Cakewalk Tascam M2516 mixer Tascam TSR-8
Pro Audio 9 8 track recorder
Once I had the backing tracks programmed on the SY99, I’d set them up to play in sync with a time code track on the Tascam TSR-8 tape deck through the studio mixer and a midi synchronizer. Then I was free to start adding the live tracks to the mix and to work on fine tuning the song. By not actually recording the midi sounds onto tape, I had more tape tracks for audio recordings.
At one point I started using Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 on my Windows computer to do some of the recording onto my hard drive, but even though it worked, I was never completely comfortable or happy with the way that system worked or the results I got. It wasn’t until I bought my first Mac System, an Apple PowerMac G4, that I modified with a 1.2G upgrade processpr, that I had any real success using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to record music.
I’ve since replaced all the old analog systems as well as the PowerMac with an Apple 20” iMac using Apple’s Logic Express 8, Garage Band, and Steinberg’s Cubase SE-3, for music creation and recording. Now the making, mixing and mastering of my songs are all done in the Mac which saves time and trouble and results in a much better master.
Music Skills Section
I still play guitar, but not as good as I once did, and along the way I also learned to play the bass, drums, and keys. I was never what you’d call a virtuoso on any of those instruments but I could play them well enough to get a fairly decent recording for a song demo. I've also been known to play the harmonica as an act of desperation. (couldn't find anyone else to do it)
I also sing and do my own harmonies, as well as write all my own lyrics and music and do my own arranging and production.
That way there’s nobody else to blame but me if the songs come out terrible. In this case, if it’s terrible, it really is my fault.
But that’s the only time you’ll ever here me say that !
Life in the studio
I've had a home recording studio of some kind or another since 1987. I used it as a small for hire project studio in the early 1990’s until I finally quit to concentrate on writing and producing my own songs and music demos.
In the old days I’d program midi tracks on my Yamaha SY99 Synth/Sequencer for the drums and bass parts along with some of the other instrumentation I used to build songs. This made it a lot easier and more efficient for working on songs in the mixing process. When all you have is 8 tracks on tape to work with you have to figure out ways to get it done while conserving tape tracks for the live recording parts of the song like vocals , harmonies, guitars and such as that.
