I got a tascam 4 track in 1997. Lots of great times with friends and recorded probably 25-30 songs that I eventually transferred to digital and still have copies of today. What an amazing experience it was to write and record, alone and with friends.
I am not a musician. I do not play an instrument. 'Don't make music of any sort. 'Do not know how a video from David Hilowitz Music made it into my suggested videos feed one day a few weeks back. Do not know what led me to click the video. But I do know what led me to watch the video all the way through and what's kept me coming back to every video since: David, you're a great story teller and, even if I'm not a musician, I can certainly recognize the creativity and imagination that goes into your work. Thanks for making these videos.
PS I used to have the 8-track version -- loved it (though I did not use it the way David did here -- wish I had). I also paid like $1,000 for it and as a kid, it took me years to pay it off -- love how you got it for free!!
I feel exactly the same in every aspect. I love listening to music, but I'm not a musician, don't play an instrument. I do, however, like technology, physics, photography. And the technical approach in the first half of the video is usually fascinating, while the second half is beautiful music. I very much enjoy the videos - many thanks from me, too!
for the record, you don’t really need new tapes, used tapes are a lot cheaper and erasers aren’t expensive. almost always it’ll be exactly the same as new, and if on the off chance it isn’t, that might be cool in itself anyway
As always, blown away by your creativity and abilities for creating soundscapes and sound designs. Every sample, every video, every story, is as fascinating, intriguing, and captivating as the last.
I’m trying to control my envy, someone gave you something a lot a people dream of getting. But I couldn’t think of a more deserving person, you already gave us so much with this channel. Thank you.
This couldn't have come at a better time!!! I can't believe it. A great friend of mine just recently gave me the exact tape recorder for free too and I'm a little lost so this was a big help! Thank you
I saved up and bought this very model in 1997 and I still own and cherish it. It's where the world first opened up to me musically and I realized I could write and record songs in my bedroom. I recently replaced the socket where the power supply plugs into. Had to crack it open and resolder the contacts to the pcb because it was loose and would always cut out during recording. Runs flawlessly to this day however the third channel is pretty quiet. I also never kept up with degaussing and keeping the rollers clean...dumb teenager when I got the thing but so glad it is still in my possession. I can't believe he just gave it away like that either, they are still fetching anywhere from $400-$800 I believe, but I will never sell mine.
David, I just want to say how comforting and soothing your content is. For real, it's like therapy. Not to mention just plain exciting sometimes. Thank you.
unfortunately this isn't true. Peter Murphy (dyed blonde) was only the Maxell "blown away guy" in the British TV commercial. The dark-haired man in the classic print ads and on all the cassette ephemera is makeup artist Jac Collelo.
Man I sure hope you can make a living doing this stuff. You are the sort of creative ingenious that we need. You only see opportunity, no limitations. This particular patch is wild and blends 2 of your loves - violin and mag tape. Outstanding. I smiled almost the entire way through. Thanks for doing this.
Multi tracker was always a favorite...how it syncs together I found was hearing the sound and not knowing what to expect was awsome experience...makes me want another now seeing your video..
So funny story. I've been working for the last 4 weeks on completing the restoration of my 1981 DeLorean. While I've been covered in dust and dirt and old car parts, I've gone through every video you have in your series. I finally just got the last piece re-installed while listening to this one. It feels fitting to be restoring something from the past while you bring the past to the present. Keep up the amazing work. Your videos kept me sane while everything was broken apart!
As someone who is born in the year 2000 I find older technology more fascinating than newer ones and watching these videos shows what I missed when I wasn't born yet and it's amazing to see how technology worked back then as well.
this is so beautiful and i have always been a sucker for Tascam and Vostex 4trackers...it is so more in connection with working with true audio. So its great to watch you enjoying playing around with it. And what an amazing blessing to have received this gift. Mine Vostex a 4tracker unfortunatly died some time ago so i up finding an new 4track tape recorder....got many tapes left to enjoy recording with. Have a wonderful day ahead and enjoy your weekend. Kind healthy regards from out of Finland, Bastiaan Anthonie Baaij PS: great videos you create!
I made my first mini-album on a lower grade Tascam 4 track recorder about 23yrs back. There was already some recorded speech on one of the tapes I used but it came through in reverse whilst I was recording. It sounded cool so I left it in.
This brings back memories! My recollection of the 4-channel version of this machine from the 80's was the individual tracks were stacked like a sandwich on one side of cassette.
