2" analog tape recording session demonstration

A demonstration of a 2" analog tape recording session showing all the steps involved.
Otari MTR90-mkii 16-track 2" tape machine
Trident 80b console
1968 Ludwig kick
Allegra snare
Zildjian cymbals
Overhead microphones - Coles 4038
Kick microphone - AKG D12
Room microphones - Neumann KM184

[@tomperkins6389]

Great to revisit something I've done thousands and thousands of times. It was a very satisfying process, very tactile as well as aural. Of course first thing was alignment of the multitrack machine - that could take a half hour by itself. If you had Dolby or DBX units figure another half hour.

[@bravinneff7932]

Turning the computer off was a nice touch.

[@fremontrecording]

Ahhhh yes. That might be the best part.

[@attizzoso]

That is exactly my dream: click on the shutdown menu for the last time and have a 100% digital free studio. I'm working on it

[@cinquefoilofficial]

@@attizzosoI did this about 10 years ago and can say I really enjoy it. Still miss the ease of use with the DAW set up but going all analog and tape made me focus more on the actual performance more and the music. Although sometimes it can be frustrating and overwhelming, but that is a part of the game and the art.

[@robertkellough9531]

as an old tape op - this video brought me a lot of peace.

[@robertkellough9531]

but no calibrating?

[@raulhenriquez9412]

So happy I lived this era at the age of 20 operating these machines what a sound.

[@Rondo2ooo]

It was much less convenient but so more real. Love it.

[@carltechmobile3983]

One of the big things I was taught in Recording Technics school back in the 80's was always store tape tails out.

[@sexyman4604]

Why?

[@andrewandres148]

wuzz zat? "tails out" mean?

[@childrenoflightkeithlandaas]

Real to reel . Cant be matched.

[@bbbro34]

I love analog. Digital is good for cheap, DIY, mastering, since it all goes digital in the end these days...but, I love analog. Still record on tape, never left it.

[@fremontrecording]

We need to keep it alive! It's so good.

[@josephpeccerillo1640]

Sadly there is an entire generation of engineers that have never experienced analog recording and don’t understand how much better it sounds. But the convenience of digital has definitely made it so easy there’s no going back. Analog will never again be the standard of practice again.

[@YuutaShinjou113]

​@@josephpeccerillo1640 and the hatefulness of this world's young people makes it worse

[@Acrimonious_Snake]

@josephpeccerillo1640 Analog recording does NOT sound better, it sounds distorted, saturated, noisy, it has non-linear speed and simply is a pain in the sss to work with.

[@YuutaShinjou113]

@@Acrimonious_Snake And that is why some people love it. They love the distortion, the saturation, the noise, the risks to take when recording in analog, and this and that. These people are willing to challenge themselves and put themselves into limitation.

[@elijahvincent985]

THIS IS HOW IT'S DONE! 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@sven888]

Thank you for taking care of these works of art.

[@theblowupdollsmusic]

This was fun to watch! I love tape.

[@fremontrecording]

I love it too. Thanks for watching it!

[@Vortigan07]

Probably my biggest life regret is not moving Heaven and Earth to find a way to serve an engineering apprenticeship! I was 15/16 years old, living out in the Midlands sticks, I'd called round a few local, very minor studios and basically I was told that I'd have to get to London and go "knock on doors". And that was it, I had no means and neither did my family so I just let the dream die! I got to do some pretty basic 8 track recording/mixing with a band I was in a few years later which was great but only made that "what if" question all the bigger! Damn shame, gave up far too easily!

[@EdwinDekker71]

Ah the good old days! I'm happy we have daws now though :)

[@bradchatterton2576]

Nice sound for 4 mics. And I've been using like 10 all along...fml. HAHAHA. Actually, I just got 2 MTR90II machines that used to belong to producer Mike Chapman - using one and the other is for parts. Tracking and overdubbing to tape then mixing ITB. It's a nice hybrid scheme that's been working great so far.

[@fremontrecording]

I also have a parts machine in storage. Don't be afraid to mix from tape! I think it takes about the same time and recalls just aren't that bad. I always feel closer to the music when I can't see it.

[@dale116dot7]

Very cool! I run a Stephens 821b 24 track and a modded Soundcraft 2400. I shut down my digital rig once I couldn’t buy new PATA hard drives for it, it was oddly satisfying as well.

[@jimrogers7425]

What a beautiful machine! You have a very lovely and somewhat rare machine! Keep it in good shape… they sound incredible.

[@marcdanielnelson317]

Excellent video. I always loved those UA 2-1176s..

