HOW TO MAKE DIY CASSETTE TAPES PT. 2: Recording and Mastering Tapes at Home | 424recording.com

Wondering how to make DIY cassette tapes? In the second part of a 4 part series, we take a look at recording and mastering DIY cassette tapes at home. This series on how to make DIY cassette tapes is a collaboration between 424recording.com and Jason of Painted Blonde Tapes at paintedblonde.com
Music is "Brighton Lights" from Stephen at Noir Et Blanc Vie and the KZbin Audio Library kzbin.info...
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[@424Recording]

🎛 Support more videos like this one at patreon.com/424recording 🎛

[@chadergeist]

You have to make sure the leader ribbon clears and six seconds of tape passes before you record.

[@424Recording]

Can't believe I forgot to mention this. Thanks!

[@fultonstreetfreestyle]

Very important comment!!!

[@michitapes]

@@424Recording when i dub tapes, i have this specific bic pen that's hexagonal (6 sides) and works perfectly for taking up that leader slack by hand real fast so i just set both tapes right before the recordable/playable part of the tape starts. and even if going from a digital signal into a tape, it feels better not having to guess that 6 seconds and just know you're at the beginning of the usable part of the tape.

[@declanhammond4298]

Is there any rhyme or reason as to why you shouldn't use the first 6 seconds of the tape? I understand the part about getting past the leader, but the 6 second thing doesn't make too much sense to me

[@chadergeist]

@@declanhammond4298 It just gives you some blank space before recording on the tape...some room like.

[@newphilmz3605]

Props for keeping this form of media alive. Cassettes will never die.

[@johnwitherspoon7842]

Good to see demarco helping out! Very informative mike! Thanks dude

[@424Recording]

He's the man haha thanks, Jradd!

[@dbmorton1114]

Hey Mike, First, congrats on your first two years of the channel. I'm diggin' it even if I don't have tme to watch all the live streams! Useful info here as usual, in particular as I near completion of my recording project. Kudos!

[@424Recording]

Thanks db. Thanks for coming a long on the ride. Glad to hear this series is helping. Pt. 3 coming soon where we talk about artwork and cases. Cheers!

[@jedjarman]

Wow, love that Mac photo. He has definitely been one of my biggest influences for diving into the analog world. Great video, keep it up!

[@424Recording]

Heck, yeah! Same here. Jason actually sketched that photo of Mac for me haha. Will do. Thanks for watching!

[@BugzKiller]

Any relation to "Big Mac"?

[@424Recording]

Nah Royale with Cheese

[@helluvakhai]

Yes! Totally need this!

[@mccreature]

Thanks for the tips! Looking forward to pt 3.

[@424Recording]

Thanks, mccreature. We'll be diving into artwork and cases next time. Thanks for watching!

[@DJWreckAlot]

this is actually one of the best video series i've ever watched! im a very big in depth person as well as simplicity and you explained very well! i just purchased some cassettes and right when you talked about the length of each side is half the C number i was like ouch thats me haha!

[@424Recording]

Hey, thanks a lot and thanks for watching! The final part on shipping and selling will be out this Friday at 3pm EST. There's also a director's cut coming soon describing all the background footage; that one should be a lot of fun. Haha sorry to hear about the C number. You'll have to save them for another project!

[@TigerClawTV]

Cool video man. I have been listening to my copy of that tape shown in the video for the past week or so. It came out sounding really good. All the work you put into mastering really pays off.

[@424Recording]

Glad to hear! I spent way longer than I probably needed to mastering them haha. Thanks again for picking up a copy via Painted Blonde 🤓

[@fratertater6130]

Love this series!

[@424Recording]

Thanks, Jody!

[@halloweenlisteningparty]

Your video music is unique and great, it completely works for your videos!