I got some “new” cassettes at a St. Vincent thrift store just last week. I pick ‘‘em up whenever I see them. Usually in packs of four or so and usually for just a couple of bucks. The ones I got last week are Maxell UD II CD 110. Packaging says they are great for CD recording with High Bias. I love how sharp/cool the packaging looks. It’s very aesthetic. The tapes are black but translucent with gold an white text.
You are just an evil genius. The samples you made here is WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Best thing about this one is it's IMPERFECTION. They are NOT identical, they are not 100% in tune, there is something OFF and this is BEAUTIFUL
I used to have the same machine, and it never felt sufficiently lo-fi to me to actually record with, and it was so much easier to record direct to Ableton for me. This sample library was a legitimately brilliant usage for the machine.
Awesome find, this reminds me of when I was a teenager browsing Gearspace forums (formerly Gear*****) and came across a thread where people would create collaborations on tape on track at a time. Someone would start with a basic idea and then send the tape off to another person to record the next track, whatever they felt like throwing on there, then repeat the process until the tape was at its limit. I couldn't afford a 4 track (even then the prices were out of control) but it was fun watching these ideas grow. It would be cool to see UA-cam bring this lofi game of telephone back
Those Tascam 4-Tracks were very high quality, some of the greatest demos ever recorded were done on them and some of them were even kept in the final mix of the studio versions.
Excellent. I still have my 424. I got it as a replacement for the Tascam porta one after the buttons broke. It was an excellent entry level machine. I still have un-opened tapes. Oh how times have changed.
I'd love to see/hear how you would record a whole song on this device (multiple instruments and multiple mics at once). I love seeing unique ways of recording and working within constraints of technology/what you have on hand. Killer video!
They are great the old tascam recording studios. I have a Tascam porta 07 that I got in the 90s as a birthday present from my mum. I should probably try to buy some new metal tapes for it in case they end up being impossible to find in the future.
Everything is very beautiful, the studio holder, the person who gave it as a gift, you who rescued it and the sounds you have created on that beautiful machine, which allowed many (myself included) to introduce ourselves to the world of audio recording and mixing and also in the music. With the same attitude you have in the video, pure experimentation. The door to that world was the Tascam 144 (4 tracks), where I was able to record a band of friends playing techno pop, darkwave, without having much idea how to do it, but with a lot of enthusiasm and intuition. Then the Tascam 424 and finally the Tascam 488 which for us was god level, with 8 tracks. I really liked your video. 😃👏👏❣ P.S. Apologies if there are errors in the writing, I wrote in Spanish using the google translator.
David, I'm in line with what everyone is saying. You're an absolute legend for giving so much to this community with everything that you do. And these videos always has me watching them with a big fat smile on my face. Thank you so much for making my day just that little better!
I think it's that idea of using these old recorders as instruments to make sound is why they've had a revolution. Before you wanted to get as clean a recording as possible but now that it's super easy to get that we are able to embrace the randomness of the analog stuff.
I cut my teeth on this exact model of PortaStudio. I eventually lost the power supply and at the time Tascam was asking nearly $100 for it and IIRC it was a very weird multi pin connector.
My dad passed away and I found almost this same piece of equipment (the tascam portastudio dp-01) in his closet as I’ve been cleaning things out. Finding it felt magical. For a while I’ve been trying to dip my toes into music making and soundscaping. I’ve been dying to get my hands on some kind of board with knobs and buttons to play around with and this seems like the perfect toy to add to my growing collection of audio gear. Although my toy is slightly different than this one, it gives great insight to what I can do with it. Thank you for sharing this, and thank you dad♥️🫶
can't believe I just found this video and channel! Excellent work, and I agree the portastudio is often more useful as a sound generator in today's context. ✌🤘
Ever since I discovered artists like Lorn, Alessandro Cortini, and the idea of Disintegration loops. . .I've always wanted a 4-track cassette recorder. Something about the instability, and lack of perfection is comforting.
Alessandro Cortini while touring with NIN for some tracks he recorded just a part of the synth sequence and moves just the pitch knob. When I heard that it felt like madness to me
A lot of careers were kickstarted by this humble unsung machine.. extremely handy for dishing out demos, overnight scratch tracks for commercials, before DAW was a thing .. the only thing it lacked was a Sync clock and MIDI.. now this is a new one, exploring the sampling source potential of this little giant..
