some people have asked me to make the videos longer. I always edit them down cause I'm worried they will get boring! if I could get a clearer idea of what a longer video would entail, I could do that. thanks for watching.
Love the old gear! We found an old Yamaha pm 430 about a year ago for $200 on craigslist. Now we record almost everything through those preamps. It’s my favorite piece of gear I didn’t know I wanted. One of these days I’ll learn more about electronics so I can mess around with other old pieces of gear. ✌🏻
Thanks for the Tascam 38 love. My TASCAM 38 recently died. I loved that machine! It sounded incredible. I was able to record several albums on it back in the day, and they still sound fantastic! I'm starting to post them on my channel.
@@Tallstreehouse I have a video coming out soon where I walk through it a little bit. There's not much to it. You just tighten it. Makes it hard to get the tuning right cause there can be a fart sound.
@@travisraab I can imagine. Probably happens if the cloth isn't tight enough, right? Same thing happens if the gaffer's tape--what I typically use to mute--isn't flush with the heads. Even a mm of loose tape causes a racket...
I've done a lot of work on my tascam 38 and can vouch for how stressful it can be! def learnt a lot while doing it but teac/tascam sure were good at making maintenance a CHORE on their gear... in order to access part A you need to disassemble parts B thru X first, every time. always love your vids on this old stuff, cheers!
yeah it was a nightmare. i shot hours of footage which i also lost. but the bright side is that i didnt have to edit it or relive it lol. thanks for watching and merry xmas!
Nice video and music. One question, what is the signal path to the Tascam 38 recorder? For example, on the drums, if there are 4 microphones, do the microphones go to the mixer and the mixer outputs go to the input of the Tascam recorder? or do they go straight to the tascam?
Nice! Thanks! You do the great job! Love to watch your videos. Is about the simplicity how you record and process. Yes, the gear looks to someone a bit complicated, but this is not the ton of daw processes, lots of tracks and aux's = is about how you use your space, your console/ recorded possibilities and how you play on your instruments. 10/10 top!
With the three heads can’t you essentially record through the tape machine, rather than recording to it and then having to rewind and play the tracks back to record into the daw?
yeah there was hundreds of them. I didn't want to spend any more time on it so I passed it to a tech who did it all, went through it top to tale, calibrated it etc. He also confirmed the work I did was good, and gave me peace of mind. So I guess in one sense it was worth it. I plan to go into all this on a video but honestly just ready to sell it
@@travisraab Yeah I had Bob Shuster do the same thing to my 58. Once I knew to reflow all the the joints I just did that myself when I got the 48 and the 42s. Also the relays go eventually, at least in the 40 and 50 series. Also why sell it? You did the annoying part, enjoy the fruits of your labor!
@@travisraab wow man the flip flop is strong! Then again, I have hoard of way too much so I should start purging too, but I always feel like if I sell a tape deck I'll never get another one thats in good condition. BTW, I'll give you 20 bucks for the 388 and the 1073 if that's good with you 😏
I love my 38 and have had it for years now. I used to try and limit the essentials to the 8 tracks and then if needed add some tracks in the DAW. I also love slamming a track that was recorded digitally to two of the 38s tracks. Did you have any trouble calibrating what tape brand you were using to the machine? I have a problem that keeps rearing its head where the takeup reel will scrap against the machine. Very annoying during playback listens. I've tried different takeup reels, problems still there.
Thanks! You can grab them (unchopped), along with other 388 samples (chopped) here: Tascam Sample pack members.travisraab.com/offers/gt8hcema Tape Recording Tactics members.travisraab.com/offers/Kvr7C5SZ
its like an old car from hell. can't let it sit. hard to get parts. makes noise. covered in grease. carbon monoxide comes out of the tailpipe and it has 450 ponies.
@@travisraabI sold it on Reverb and UPS damaged it delivering. Broke my heart. Reverb covered it though. I always get the extra insurance. I don’t think it was damaged to the point it wasn’t functional but there are so few of these that are working. It was a fun experiment but at the end of the day, I just want to record not fiddle around with old tech. I even recorded a song using the 38 and my DAW and couldn’t really tell the difference in tone. My ears just aren’t tuned enough for that. I had a 388 too which I really wanted to keep but it wasn’t working and I didn’t have the time to mess with it.