[@jamesdoctor8079]

Mike, you are the king of cassette culture

[@424Recording]

LOL really?! Haha thanks, james. I'm not sure if I am worthy of that honor 🤓

[@davidreidy5750]

Actually doing this myself,almost done!⚡🤖⚡

[@JIMONAH]

Thanks mike, you always make great quality content. You're helping keep the artform alive and appreciate it big time. Much love

[@424Recording]

Hey thanks a lot, James! Appreciate you. Thanks for watching 😎

[@late4suppa1]

Hey Mike, I just bought the Tascam Model 12 Mixer and loved your video on that. I also just bought a rack mountable Tascam 130 / 3 head cassette deck which the owners manual suggests is perfect for mixdown applications. I record through an outboard preamp/EQ into a compressor, then into the Tascam Mixer which also has a great EQ, then into my DAW. What I want to do with the cassette deck is to take the final master I create in my DAW which by then will have already had alot of analog influence record it to the cassette deck, then back to the DAW. My hope is that the tape will warm it up and I can finish it off that way. If this doesn't work I'll record the master coming out of my monitor speakers to tape and send that to the DAW. Anyways I know people do this type of thing all the time with 4 track recorders and reel to reels. I wanted to try it with a more high end traditional tape deck as a way of warming up the sound without having to find a place for some huge Reel to Reel or deal with some multitrack tape recorder I don't need, since I only record one track at a time anyways. So love your channel, I'm subscribed and would love to hear any of your thoughts on this. I play music back now through my Tascam 12, put just a little Studio effect from onboard effects in playback and it just glues everything together in a way that digital never has. Just that one trick alone encouraged me to keep looking for different options. I couldn't be happier with the Tascam, it does EVERYTHING and the playback sounds 1000 better than anything I had before.

[@424Recording]

Congrats, Dean! I actually just made this video on this topic, partially inspired by your comment! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWG5hKuGarKAi6s It's a quick run through of how I master digital tracks thru the cassette/424. It's a great idea and something I've done often over the years. It always seems to help and make a track more exciting. The trick is to hit the tape hard enough but not too hard; there's definitely experimenting that you need to try each time out. I really enjoy the Model 12/424 combo and yeah, that studio reverb effect is amazing! Thanks for watching!

[@viewfromfen9181]

Hey, Mike, thanks for doing all these contents, I really love them! Can we use the 424 recorder itself to duplicate tapes? hope you are still around

[@jasonelambeth]

MAAAAACCC!

[@424Recording]

😂

[@xrichardx]

Got any good guides on how to set up the mix in Logic like you have here? I have to import finished mixes from a Tascam, but i need to make it match up with tape length and throw some mastering on there, but i am horrible with logic

[@ACURAOCULTA]

Very good my friend

[@424Recording]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@adriandelgadogallegos9996]

Hey, Mike, thanks a lot for making These videos! I have learned a lot and since I'm about to start making my own Merch, came up with something I hadn't thought of before, and I was wondering, would it be better to use a cassette deck or a simple stereo with cassette/Cd/Radio player to record my cassettes? I know both would be possible, but what about the quality between both?

[@424Recording]

Hey, my pleasure, Add! That's great that the videos have been inspiring to you. I think you'd have to try both and compare. There's a lot of factors and different models and price points. Thanks for watching!

[@guillaumealtamira7115]

dubbin my very first cassette tonight, so i take a look at your video and have a pray on mac photo😂 thanks mike!!!

[@424Recording]

Haha make sure you pat Mac. Probably the most important part!

[@guillaumealtamira7115]

@@424Recording and.... IT s WORKING !!!!!😇🙏

[@424Recording]

Woohooo

[@jessefillmore]

Work has kept me away from the TascFAM but I'm glad we have a club that will help with all Tascam and 4 track cassette recording and recording in general . I'm supposed to be picking up a MK O2 Portastudio and starter pack still with originals boxes for $50 . That is a deal nowadays . I hope they don't go up in price cause 4 track cassette recording use to be budget recording but nostalgia finally caught up . Buy them now , I say . Type 2 and 4 cassettes are hard to find and expensive on ebay . I bought a bunch before the craze hit . NAC is finally completely sold out of the 799 Studio Masters :(

[@424Recording]

Glad to hear J-man. Hey did you post a pic of this deal to Facebook? I think I just saw it on there haha. Congrats!

[@kalenbaker7901]

Hey Mike, Great video. I've been wanting to make my own tapes to cut down on cost of getting my music out there and might want to start a label eventually. I was a little confused about the transition in the video to the tape mastering. Do you dub a tape, record it back into the daw, master and then record that to the other blanks or is there something I'm missing? Please let me know as I'd like to do as good of a job as I can on the first try, Thanks!