I always finish these videos and immediately start tinkering with my music gear. You have such a unique and smart way of going about making music, so inspiring!
This really is a nice machine. My wife picked up this exact same unit while thrift shopping for $40. It didn't come with a power supply, but after doing some googling for the pinout I was able to build my own with a $10 transformer. I absolutely love how responsive and smooth the tape transport is. I love that it runs at 3.75 IPS, drastically reducing the chances of audible dropouts, and with DBX enabled there's basically NO tape hiss. After creating a few quadraphonic surround demo tapes and having some fun with it, I eventually decided to sell it on eBay. I got about $450. Kinda wish I still had it, but I'm sure it went to someone who will use it the way it was intended, rather than just a fancy reproducer.
I've only watched two or three of your videos so far but I've been loving your whole approach; the way you talk about how you acquire stuff, your editing, and your taste in music too.
I absolutely adored this video. It is now one of my favorites from your channel. You have the Portastudio 424 MKIII. I have the Mark II and I’ll forever be thankful for it. The songs I wrote and the demos I was able to record on it (learning all the while how to record on a 4-track) gave me the edge I needed to get signed as a songwriter with Universal Music Publishing in 2000. Thank you for creating this channel. Like somebody else said, it is a treasure.
New patron here. This sample library worked really well for me and the whole experience of using your website and plugin has been so much more delightful than I could’ve imagined especially from a free app Beautiful sounds so far. Thank you.
I love this so much!! How much love, care, and excitement that you put into sampling. Finding old gear and giving them a new purpose is the best feeling. Thank you for posting this. cheers!
this is amazing, I have just gotten into sample creation I am brand new trying to make sound track for my short movie and honestly this is utterly inspiring. Thank you for the video
What a blast from the past! I was using a Tascam Porta studio forever until I could finally save up enough to get one of these. I only recently came across your channel, but man, your videos are so well done.
That’s exactly what I use mine for (well, I have a 414 Tascam), as an instrument (mainly for tape looping) instead of its intended purpose. I was able to get mine at a flea market for $22. It needed a capacitor replaced and it’s bands replaced to make the motor run smoothly, but it works completely fine. It was one of my favorite finds. I hope y’all get just as lucky as me and he did on finding things like this.
I know 2 guys with this exact tascam 4-track. both got it either for free or dirt cheap. both work perfectly fine. so well indeed that i already borrowed them twice in order to produce a small batch of albums on tape for local artists. 2 of them in parallel, recording A+B sides at the same time, resulting in basically 4x realtime duplication speed. quality product EDIT: i am actually heading to meet one of those guys to record some dusty dub reagge drums with this thin onto tape right now.
There's just something about organic, anolog mechanics & engineering, hand's on understandable functionality, that makes everything sound and feel more enjoyable to produce, play, and listen to.
At the end when working with the microcosm and using the four track as an instrument it sounds so similar to the sound track of Skyrim, specifically awake. Great video, can't wait to see more!
Hey I have that exact model! It's so great to use for tape loops. David I would love to see your approach to using tape loops. Thanks for the excellent video btw.
The 424 mk3 is the model I bought back in the day. I love the pitch control knob, and have so many happy memories of making mix tapes plus on the unit. It's still somewhere in the garage, perhaps it's time to dust it off and see if it works.
A lovely instrument and your ingenuity just generates a real feel good factor for the channel. That was obviously a "late period" 4 track and a bit more polished. Grungier output with an earlier 144 no doubt, or my first - a Fostex X15 which had only Dolby B NR! Simpler times. Had a weird electronic glitch which meant recordings had an odd "ribbit" frog like noise randomly. Never did get that fixed! Cool that these old dogs that have had their day can still be used for creativity, just in a different way. Awesome.
Well, David, that is beautiful. Bravo. Always enjoy your videos, especially the narrative and background you walk us through. This sample pack is a highlight for sure. 👍🏻
i loved using these. currently i have the digital one with a hard drive on it. but with the cassette you can do all kinds of fun analog tricks. it uses the whole width of the tape for the 4 tracks so if you flip the cassette over, track four appears on track one. so if you want to add backwards reverb to a vocal, you flip the tape, bounce 4>1 and add reverb when you do it. so the voice fades in from a reverse echo of itself.
