You did it! You may have finally written a song. You may have been staring at your piece of equipment wondering, "What are all of these knobs?" In this article, you will learn a basic understanding of how these knobs work and how they will reflect the sound of your music. I say "basic", because the four-track only allows basic adjustments of levels. From the basic adjustments, you can go further depending on what format you want to transfer the tape to--tape to tape or to digital?
Instructions
Getting Started
1. So you decided to use a four-track. The simplicity is beautiful, but at times, the quality seems compromised. This is a true and false statement. It doesn't really make too much of a difference if you're using an analog or digital four-track, for the same principals apply. Someone with 7,000 dollar equipment can make a recording sound bad, if she doesn't know a thing about equalizing controls. This is usually called a mix down. To get started you'll need to make a few decisions. No matter what your recording is for--a demo, a family member or your own personal enjoyment--you want the best quality you can get out of your 4-track. Do you want to put your finished master mix on CD or a tape? Do you want to rewind and fast forward through tracks, or would you like to skip through with ease? There exist debates about analog vs. digital. Some will never give up analog quality and claim it to be real or some call it more artsy. But the fact is, our technology is advancing, and their exist few manufactures out there who put out tapes. Soon it may be obsolete. Another thing to consider is your grandmother may still have a tape player sitting around, but how about all of the other people you want to share your music with? There are other benefits for going digital vs. tape; an important one is, digital will make post-production much easier with less headache. It allows you to visually see the sound waves and what they're doing. Either way, I will provide the basic guidelines for each. You may be wondering, "why do I need a format to transfer it to?" The 4-track recorder records the tracks. After you have done this, you need to create a mix of the tracks, controlling the levels on each track. To do this, there exists several techniques; however, not one is better than the other; just different roads to take to reach the same destination.
2. Because this is four-track recording, I am only going to explain a standard four-track. If you notice, there are generally two rows of knobs, vertically aligned, as well as two sliding tabs, although sometimes more depending on the model. We'll go with the two-channel for an easy understanding of what these controls do. If you take a look at your 4-track, you will see there is Output, Input 1, and Input 2. Basically, the input is for you to control the level of recording. The Input controls exist for, controlling the recording levels. There are numbers next to the sliding tabs. They're are probably two input channels on a standard 4-track. Input one will control the instrument or mic plugged into input one in the back. Input 2 slider will obviously control whatever is plugged into input 2. The numbers may read:+5 0 -5 -10.These are used to know if you're too loud or to soft. You want to stay around or right before the 0, right before it turns Red. There is a light to indicated if your input is hot. It will turn red if it is hot. It should maintain a green light. Adjusting the Input levels will just get your tracks recorded without being too low or too loud. It will not be mixed yet. If you listen to the play back, you'll know what I mean.
3. For equalizing your master track, you will utilize the output controls. This is used for when you take your sounds from the 4-track and place them on a final copy. This can be tape or a digital format such as CD or mp3. These different formats serve different purposes; however, you'll still need to know what the output controls do. As you can see by the Image, there are 4 tracks listed. There are 2 knobs for each track. There is a Level knob and there is a Pan knob for each individual track. On some 4 tracks, there are highs, mediums and lows: the high for a higher pitch, low for low pitch and medium for a medium pitch. Most vocal tracks are in the medium range, while some drums may be a low range. This just takes playing with to suit the sound you desire. There are no rules, although there is a lot of information about sound theory and frequencies. I provided a link to explain these in depth. With a set of headphones you can listen to your tracks, adjusting these knobs accordingly. There is not one setting or number to adjust it to. It depends on the instrument and the level it was recorded at. You never want to record a track too quiet; you may find when outputting, trying to turn the level up, it may cause unwanted noise or hums in the final mix. The level knob is for adjusting the level of sound being outputted to what ever device you are outputting it too. The pan knobs are for placing the sound to either the left side or to right side. You can get creative with it. Basically, you'll have to listen to your tracks adjusting them accordingly, until everything sounds good together. There does exist high-tech equipment where you can get technical with different frequencies; however, the 4-track is a simplistic route to take. It's great if you're just starting out. It's a great introduction to learning the fundamentals of recording. Just because you mix it on the 4 track doesn't make the mix final. So be sure to keep track of the levels you set on a piece of paper or something. It won't be final until you transfer it to a permanent copy, such as a digital or analog format.
Transfering Your Mix and Advanced Adjuments
4. Because a four-track is simple, it can only take you so far. Adjusting a few levels, to sound right will only sound so good. You can't really make water into wine (no matter what people claim). And after you adjust the levels, you will need to transfer those sounds with the levels; for the levels will not stay like this. So you have to transfer the mix to something. You'll need to find a format to output to that suits you best. If you decide to go digital, you can make a CD with ease, as well as mp3 format. We all know the benefits of mp3 today. Especially when trying to reach listeners at a faster rate than ever. So I will start with digital format. To be able to upload your songs from the 4-track to a digital format , you'll need some audio editing software. This can be expensive at times, but you can find basic software out there for inexpensive as well. You can also download a trial and decide if you want to go that route at all.
5. Outputting from your 4-track to a digital format has many advantages, as well as additional level control. With digital, you can also eliminate excess noise that may occur during recording as well as rendering to several formats: MP3, CDA, WAV, and the list goes on. There exist a few methods of getting your tracks off to a digital format. If you notice on the back of your 4-track there are Inputs and an outputs. The output is the "Line Out." The is an "R" and and "L," which specifies left and right. You'll need the 3.5mm to dual RCA audio cable for the digital output. I found this to be the easiest method, for I used this for quite some time before investing in better equipment.
6. The image shows a DUAL RCA to 3.5mm audio cable. The red goes to to the right (R) Channel and the white goes to the left (L) channel. After plugging the RCA side into the Line out you'll need to run the 3.5mm side to the computer. The way I did this, you may have a line-in on your computer; if not, you can run it through the MIC input. After that it's all software configuration.Somewhere within your software there are preferences or options. Within those preferences or options you will find an "Input" option (e.g., line, MIC, or an advanced sound card such as m-audio if installed). Depending on where you plugged it into on your computer, you will choose the appropriate selection. From there, the layout looks intimidating at first; however, the same principals apply. You can find brief tutorials out there that explain the basics to the advanced features of these programs. With this method, you can play each track individually to a new assigned track to the digital format and enhance the sound with effects. You can play one track at a time, with all of the other track levels muted, and focus on the one track. Otherwise you can use the mix you did, by adjusting with the levels on board the 4-track and upload it to one track on the digital format. Another approach I discovered was leaving the - track plugged into the computer, and using it as a sort of a mixer. I ran my inputs through the 4 track and outputted it to the computer and just pressed record within the computer program, then adjusting equalization through the program. I didn't have to record onto tape at all.
7. To output from your tape to a tape deck is very similar to the digital method. For this process, you'll need a DUAL RCA Audio cable (male to male). These have the red and white ends on both ends. With this method, it's fairly simplistic. You will use your mix you prepared with the on-board equalizer on the 4-track. You will run your RCA cable from the line out into an input on a stereo receiver , The red going plugged into the right (R) and the white plugged into the the left (L). You will run this into an input on the back of a receiver. Different models contain different inputs. Usually "IN" will work fine. From there, after adjusting your levels on the 4-track, just play the 4-track and hit record on the tape deck. There are other level control methods utilizing the equalizer on the stereo for more advance level control.
Tags: digital format, plugged into, into input, your 4-track, your tracks