[@424Recording]

Hi, Kalen! That's awesome. It's definitely a fun process if you like to make stuff at home. I'd say once you get above certain quantities, it might make sense to get them pressed, but for short runs, DIY at home is the best. I always master digitally. So whether you have cassette or digital tracks, you can bounce them to the computer and then master them in the DAW. Once you have the master, you can then record the master via an MP3 player or old phone or computer to the tapes. Usually just headphone out to the RCAs on the tape deck. Tape to tape is doable but it's a lot more work! Good luck and happy recording!

[@sonnizen1426]

Hey, thanks for an informative video! I have a question, how did you know that you had to cut so much low end from the tape master? Are you able to monitor it on tape while working, or did you have to record several times to go back and forth between DAW and tape to hear what was up? Thanks

[@424Recording]

Yeah, great question. I recorded it a bunch of times to a tape. I mixed the tracks, made a test tape, listened back on a few sound sources, took notes, made adjustments, remixed, rinse and repeat. It took a while haha. Also, knowing the frequency response of the tapes helped to ball park it or get an idea of what might need to be adjusted and where but it was 80% test tape many times

[@tedhuggins764]

@424 Recording hey man, great video. One thing I would like your advice on though, you briefly mentioned about recording audio from your DAW to the cassette, how do I connect my cassette machine to my DAW? You mentioned an RCA cable on the cassette machine, but where would that go into my computer so I could record audio from my DAW to the cassette? Cheers

[@424Recording]

Thanks, Harvey. Check out this playlist. It should answer all of your questions: kzbin.info/aero/PLxvSYDmM5diqeKJZ7JLdEnSkrI5o16s3y

[@LouisSerieusement]

Aha the Noir et Blanc vie music :p Didn't except to find it here on a cassette tutorial ! Love everything he does :D Thanks for the vids, I'm trying to know exactly how I'm gonna do this, either with a digital master or a master tape ; a master tape would be much more convenient because I can copy x4 speed but I have to work my way to have a better and a fix process for this, many variable to try and adjust ; Thanks ! Cheers from France :)

[@424Recording]

You're very welcome! It sounds like you're on the right track. Yeah, Stephen is great. I had a chat with him a couple years back on my podcast if you're interested. Cheers and thanks for watching! anchor.fm/424recording/episodes/Episode-008-Noir-Et-Blanc-Vie-Pt--1-e1vrr5

[@LouisSerieusement]

@@424Recording Thanks a lot ! I'll listen to it for sure, I love Noir's spirit, he is such a nice chap :)

[@serious_about_men]

Could you put a download link to that picture of Mac in the description?

[@balloonsballoon]

One suggestion I have is putting a dither on those digital bounces. exporting the files is gonna cause write errors because logic is 32bit float. when I put ditherbon my mixes, I felt like my ear could pick out details in the music more easily.

[@424Recording]

Interesting. I'll have to check this out! Thanks for the tip!

[@devinanthony5773]

Currently trying to do this with one of my albums and came here like a few weeks into the process. I ran into very similar conclusions with the EQ! I'm going from FL mobile on my phone transferred into Audacity for mastering, much like you were saying (dropping the bass, but I had to shave off the highs on mine), then onto a Tascam DP-800, THEN into a CD/tape player. Makes my head spin lol

[@424Recording]

Awesome! Sounds like you've got the hang of it though? I'm glad the video helped! Cheers, Devin!

[@devinanthony5773]

Lol well kinda, but this video was quite the affirmation!

[@424Recording]

Oh, awesome! Let me know if you have any questions!

[@greatfelixo]

I am thinking about dubbing my own cassettes for an upcoming release. Would it be good practice to first get my music professionally mastered for digital release (which we will do anyway) and then take that audio file, stick it in logic and put an eq on it to make up for the frequency response of the tape before dubbing the tape?

[@424Recording]

Yeah, you could do it that way. The way I've done it is to just throw the tracks in Logic and make sure the volume between tracks is even. And then do the EQ for the tape. As long as the tape sounds good track to track volume wise/EQ wise it should be good to go!

[@EmergencyChannel]

I can't believe you don't have a dubbing machine. I'd go insane dubbing in real time a couple dozen tapes.

[@godofspacetime333]

Hey Mike, I’m wondering what you do about Dolby NR. It’s my understanding that back in the day any tape you’d buy from major artists were recorded with Dolby B, I guess they assumed basically every tape deck had it idk. But do you make your copies with noise reduction on? Or do you just record hot to get over the hiss? I’m wondering what common practice is among artists making their own tapes these days. Thanks!

