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Would it be a total waste of time to buy a cheep out of the box bass enhancer (the ones that are intended to make sound systems bump more) and bounce out tracks like a kick or bassline or just whatever, through the bass enhancer on to tape then put it back into the box. Would this be a huge waste of time to try out considering you have tools like eq and subbass plugins in the box?

Just thought it would be a cool thing to try, maybe it would give a cool effect but I'm skeptical, I have a feeling it would just be a complete waste of time/money and probably just sound like shit..

hahah what do you guys think? (keeping in mind this isn't necessarily for dubstep production or club oriented music but more just experimental music in general)

always good to experiment!

I would also like to open up this thread to discussion of tools/stuff not intended for studio use being used as studio tools to manipulate sounds and tracks and such. I'm interested in weird gear and methods of making tunes/messing around with audio, if anyone wants to share anything of that nature that they have done or have heard about go for it.

I just got a little dbx 117 compressor/expander that was intended to make your old tapes and records jump out and sound better. I plan on running drum tracks through it and whatever else I find sounds good with this compressor. I'm excited to try it out.

Its quite an interesting idea I think. Might be worth a crack to see how it sounds. Why not find a rubbish free party rig whos got one and borrow theirs (there is bound to be someone with one somewhere near you.
I would have a look at what it actually does before buying one though, to see whether you could just replicate it in the box. But I suppose it depends on how much disposable income you have really.

Yeah my friend from college was telling me that a guy he knows runs all his drums onto analogue tape and then runs it back into his DAW, wonder what kinda sound you can get outta that.

fuzz_2k wrote:always good to experiment!

I plan on getting really weird with recording/electronic music in the near future.

EDN wrote:Its quite an interesting idea I think. Might be worth a crack to see how it sounds. Why not find a rubbish free party rig whos got one and borrow theirs (there is bound to be someone with one somewhere near you.
I would have a look at what it actually does before buying one though, to see whether you could just replicate it in the box. But I suppose it depends on how much disposable income you have really.

Yeah, I do have some spare change but I try not to blow it on stuff that might prove to be completely useless. I am tempted to try it, the enhancer I'm looking at is pretty cheap at the moment, but I think I might pass.

EDN wrote:Yeah my friend from college was telling me that a guy he knows runs all his drums onto analogue tape and then runs it back into his DAW, wonder what kinda sound you can get outta that.

Recently I have been itching to do stuff like this. I keep getting really inspired from this mix http://mondayjazz.com/MJ076 by Lapti, I don't know how he made these tunes but the mix is blended perfectly in my opinion, everything fits to place so well the vibe is on a different level than anything else I have heard. Listening to it just makes me feel like my music has absolutely no soul. Not saying doing stuff like bouncing multiple tracks out to tape would get me anywhere but when I listen to this mix I just want to start making tunes in a completely different way than I have been. I think Lapti's old stuff is brilliant.

EDN wrote:Yeah my friend from college was telling me that a guy he knows runs all his drums onto analogue tape and then runs it back into his DAW, wonder what kinda sound you can get outta that.

it sounds fucking sick mate. if you record it hot (i.e. clipping) it properly saturates the sound in a really nice way - makes it seem more 'round' and full. works really nice on bass too.

yeah ive been meaning to use more unusual techniques and trying to get out of the box a bit recently. things like sending sounds out of guitar amps and micing them up (you can get some wicked feedback effects doing this too), sending sound out of a PA and setting up mics for a real reverb, that kinda thing.

Yes Glen, if you wanna get some sick experimental recording shiznay, give me a shout and i'll come up to watford town. (This is Eden, John's mate btw.)
We've got loads of old DAT recorders at college that I might try and buy off them to get some of that kinda shit on the go.

Yes Glen, if you wanna get some sick experimental recording shiznay, give me a shout and i'll come up to watford town. (This is Eden, John's mate btw.)
We've got loads of old DAT recorders at college that I might try and buy off them to get some of that kinda shit on the go.

EDN wrote:Yes Glen, if you wanna get some sick experimental recording shiznay, give me a shout and i'll come up to watford town. (This is Eden, John's mate btw.)
We've got loads of old DAT recorders at college that I might try and buy off them to get some of that kinda shit on the go.

ahh safe man! yeah always up for some late night sessions in the studio man. pm me your number dude.

Go for it man, it's this sort of thing that I'm trying to incorporate more and more into my productions.

You can get some cool results doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwjO1c8TfhE

i do it all the time.

Wrigzilla wrote:Go for it man, it's this sort of thing that I'm trying to incorporate more and more into my productions.

You can get some cool results doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwjO1c8TfhE

Read somewhere that they sampled the pressure hose of a dude cleaning their windows and used it in a tune...

freakah wrote:

Wrigzilla wrote:Go for it man, it's this sort of thing that I'm trying to incorporate more and more into my productions.

You can get some cool results doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwjO1c8TfhE

Read somewhere that they sampled the pressure hose of a dude cleaning their windows and used it in a tune...

Maybe man, I thought that youtube video was a joke until my uni lecturer looked me in the eye and said it wasn't; then a couple of weeks later we actually did that in a workshop and got some nice results.

Was that the DOA Q & A you're thinking about? Cos I remember reading in that that they couldn't work cos there were workmen doing something and so they sampled that.

Sharmaji wrote:i do it all the time.

Great thread!

I acquired an MCM phono preamp that I use to fatten up all kinds of synth sounds on the way into the mixer. It's about the size of a guitar pedal, great little unit.


http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/M ... 30-/40-630

Speaking of guitar pedals, the Dub Board at http://www.interruptor.ch/Php5/dubboard/index.php talks a lot about ways to use general purpose guitar pedals as outboard FX units.

I worked at a studio and they recorded bass tracks out of the mixer to old amps and broken effects, into a mic, back into the board. adding color etc. There are way easier ways of achieving what you might be looking for, unless of course you're looking for the unexpected. The only thing I'd be careful of is inaudible frequencies. One of the ways bass enhancers/processors work is by making up frequencies below 20hz with the intent of it being sent to a subwoofer. If that stuff somehow ends up back on your tape, you'll end up with a lot of bass you'll lose before you mix down, and possibly a bit more. But really, who knows what it will sound like.

As far as bouncing to tape, I was convinced at one point thats what I wanted to do, thinking studios use magnetic tape. I remember reading alot of production forums at the time, and apparently the range on cassette tapes makes it only lose sound and add noise. Which may be what you want to do.

I think the best bet with that type of stuff, is to just do it, but save the original track and mix/eq the two tracks together to try and get the best out of it.

Wrigzilla wrote:

freakah wrote:

Wrigzilla wrote:Go for it man, it's this sort of thing that I'm trying to incorporate more and more into my productions.

You can get some cool results doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwjO1c8TfhE

Read somewhere that they sampled the pressure hose of a dude cleaning their windows and used it in a tune...

Maybe man, I thought that youtube video was a joke until my uni lecturer looked me in the eye and said it wasn't; then a couple of weeks later we actually did that in a workshop and got some nice results.

Was that the DOA Q & A you're thinking about? Cos I remember reading in that that they couldn't work cos there were workmen doing something and so they sampled that.

Yeah thinkin bout that probably, can't remember