[@BMRStudio]

Jesus, how I hate this process back in the days, and how I missing it now😂😂😂😂

[@stratisfied678]

Now get our your MRL reference tape and align that thing!

[@CESARCASTROJarochelo]

thank you! This was a nice trip to the past

[@mariocomeq1961]

What a beaturiful machine!

[@fremontrecording]

It's a real gem for sure. In perfect working order... at the moment. ;-)

[@paullawson8610]

Thanks man took me back i miss recording to tape

[@m-ducemusicgroup]

Awesome Video.. This was so satisfying lol

[@truthfinder4973]

Love it this is music art

[@dubdoodle7191]

There's a reason why the best music ever created was on tape. Real instruments, Realtime Talent, Real Vocals ! NO NLE / DAW virtual crap and quantization correction. And NO autotune !!!

[@YuutaShinjou113]

all that NLE, DAW, quantization correction, and Autotune? it is all because of them young abusive liberals! they deserve to be silenced!

[@poxcr]

There's great music still being made that is recorded and produced within the digital realm. That quality of the music has absolutely nothing to do with the recording medium.

[@dubdoodle7191]

@@poxcrDAW automation has replaced actual true talent. The bast music ever created was on tape period.

[@poxcr]

@@dubdoodle7191 WTF are you talking about? You sound like a single-minded boomer stuck in the 80s. The fact that you are not willing to explore or listen doesn't mean amazing music is not there. There's a shitload of insanely great music out there not only recorded digitally but created in its entirety in the digital realm as well. Bjork, Floating Points, Aphex Twin, Arca, Flying Lotus, The Smile, Squarepusher. You know, music is much more than drums and guitars... But sure, go listen to some good ol' AC/DC. LOL!

[@poxcr]

@@dubdoodle7191 You sound like a single-minded boomer stuck in the 80s. The fact that you don't care to explore and listen doesn't mean amazing music either recorded or created entirely in the digital realm does not exist. But sure, go play some good ol' AC/DC. LOL!

[@radiogreenduck]

Well, as someone who looks after MTR-90s, if you want to break the buttons (made of plastic that is now heading on 40+ years old and has the labels etched onto them so they are not easy replacemented), go right ahead and hammer them like that! Me? I'd like an MTR 90 in one piece!

[@JacobMcCaslin]

Shutting down protools - brilliant!

[@fremontrecording]

Right on. Glad you dig!

[@YuutaShinjou113]

eh, protools is for the liberals and corrupt corporations! /s

[@dirtfloorrecordingproduction]

Superb video! I just got my first MTR-90 last week, and can't wait to put it to use! Beautiful studio too btw!

[@fremontrecording]

Ohh man I hope you love it as much as I love mine. It just keeps on working! And HOLY SHIT your studio is lovely! A frickin' FIREPLACE? I have a Whiskey Shed!

[@dirtfloorrecordingproduction]

@@fremontrecording thank you! Just found you on IG, lol. I want a friggin' whiskey shed dammit!

[@YuutaShinjou113]

Tradition must prevail alongside innovation. Innovation has no right to overshadow tradition.

[@johnsirca359]

Used to own two of them, 16 and 24 track great machines

[@BigBadMadden95]

Probably never gonna do this myself but pretty interesting to watch

[@DJJoeySantos]

I lol'd at the computer shutdown :) great vid

[@attizzoso]

ASMR chills

[@Hector_Malot]

The funny thing is that the cables used by the recording studio are not $1000 cables each, but very basic professional cables.

[@dannydougin3925]

Wow! You sure hit those buttons hard! Yikes! Never would I ever do that to the 24 track machine I have!

[@fremontrecording]

Nahhh. They're just kinda click-y sounding. I treat her well. :-)

[@kikecarrasquillo3021]

never a pluging can sound like that I love analog

[@fremontrecording]

I agree. I have several tape plugs and they're interesting and useful but not the real thing. :-)

[@Byron101_]

nonsense.

[@mickbuffalo]

No SMPTE track? Love the old 2” tapes.

[@ghostexits]

Nice film

[@fremontrecording]

Thank you!

[@ghostexits]

@@fremontrecording yeah man, it made a lovely film essay on the mechanics of studio recording. It reminded me of a well cut CBC or BBC educational film. hope this is part of a series.

[@adam207321]

Analog tape recording obsession :D

[@JimmyBoomBots]

Very cool! What's the make and model of the overhead drum mike??

[@fremontrecording]

That is a Coles 4038 ribbon mic and they're terrific on harsh loud sounds like drums.

