Reel-to-Reels: Multitrack Recording

Chris, Olivier, and member Todd band together to demonstrate how multitrack recording on reel-to-reels works by recording a track of their own.

[@thebedroomshow9010]

"If you do bluegrass and he does metal, I don't care. It doesn't have to make sense" Is this the start of Death Grips?

[@Parkie355]

I wept because of how good this video was.

[@rsanchez7111]

Over all the idea is you are showing how to do it. Again. Well done. You have no idea how much I learned. Thanks for sharing.

[@tehtapemonkey]

"He's going to play in Dutch anyway" Almost spit my tea out.

[@chadallenmills]

You guys kick a**! Thanks for showing the basics in a way anybody and everybody can understand...stay blessed

[@AlexVanTrue]

this was so much fun to watch. tnx man!!

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Thank you! :) I'm glad you enjoyed it! There's new episodes coming soon!

[@dominikumberto]

Brings back memories. My first band recorded on this machine back in 1983.

[@shaclean]

that was AWESOME i am from the digital era. always wanted to know how the anolog system worked thank you for this post . this kiwi from down under learnt something today.

[@martincvitkovich724]

Thanks a million. I just took custody of the Teac and found this extreemly helpfull. It has diry pots and switches from sitting in a shed plus I didn't know a thing about it. Now it's time for some hands on!

[@kimr45]

Recording concepts on a machine like this would work as follows. And this is just how I would do it. Start with drums, 2 overhead mics and one mic on the kick drum, tracks 1, 2 and 3. Go to playback mode and get a decent mix of the tracks and bounce them over to track 4. Erase track 3 and prepare to overdub a bass line, erase track 2 and overdub a guitar, erase track 1 and overdub a lead vocal. Just a real simple breakdown of recording on a machine like this, not all that different from how the Beatles did it.

[@wackyroo]

so does each track record onto a separate groove in the tape? Or is there some sort of multiplexing going on? how does 1 tape have 4 different channels on it? Also could you record or play back in stereo?

[@justinbrown8214]

@@wackyroo Yes, this tape has 4 distinct tracks on it, can be used to make two stereo mixes or can record monophonically to each of the four tracks.

[@robfriedrich2822]

It could also work this way: On track one and two orchestra with rhythm section and piano. The second session is strings, organ, hand claps mixed with the first 2 tracks and recorded on track 3 and 4. Track 1 and 2 can be used for vocals. So it's easy to adjust these levels and also to get a semi playback, when the artist wants to perform at small events.

[@bhekimkhwanazi8825]

But you will need to connect your drum mics to a mixer so you can balance your full drums nicely before you hit record

[@TheFRiNgEguitars]

Fun video :) Just to point out an error at 5:51, the tracks on the tape itself are 1,2,3,4, top to bottom. The layout on the deck is just the way Teac numbered the meters and controls. The top L and R meters are for tracks 1 & 3 which will operate when playing a home format 4 track stereo tape, including a 4 track stereo pre-recorded tape. Teac had in mind the deck could serve for that, plus muiti-track applications. Just for reference, in home stereo 4 track reel to reel, PLAY in the forward direction, has track 1 as the left channel, track 3 is the right channel. In reverse (or the tape flipped to "side 2") Track 2 is the left channel, track 4 is the right channel. But still the same the track layout on the tape itself is 1,2,3,4, top to bottom.

[@galleryofrogues]

"Massage the switch gently!" (attacks the switch like he's scratching a mosquito bite)

[@taoman7988]

Thank you all so much for taking the time to share this!

[@kishorVittal]

Fabulous Explanation Thanks a lot ; Love the Spool Taperecorder and what a Tremendous Technology

[@3replybiz]

Multitrack recording was actually Les Paul's own idea and he talked Ampex into making the first machine.

[@gayanpathirana9328]

3replybiz I agree with you. I have seen a documentary in which Les Paul is explaining how he made it.

[@proprintct7183]

Ty, very helpful

[@tokenofdevotion]

The guitar part was... something else you might say

[@johnlenz420]

i had a bad feeling when i saw the dusty old ibanez gio lmfao oh gawd

[@meedily]

I can certainly see why we're trying to emulate this with plugins...

[@bcrichrob]

The most helpful video for me to date.I have the exact same machine and now I know how to use it.Better than the owners manual.Just what I was looking for and then some!Great job!

[@BrandonChaunceyOfficial]

"We're the important musicians" The drummer declares with his bassist right beside him.

Brandon Noneya my ex brother in law was a bassist in a band and he told me once without the drummer they all sound like chickens.