I really enjoy your channel, very well curated! I also love how clean and clinical your video style is, it’s beautiful. Lastly I have a full studio and the most fun I have is cleaning and manicuring old gear, with electronics, they look so good when they are super clean.
The first time I heard of these was in the music room at school. I was looking for a teacher on a break for some reason and I found said teacher with the music teacher in the music room. They were in the middle of recording something when I interrupted them and my mind was blown for several reasons: I had no idea said teacher knew how to play instruments, silly young me just assumed that teachers had no interests outside their subjects, and it looked so easy for them with this marvelous little machine. I had never seen music production like that for real before that, only on TV, and it always looked so serious, but these were just two grown ups having fun, jamming on a break at school. This was before computers were as versatile as they are today so even though it was a specialized piece of equipment it was by far one of the most affordable methods to record somewhat professionally. I asked if they only could record four instruments with four channels and my teacher explained that whatever they were up to was not really serious so quality wasn't top priority, so they could just re-record whatever they had done already into a single track and add 3 more if needed with some trickery, a concept I later used on a demo version of a DAW to unlock more channels for myself than the free version offered. Thanks for the video, what a trip down memory lane
Tascman cassette multi track recorders were so revolutionary and iconic for their time. I have the 4 track version of this and it’s the machine I recorded my first ever songs and creations on. I am one of those people hoarding cassettes. This machine is awesome and a young me dreamed CONSTANTLY, literally daily of having this exact 8-track machine because I was limited by 4 tracks. I would often record all 4 tracks then mix to a “pseudo master” cassette and then re-record that track back to the 4 track as a single track in order to get 3 more tracks. I would never imagine this thing would get used as shown in this video-it’s such a modern take and interpretation of vintage equipment. So interesting!
Brilliant! You've just made me smile cos I have one of these I bought new looking but second hand in the mid 90s. It cost me a lot of money as a teenager back then but was worth it as it worked very well for gigs I was doing as well as just experimenting. It's amazing how in so many ways although it's analogue it's still viable even now. You've got a lovely little desk there!
Maaaan. In my day this was the _big_ one. I loved my Portastudio 414 mk III (no... I don't have it anymore, moving cross country a couple times in a decade will do that to you), but when my buddy brought _this_ beast into the jamspace... it was a big deal. I do remember that 8 tracks on the 4 channels of tape was a concern, but it never actually ended up being a big deal.
This channel is an absolute treasure.
💯
Right! 👊🧡👍
Absolutely 😊
it is!
It’s like ice cream
I got a tascam 4 track in 1997. Lots of great times with friends and recorded probably 25-30 songs that I eventually transferred to digital and still have copies of today. What an amazing experience it was to write and record, alone and with friends.
I am not a musician. I do not play an instrument. 'Don't make music of any sort. 'Do not know how a video from David Hilowitz Music made it into my suggested videos feed one day a few weeks back. Do not know what led me to click the video. But I do know what led me to watch the video all the way through and what's kept me coming back to every video since:
David, you're a great story teller and, even if I'm not a musician, I can certainly recognize the creativity and imagination that goes into your work. Thanks for making these videos.
Well-put!! I AM a musician and also feel this way -- your thoughtful approach to this project is wonderful. :)
PS
I used to have the 8-track version -- loved it (though I did not use it the way David did here -- wish I had). I also paid like $1,000 for it and as a kid, it took me years to pay it off -- love how you got it for free!!
Careful you might get bit by the bug lol. This stuff is my life.
I feel exactly the same in every aspect. I love listening to music, but I'm not a musician, don't play an instrument. I do, however, like technology, physics, photography. And the technical approach in the first half of the video is usually fascinating, while the second half is beautiful music. I very much enjoy the videos - many thanks from me, too!
I swear every video on music there's always someone like you with this same exact comment. We get it. Ppl watch videos on things they don't do.
for the record, you don’t really need new tapes, used tapes are a lot cheaper and erasers aren’t expensive. almost always it’ll be exactly the same as new, and if on the off chance it isn’t, that might be cool in itself anyway
As always, blown away by your creativity and abilities for creating soundscapes and sound designs. Every sample, every video, every story, is as fascinating, intriguing, and captivating as the last.
I’m trying to control my envy, someone gave you something a lot a people dream of getting.
But I couldn’t think of a more deserving person, you already gave us so much with this channel. Thank you.