[@Flea-Flicker]

Tell me one person that from the initial beats of that drum were not thinking of the song "I got my mind set on you" Travelling Willburys right?

[@kc4cvh]

Is it necessary to calibrate the record bias for the tape or is a standard setting used? Thanks.

[@fremontrecording]

Control card #7 has 3 bias setting storage locations for three different formulations of tape. Pretty cool!

[@tripjet999]

Glad to have jetisonned our tape gear years ago. We record to CD.

[@tiempoveganoprovida2247]

Todavia se consigue cinta nueva..???

[@wearashirt]

Is it possible to overwrite the same tape strip, if yes up to how many times?

[@fremontrecording]

Absolutely! Tape is very durable and you can record over the same section hundreds of times. The better mechanical condition the tape machine is in the longer the tape will last. :-)

[@wearashirt]

@@fremontrecording Very cool!! Found your channel while looking for "vocal tracking in front of monitors"

[@fremontrecording]

@@wearashirt I hope my video on that helped. Did you try it?

[@wearashirt]

@@fremontrecording I have, on a recent demo vocal! I think I'll go with it from now on when doing demos in my room. But who knows, maybe in an official studio vocal tracking? I've had singers fiddle with their headphones that the scratching gets into sensitive mics.

[@Talla2XXL]

Can this recorder be connected to contemporary DAW

[@johnkaplun9619]

I'd dave grohl came over, do you think it would be akward?

[@fremontrecording]

That would be amazing and I think he'd love it!

[@JacGoudsmit]

You don't record test tones to the tape?

[@fremontrecording]

Typically 1k and 10K but I forgot this time. 🙂

[@activelow9297]

You forgot to adjust the bias for the tape.

[@robertw1871]

Man that’s a lot of work….

[@johnlobochevsky9664]

Mixer Neve?

[@fremontrecording]

The mixer is a 1978 Trident 80B.

[@chevaliermichel2219]

That's why a studio session is so expensive. This material is so appealing (yes) but its usage is like driving a car without a gearbox. Each time you want to change speed you must adjust manually each sprocket correctly. That needs expertise but a lot of time too.

[@fremontrecording]

It is absolutely a labor of love. I leave it calibrated for one tape formulation and 15IPS. That certainly makes things simpler. :-)

[@chevaliermichel2219]

@@fremontrecording "A labor of love" that's exactly my opinion written with the right words ;-)

[@GeorgeNachajon]

I am a producer, engineer, technician, drummer, and youtuber

[@Byron101_]

So happy that in these times I don't have tape anymore. Hail daws! Hail digital arrange cutting!

[@fremontrecording]

I often use hybrid solutions. For example, record on tape to capture that magic but then transfer to Pro Tools for editing awesomeness and final mix.

[@bob4analog]

Hail DAWs? More like to Hell with DAWS!

[@joequeer3385]

This guy is a monster on drums!

[@godfreypoon5148]

Thicc tape.

[@GearZenChannel]

Turning off the computer when recording is such a great feeling.

[@fremontrecording]

YES! I love doing that.

[@felinoaaron846]

This amazing and amazed, but for all those records companies is too much work, mixes tapes amps etc too much just for the result a simple 16 bit 44khz crap Cd sound. Or even worse spottyfy stream mp3, when just can save time and $$... grab a boombox insert a blank cassette Sony 60 minutes normal bias and press play and record at the same time and Voila very simply 😂😂😂 🎉🎉🎉 it's a joke,😅

[@jturquoise]

Thumbs down for the HorseFace tapestry. Everything else was thumps up!

[@1krista1969]

Why do you guys always stick the kick mic right at the BD port hole? It sounds awful...kick sound just goes plop, plop, plop... no body,,resonance or character of the drum itself. The attack of the kick is also completely washed out. Drives me crazy when people think this actually sounds good.

[@YuutaShinjou113]

shut up, liberal!

[@tracewidth]

[hugs $400 Zoom L-8 eight track mixer / digital recorder] "I'm sure glad I've got you, good buddy. Musicians need every friend they can get." ... "Yeah, I agree, El-Aet. This place is weird and stuffy. Let's GTFO of here."

[@MrSam500]

Something seriously wrong with you guys who make these videos on old school multitrack recording tech and don't utter a word. Unwatchable. Don't like 'em.

[@soulslip]

Lol hahahaha 😂 😆 ok man, no one forced you to click on it... lol wow

[@Acrimonious_Snake]

It doesn't matter if in the end you suck as a musician