Soundcloud - / user-458572598 This is a quick basic recording tutorial for the Tascam 388. Make sure to like and subscribe. Just getting the channel off the ground. Lots more cool stuff coming.
Awesome vid Bro ! The Tascam 388 was king of the analog tape 8 tracks back in the day...Still is with that sweet tape compression saturation...wish I own one !!
I grew up with a dad that owned the 244 portastudio and the 388. He wrote and recorded HUNDREDS of songs on them and I started sharing them on my RU-vid Channel as well! Check them out we have more coming 🤟 Anyways I still have the Tascams and they both still work to this day. Got some new belts coming in for the 244 as of right now. Thanks for these videos for its nice to brush up on the workings of these fantastic gems
love the old vintage Tascam gear. Would've loved a 388 with on-board 7" open reel 1/4" tape .. big-n-heavy but. I've gotta Tascam 246 Portastudio, their best cassette multitrack machine. I had it serviced a while ago, sourced the matching electret condenser mics. Also found then had serviced a Tascam 122 three-head cassette recorder .. makes pro recordings .. that could b the stereo mastering machine from the Portastudio's 4-trk. Lookin' 4ward to more of ur Tascam vids.
I knew a guy back in the 90's who for a weekend/weeknight side gig recorded local punk bands on a 388 for $20 an hour plus tape cost. Can't remember any of the band names, but he got a lot of work for several years.
Awesome! I love "legacy" gear (because well... I am old enough to be considered legacy). Just picked up a Tascam DM24 board and using with DAW (ADAT attached). Would love to hear comments/analysis on that config. Thanks for this video, well done sir!
I had a Tascam MS16 and a Tascam 320B console (same series) for about a decade. Loved making records on that thing. I still have a 308 mixer that i'm about to recap just to keep for the pre and EQ. That papery midrange is great for guitars and synths.
Alex I also absolutely love your little Diddy at the end of the video. HEAVY indie rock goooooodness. I’m pretty sure you’re my brother from another mother. New fan…. Get to work…..
You definitely need to get a patch bay. That would improve your work flow massively. I got a console so I can reduce the DAW to just a digital tape deck. I wish I could use a real one, but I'd need a 24 track, and that gets into a whole other world. For someone with a band, where you can lay down multiple folks at a time on a single or stereo pair, this would be more than enough. Record the band to stereo laying down a base track, use the other six for overdubs. I mean Sgt Peppers was recording on FOUR track.
True, would be a great setup for something like that. Didn’t the Beatles bounce tracks from one four track to another, Technically creating an 8 track?
Hey thanks for posting this. I've been looking at the 388 for years. Had a tascam 424 mkii growing up and even tho it's not as large sounding as the 388 Ive always missed the sound that tape brings. Also sidenote, where can I find that track of yours "let me out"? - very cool man.
I would like to find one of these..if they are still available!. I have the TASCAM model 12, but the level meters, so much better than the LEDs. To say as little as possible about the tape.❤
Alex love your channel! Can I ask what studio furniture/table you have your tascam 388 sitting on? Have been looking for the right piece but everything I’ve seen either can’t handle the weight or is way too bulky
Thanks! Yeah it’s a keyboard stand I bought from Amazon. It works amazing. It’s like it was built for the 388. I did modify it a bit. If you get one message me and I’ll send you a few pics of it. Very easy. Works perfect. Quiklok Keyboard Stand (Z/726) a.co/d/75MkJnr
If you guys are interested in checking out the full track "LET ME OUT!" that's at the end of this video here are the links to Apple Music. Spotify. SoundCloud. music.apple.com/us/album/expect-delays-single/1681142361 open.spotify.com/album/4ov4tkJoN0cyuKv8Vdr5DF?si=izek_l00SriVBYlgaSRc0Q soundcloud.com/user-458572598
I haven’t used one of the modern ones. They look great though! I would imagine they would give you great sound and super easy daw integration. You just can’t beat watching that tape turn. Plus it sounds amazing. I normally use outboard pres anyways on my Tascam. I have a Neve and api 500 series’s. Maybe someone else here can chime in that has used both machines.
Have you ever tried to record into the 388 from a laptop computer? If I go from my laptop into my presonus Firefox then into the 388 I get a terrible white noise, If I go out of the laptop by itself and use the headphones out on the laptop I don't get the white noise but get feedback instead. If you have done this with any success can you tell me what I may be doing wrong? THANKS
Depends on your gear. If you have a drum machine with multiple outs then you can run each out to the 388’s inputs and record all at once. You can record 8 tracks at one time. Just plug something into each input on the 388 and arm all the tracks to record and your off. 🤘
Using s DI into the board pre amps is a nice sound for all at stuff you have. I had all that same stuff,but the LINN drum machine. But try the other way. Those pres are cheap but they're add nice harmonics to synthsmsnd drumringos.
Hahaha!!! Ummmm can we be friends!!!??!! I have a 388 and that’s how I found your page but who cares about all that crap. Your man cave looks like heaven. Beautiful vintage gear everywhere to play with and when your brain needs more fun pick out an amazing pinball machine to drive you bananas. I’m babbling sorry. Rad setup man.
Of course we can be friends! I have a 388 you have a 388. Let’s hangout. Yeah dude I def like collecting vintage gear and pins. I actually just got a new pinball machine. Ghostbusters. You got to check that one out. Maybe I’ll make a video on my pinball collection. Could be cool. Thanks again for the kind words and comments.
You know, there is such a thing as "bad analog." 8 track 1/4" machines? Not great. I started on those. Couldn't wait to go digital and have real fidelity and top end. Probably only relevant for deliberately lo-fi productions that want the added hassle of tape. Analog is such a snob thing now.
100%, I went through the same thing... had numerous tape machines that sounded too bad to be useful, finally I got a Fostex 8 track reel to reel that sounded good... and guess what good means... it means it sounds CLOSE TO WHAT DIGITAL SOUNDS LIKE! There's no advantage -- there's no magical tape saturation. So I was happy with my Fostex recordings for a couple of months before I listened to more modern reference tracks and realized something is missing... the LOW END. Analog tape CANNOT reproduce low end like digital; which at first I thought was an asset.. digital makes it hard to tame the low end and make it punch... tape cleans the low end up... it cleans it up because most of it just DISAPPEARS!