This couldn't have come at a better time!!! I can't believe it. A great friend of mine just recently gave me the exact tape recorder for free too and I'm a little lost so this was a big help! Thank you
I saved up and bought this very model in 1997 and I still own and cherish it. It's where the world first opened up to me musically and I realized I could write and record songs in my bedroom. I recently replaced the socket where the power supply plugs into. Had to crack it open and resolder the contacts to the pcb because it was loose and would always cut out during recording. Runs flawlessly to this day however the third channel is pretty quiet. I also never kept up with degaussing and keeping the rollers clean...dumb teenager when I got the thing but so glad it is still in my possession. I can't believe he just gave it away like that either, they are still fetching anywhere from $400-$800 I believe, but I will never sell mine.
David, I just want to say how comforting and soothing your content is. For real, it's like therapy. Not to mention just plain exciting sometimes. Thank you.
The dude with the sunglasses in the chair on the cassette getting blown away by the sound is Peter Murphy, the lead singer of Bauhaus! ❤
Thank you for posting this. I don't know how I didn't know it was Peter Murphy!
unfortunately this isn't true. Peter Murphy (dyed blonde) was only the Maxell "blown away guy" in the British TV commercial. The dark-haired man in the classic print ads and on all the cassette ephemera is makeup artist Jac Collelo.
To be serious, I love the hiss that a tape produces. It's really warm and welcoming.
I havw a cassette player and love to listen to it when I'm low
I started with 4 tracks in the 80s. They were and still are (as you've demonstrated here) liberating.
when you get something for cheap you feel really excited but when its for free you feel really happy
Man I sure hope you can make a living doing this stuff. You are the sort of creative ingenious that we need. You only see opportunity, no limitations. This particular patch is wild and blends 2 of your loves - violin and mag tape. Outstanding. I smiled almost the entire way through. Thanks for doing this.
This was my very first multitrack recorder! I remember buying the whole recording rig including an Alesis SR16 drum machine.. good memories
Multi tracker was always a favorite...how it syncs together I found was hearing the sound and not knowing what to expect was awsome experience...makes me want another now seeing your video..
So funny story. I've been working for the last 4 weeks on completing the restoration of my 1981 DeLorean. While I've been covered in dust and dirt and old car parts, I've gone through every video you have in your series. I finally just got the last piece re-installed while listening to this one. It feels fitting to be restoring something from the past while you bring the past to the present.
Keep up the amazing work. Your videos kept me sane while everything was broken apart!
I so highly value and appreciate your creativity!
Love the ambient music you got out of this!
As someone who is born in the year 2000 I find older technology more fascinating than newer ones and watching these videos shows what I missed when I wasn't born yet and it's amazing to see how technology worked back then as well.
Many, many bands recorded their first demo on a Tascam 4 tracks. Back then it was a technical miracle.
I used to own this model 4 track! I miss it so much, so many great memories.
this is so beautiful and i have always been a sucker for Tascam and Vostex 4trackers...it is so more in connection with working with true audio. So its great to watch you enjoying playing around with it. And what an amazing blessing to have received this gift.
Mine Vostex a 4tracker unfortunatly died some time ago so i up finding an new 4track tape recorder....got many tapes left to enjoy recording with.
Have a wonderful day ahead and enjoy your weekend. Kind healthy regards from out of Finland, Bastiaan Anthonie Baaij
PS: great videos you create!
I made my first mini-album on a lower grade Tascam 4 track recorder about 23yrs back. There was already some recorded speech on one of the tapes I used but it came through in reverse whilst I was recording. It sounded cool so I left it in.
Your work is a treasure. Finding at the interface of technology, creativity, search. Fell in love with this video and sample library.
I have the same one! It's definitely a fun thing to mess around with and can stimulate creativity through the limitations you have to work around.
This brings back memories! My recollection of the 4-channel version of this machine from the 80's was the individual tracks were stacked like a sandwich on one side of cassette.
6:08 has such an incredible 80's sci-fi vibe. This is incredibly cool stuff
This was the first thing I used for song writing when I was in Highschool. 1998! Cool to see it featured somewhere. ❤
I got some “new” cassettes at a St. Vincent thrift store just last week. I pick ‘‘em up whenever I see them. Usually in packs of four or so and usually for just a couple of bucks. The ones I got last week are Maxell UD II CD 110. Packaging says they are great for CD recording with High Bias. I love how sharp/cool the packaging looks. It’s very aesthetic. The tapes are black but translucent with gold an white text.
