Need advice on "Portastudio"

[cedartop52]

I would like to make recordings that combine my acoustic guitar, voice, bass guitar, electric guitar, keyboard/synth with a minimum of 8 tracks (knowing I can bounce tracks). Back in the day I had good luck with my old Tascam 4 track/cassette recorder. I currently have a Mac laptop and could use GarageBand but find the technology gets in the way of my creativity and spontaneity...combined with my limited computer skills/interest. I've recently looked at the Tascam Model 12 and their DP24SD as possibilities but am wary of anything that would have a long learning curve - I'm old!! The Model 12 looks fairly intuitive in the YouTube videos I've seen but I'd welcome any advice you folks have. I have a dedicated space to work in, all the instruments, a decent AKG condenser mic and a few song ideas...just need a way to capture and layer some ideas. My recording would be primarily for my own amusement and wouldn't warrant a high level of production. Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Dan

[cliff_the_stiff]

I bought one of these for 300 bucks.
It’s battery powered- can record 8 tracks and is fully editable and easy to share.
It interfaces with my phone.
I am lazy and dumb when it comes to recording.
This is easy enough for someone lazy and dumb.

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by cedartop52

..Back in the day I had good luck with my old Tascam 4 track/cassette recorder. I currently have a Mac laptop and could use GarageBand but find the technology gets in the way of my creativity and spontaneity...combined with my limited computer skills/interest. .Dan

Hi Dan,
Whatever device you get is gonna have a learning curve too. My two cents is to consider dedicating a week of evenings to doing a deep dive with Garageband on your Mac. There are so many great free youtube tutorials to help. Or you can pay just $15 bucks and do something like a Groove3 course https://www.groove3.com/tutorials/GarageBand-Explained. If you just add an inexpensive USB interface to plug a microphone and/on instrument into your laptop, you'd really have a great time with an easy, powerful, and very proratable setup. It's probably a lot easier than you think.

[MikeMcKee]

Originally Posted by min7b5

Hi Dan,
Whatever device you get is gonna have a learning curve too. My two cents is to consider dedicating a week of evenings to doing a deep dive with Garageband on your Mac. There are so many great free youtube tutorials to help. Or you can pay just $15 bucks and do something like a Groove3 course https://www.groove3.com/tutorials/GarageBand-Explained. If you just add an inexpensive USB interface to plug a microphone and/on instrument into your laptop, you'd really have a great time with an easy and very proratable setup. It's probably a lot easier than you think.

Totally agree with this.

[cedartop52]

Thanks Cliff, Eric and Mike for those speedy responses! I appreciate your advice and encouragement and will definitely look into your suggestions. This forum is great! Dan

[Dave Hicks]

I don't know about the Tascams, but I have used Boss and Zoom standalone recorders.

You can use them by themselves, and also export the files to a DAW when you get comfortable with the recorder and want more editing capacity.

D.H.

[MarkF_48]

I've liked Tascams Portastudio gear and have had their cassette based recorders years ago. When I first went with a digital recorder years ago I went with a KORG D1600 which worked well, but I never liked the user interface too much. My next digital recorder was a Tascam 2488NEO which for basic recording is most similar to the older Tascam cassette Portastudio operation. A few things on the 2488NEO after many years of use were getting a bit finicky about functioning reliably, so I got a discounted 'demo' Tascam DP-24SD which used an SD Card for song recording and storage. Again it is similar to the older PortaStudio operation, but can do a lot if you want to dig into it.

Tascam does have some rebates/promos going on presently
https://tascam.com/us/special/promos
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...al-portastudio

The videos in these tutorials may help get a feel for the operation....
Tascam DP-24SD/32SD Portastudio Tutorials

[Captain Jim]

That looks like a pretty versatile board. If you want the easiest recording, up to 8 tracks, it is hard to beat the Spire Studio. You need an iPhone or iPad to utilize all the capabilities, but it is simple to do a sound check, then start recording. It has a built-in metronome, various effects (spaces, vocal EQ, amps, pedals) and some simple mixing.

What I used to record with a Zoom H4n Pro, I can do with the Spire Studio in about 1/4 the time. And to my ear, it sounds better.

The Spire has a built-in condenser mic and two Grace Design preamps; phantom power; two headphone jacks.

There are a couple Spire Studio threads here in the Recording sub-forum you might want to check out.

[cedartop52]

Thanks Dave, Mark and Jim! Lots of good food for thought there and the links will be educational too. I've been following up on the previous suggestions and am beginning to feel hopeful that solutions do exist that have a reasonable learning curve. I'll spend the next couple days checking out YouTube sites that relate to the various suggestions. Thanks again for sharing your insights and advice, Dan

[FrankHudson]

Upthread the pitch has already been made for biting the bullet and learning GarageBand. That's a solid point, but of course you are free to disagree.

I resisted computer recording for several years, using a cassette based Portastudio. I did this partly for cost reasons, and partly because I was in the computer field and I emotionally wanted my enjoyment of recording music to remain in contrast to that other part of my life.

I eventually gave in, and while I've always retained something portable hardware to allow me to record "in the field" I've been enjoying computer based recording ever since.

Recording, just recording, can be easy with a standalone system. Everything else is easier with a DAW, and increasingly very powerful actions are available after a short learning curve.