Ive had a few of these. I love the look and everything but they tend to get problems, especially in the brakes, if you daily drive it and do long sessions overdubbing etc. Maybe others out there had much better luck and never had these problems. I found my 38s to be awesome but every time the brakes went SHWAK i knew they were dying bit by bit. I had 388 as well. Very cool looking. Pretty noisy. It too broke over time. Something in the power supply went bad. I still love these reel to reels though, and its unfortunate mine shat out so fast from such mild use.
The brakes in my 3440 snapped on the right reel, but I was able to fix it with a bit of tape, super glue, and dumb luck. I should probably replace it but I'm terrified to mess up the alignment of the take up reel...
I record with Logic and I also have a 424 mark II. I think it would be more fun to record on tape and have more than 4 tracks to record and mix. Any thoughts? Should I keep doing the track and transfer method? I also run into tape speed challenges with things not lining up. I welcome your suggestions!
@@samfowles4276 I'll sell it at the average for a just serviced 38 on reverb in good condition. 388 is for sale too but price is really high for 388s. Support@travisraab.com
The music you record on Cassette sounds so much better than anyone else I have heard, is it really just cassette? When I listen to Cassette playlists on spotify they all sound absolutely dreadful! This always turns me off getting a cassette recorder but your stuff sounds great. Do you have any playlist on spotify?
@@travisraab Hey, thanks - And agreed 🤪Actually thought it was an S5ii. These panasonics somehow have a certain warmth and less digital harshness to them.
@@travisraab Just because it is a fad does not make it "good". What is the point of using expensive audio equipment that is designed to have a low noise floor only then to add it back into the mix? 🤨 Now don't get it twisted bud
NEVE 1073 worth $2k? --> th-cam.com/video/vAubwgakqQI/w-d-xo.html
This is beautiful, the instrumentation, the vocals , the video editing. Pure talent. 🧙♂️💫
Thanks for listening
Loving these vids! Been following you for a while. I wish the videos were longer!! More explaining, more knob-turning, more nerding!
some people have asked me to make the videos longer. I always edit them down cause I'm worried they will get boring! if I could get a clearer idea of what a longer video would entail, I could do that. thanks for watching.
Love the old gear! We found an old Yamaha pm 430 about a year ago for $200 on craigslist. Now we record almost everything through those preamps. It’s my favorite piece of gear I didn’t know I wanted. One of these days I’ll learn more about electronics so I can mess around with other old pieces of gear. ✌🏻
My buddy has one I am pretty sure it's the same. He modded it with direct outs. Congrats!
Great track. Tasty playing.
thanks!
I love your videos Travis, and I feel surprisingly refreshed after that.
awesome! thanks
Thanks for the Tascam 38 love. My TASCAM 38 recently died. I loved that machine! It sounded incredible. I was able to record several albums on it back in the day, and they still sound fantastic! I'm starting to post them on my channel.
Love the track you put together in this video!! Would love to see some Teac 5 series content!!
this is so good, tape sounds heavenly!
Really digging this stuff! Very inspirational!! Love that bass too!
thanks!
Great recording sounds amazing.. keep uploading more videos
cool song. i like the way you muffled the toms. has a cool 70's vibe. Merry Christmas.
thanks Jeff that was the idea! merry xmas
Yeah I've never seen cloth under a drum head, that's a cool trick. Maybe I'll give it a shot 🤔
@@Tallstreehouse I have a video coming out soon where I walk through it a little bit. There's not much to it. You just tighten it. Makes it hard to get the tuning right cause there can be a fart sound.
@@travisraab I can imagine. Probably happens if the cloth isn't tight enough, right? Same thing happens if the gaffer's tape--what I typically use to mute--isn't flush with the heads. Even a mm of loose tape causes a racket...
New subscriber here…just because you are very funny…and the music sounds so good
Thanks for subbing!
Sounds incredible dude!
Thanks Ian good to hear from you
dream machine. dope tune as well! merry xmas
thanks merry xmas!
I've done a lot of work on my tascam 38 and can vouch for how stressful it can be! def learnt a lot while doing it but teac/tascam sure were good at making maintenance a CHORE on their gear... in order to access part A you need to disassemble parts B thru X first, every time. always love your vids on this old stuff, cheers!
yeah it was a nightmare. i shot hours of footage which i also lost. but the bright side is that i didnt have to edit it or relive it lol. thanks for watching and merry xmas!
@@travisraab merry Christmas Travis!
Nice video and music.
One question, what is the signal path to the Tascam 38 recorder? For example, on the drums, if there are 4 microphones, do the microphones go to the mixer and the mixer outputs go to the input of the Tascam recorder? or do they go straight to the tascam?
no there is a mixer in between. it has preamps that basically push up the level of the microphone signal.
