Recording On My Tascam MS-16 For The First Time In 25 Years

[@Roximoe]

The maintenance alone makes me appreciate digital so much but It’s so cool how analogue had its own tools for making music

[@Wilmer778]

What a wonderful new (to me) channel I've just discovered! Greetings from the Netherlands! ;)

[@duppylove]

I just found you, needed to find you! i dig your energy and spirit. keep doing this forever! Really awesome new internet friend! I'll spread the word!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!!! If you have already check out my latest video - kzbin.info/www/bejne/q2m4n3Srg7WLbs0si=t6zr3OFJRHvvUdOu Also, I livestream every Wednesday at 3PM EST here on KZbin as well as Twitch. Sometimes it's Q&A or I'm doing something in the studio.

[@bontempo1271]

I love that ending speech Billy, i echo the same thoughts, you kick ass ;)

[@TheGreenHouseAtlantaLLC]

Awesome video!! Getting my MS-16 wired into my rig finally!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

That's great!

[@StevieFlynn]

Superb, I've got an MS16 and I know exactly how variable things can be. I think it's a good thing, keeps you thinking and in tune with what the process is actually about.

[@rhoten8039]

The slowed down version had a big difference. You can really hear the change in the snare snap. Very cool

[@wm1573]

nice production and style. one of those channels that you randomly get recommended by the algorithm and you think this is some big 100k sub channel. shocked to see the numbers. this will blow up for sure tho

[@LaurenPassarelli]

So cool that you’ve done this your whole life too. It’s a blast to enjoy creating with all the gear. I love that we are humans who can play, sing, compose, write, arrange, produce. I looove my taste and ideas. I love technology making all this affordable to me all these years. I will always have fun with the toys and make music. Play with the magic and rock on. Looking forward to watching more from you.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! More to come...

[@DanielFowlerSr]

Very Good old-school demonstration! Thank You, Billy!

[@The_Absurdistt]

Wonderful vid. I just love tape. As you are aware, it takes a special kind of musician and engineer to record to tape. It would be a blessing to watch you record and mix a worthy band exclusively to tape. Cheers.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

They 16 track needs a little work but it'll get done. Now that I have the Ghost mixer in the studio I plan on doping a session totally outside of the computer. I'll make a video about it, which maybe be a while getting to but stick around... it'll happen.

[@adam872]

Nice video mate. I've used one of these machines, right in the period when we were heading towards feasible digital multitrack at an affordable price. It reminded me why I (and plenty of others) went digital and never looked back!

[@lbsmoothmusic]

Dope video Billy. Can't wait to hear the adjusted heads

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks! I have some plans for using it on some projects that are coming up. UIt will be in other videos for sure.

[@johnkaplun9619]

I've heard a lot of people say the 30ips machine is barely usable and just has no bass response. Cool to hear someone actually use one instead of just reading fourm warriors. I think youre right on about technology in art, I've been repairing reel to reels for about 3 years now on the side and I meet a lot of people getting into tape because they feel like its something they can offer thats different. Like you say, everyones got the same DAWs, the same plugins... embrace the chaos once in a while!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Back in the day tape machine manufacturers did their best to make the machines NOT sound like tape. They wanted it to be as 'High Fi' as possible. Thus there was Dolby and DBX noise reduction and faster tape speeds. While the 30 IPS machines didn't lack any low end they weren't embellishing the bass like slower tape speeds do. The goal was to be as transparent as possible. But to me, both back then and especially now, it definitely sounds like tape. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@RS-pp7ng]

More than anything, I love what tape does to both the transients and the top end. You can't beat that. That's why plugins such as Soothe are so loved (regarding taming harshness).

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes, it's all about the transients. Always chasing those down on digital. In have Soothe but not crazy about it. Was using it for vocal harshness, but didn't think about using it for attacking transients.

[@RS-pp7ng]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume Sure, I didn't mean I'd use soothe for transient shaping (I think oeksound actually use Spiff for that) :)

[@lllllREDACTEDlllll]

This may be a stupid question and I don't know much about recording but, have always wondered if there would be a benefit to setting up microphones in say "the corners" of a room... so 4 tracks. Then just playing something acoustically maybe with drums and vocals too. Then If you remove the microphones and replace them with speakers for playback (maybe something omnidirectional?) in the same room, in the same spots... would it sound like the band is playing there with you again? Just a question I've wondered about because I always see the mics positioned right next to each performer. With digital mixing I feel like modern songs don't have the same... imaging? as older stuff sometimes. The sound just seems to come from a void instead of specific spot in the room...

[@KevinSimpson031]

I love the 30 ips version, it takes away the harshness

[@christianj-rn4wf]

Hi, help needed lol I own this machine and I’m trying to do the calibrations you are doing in this video but I’m not sure which screws to turn in the cards for each adjustment ( sync repro etc) on the bottom. Which is which ?? Thank you 🙏🏽

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

You'll need the chart in the technical manual. If you can't find it online maybe I can scan it.