[@424Recording]

I personally always record stuff hot enough. It might not be possible with certain types of music. I find for the stuff I write and record, it sounds better to me without NR, as long as I hit the tape hard enough to overcome the noise floor

[@dylanrowleyprod]

Is there a way to record into one machine through the line in, then connect the line out to the line in of another deck? I feel like that would be efficient if someone had two decks, but could be a pain to get sounding right.

[@424Recording]

Yeah. I think Jason does do this now. I only have one deck unfortunately. Great idea, Dylan!

[@ericstevens9426]

any lack of software tips to transfer a tape i mixed onto from my tascam porta 02 that i want to digitize? i ran it from my nice tape deck through line in into audacity and didn't try to mess with anything else but don't know if i'm thrilled with how the digital files sound in some playback scenarios. I'm a lil convinced the tape audio sounds better by a good chunk depending on what playback scenario i'm comparing it too.

[@424Recording]

Yeah, I think it always sounds better playing back off the tape. To me it goes from a 3D sound to a 2D sound. I would recommend getting a good soundcard/interface unless the quality of your recording isn't suffering (like the kbps)

[@michitapes]

@@424Recording i think the quality of my recordings suffer intentionally lolll. my default recording process has been recording guitar tracks on portable table top desks with a mic for electric guitar or the internal mic for acoustic then transferring that tape audio into a tape in my tascam porta 02 and then recording the other instruments straight into the tascam. so there's a lot of natural hiss sometimes with the acoustic recordings using the room heavy internal mic. i released an album where i think the acoustic guitar track was transferred from 4 different tapes from the initial recording to the cassette i would give people of the album (i unnecessarily made a master tape that had the tracks all out of order so then i had to make a master dub tape from the larger master tape). do you have any audio interface recommendations that feel pretty transparent but maybe not cold either, and won't break the bank? something compatible or at least doesn't get in the way of the tape feeling? i think i've seen ART ones that seem nice that are tube driven. seen another one locally in pittsburgh, Akai EIE Pro 24 bit going for 200. That's a lil out of my price range but looks pretty cool and nice (analog VU meters bby) 4 in x 4 out going direct line in from my tape deck into audacity through my dell latitude 5580 wasn't bad but it wasn't the best and i think i could benefit from having a nicer interface to throw tape audio through into the computer. i could kind of hear the sound of the soundcard being applied to the audio compared to how the tape audio is.

[@MatrixAlphaCWX]

National Audio Company sells the versions with tabs. I tried recording on my dual cassette Sony ZX6 stereo from cd and it sounded like poop played back. Nothin like listening to my bought Ratt cassette where it's clear as day and perfect drums! How good is this double cassette deck?

[@424Recording]

Maybe a dedicated deck is what you're looking for. Jason uses that deck for his label so I am assuming it is solid

[@jackcristo2052]

What recording deck are you using to record music onto the cassette?

[@424Recording]

Nakamichi CR1A

[@patrickpalomares5983]

Hey Mike, what's your take on recording demos with type i cassettes on a 4 track. I'm about to get into 4 track recording, and it seems as though type i cassettes are more common (and cheaper). I plan on doing demos and learning the craft on type i while stocking up on type iis when the time comes to record an album. Great content man! I see your channel becoming my haven when I get my 4 track! Cheers!

[@424Recording]

Hey, Patrick! Thanks for watching. Glad to be a haven haha. My understanding is the Type II's are more resilient. You'll probably wind up needing to clean the machine a lot more if you're planning to do a lot of recording with the Type Is. I know there's also a service to re-bias your 4-track to use Type Is as even NAC, where I've gotten my Type IIs from forever, is no longer making them. The Type Is will work but they're not optimal. Cheers!

[@patrickpalomares5983]

Thanks for the advice! Just ordered a set of type iis!

[@424Recording]

@@patrickpalomares5983 Awesome! Glad to help. Happy recording

[@bobsbits5357]

hi have a 1/8 tape reel to reel slave at reel time i under what you are saying using home decks is not good for big numbers wear on all the parts of the decks i use a otari mtr 12 with cassette heads one it i load tape in to cassette bodies with a otari dp2700 DP2700 x 2 were fix up decks can you have a reel to reel with 1/8 tape yes getting spools is the thing basf made 8 1/4 spool x 1 /8 inch

[@MikeFoerster]

Where does one find a picture of mac?

