Hi everyone, this is my first post... i am young so please be easy on me haha

anyway i got really inspired by big black and steve albini thanks to my big brother that introduced me to them. i am planning to get a 4 track and hoping to make my own music.

i looked around the net and found out that steve recorded the lungs ep just by using a 4 track but what i want to know is how did he add effects to the vocals and the drum machine? like dead billy and stuff.

does anyone know what 4 track steve used?

thank you,
kev

legend has it that it belonged to a college kid down the hall and was borrowed for a weekend on a trade of a case of beer.

a lot of the cheap 4 tracks out now have effects and whatnot built in, or just run the mic or machine through an effects unit.

get to work, young man.

that damned fly wrote:legend has it that it belonged to a college kid down the hall and was borrowed for a weekend on a trade of a case of beer.

...and he used my old fender fretless jazz bass.

Kev11 wrote:i looked around the net and found out that steve recorded the lungs ep just by using a 4 track but what i want to know is how did he add effects to the vocals and the drum machine? like dead billy and stuff.

Use the aux sends. Tascams generally have two aux sends so you can run whichever channels you want to either or both effects. The aux sends are mono and the returns, labeled "5/6" and "7/8", are stereo, so your effects will have to have single-jack stereo outputs. Most effect pedals don't offer this, so you'll have to look at your owner's manual for the pedal first. Mono and stereo outputs vary on rack gear, so that's another trip to the owner's manual. Using the aux sends, hit play on the four track and record on the stereo you're mixing down to.
Once you get more familiar with the four track, you can also start bouncing by running one channel out through the aux send to the effect and then over to an empty or unused channel and record completely on the four track.
There are a number of ways to go about it.

Kev11 wrote:does anyone know what 4 track steve used?

That's a question for Steve himself, but it really is more about your skill level than it is about the equipment.

You're talking about a record that was made on a consumer piece of equipment that was new 25+ years ago, right? What are the odds that you'll find a used machine in as good shape now as that was then?

The answer is - about impossible.

Skip that thing and get a newer 4 track. There are still new cassette 4 tracks for sale about as cheap as they've ever been. Get a new one, learn how to record with it and start saving up for a better setup.

And - really - if you only read one book about how to record music, make sure it's this one: The New Stereo Soundbook. It may seem really expensive. But if you spend time with it and work to understand every page, you will have an unfairly developed sense of the theory of recording. This will help you avoid mistakes and be impervious to marketing bullshit. Nearly, anyway.

Good luck,

= Justin

Justin from Queens wrote:[awesome advice.]

nice.

salut.

listen to the man.

it's not really important what machine he used and what brand of tape, it could be one or other, it makes few differences.
Then even if you know what machine is you are just going to limit yourself because you have to look for THAT machine and find one in good shape. This last point is really important.

Look for Teac or tascam, the TEAC A-3340S for example are good and versatile machines, they run both at 7,5 and 15 ips, they have both line in and mic in, which can be used simultaneosly, so you can record two sources on one track.
Also Tascam 44, 34
Teac A-2340, 40-4

If you decide 4 track is your format and you make overdubs make sure the sync function will be available otherwise you will not be able to record in synchronisation while reproducing tracks previously recorded, the machines above got it.

Hey everyone thanks for all the great advice.

The thing is one of my friends has a tascam MF-P01 portastudio 4-track and it doesn't have any reverb or effects what so ever. I would like a 4-track with reverb and effects but I don't want anything digital or new. I know that steve is anti digital so I guess that is why i wanted to know the 4-track he used for the Lungs e.p.

Could you please recommend me good 4-tracks or even 8-tracks that could be used professionally?


Thank you,
Kev

Kev11 wrote:Hey everyone thanks for all the great advice.

The thing is one of my friends has a tascam MF-P01 portastudio 4-track and it doesn't have any reverb or effects what so ever.

Charlie D wrote:Use the aux sends.

There's your answer. You can use whatever you want for the reverb in the aux send. If your reverb is mono, you can always pan the dry signal hard one way and the reverb hard the other way for a stereo spread.

Of course you can always print your tracks wet, too. Risky but doable.