[@nichtimmer9134]

Btw. i rec. My drums eith one mic and it works well

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Chris is a drummer.

[@robfriedrich2822]

Usually they had 2 machines, so they could mixdown the first 4 tracks to 2 tracks and add 2 more tracks. In the studio, they mixed while recording. So it could be, that they recorded on 2 tracks rhythm section, piano and brass section, on 2 more tracks string section and organ, mixdown to two tracks of another 4 track and adding the singer 2 times.

[@SenorZorrozzz]

Tape head delay: Sun Studio Memphis Tenn. 1950s.

[@Schooliday]

Fuckin' love you guys, thank you for making it while having fun! One of the best videos i've ever watched.

[@MumboSauceRadio]

*This is like the best explanation video ever!*

[@statichousemusic9855]

As pointed out, Les Paul pioneered multi track recording on his own. He came up with a working model. Apex launched the manufacture. Great video!

[@33AndAThirdRPM]

Les Paul’s contributions to the music industry are legion - tape delay, phasing effects, multi-track recording, and overdubbing, or Sound on Sound - all techniques that are still in use today, and that have helped to evolve music and recording technology over the past half-century. Of these, his Sound on Sound was the most revolutionary - never before had recording allowed, or been used for, making multiple recorded tracks that could be played in tandem, creating a whole new sonic world for musicians and engineers to explore. In 1945, Les built a recording studio and workshop in the garage of his Hollywood home. Bing Crosby, Les’ friend and a top-charting singer and movie star, gave Les one of the first Ampex Model 200A reel-to-reel audio tape recording deck to experiment. Les took the cutting edge technology of the day - this mono tape machine - and engineered a multi-track tape recorder. This forerunner of all multi-track tape machines was used until computer technology rose to prominence. Adding a second recording head to his Ampex tape recorder was pivotal to the “Sound on Sound” recording technique. Later, Les expanded the concept to build more robust devices, including the eight-track tape recorder.

[@warriorkingagony4820]

Best way to make music

[@sauceboy9700]

Aren't you supposed to be able to record 8 or even 16 different tracks on reel to reels?

[@johnrulli56]

Thank you for the lesson

[@bhekimkhwanazi8825]

Thanks for sharing this video is very intresting

[@TheBrunoleocoelho]

Reels rock things!! It's really awesome!

[@juanfcordoba7584]

I work repairing decks reel to reel and video recorders nos , and from 30 years and love work with them!

[@imsaint007]

Great now I know how is done

[@danpagdon507]

Set up properly this machine produces great sound. The band "Steely Dan" led by Donald Fagan and Walter Becker, known for their obsession with perfect sound, recorded their first album on the Teac 3340. I've recorded live performances of bands with this machine that totally blew away their own studio demos for sonic quality. Some of the bands switched to my recordings for their demos. Used with two Teac model 2A mixers bridged, four channel DBX, Shure drum mike mixer,Teac MB20 meter bridge.

[@moritzschiekel2272]

that Drums Sound actual good for like some intro before the '' real drum '' Sound hits ;D

[@Jason-bg7jc]

I would love to see the more advanced stuff explained. I'd even donate to see it

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Jason Rumley We're working on a few videos for the near future!

[@IvanFabilaVega]

+thegeekgroup wheen?please do another one! i cant find a tutorial on how to multritrack on an 8 track recorder ,using a 22 track mixer, can you only use 8 from the 22 tracks of the mixer because theres only 8 in the tape machine?, so then how can i do multritrack with all the drums mics , rewind record, so on , but at the same time be able to manipulate each individual track using the mixer and be able to erase ine track and re-record it, do i need to use the ping pong method? please help . my english is bad im Mexican.

[@IvanFabilaVega]

+thegeekgroup i know it sounds like im asking what you explain in the video , but bottom line question is, are you limited on your instruments inputs in the mixer depending on the number of tracks the machine has?

[@Jason-bg7jc]

Ivan Fabila You're limited to what you can track simultaneously by your mixer. You can get around that by bouncing previous tracks down and overdubbing on the machine.

[@IvanFabilaVega]

thanks a lot!

[@robfriedrich2822]

What tape width did they use for the first four track? ½" or 1"? Could imagine both, because each track on the 1" has nearly the same track width as the mono ¼" tape

[@johnbre20]

Thank you Todd 😂

[@aidenp265]

My pioneer pioneer-707 has 4 heads for both direction playback, and two sensing poles for auto reverse.