[@424Recording]

kzbin.info

[@CaptainRyMM]

Hoping I can use this information to record a podcast. Thank you.

[@424Recording]

Record the podcast to tape?

[@CaptainRyMM]

@@424Recording I mean to "store" a podcast on tape. My bad, also I realized that storing an entire podcast on tape is highly unrealistic 😅 very expensive considering one episode could fit on one side or the whole tape.

[@424Recording]

Oh, yeah! That'll work! Haha yeah that's true

[@marcelovalenzuela5174]

TDK LOS MEJORES CASSETTES

[@424Recording]

Yeah they're solid!

[@stonedcologne]

Why do I have to have a 28 minutes tape when one side is only 14 minutes long? Was it for that hidden track only?

[@424Recording]

The total time of a tape will be the total amount of material. So if an album is 28 minutes long, you'll need to have a 28 minute tape. But it's rare to have both sides of the tape be the same length. Maybe the first 5 songs are 14 minutes long, and the last 4 songs are only 12 minutes long. So now you'll need 2 extra minutes on the second side to fill up the final 2 minutes of the tape

[@StollerEaven]

You missed something important. Leveling with a test tone on different tape types. I’m limiting at minus 0,2db at my daw. Then I use a 1khz test tone at 0db. At the tape deck I set this test tone on fero oxide tapes +5db and on chrome tapes +3db. If you use fero oxide tapes on too low level, you have a very high hiss level. And noise is not pleasant.

[@424Recording]

Great tip. Thanks!

[@424Recording]

becoolcowboy.bandcamp.com

[@atomicriffsofficial]

Hi Mike! Do you recommend any particular deck? What do you think about a Teac C-2x? I want to make my own tapes and also I was thinking about mastering or at least mixing down everything analog, no computer, going from my 424 to a deck like the Teac c2x. Here it's my album: atomicriffs.bandcamp.com/releases I'm not very happy with the digital mastering wich was done by a friend, he ''clean'' the tracks by cutting a lot of the ''noise'' frequencies so I feel like it sound more ''washed'' than the original mix without any digital process. What do you think? Should I get a deck for mastering/mixdown and recording my DIY tapes? Thanks a lot! I love your videos, they really help me a lot! I'm a big fan from Argentina!

[@424Recording]

My pleasure, Fran. Glad you're digging the series. I'd say any stereo deck will do you all right. The ones Jason and I are using are cheap refurbished ones from thrift stores and 2nd hand shops. Big thing about them is having one that works! Super Sonic Sound sounds awesome; it's tough to say without a comparison to the original. I honestly think the mix always loses something when going from the tape to digital. I think this sounds great and you should keep going and not get too caught up in the mastering. Try it a different way next time. I'd say if you have the funds and want to experiment, go for it. You could get an outboard compressor as well to use during mixdown. Either way, just keep going. I think you're crushing it 🙌

[@atomicriffsofficial]

@@424Recording Thanks a lot! I really appreciate your words! I'm going to keep looking for a nice deck, at least one that works fine haha.

[@424Recording]

Do it up! Yeah, I think that's all you'd need 🤘

[@xorben1981]

What Tape Type do you use?

[@424Recording]

Type II for recording Type I for the tapes 😎

[@LosFicosMusic]

Can we hear it???

[@eve9253]

Jeezz I don’t have anything of these things just the phone and iPad :)))

[@424Recording]

Whatever works! Happy recording!

[@FLH3official]

Dolby or not dolby, that is the question...

[@424Recording]

Isn't it always

[@FLH3official]

@@424Recording Yes, perhaps, but why?

[@Happy_Guy1237]

Post Malone?

[@sc0or]

To use Nakamichi to record from an iPhone (to play it on a modern trash "walkman" more likely)? Don't you see some things that are out of a human logic?

[@extinctionistrecordsblackm6380]

how stupid is it to use inkjet printer if im printing dozens of copies a month? im paying a fortune on stupid overpriced ink cartridges.. purely losing money because of this

[@424Recording]

Hey I left you some thoughts on the other thread. Good luck!