Making an Analog Album in a Home Studio - Episode One

[@DaveZula]

Excellent work. I'm totally blown away by the drum sound from that suitcase kit. ✌️❤️

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much, David. Great to hear you like it! 👍

[@harryklippton]

I'd love to see a video just about the suitcase drum. I can't believe how it sounded! It's probably just a lack of familiarity and now I want to know more

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Good idea, I’ll add that to my list! Thanks 👍

[@bob4analog]

Im most impressed! This is a testament how good analog recording can sound. Great job! Love to hear more. 👍

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Hey, great to hear you like the project! There are 3 more videos in this series if you fancy checking them out. 👍

[@Da1Prophessor]

The song sounds great sonically for a rough mix on an 8 track cassette… with all the bit rate and frequency hoopla that is pushed with the DAWs and interfaces, it’s great to go back to the old way and demonstrate that it’s not the tool but the hands and brain behind the tool that makes the difference. Great job👍🏽

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, it’s much appreciated! I’ve been been prone to getting caught up with the marketing hype around newer, better audio interfaces and software in the past. Ultimately it’s not usually helped my music but been more of distraction, so it’s refreshing to strip things back.

[@Mark_Williams300]

Sounds awesome 😃

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Cheers buddy, much appreciated! ❤

[@Mario_DiSanto]

1:45 "Limitations can often be a good thing.." Hell yeah you certainly got my attention :) I never heard of the A/D nomenclature system. Triple AAA allll dayyyyyyyy! Cool stuff man. EDIT: I have always heard about bass heavy instruments on the outer tracks but for the reason of high frequency record issues on the outer tracks. Didn't even consider crosstalk!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Hey man, thanks for stopping by and yeah, the whole A/D nomenclature system is a bit of an obscure side note in the history of audio recording now. You still get it occasionally in some jazz labels for vinyl and reel to reel releases, but I couldn't resist the challenge of giving the AAA approach a shot myself (even though I've only got pretty crappy gear compared to the pros!) Ps I'm loving all the garage rock stuff you've been doing on your channel recently, really inspiring stuff!!!

[@dannydaniel8975]

​@wehappyfewmusic You don't have crappy gear. You just have a different sound and flavor, my friend. In music creation, there are no rules, only things that maybe you should know.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

@@dannydaniel8975 great way of looking at things, thanks for the supportive comment!

[@ChristianBannister]

What a great insight into your recording process. Look forward to the next part.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Glad you found it interesting and cheers for watching. I’m already underway with the next instalment. 🙌

[@schipbreukeling3]

Looking forward to see the whole proces

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Cheers for watching and many thanks for the support. I’m collecting some new outboard gear tomorrow to use in the next video, so I’m quite excited about the next stage. 😊

[@kurtiuscobainius1581]

Really fun to see, can't wait to see the next episode!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! 😊

[@kurtiuscobainius1581]

@@wehappyfewmusic keep it up :))

[@scottjacobsen5653]

Great vid... and super cool song! Looking forward to the follow up vids!!!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks for the encouraging words, Scott! Much appreciated. 👍

[@manhattanfl]

gave me some ideas, thanks for sharing

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Brilliant, great to hear it’s given you some ideas and thanks for watching!

[@petegarrett8162]

Well done Ad, fantastic work! Looking forward to video 2 and the release of the album!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much mate for checking it out, will give you a shout when the next episode is ready! 🙌

[@miltonmagik]

Love your videos, very inspiring for analog recording which I’m fond of.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much, that’s great to hear!

[@Ukuleleal]

Great video. The suitcase drum sounded absolutely amazing. Far cry from the tupperware box I used with my old Tascam Porta 02 back in the day lol. Look forward to more videos on your process.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much for watching and your kind words! I bet that Tupperware kit sounded pretty good, I used a frying pan as a hi hat in a previous video. 😊

[@outernationalstudios]

That drum sound is unbelievable! How did that little kit sound so good??? It sounded like there was some reverb as well- I that just the room sound? I have never got a drum sound that good on my old tascam 8 track cassette recorder back in the day! Excellent work-

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks for checking it out, yes there’s a splash of reverb too. 👍🙌

[@jonasjacobsen9702]

This is so cool. I want to do this sometime in the future. Well done 👍

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much! Yeah you should do it, it’s a fun challenge! 👍

[@aidanduffy5443]

Such a cool video, great music and very inspiring

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much for the kind words, and pleased you found it inspiring!