[@danpagdon507]

AMPEX did not invent multitrack recording, they didn't come out with one until 1955, using technology developed by Les Paul, who recorded "How High the Moon" in his garage in 1951. He modified an early Ampex reel to reel mechanically and electronically to enable this breakthrough. After backing up Bing Crosby on his hit "Kiss me Once Again", Bing bought him another Ampex machine to use for mixdown.

[@nutrisativa2891]

How to record 16 channels on the roll? And, after recording how to mix and master analogically?

[@spencersmallbridge1496]

You need a 16 track deck, most use 1 or two inch tape and to mix and master you take the repro from the deck and mix it down in your mixer, take stereo out and bounce it to a mastering deck

[@WiZeR911]

Very good. I enjoyed that. Thanks

[@topa1798]

WHY AM I SO FUKIN LATE?,THIS VIDEO AND CHANNEL IS AWESOME

[@andersevenrud]

Really informative stuff. Love your videos!

[@That125Kid]

What's the brand of mixer being used?

[@Bricklinsv1970]

you guys should start a band! that was epic!!

[@Dcook2409]

at 15:28 he CLEARLY stated "it's going to sound like garbage, but it's not about the sound quality"

[@coffeehigh420]

@ 14:18 - intro to "SGT Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band"

[@rockymountainmike3133]

I like the idea. But, shouldn't a video about audio technology have things like not being recorded in a giant reflective room with the mic 6 feet away and maybe the playback going through something like the line input to the video instead of another system that's even further away from the microphone? Maybe it's just me.... :)

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

thegeekgroup.org/product/donation-one-time/

[@19501960]

No wonder it took those 60's bands a year to do an album.

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Use the Contact Us form on the website. It will get forwarded to the appropriate parties.

[@throwmeintospace2277]

This is great, always wanted to know how to use a multi-track reel to reel.

[@OneOfUsSweden]

I´m watching a TEAC 3340 demonstration video in 2013! This is not what I tought the future was going to be like way back in 1978.

[@dfadsfadsful]

Thanks GeekGroup for the video, Just as a head up I have NEVER worked with a reel to reel.I was just wondering if it was possible to be able to take the recording from a reel to reel recorder and sending into a computer/music software such as Logic, Reason, etc. This way I could, for example, add effects such as EQ or reverb, reamp guitars, and other mixing and mastering processes and then send that edited sound back into the reel to reel. I'm making a band with me and one other person so, I would be using the reel to reel for backing tracks for live shows and recording. I've seen this done before with a band called "Bad Veins". They have some pretty good live shows if you want to look then up to see how the reel to reel works in a live setting. Thanks for your help. -Ace

[@dominikumberto]

Sure, you can send every track into an audio interface and record it on hard disc in Logic, then work on it and play out back onto tape.

[@AndrewJohnClive]

Nice baseline!🤘🏽

[@touringusa8760]

You hit pretty much on every switch except the EQ and BIAS switches for NORMAL and HIGH positions. What are they and what do they do? Thanks in advance for your reply.

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

As we get the Recording Studio online, there will be a *lot* of videos on such things.

[@HammyTechnoid]

The Beatles recorded all their early albums up through Sgt. Peppers on 4 track machines... unbelievable.

[@oboogie80]

I grew up analog. And I still record my music in analog. I'm not a fan of digital music.

[@h00py67]

I grew up in digital but I record in analog because it sounds better!

[@chabka34]

@@h00py67 the best of digital and the best of analog are impossible to tell apart

[@Bella_Rei]

I came here to see how the old heads recorded stuff back in the day... Jesus Christ I'm glad Ive never had to touch one of these.

[@thewii552]

I'm not sure why it took until now, but I just noticed in this video... The image from the Sony camera looks amazing, reminds me of DSLR video. I like it more than the JVC cameras.

[@CoatlEndeavours]

please do the video on the punch-in and more detail techniques in tape recording! That'd be amazing, as there is little on youtube.

[@livdie00]

Analog is sooo awesome but as this video showed there can be some draw backs to using crusty un-serviced EQ . I do analog recording because I like the sound and its just easier for me to turn on my track machine get the levels and go. I think analog is great for jamming and coming up with new song ideas. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to get a really good recording with very little equipment and a good Mic. The only limit is the length of your tape and it doesn't matter how much ram you have.

[@Dbulkss]

livdie00 where do you get your tape at?

[@13gudadod]

"Chaotic good"love that name

[@lukasoravec9615]

So when recording with analog that has 4 channels does that mean i can only record 4 instruments overall? Also how would playing it through a mixer work as well? (Fairly new) thanks.

[@itsjustaride12]

lukas oravec great question! Also, if I want to use 3-4 Mics on my drums would I not have enough track for vocals and other instruments?

