record two mics at once..

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

Faraz Hussain Ok good to know. I guess the hiss is just inherent to the machine. To record more than one mic you'd have to premix them to one input on the Tascam. That's how I recorded the lead guitar on this track: close mic and room mic into Yamaha mixer, output to the Tascam.

@fhussain44

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, I got rid of the hiss by hooking it up to a small 5-channel mixer and using its headphone out. The mixer also lets me record multiple instruments at once as you described. I wish someone would launch a kickstarter camapaign to make these again. All it needs it double speed and better heads and it would sound awesome. I am surprised at how good it sounds at 17/8 ips. I also don't miss any of the features of the 414 mkII. The simplicity of this thing is its beauty!

@DaveZula

6 жыл бұрын

I totally agree with you, Faraz. If someone made a cassette 4 track people would definitely buy it. One of the problems with a lot of the companies making cassettes and cassette players now is the license for the Dolby Noise Reduction. Apparently nobody can license the the technology anymore which is making the clarity of new cassette products suffer a bit. On the other hand, the Porta 02 never had it and it still sounds pretty good. Double-speed and Dolby NR would have made this machine almost equal to the bigger 4 trackers, though.

Can this record an overdue to a track that already has sound without erasing it and without mixing down first? I know some of the higher end models have a "virtual" input "5" on it and I wanted to know before I bought if this can do that. If I have three guitar tracks and a vocal track down and I don't want to combine the vocal with a guitar track can I record a harmony vocal to my vocal track without mixing down?

About hiss. This unit specs tell me it has Signal-to-noise ratio 43dB. And no noise reduction system. This is why hiss I suppose.

What fender amp? GREAT tone wow

@DaveZula

3 жыл бұрын

Fender Champion 600 5 watts

Can I use an external mic-pre with the Tascam Porta02? I have an LA-610 channel strip which is all tube and all analog. It has a mic pre-amp, EQ, and compressor. Am I able to use this before going into the Porta02 or will it damage both the tape recorder and my channel strip? If it can work, how does one hook it up? Thanks

@DaveZula

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah definitely. I'd say that's actually ideal for a machine like this. Turn the gain down on both units and gradually bring up the gain on the preamp to a suitable level. Keep the Tascam doing as little as possible (set the fader to unity) and get your sound from your preamp box. I'm not familiar with this exact unit but it should work great for this.

I have a question, do you know if you can record bass drums and guitar and singer with one Mic placed in the room somewhere. I know nothing about recording and just bought the porta 2 tascam to try that out. It does not have to be nothing fancy just some quick and simple so we can heard the band and have something to practise different solos or different bass parts over at home by ourselves . I'm gonna try it today at practise.

@DaveZula

3 жыл бұрын

You can definitely do that. Take the time before you record to find the place in the room where you get the best balance of all the instruments.

Hey, man. I'm recording on the same 4-track and I need to know how to go about making a final mix. I have a stereo receiver, but I have no idea on how to go about making the final mix on it

@DaveZula

7 жыл бұрын

Nathan Harvey Hey Nathan, there are several ways to go about mixing from a 4-track, but the simplest way to do it is connect your RCA outputs to a digital interface and mix into recording software. To do this you probably need an adapter to go from RCA to XLR. You might find this at Radio Shack (if you can find a Radio Shack) or you can get them easily and cheaply online.

David Paul Hi there!! Thanks a whole lot for this awesome video. To avoid confusion, I'm Leona watching YT videos with my husband on a cool Sunday evening from his laptop thus a comment from LEONA on GORDON's YT account. Wanna know what I love, David?! Your passion, DIY-ism and your uber talent at knowing a little to a whole lot on your gear and instruments. You simply rock. Gotta question for you; I shall check out your other recording videos most notably all those with TASCAM focussed stuff, k? However should I have any other Q's, may I email you with a few as well? I have a "TASCAM ministudio Porta 02 MKII" and should like to use it for my musical pursuits. Gonna be fun to figure my way through however wanna make sure I'm doing this right . Just curious, k? Thanks David!! From moi --- Leona |l~_~l| on Gordon's YT account !! PS He totally likes your videos too!

I have one of these, bought new in late 90s, and it also has terrible hiss. I'm no technician, so my recordings with it are unusable - far worse hiss than yours. And yes, it's there all the time. I was playing with it recently, and it's not got any better. Trim, track faders, headphone vol can all make it worse, but nothing makes it better!

Not very helpful for someone with no recording experience. I gotta mixer but have no idea how it works cause we have haven't read the directions yet. But I wanna know how to hook the mixer to the 4track and record. But I guess I'll just have read the damn directions.

Hiss may be down to poor quality cassette try using a metal cassette.

@DaveZula

3 жыл бұрын

I believe Tascam advises against metal tapes. They recommend Type II High Bias.

Very good stuff. Now, i wanted to ask something i havent quite understood about this unit: Can i record a stereo signal using both inputs of the machine? Will they be properly separated and panned? I ask because my synth chorus is stereo.

@DaveZula

5 жыл бұрын

Alejandro Alquinta You can only record one track at a time on this machine, so no. Other Portastudios let you record on multiple tracks at once, though. Any of the 414 or 424 models.

@ZenMountain

2 жыл бұрын

@@DaveZula ??? Not true. It has 2 separate inputs and yes, you can record both at the same time!