@@travisraab Ok interesting, so you connect directly to the tape recorder just as you would in a modern 8 channel interface? :)
@@dylanmcqueen4656 basically yeah
Nice! Thanks! You do the great job! Love to watch your videos. Is about the simplicity how you record and process. Yes, the gear looks to someone a bit complicated, but this is not the ton of daw processes, lots of tracks and aux's = is about how you use your space, your console/ recorded possibilities and how you play on your instruments. 10/10 top!
good points. Thank you, my friend!
Merry christmas 🎄
merry xmas!
You're a really good muso :)
With the three heads can’t you essentially record through the tape machine, rather than recording to it and then having to rewind and play the tracks back to record into the daw?
mm I don't think that's going to sync up without smpte code
So how did you fix the dead channels? Was it cracked solder joints?
yeah there was hundreds of them. I didn't want to spend any more time on it so I passed it to a tech who did it all, went through it top to tale, calibrated it etc. He also confirmed the work I did was good, and gave me peace of mind. So I guess in one sense it was worth it. I plan to go into all this on a video but honestly just ready to sell it
@@travisraab Yeah I had Bob Shuster do the same thing to my 58. Once I knew to reflow all the the joints I just did that myself when I got the 48 and the 42s. Also the relays go eventually, at least in the 40 and 50 series.
Also why sell it? You did the annoying part, enjoy the fruits of your labor!
pretty much everything is for sale. it doesn't help my creativity. im in a purge mode! can't help my impulsiveness
@@travisraab wow man the flip flop is strong! Then again, I have hoard of way too much so I should start purging too, but I always feel like if I sell a tape deck I'll never get another one thats in good condition.
BTW, I'll give you 20 bucks for the 388 and the 1073 if that's good with you 😏
Great stuff👍
Great video! I have a question, how do you mix the sound after recording with the tape machine?
I generally just do a stereo dump and then master using Izotope. but you could dump individual tracks if you have an interface with 8 ins
Nice to look at your video's,impressive.
Good video
thanks!
Cool to finally see the 38! Did you find the extra fidelity worth the hassle & cost of 1/2” reels?
the low end is tighter. the motor also seems a little more on the money
Merry Christmas TRG. Great video as always. My 38 is still down.
Thanks Matt, merry Xmas!
I love my 38 and have had it for years now. I used to try and limit the essentials to the 8 tracks and then if needed add some tracks in the DAW. I also love slamming a track that was recorded digitally to two of the 38s tracks. Did you have any trouble calibrating what tape brand you were using to the machine? I have a problem that keeps rearing its head where the takeup reel will scrap against the machine. Very annoying during playback listens. I've tried different takeup reels, problems still there.
The tape did that when I first put it on. The first two times. It's not squeeking right now. I should try using it to dump down stereo mix!
@@travisraab it's a nice cool squeezed effect! Did the problem just resolve itself? Or did you do something specific?
that track made me sell my stocks. you are a great player.
🙏
I love this channel
🙏
guitar sounds nice man
thanks
Wait….did you put cloth/bandana/thing under the drumskin ?
yes. in two weeks I have a video which shows how I did it.
I like the content of your channel! Really nice to see vintage gear! Any plans to release the drums or samples as a pack?
Thanks! You can grab them (unchopped), along with other 388 samples (chopped) here:
Tascam Sample pack
members.travisraab.com/offers/gt8hcema
Tape Recording Tactics
members.travisraab.com/offers/Kvr7C5SZ
Nice. Was wondering when we’d see the 38 in action.
its like an old car from hell. can't let it sit. hard to get parts. makes noise. covered in grease. carbon monoxide comes out of the tailpipe and it has 450 ponies.
what happened to yours? im ready sell this one lol
@@travisraab that’s a good comparison. I had an old Case garden tractor that I was always tinkering with. Ended up getting a new Tractor. 😜
@@travisraabI sold it on Reverb and UPS damaged it delivering. Broke my heart. Reverb covered it though. I always get the extra insurance. I don’t think it was damaged to the point it wasn’t functional but there are so few of these that are working. It was a fun experiment but at the end of the day, I just want to record not fiddle around with old tech. I even recorded a song using the 38 and my DAW and couldn’t really tell the difference in tone. My ears just aren’t tuned enough for that. I had a 388 too which I really wanted to keep but it wasn’t working and I didn’t have the time to mess with it.