The Spire (mentioned above) is an interesting hybrid system. It uses a phone or tablet (so a computer, though you use a touch interface) as its interface, and after you record with the pretty nifty little Spire device you do everything else in the tablet/phone computer. It's tablet interface attempts to keep a lot of features easy to use. But it's not readily available at this time and is two tracks at once (which is fine for one-man-band recordings, but a limitation).

Are you sure you never want to edit or do complicated mixing with anything you record up to 8 tracks? Are you sure you never want to use any software to add new things to your recordings or to replace more expensive outboard gear? Of course, like me, you can always go to using a DAW later if you estimated wrong, but besides not having any direct experience with modern standalone multitrack recording hardware to give you (sorry), I just want to remind you that there are reasons you may want to slog out some time learning to use GarageBand (or Reaper, or another DAW).

[cedartop52]

Thanks Frank...your thinking on the subject is quite compelling. In the brief time I've had to look into the Spire product, it was looking like it might be a great creative tool for me. But then your question about potentially developing interest in creating a more polished production level as time goes on....that certainly appeals to the more adult side of me! ha Thanks for giving such helpful thought to my little dilemma. Dan

[Rudy4]

FrankHudson's advice above is spot on.

The editing abilities of the computer are an absolute essential if you want to polish your recordings or even do simple topping and tailing of a final mix prior to distribution in whatever way you choose to do that.

After a lot of trial and error I settled into a two step procedure for doing recordings. I use a stand alone recorder to capture 24 bit 44.1 audio and then move it to a computer based DAW to do editing.

I use a Zoom R24 and have done full band recordings at remote locations for doing CD projects. (I can't say I'd want to do that with my main computer.)

Using a stand alone recorder allows you to record anywhere you choose, and can be something as simple as a Zoom R8 (for 8 tracks) using a good set of headphones and using a single phantom powered condenser mic. (You can even use the built-in stereo mics if you REALLY want to do simple...)

Unless you want to edit tracks and do final distribution mixes you can do it all with the stand alone recorder without the need to tether yourself to a computer and monitor setup. Throw AA's in a Zoom R8 and go record under a shade tree in the park.

I usually suggest the Zoom R8 to hobby recordists who want a very basic and easy to operate machine. It's slightly more difficult than an old cassette recorder, but not by much. A user wanting basic recording abilities does not need to dig into the advanced features.

[cedartop52]

Thanks Rudy. I like your notion to get a stand alone recorder that has the capability to move that stored data to my computer for further editing. I'll study up on the R8. Appreciate the thought, Dan

[Dave Hicks]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

FrankHudson's advice above is spot on.

The editing abilities of the computer are an absolute essential if you want to polish your recordings or even do simple topping and tailing of a final mix prior to distribution in whatever way you choose to do that.

After a lot of trial and error I settled into a two step procedure for doing recordings. I use a stand alone recorder to capture 24 bit 44.1 audio and then move it to a computer based DAW to do editing.

I use a Zoom R24 and have done full band recordings at remote locations for doing CD projects. (I can't say I'd want to do that with my main computer.)

Using a stand alone recorder allows you to record anywhere you choose, and can be something as simple as a Zoom R8 (for 8 tracks) using a good set of headphones and using a single phantom powered condenser mic. (You can even use the built-in stereo mics if you REALLY want to do simple...)

Unless you want to edit tracks and do final distribution mixes you can do it all with the stand alone recorder without the need to tether yourself to a computer and monitor setup. Throw AA's in a Zoom R8 and go record under a shade tree in the park.

I usually suggest the Zoom R8 to hobby recordists who want a very basic and easy to operate machine. It's slightly more difficult than an old cassette recorder, but not by much. A user wanting basic recording abilities does not need to dig into the advanced features.

I agree about the R8. It has some ability to edit (pan, simple eq, some compression), also drum tracks (mostly not very useful to me), tuner, metronome, etc. It also can serve as an interface to a DAW, or you can export files via USB.

D.H.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Dave Hicks

I agree about the R8. It has some ability to edit (pan, simple eq, some compression), also drum tracks (mostly not very useful to me), tuner, metronome, etc. It also can serve as an interface to a DAW, or you can export files via USB.

D.H.

It's simple enough to add very nice sounding reverb to any track you wish, too. The R8 has a raft of options if one wishes to dig into the menu system, but that becomes cumbersome for users like Dan who are most interested in the "easy to use" aspect.

The best thing about Zoom's R series, beyond the ease of use, is the ability to do 24 bit recording and portability, especially since the machine uses SD cards and has NO self-generated noise. When I recorded with my PC the fan noise was so obvious that I added a poke-through to the wall and moved the PC to another adjoining room. It was such a revelation to work without machine noise that I posted before/after sound files on my old website. The recording in the same room with the PC sounded like a waterfall in the room! Now I simply record where the resulting recording sounds best. For me, that usually ends up being our living room with vaulted ceilings and area rugs.

Here's a recent video with audio recorded by my Zoom R24, visible just to my left:



There's a short initial learning curve for use, but once a user figures out the way they prefer to use the machine it's simple to save (and lock) a project and save it as "Template". Generally a user will load "TEMPLATE" and then simply start a new project using "TEMPLATE" settings. Once past that initial "learning curve" a user can power up and start recording a new song in a few seconds.