I thoroughly enjoyed this man!
Hallo, can someone tell me what instruments are used in the background sound this part, please. 🙏 0:34
Absolutely amazing!
You are just an evil genius. The samples you made here is WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.
Best thing about this one is it's IMPERFECTION. They are NOT identical, they are not 100% in tune, there is something OFF and this is BEAUTIFUL
I used to have the same machine, and it never felt sufficiently lo-fi to me to actually record with, and it was so much easier to record direct to Ableton for me. This sample library was a legitimately brilliant usage for the machine.
Dude you are awesome. These videos are very comfy and really sparks a interest for me to get some tape equipment.
Awesome find, this reminds me of when I was a teenager browsing Gearspace forums (formerly Gear*****) and came across a thread where people would create collaborations on tape on track at a time. Someone would start with a basic idea and then send the tape off to another person to record the next track, whatever they felt like throwing on there, then repeat the process until the tape was at its limit. I couldn't afford a 4 track (even then the prices were out of control) but it was fun watching these ideas grow. It would be cool to see UA-cam bring this lofi game of telephone back
Those Tascam 4-Tracks were very high quality, some of the greatest demos ever recorded were done on them and some of them were even kept in the final mix of the studio versions.
Excellent.
I still have my 424. I got it as a replacement for the Tascam porta one after the buttons broke. It was an excellent entry level machine. I still have un-opened tapes.
Oh how times have changed.
All I can say is "WOW". its sounds beautiful!!!!
I'd love to see/hear how you would record a whole song on this device (multiple instruments and multiple mics at once). I love seeing unique ways of recording and working within constraints of technology/what you have on hand. Killer video!
I got one in the '90s and recorded tons of music. It's the best buy I ever made. The restriction of 4 tracks realy pushed my creativity!
They are great the old tascam recording studios. I have a Tascam porta 07 that I got in the 90s as a birthday present from my mum. I should probably try to buy some new metal tapes for it in case they end up being impossible to find in the future.
Everything is very beautiful, the studio holder, the person who gave it as a gift, you who rescued it and the sounds you have created on that beautiful machine, which allowed many (myself included) to introduce ourselves to the world of audio recording and mixing and also in the music.
With the same attitude you have in the video, pure experimentation.
The door to that world was the Tascam 144 (4 tracks), where I was able to record a band of friends playing techno pop, darkwave, without having much idea how to do it, but with a lot of enthusiasm and intuition. Then the Tascam 424 and finally the Tascam 488 which for us was god level, with 8 tracks. I really liked your video.
😃👏👏❣
P.S. Apologies if there are errors in the writing, I wrote in Spanish using the google translator.
David, I'm in line with what everyone is saying. You're an absolute legend for giving so much to this community with everything that you do. And these videos always has me watching them with a big fat smile on my face. Thank you so much for making my day just that little better!
I think it's that idea of using these old recorders as instruments to make sound is why they've had a revolution. Before you wanted to get as clean a recording as possible but now that it's super easy to get that we are able to embrace the randomness of the analog stuff.
I cut my teeth on this exact model of PortaStudio. I eventually lost the power supply and at the time Tascam was asking nearly $100 for it and IIRC it was a very weird multi pin connector.
My dad passed away and I found almost this same piece of equipment (the tascam portastudio dp-01) in his closet as I’ve been cleaning things out. Finding it felt magical. For a while I’ve been trying to dip my toes into music making and soundscaping. I’ve been dying to get my hands on some kind of board with knobs and buttons to play around with and this seems like the perfect toy to add to my growing collection of audio gear. Although my toy is slightly different than this one, it gives great insight to what I can do with it. Thank you for sharing this, and thank you dad♥️🫶
NICE!!! The Portastudio is a gem. The mic pres actually sound pretty good!
can't believe I just found this video and channel! Excellent work, and I agree the portastudio is often more useful as a sound generator in today's context. ✌🤘
Ever since I discovered artists like Lorn, Alessandro Cortini, and the idea of Disintegration loops. . .I've always wanted a 4-track cassette recorder. Something about the instability, and lack of perfection is comforting.
Alessandro Cortini while touring with NIN for some tracks he recorded just a part of the synth sequence and moves just the pitch knob.