[@Lmoes]

Lovely video! I run an all-analog studio in sweden and we use our machines every day. I think maintenance is a pretty small thing and sometimes seems scarier than it is. Takes me maybe 15 minutes to do a simple calibration before a session, as they stay calibrated pretty well. Cleaning takes 1 minute. I would encourage anyone interested in tape to get a decent machine and learn the basics. Once i left The Box, i never went back. Not because of the sound (i feel my machines sound like the source) but for the archiving possibilities, the workflow and the abscense of screens.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

So cool! And you're right about archiving. I've been having clients hitting me up recently about retrieving files and sessions from 5, 10, 15 years ago and it's almost impossible to pull most of them up due to drives going bad, computers going bad, formats changing and so on. However, I found some reels I did in the late 70s as well as some recordings my dad made in the 60's and I pulled them out of the box, put them on one of my reel to reel machines (which I'd not turned on in over 20 years or more) and they played back just fine.

[@Lmoes]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume oh yes, this is truly the strength of tape. And the longer a recording lasts, the greater the chance of it finding an audience. Thanks for a great video. :)

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks!

[@rogercoles3973]

I bought one of these new in the mid eighties with the Tascam console and I had the tone tape too. The best thing I recorded on it was a demo tape for Scott Travis in 1985. He told me that night he wanted to be the drummer for Judas Priest. He became their drummer in 1989 and has been their drummer ever since.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Wow! That's amazing!

[@tobitweaks]

So cool! 30ips should have a bit more topend tho, no? Also the End got me emotional man thank you for that! All the best, Tobi

[@stephenfleming8030]

MS16...I grew up and learned on that machine. Memories!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Awesome!

[@alanbutterworth4219]

Get an AKAI MPC X or Key61. I've had most semi-professional gear over the years (Tascam MSR24, MS-16, Roland VS2480, Tascam SX1, AKAI DPS24, YAMAHA AW series, Presonus Studiolive Series III, Soundtracs and Soundcraft mixers). All I need now is a MPC X and maybe a Tascam Model 24 if I want to have an 'analogue' feel for faders. The MPC X, being a sampler, sequencer and recorder, will be as individual as the sounds and music you put into it. No computer needed.

[@vladlozo1111]

You are awesome Billy

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you sooo much!

[@joesalyers]

Just a quick studio hack, You could run an tone generator from your DAW and look at the output with oscilloscope and something like Voxengo Span which is free to see if there are any anomalies it might save you a few hundred dollars. Thats basically how we calibrate tape machines since our tone tape was eaten 10 years ago LOL. I have an MCI JH-24 and a Otari MX5050. It maybe just a bad adjustment pot that needs some contact cleaner or just time to get warm.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

After spending 2 days messing with this an engineer buddy said the same thing to me and I was like... "duh!" That would've been so much easier! I think I was trying to retrace my steps from years ago, but now that I got that out of my system I'm doing it your way. Thanks!

[@joesalyers]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume Cheers! I know money is tight everywhere right now so if we an save our fellow engineers a few dollars it might be helpful!! After our tone tape was shredded I freaked out a bit and then figured this would work the same way. Glad this idea helped. Love the channel by the way!!

[@TheMixClub]

Great video Billy.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much!

[@sheridandickey6813]

Laughing at the picture of you in front of a BILLS Dollare store. I hadn't seen one in years!😅

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I have a whole collection of pictures of me in front of those stores as well as Fred's (an old nick name of mine).

[@tomwatson283]

Brilliant video.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thank you!

[@editorkmanikhemmusicprod]

Deep! Very Deep!

[@rickhbrown]

Cool video, thanks

[@zackhooper5427]

Love this

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks Zack!

[@LazayLada]

Great video

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Thanks so much!!

[@allenpendleton8767]

I miss the sounds of drums recorded straight to tape. I would still have a tape machine if it wasn't so expensive to maintain and also the tape cost. I think a 2inch real of tape used to cost 200 bucks in the late 80's early 90's now I hear it's more like 400.

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Yes, tape is expensive. This will be used for special projects and all of it will , for the most part, be transferred back into digital.

[@MBRMrblueroads]

👍👍

[@MBRMrblueroads]

I love tape but it is a lot more work. I had to clean and demag all the time. Then the price of tape and having to drive out to tape warehouse to get the tape that my machine was biased to. Pay about 50 bucks for half inch tape then go run it at the fastest speed possible. That is what I was taught to do. I still think the old Tascam machines sound the best. I got all these old tapes and no machine plus you gotta have the dbx with it. 👍👍

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

Tape Warehouse! I've got a buddy with a 1/2 machine with DBX. Not sure if it's 8 track or 16 track.

[@MBRMrblueroads]

@@FreakingOutWithBillyHume 👍👍

[@ronmoes42]

Speak out against AI, don't let it take away the creative human element that you try to get out to people! don't let those ego tripping money making basterds get away with this!!!!

[@FreakingOutWithBillyHume]

I will keep talking about it. But I'm not sure if it can be stopped. Too much money to be made by a small group of powerful people. Hang on tight.

[@MBRMrblueroads]

👍👍