[@pedritoortiz5017]

lukas oravec by my understanding the channels from the reel to reel equals to the amount of times you can overdub other than that if you don't overdub anything in sure you can pick up the signals from all the instruments if you simply plug the mixer to one of any channels

[@ERROL007]

@@UCpWvQT1H_AlOPZSMTcGDUkg Very late reply. If you had a mixer you could record as many instruments as the mixer has inputs but you would have to treat the recording as a final take as you would be able to adjust the levels that will leave to tracks to do eg vocals. You could also do as above and the bounce the two tracks to the remaining two whilst adding more instruments. Hope that helps.

[@premnath5749]

Just wondering... What role would /could the mixer have played in this context. Thanks. Great video by the way.

[@N617A]

From what I heard about these 4 tracks: if you had harmonies you had a choice: record all the instruments together then record all the vocals together and save the other 2 tracks for extras, Or balance everything and record all instruments together even sensitive ones and use the other tracks for vocals or the last thing was to record every instrument but guitar together, then record vocals together and then do guitar in stereo. Now the digital is lay down 2 drum tracks, take the best of each, record bass the same way, then record 2 channels of guitar panned to opposite sides, then vocals. then mixing, editing and mastering make it into the digital thing.

[@khansolllo]

multitracking is any instance in which more than one track is used. whether you record a single instrument or multiple on 1 track is up to you. giving each instrument its own track gives you more mixing control though.

[@enlamainyokohama]

The ad break was rather sad.

[@juanfcordoba7584]

Excellent😃😃

[@credenza1]

I could just feeeel the chunky clunkiness of the 3340S. What a great machine it was.

[@SJKile]

Ya know, I’ve had your tutorial saved on my Utube account for a very long time. I have a subscription to Utube that is supposed to give me ad free viewing. Yet while reviewing this video after all these years, I see that you have added a commercial right in the middle of the video. Could you please move your ad to the end of your video? Please respond to me, my question is important.

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

I'm responding to you to tell you that you're question isn't important just because you say it is.

[@SJKile]

@@ChaoticGoodChris KZbin thinks it’s important. That’s how they sold me the subscription as ad free. So take a hike Numbnuts.

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

No worries, happy to help. Enjoy your ads.

[@SJKile]

@@ChaoticGoodChris Oh pulease, there was never ever any thought on your part of helping. With a handle that does not have your real name. I knew that you were a kid playing in an adult world. Never identifying yourself properly. Just going right in to kid mode with the antics. This behavior is not spot on with an adult at the helm. That is a fact that you cannot dispute.

[@ChaoticGoodChris]

Oh you're precious. Here ya go. discord.gg/KhTKWE3gCC There's my Discord chat.kzbin.info/door/50dmDmCH6UPbhHBBB1BiWQ There's my live channel. I do a live show every night at 10pm Eastern time. You're welcome to join in and tell me live, on air, just what you think of all of this.

[@todorkapsis]

Your video is really very very good. But i would be glad if you answer to this: Υou plug the bass or the guitar on the console and you use the out of the console and you send it to the reel to reel ????Because i saw that all the instruments (3) you can change the volumes from the console. How you can do that?? i mean please write the wiring of the cables.Thanks

[@reve4574]

AMpex did not invent it--other than multi-tracking. The Germans invented tape in the 1930s and it became captured technology and the founder of Ampex, a colonel in the US army, brought it and a few German engineers back to the US and history was then re-made.

[@TheSmreeder]

I just picked up an old rodgets 4 tr and have had a 60? ampex for years Many Blessings SMR

[@djdrh]

Just Wow!!! Thanks!!!

[@lochinvar00465]

I remember working on a redesign of a 13 track machine(1 inch tape) changing from transistor to IC's. it was for sonar recording and could record clear down to DC. No frequency was too low to record. But it wouldn't do things like that.

[@Sleepinglikesheep]

This was pretty neat

[@tejasvirawat8467]

THE MOST KICKASS VIDEO IN THE WORLD OF AUDIO ENGINEERING EVER

[@coffeehigh420]

you should have set the ENG camera mic facing (it's shotgun microphone head pointing at) the DRUM kit center about 3 feet away from it. setting that sort of mic facing up is just going to be one big echo chamber especially in that sort of room, guys! OH MY

[@Araoz]

Wich software was used to make the presentation ? (5:23)

[@CatfishBlues68]

Good stuff! Perhaps you could go into mastering, editing, monitering and things like that with the reel to reel machine?

