Update (tascam 1800)

So I recently purchased a Tascam 1800, “What’s that?” I hear you say. The Tascam 1800 is a 16 channel midi interface that uses USB 2.0 to record straight into whatever program you work with. For me its Adobe Audition CS6. The benefit of this kind of interface is the ability to produce split track recordings. Which in drumming terms is a god send.

 The comparison

I will use my old set-up as my comparison . I used to use my beringer 2442fx mixing desk to record straight into Audition. While this serves the purpose of been able to record and listen back to the drums there wasn’t a lot I could do in terms of processing the music I recorded. The main reason for this is how the 2442 records to any program you decide to work with. It is only capable of passing through a single stereo track. Meaning that everything has to be mixed down before been sent to the computer. This in itself poses a problem because what you may hear in the monitor is not nessaseraly how the computer will interpret the sound. Also typically any musician will vary there playing from the sound check to the time when you will actually start recording. Not to mention slight variations in the way they play each subsequent recording, Be it a louder kick or quieter ghost notes on the snare. Because of this you’re not always garneted to get that perfect mix your after.

The main issue here now being that we are stuck with a stereo track with all the drum voices (different parts of the drum i.e. Tom or Snare) on it. Meaning whatever we do to this single track now affects all of the recording. So if we add reverb to the snare, the whole track now has reverb not just on the snare. If we add some noise gates the whole piece gets gated. As I’m sure you can tell not ideal at all. Don’t get me wrong the 2442 has served me well and will still be used for its main purpose of mixing live gigs. But for recording demos I needed something with a little more to give.

So the Tascam 1800 (t1800 for short) will allow me to record each individually mic’d drum voice at the same time but will split them into individual tracks on my recording session. This allows me to be able to edit or adjust each individual voice depending on what I’m after from the piece. If i need the base to be more boomy I can EQ the mic to allow this. Also if I think my over heads could do with a little reverb I can add this in without muddying the snare. This obviously are just the basic things this enables you to do. There is so much more that I don’t have time to go into now. But I’m sure you can see the befits of having a midi interface at your disposal.

 Now which is better. The answer is neither is better than the other. They both are great pieces of equipment and both are meant to serve different purposes. I did how ever learn the hard way that the 2442fx wasn’t really capable of the things I was looking for it to do (split track recordings) its recording feature however is excellent for recording a live gig. So you can go back over your songs allowing you to notice and listen to anything that didn’t really pay off in your performance.

 Below is a quick recording I did to try out my new interface. If anyone has any questions regarding anything i have spoke about. Or would like any advice on what type of kit would suit them best please contact me. I have also placed the original files of my recording on sound cloud for you to have a mess around with or maybe use for any of your own projects. If you do use anything I play please let me know and shear it so I can have a listen to what you have created with them.

 *if anyone is in need of a filling or beat recording for sampling please let me know and I’d be happy to help.*