When I heard that it felt like madness to me
A lot of careers were kickstarted by this humble unsung machine.. extremely handy for dishing out demos, overnight scratch tracks for commercials, before DAW was a thing .. the only thing it lacked was a Sync clock and MIDI.. now this is a new one, exploring the sampling source potential of this little giant..
Beautiful David!
Terrific! I love getting creative with my cassettes. Nostalgic and warm… look forward to hearing more.
I always finish these videos and immediately start tinkering with my music gear. You have such a unique and smart way of going about making music, so inspiring!
This really is a nice machine. My wife picked up this exact same unit while thrift shopping for $40. It didn't come with a power supply, but after doing some googling for the pinout I was able to build my own with a $10 transformer. I absolutely love how responsive and smooth the tape transport is. I love that it runs at 3.75 IPS, drastically reducing the chances of audible dropouts, and with DBX enabled there's basically NO tape hiss.
After creating a few quadraphonic surround demo tapes and having some fun with it, I eventually decided to sell it on eBay. I got about $450. Kinda wish I still had it, but I'm sure it went to someone who will use it the way it was intended, rather than just a fancy reproducer.
I've only watched two or three of your videos so far but I've been loving your whole approach; the way you talk about how you acquire stuff, your editing, and your taste in music too.
I absolutely adored this video. It is now one of my favorites from your channel. You have the Portastudio 424 MKIII. I have the Mark II and I’ll forever be thankful for it. The songs I wrote and the demos I was able to record on it (learning all the while how to record on a 4-track) gave me the edge I needed to get signed as a songwriter with Universal Music Publishing in 2000. Thank you for creating this channel. Like somebody else said, it is a treasure.
New patron here. This sample library worked really well for me and the whole experience of using your website and plugin has been so much more delightful than I could’ve imagined especially from a free app
Beautiful sounds so far. Thank you.
You have no idea just how much I have learned from your genius. Many thanks my friend.
This video is so well done! Really engaging & beautiful- thank you!
You pulled a 10cc "I'm not in Love" with your mixer. It sounds incredible.
I love this so much!! How much love, care, and excitement that you put into sampling. Finding old gear and giving them a new purpose is the best feeling. Thank you for posting this. cheers!
Wow I was really amazed how clean that sounded! I've got the same Panasonic handheld recorder you showed and boy-oh-boy does it sound lo-fi!
Really musical, really smart. Thank you, David
Wow. Your sample pack sounds incredible!
A singer songwriter I use to love called flatsound used these nicer Tascam tape decks to record his music, the quality is impeccable.
this is amazing, I have just gotten into sample creation I am brand new trying to make sound track for my short movie and honestly this is utterly inspiring. Thank you for the video
What a blast from the past! I was using a Tascam Porta studio forever until I could finally save up enough to get one of these.
I only recently came across your channel, but man, your videos are so well done.
I have wanted one of these for year, but I always felt I shouldn't pay the online eBay prices for them.
That’s exactly what I use mine for (well, I have a 414 Tascam), as an instrument (mainly for tape looping) instead of its intended purpose. I was able to get mine at a flea market for $22. It needed a capacitor replaced and it’s bands replaced to make the motor run smoothly, but it works completely fine. It was one of my favorite finds. I hope y’all get just as lucky as me and he did on finding things like this.
Dang David this might be the best violin pack I’ve ever heard
Super dope David! Would love a video explaining how you create your own vst's!
Every video is a nice break from life, and a great sound every time!
Great story and library. The fidelity of that maxwell cassette is incredible... equal or superior to digital.
for shure a good thing is that one does not gets distracted by waveshapes in display and can concentrate of how it sounds
I know 2 guys with this exact tascam 4-track. both got it either for free or dirt cheap. both work perfectly fine.
so well indeed that i already borrowed them twice in order to produce a small batch of albums on tape for local artists. 2 of them in parallel, recording A+B sides at the same time, resulting in basically 4x realtime duplication speed.
quality product
EDIT: i am actually heading to meet one of those guys to record some dusty dub reagge drums with this thin onto tape right now.
There's just something about organic, anolog mechanics & engineering, hand's on understandable functionality, that makes everything sound and feel more enjoyable to produce, play, and listen to.
Sounds fantastic, David! Thanks for sharing them!
I totaly love your videos David. :)
We need more guys with wagons full of free 4-track recorders.
At the end when working with the microcosm and using the four track as an instrument it sounds so similar to the sound track of Skyrim, specifically awake. Great video, can't wait to see more!