[@HenryMPerez]

Have the Tascam 424 Portastudio, it's a cassette 4track recorder with additional 4track, for total 8tracks at once!? Anyway send my drum machine in stereo to 5\6, vocals on 1\2 with respect to left ight and rhythm guitar to 3\4 with respect to left and right. Playback is recorded on a standard Sony jambox ( from back in the day ), then send that mix back into 424 and play lead guitar over that with backup vocals. Bass guitar is mixed in after that. This is me_just saying_

[@lukpac]

To Dan Pagdon, Ampex definitely did invent multitrack recording as we know it (under their trade name "Sel Sync"). Les Paul was doing "sound on sound" recording, first by adding an additional playback head and recording over the previously recorded material, and then by dubbing from one tape machine to another. While innovative, he didn't invent that either, and from a technical standpoint it isn't really related to "multitracking" as described in this video and first implemented in that Ampex 8-track machine.

[@Fidelis94]

The count with the delay sounds like the launch of a Space Shuttle ahahah! Cool!

[@martincvitkovich724]

Was the guitar and bass recorded with a mic at the amps speaker??

[@bfg094]

The "reel" basics to multitrack recording. :D

[@dubdoodle7191]

My RS-1506 recordings regardless of tape adds alot of high freq's vs the original source. The bias & EQ switches are set appropriately to tape brand/ model. Any thoughts why ?

[@brandtfj]

I have that same deck!

[@toddholiman3443]

You weren't going for musical gold, but it DOES explain how multitrack works, at least the basics...

[@okbridges]

The tracks on the tape are not numbered 1 3 2 4, like you have them, but are 1 2 3 4, and tracks 1 and 3 are used for stereo playback in one direction, and 2 and 4 in the other. Stereo cassette tapes do not use the same track arrangement as 4-track rtr stereo. One side of a cassette uses tracks 1 and 2 and the other side uses 3 and 4. Other than that, nice video, fun and informative to watch!

[@lninjabigd]

thegeekgroup great video! can I ask a quick question. I have an akai 4000ds recorder and am going to buy another recorder so I can record to tracks on the akai then put them onto the other recorder then again and again so on until I have built up my song. Do I need a mixer or can I do this entirely with rec out connections? If you could help me it would be great, I would appreciate it lots. Anyways thanks for a good video

[@dancetech]

+lninjabigd you need a mixer ideally with 5 channels (the max required to really work fast & efficiently) - 2 channels are for machine-1 playback, 2 channels are for machine-2 playback and the spare is for a mic or instrument input. Each channel of the mixer needs some way to send it's output to either tape machine (busses or 2 aux sends) -- You record to machine-1, then as you playback those two tracks across to machine-2 to record it (bounce) you play along thru channel 5 adding another instrument on a 3rd channel which is blended in with the 2 tracks being sent to the other machine... the second machine therefore records the 2 tracks from the first machine AND your live playing blended in - so machine 2 then ends up with 2 tracks recorded with 2 instruments playing (original 1st recorded instrument from machine-1 + the blended in live playing overdub) - you repeat that process adding another instrument with each bounce from one machine to the other. A tip is that each bounce takes away treble top-end, so start by making the earlier tracks more trebly, then after they've been 'bounced' between the machines several times back & forth, that trebly top end reduces..so a little less treble with each bounce. If you do it right you can make great multitrack recordings (after all it's the whole foundation of stuff like the beatles). I got my first publishing deal recording demos that way in mono.

[@Nik-og2lx]

Oh that's kind of interesting, but I still have some questions. I mean in the end you need a master or a digital version of it and how to do that?I also don't get the thing when you turn up the fader on the mixer, the single signal of one track gets louder. For me it's looks like the mixer comes after the recorder for me that means the signal is all tracks together or are all signal outputs separate? And how to change the eq after you record?

[@Nik-og2lx]

And also, can you erase so often you want?

[@nooneimportant77]

heeyyy i'm listening to this through a Crown D-75A !

[@glenlubitz8943]

awesome explanation of tape delay. is there a way to stop that from happening while layering tracks on a machine without those sync switches?

[@bubz75]

Awesome 😎

[@BlackFMable]

Can you plug the outputs of two seperate mixers, one mixer in track 1 and 3 (left and right) and another one in track 2 and 4 ( left and right)?

[@levischorpioen]

I think that it doesn't matter when you record the individual tracks. I've seen a band with 2 lead vocalists who recorded their parts at the same time.

[@EveryDaySkinnyGuy]

So is multitrack recording when you record instruments separately like they did, or can you record all the instruments at the same time, also?

[@RiffMusic1970]

Got some nice room reverb in there.