[@jonpaultucker]

Looking forward to following this series! I've seen other videos of your with the Tascam 688. Which one do you prefer?

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Many thanks! That’s a tricky one as they both sound very good, but it would probably be the MT8X as it’s more straightforward to use.

[@gwugluud]

Sounding great.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Cheers, thanks for kind words!

[@thegracegravity]

Best of luck! I created an all analog record too! Finishing up the documentary now. Looking forward to seeing yours -

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks, and would love to see your documentary when it’s finished!

[@thegracegravity]

@@wehappyfewmusic Sure will!

[@fredflintstone1428]

Sounds great, looking forward to your next videos. I don't know if you remember but I commented on some of your stuff over a year ago. I've sold off a load of equipment and have settled on two main rigs now, a Native Instruments computer setup for orchestral stuff and an AKAI MPC Key 61 with a Tascam Model 24 for pop /rock stuff. The Model 24 is a great piece of kit combining a 24 track recorder (to SD card) and an interface to either computer or to the AKAI. My hearing loss at 3.7kHz - 4.2kHz and higher than 7kHz has got worse and I struggle now to hear any difference between analogue and digital. It now makes it a no-brainer for me to work digitally as it all sounds the same.

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Hey good to hear from you again and thanks for checking out the new video! Yes, I seem to remember that you had a couple of Tascam 238’s back then and were trying to sync them up? Sorry about your hearing loss in the higher frequencies , it’s a real curse for us musicians. I bet the Tascam model 24 is a breeze to use though. I’ve not used one but it certainly looks well specked and I like their reinvention of styling from their original portastudios.

[@stefandrechsel]

What a cool video. Used to record on the Tascam 4 tracks you showed earlier in the clip. As you said, limitation is a source of creativity. Rather than unlimited possibilities. Looking forward to hearing more

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks for the kind words and glad you enjoyed the video! Yes, I love those Tascam 244’s, and often find that if a song doesn’t work on that, it won’t get any better with more tracks etc.

[@ricardosensever]

Thank you so much for sharing this AAA process! After following the entire series and returning to this first episode, I must confess that the rough mix is ​​superb! To my ears, it's more "tasty" than the mastered version :) But this is just my humble opinion. Thank you again!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

You're very welcome, and thanks for watching the whole series! Some times are initial instincts are the right choices, so it’s quite possible the 1st mix is best. 😊

[@jakemicklewright4377]

How do your drums sound so good?? Especially playing with a beater not a stick

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Ahh, just answered that in the message on the other episode. Thanks for checking them all out!

[@bucksmoonlightrevival]

hey great video! 😃 music sounds great also

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much, and I love what you’ve been doing on your channel recently with the Tascam 488! 👌

[@aftertheendtimes]

Great recording you got there! 🥰🎸

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks very much, glad to hear you like the recording! 🙌

[@Salantsoundstudios]

Nice, man!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Cheers buddy, much appreciated!

[@ChasingTheGoose]

Really cool setup! That Vantage amp was the first amp I ever had 😂

[@wehappyfewmusic]

No way, it would funny if this was the actual one you owned! 😀

[@randerson2842]

Awesome

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Cheers for watching, much appreciated!

[@johnwalliss]

really interesting. Sounds great overall, but surprising how meaty the drums sound with just a simple kit (and not even a bass drum!)

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks for checking it out, yes I boosted the bass on the suitcase mic a fair bit to give it some more thud.

[@kaybhee6]

we use sony cassette 2 ch recorder,,,, input,,, from 4 ch analog mixer,,, 4 mics

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Sounds like a nice setup up for a live analog recording session. 👍

[@williamgupton8770]

fire

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Thanks!

[@TwangThang57]

I thought the dry rough mix sounded great!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

Glad you liked the dry mix! I sometimes prefer the mixes without effects, as it’s easy to overdo reverb etc.

[@TwangThang57]

@@wehappyfewmusic Yeah, I've definitely gone back to old mixes and found then drowning in 'verb.

[@richiesplayground7092]

Im having a hard time believing that drum sound came from your setup of a suitcase bass drum and a snare played with a mallet. And an overhead and room sound from just 2 mono mics?

[@Nich0tep]

Keep it Analogue to to my Dying Day.. all natural, man..DIGGit!

[@wehappyfewmusic]

That’s the spirit and thanks for checking out the video! What tape machine do you use?