That is beautiful man!!! Amazing job!
Hey I have that exact model! It's so great to use for tape loops. David I would love to see your approach to using tape loops. Thanks for the excellent video btw.
The 424 mk3 is the model I bought back in the day. I love the pitch control knob, and have so many happy memories of making mix tapes plus on the unit. It's still somewhere in the garage, perhaps it's time to dust it off and see if it works.
Most inspiring music channel on youtube. Period.
I really admire your work, thanks for sharing everything you do :)
Wonderful. I also really like that Tape Violins photo with the violin inside the cassette.
A lovely instrument and your ingenuity just generates a real feel good factor for the channel.
That was obviously a "late period" 4 track and a bit more polished. Grungier output with an earlier 144 no doubt, or my first - a Fostex X15 which had only Dolby B NR! Simpler times. Had a weird electronic glitch which meant recordings had an odd "ribbit" frog like noise randomly. Never did get that fixed! Cool that these old dogs that have had their day can still be used for creativity, just in a different way. Awesome.
Well, David, that is beautiful. Bravo. Always enjoy your videos, especially the narrative and background you walk us through. This sample pack is a highlight for sure. 👍🏻
i loved using these. currently i have the digital one with a hard drive on it. but with the cassette you can do all kinds of fun analog tricks. it uses the whole width of the tape for the 4 tracks so if you flip the cassette over, track four appears on track one. so if you want to add backwards reverb to a vocal, you flip the tape, bounce 4>1 and add reverb when you do it. so the voice fades in from a reverse echo of itself.
I had this exakt model. The Best 4 trakk ever. I miss it so bad. Absolute simplicity. Beautiful perfekt for death/blakk metal albums and demos
I really enjoy your channel, very well curated! I also love how clean and clinical your video style is, it’s beautiful. Lastly I have a full studio and the most fun I have is cleaning and manicuring old gear, with electronics, they look so good when they are super clean.
The first time I heard of these was in the music room at school. I was looking for a teacher on a break for some reason and I found said teacher with the music teacher in the music room. They were in the middle of recording something when I interrupted them and my mind was blown for several reasons: I had no idea said teacher knew how to play instruments, silly young me just assumed that teachers had no interests outside their subjects, and it looked so easy for them with this marvelous little machine.
I had never seen music production like that for real before that, only on TV, and it always looked so serious, but these were just two grown ups having fun, jamming on a break at school. This was before computers were as versatile as they are today so even though it was a specialized piece of equipment it was by far one of the most affordable methods to record somewhat professionally.
I asked if they only could record four instruments with four channels and my teacher explained that whatever they were up to was not really serious so quality wasn't top priority, so they could just re-record whatever they had done already into a single track and add 3 more if needed with some trickery, a concept I later used on a demo version of a DAW to unlock more channels for myself than the free version offered.
Thanks for the video, what a trip down memory lane
Tascman cassette multi track recorders were so revolutionary and iconic for their time. I have the 4 track version of this and it’s the machine I recorded my first ever songs and creations on. I am one of those people hoarding cassettes.
This machine is awesome and a young me dreamed CONSTANTLY, literally daily of having this exact 8-track machine because I was limited by 4 tracks. I would often record all 4 tracks then mix to a “pseudo master” cassette and then re-record that track back to the 4 track as a single track in order to get 3 more tracks.
I would never imagine this thing would get used as shown in this video-it’s such a modern take and interpretation of vintage equipment. So interesting!
Brilliant! You've just made me smile cos I have one of these I bought new looking but second hand in the mid 90s. It cost me a lot of money as a teenager back then but was worth it as it worked very well for gigs I was doing as well as just experimenting. It's amazing how in so many ways although it's analogue it's still viable even now. You've got a lovely little desk there!
Thank for sharing this experience, and thank you for unpacking a tape for us! If I can't do it, it's good to see someone else do it.
Maaaan. In my day this was the _big_ one. I loved my Portastudio 414 mk III (no... I don't have it anymore, moving cross country a couple times in a decade will do that to you), but when my buddy brought _this_ beast into the jamspace... it was a big deal.
I do remember that 8 tracks on the 4 channels of tape was a concern, but it never actually ended up being a big deal.
Hainbach and Alessandro Cortini heavily influenced my new love for the Tascam 4-track. I have a 414mkii and it’s so good, especially with pedals
I have been binging your channel for a week it’s really good