@@rocknreplay yeah it's a weird unhealthy obsession lol you are wise
been waiting on this one !
merry xmas!
that barn vibe!!!
200%
Love the content. Thanks
Thanks for watching!
2:05 i had the same noise on my akai 4000ds. could be the switches, could be the tape having a bad spot...
how do you mean bad spot?
@@travisraabi mean, ofc i don't know if you bought new tape... if it's been used a lot, some gaps and noises like these may occur
@@joaoantoniovione484 it's a brand new tape.
Very cool 😎
Ive had a few of these. I love the look and everything but they tend to get problems, especially in the brakes, if you daily drive it and do long sessions overdubbing etc. Maybe others out there had much better luck and never had these problems. I found my 38s to be awesome but every time the brakes went SHWAK i knew they were dying bit by bit.
I had 388 as well. Very cool looking. Pretty noisy. It too broke over time. Something in the power supply went bad.
I still love these reel to reels though, and its unfortunate mine shat out so fast from such mild use.
yeah the breaks take a long time to kick in I was worried being so close to the beginning of the tape. happy holidays
The brakes in my 3440 snapped on the right reel, but I was able to fix it with a bit of tape, super glue, and dumb luck. I should probably replace it but I'm terrified to mess up the alignment of the take up reel...
@@Tallstreehouse never a dull moment
sounds amazing.!!!!!
I record with Logic and I also have a 424 mark II. I think it would be more fun to record on tape and have more than 4 tracks to record and mix. Any thoughts? Should I keep doing the track and transfer method? I also run into tape speed challenges with things not lining up.
I welcome your suggestions!
That method that isn't a viable option for me. You could buy an 8 track machine. This 38 is for sale
How much are you selling the 38 for? Why are you sticking with the 388and not the 38?
Thanks Travis.
@@samfowles4276 I'll sell it at the average for a just serviced 38 on reverb in good condition. 388 is for sale too but price is really high for 388s. Support@travisraab.com
I am about to buy one of these.I would like to use it to store two quadrahonic tracks .One in fordward ,one in reverse or other side
bad ass
You sir, must be a nocturnal creature. I wish I could get by on 2 or 3 hours of sleep a day. I need around 10 hours. Bummer.
The music you record on Cassette sounds so much better than anyone else I have heard, is it really just cassette? When I listen to Cassette playlists on spotify they all sound absolutely dreadful! This always turns me off getting a cassette recorder but your stuff sounds great. Do you have any playlist on spotify?
thanks! I explain how to do it here: tinyurl.com/3u7nysmp
I still have my Boss BR-12 digital portastudio. Still don’t know how to program drums
that thing ... just looking at it pisses me off
Alright, this is on something completely different - But which camera / lens are you using? Cheers!
finally! some notices my true secret talent which is so hard to detect. film making. haha. its an s5 with the stock lens and a lut lolz
@@travisraab Hey, thanks - And agreed 🤪Actually thought it was an S5ii. These panasonics somehow have a certain warmth and less digital harshness to them.
I wish. I figured out how to make the focus on this bearable but the workflow is not as confident is it is with the sony style or s5ii style@@Kombi-1
@@travisraab Right, that's where phase detect AF comes in handy. Focus doesn't look bad at all in your videos though - So good job!
damn...this track is hot!!!
thank you!
🔥
whooo
Merry Christmas 🎄
And we… 💤 😴 … your bank account.. 😴 💤 💤
Happy holidays!
never record direct to tape you can use the tape monitor out to convert any track in the daw and keep everything in sync.
ok i'll make sure to do that
part of the sound comes from recording to the tape itself, but you still get some coloration just running it through machine
money is being wired right now
😂
this is awesome but drums sounded better dry gotta say!
I'll keep them dry in the future
This is like the bigger brother to my portastudio( He's small but he also sounds terrible.)
yeah the 388 is Kinda like a massive portastudio
My bank says I tried to transfer my life savings to you, but they cancelled it out of suspicion.
we will look into this
Background vocals were great. Performance, harmony, all that. Now I expect ‘em in every video. You screwed up. This on you. Merry chrimuss dude
thanks dawg merry xmas!
what happened to my border collie?
lolll
The background hiss tho 😣
the background hiss sounds good don't get it twisted. they literally add that to mixes now adays
@@travisraab Just because it is a fad does not make it "good". What is the point of using expensive audio equipment that is designed to have a low noise floor only then to add it back into the mix? 🤨 Now don't get it twisted bud
baaaaaaarp.
exactly