My friends and I have a "record label" for which we are planning to make a "studio." It'll just be a sort of 8 track set up in a bedroom, mainly for recording rock type stuff, with minimal overdubs, mostly live recording . We have a couple of vocal mics, one instrumental mic and a shitty Tascam digital 8 track that only has two inputs. We'd like to get an better eight track that records onto cassette, because any faith we once had in lo-fi digital recording has been shattered. We'd also like to get some relatively decent mics.

Our budget barely exceeds two hundred dollars, so we need to find cheap stuff. We're not interested in clean quality so much as the ability to get "big" sounding drums and a decent balance between low/mid/high. We'd also like to be able to record loud music, so it'd be nice to have something that doesn't max out easily.

We aren't well versed in the ways of recording, and plan to learn trial and error style.

I figured I'd ask you kind people for advice on the subject of cheap, decent recording equipment, if such a thing exists.

You know, the power of prayer should not be underestimated.

200 dollars is beyond 'cheap and decent' when it comes to a budget.

it's more like, 'what can i find at the garage sale?'

you'll have a tough time finding a good quality 4-track cassette recorder for too much less than this. maybe a tascam mkIII. if you want an 8-track analog machine, it's out of your budget, but as an example, here's a 1/4-inch one. Remember, you'd have to buy tape for it every time you record.

if you want a mega cheapo 8-track setup, you probably have to go digital. otherwise, be prepared to spend. sorry, dude.

'maxing out' is a matter of the gain levels you set, proximity of mics to loud instruments, volume of instruments, etc, not an inherent characteristic of the equipment.

upon further thought, here's my advice for spending your hard-earned $200:

1. Get a four-track that's in good shape. (~$100)
2. Get a small mixing console with buss outputs, like this one (~$100 if you're lucky. soundcraft 'spirit' mixers are good to start)
3. scrape together another hundred bucks and buy some cables and mic stands.
4. get a free subscription to tapeop.
5. get an introductory book on recording methods, and/or read this forum about mic placement, how to mic drums with 3 mics, etc. etc.
6. set up your 4-track studio, record stuff, and make mistake after mistake after mistake until you get better at it.

good luck.

Thanks kindly for the advice.

Let us assume that people start buying stuff from our catalouge, or some hundred dollar bills turn up around the house or something. What's relatively cheap, lo-fi but, as I said before "decent," and would treat us right for years to come?

We'll get a hold of some tape op, as well.

So far my mainstay 4-track cassette set-up is:

pair of Audio Technica 3032 Omni Condenser Mics
set to either L/R room (for larger bands) or Guitar / Bass (for the 3-piece)

I use a cheap presonus Bluetube mic pre for the condensers phantom power... but will soon just get a battery powered phantom power supply. As I don't really need the added gain of the Bluetube... or the added noise and crap-factor.

Beyerdynamic M160 Cardioid dynamic ribbon mic (as drum overhead or front-of-kit)

record live to 3 tracks on a Tascam 414 MkII.

Track vocals later on track 4 using various mics that flatter singers voice... often this is a ATM-4033 or an old hi-Z Sony.

I sometimes compress the stereo mix with the FMR RNC. Sometimes I use a DBX 118.

sounds great!

i don't know what you mean by 'lo-fi and decent.' at your prices, it's all lo-fi. that's not a sought-after characteristic of equipment, to my knowledge. you want lo-fi and cheap? buy a walkman with a mic input.

so you know, tape in cassettes is 1/8 inch. 2 tracks on each side gives you 1/16 inch for each track. that's the same amount of space allotted per track on a 1/4-inch reel-to-reel 8-track, so that would give you comparable fidelity but more tracks. also, running at faster speeds gives better fidelity. the tascam MkII and MkIII have variable speed. so, decide how much fidelity you want, how many tracks, etc, and try to find something that suits your needs.

i've pretty much gone digital, but i'd still use my tascam mkII if it weren't broken.

eventually, if you want to stay analog, you might want to upgrade to, like, a 1/2-inch 4-track reel-to-reel or something. I dunno.

the mixing board should last you a few years until you outgrow it. look for something with 4 busses and phantom power, that should hold you for awhile. then you can put your extra money into better microphones, eventually upgrading your recording medium, etc.

learn about the stuff.

TheMilford wrote:So far my mainstay 4-track cassette set-up is:

pair of Audio Technica 3032 Omni Condenser Mics
set to either L/R room (for larger bands) or Guitar / Bass (for the 3-piece)

I use a cheap presonus Bluetube mic pre for the condensers phantom power... but will soon just get a battery powered phantom power supply. As I don't really need the added gain of the Bluetube... or the added noise and crap-factor.

Beyerdynamic M160 Cardioid dynamic ribbon mic (as drum overhead or front-of-kit)

record live to 3 tracks on a Tascam 414 MkII.

Track vocals later on track 4 using various mics that flatter singers voice... often this is a ATM-4033 or an old hi-Z Sony.

I sometimes compress the stereo mix with the FMR RNC. Sometimes I use a DBX 118.

sounds great!

ha! a thousand worth of gear going into an eighty dollar 4-track? nice.

i've always been curious what barlow uses for his 'lo fi' recordings... whether they use really nice mics and pres and just keep the format as the sole fidelity-limiting link in the chain.

My 2-cents:

Fuck the cassette, and comb thrift stores and the like for a 4-track reel-to-reel. I bought an old Sony BlahBlah-80, for 40 bucks, and after some cleaning and calibrating managed to make fairly cool recordings with it. Really cheaply. Mix the room stereo to two tracks, put the kick on the third, and overdub vocals/whatever on the 4rth. A reel-to-reel at 15 IPS will sound miles better than a cassette. I have a decent recording interface, and some of those old 4-trk reels sound a lot better than the crap I'm doing now. Plus, the practice of bussing a stereo recording of a complete band live is great practice for running live sound...

rayj wrote:My 2-cents:

Fuck the cassette, and comb thrift stores and the like for a 4-track reel-to-reel. I bought an old Sony BlahBlah-80, for 40 bucks, and after some cleaning and calibrating managed to make fairly cool recordings with it. Really cheaply. Mix the room stereo to two tracks, put the kick on the third, and overdub vocals/whatever on the 4rth. A reel-to-reel at 15 IPS will sound miles better than a cassette. I have a decent recording interface, and some of those old 4-trk reels sound a lot better than the crap I'm doing now. Plus, the practice of bussing a stereo recording of a complete band live is great practice for running live sound...

How available/inexpensive are the reels?