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Back in the previous century I used three VCRs as a multitrack audio recorder, I kept spending more money on synths instead getting a proper multitrack and mixe

Back in the previous century I used three VCRs as a multitrack audio recorder, I kept spending more money on synths instead getting a proper multitrack and mixer. It started out as a 6 track setup but mixdown was troublesome to say the least so I switched to a 4 track setup with bounce down. Two VCRs were recorded on and their outputs ran to a tuner which had two record ins that could be used at the same time and each even had a volume and balance control. So I would start my cheap electronic metronome, hit record on the first, hit record on the second on 16, start playing on 32. Then stick one of those tapes in the third VCR for play along and two blanks in the others, hit play and record 4 more tracks, repeat. Eventually bounce/mix them down in what could be a very long process since after the first go I could only add two tracks to the mix but the whole setup gave me a fair amount of room to play and infinite tracks as long as you did not mind the cumulative noise of all those tracks, which I did not. The other thing which I always failed to buy was a sequencer or midi to CV interface, synths and effects were just so much more fun than recording gear. Since I could not effectively play 4 tracks worth of synth and twiddle the knobs by myself I would make control tracks on the computer, ~15khz sine wave whose level I would control for the desired pitch/effect, stick a rudimentary envelope follower on the computers output and I now had sequencing for my synths. I would make 4 of these tracks, two would be dumped onto a cassette tape which gave me 4 tracks of sequencing and essentially 4 extra hands. The envelope followers each had an LED since I could not hear the click track on them and needed a way to sync them still. It was not great sound, snr was poor with all the bouncing down, nothing was ever quite in sync (but at least I did not have to deal with midi jitter and lag with thru's!), the tapes all wore differently and it was labor intensive but it was fun and the end result certainly had a rather characteristic sound.

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
Wow, you used non-Hi-Fi VCRs? I used a VHS Hi-Fi unit as an audio recorder, and also to bounce tracks from a POS Tascam four-track. Before DAT, Hi-Fi VCRs were by far the best audio recorder you could buy for home use. The only problem (which I pretty much never heard talked about) was a "purring" noise that would accompany high-frequency sounds. I suspect this was caused by switching between the audio heads on the spinning head drum.
- ofalkaed 3y ago
  They were most likely hi-fi (weren't all the non-hifi ones coax?) but it would not have mattered if I had used a 2" Studer, bouncing down is not a good way to maintain quality, especially how I was doing it. Most of my gear was from the 60s and 70s and probably not in the best repair, even if perfect such gear would generally have noticeable noise and I generally used this gear during the bouncing down as well to apply filtering and the like. So 2 track and 2 track to 4 mixed tracks, then 4 mixed tracks and 2 tracks to 6 tracks, then those 6 and another two recording over the 4 track mix, repeat for as many tracks as were recorded. All that noise is getting copied over and over and adding to the total noise floor and those tapes being reused over and over meant wear on the tape since the vast majority of VCRs like the majority of consumer tape based gear had shit transports.
  - ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
    If there was surface noise it probably wasn't Hi-Fi. Hi-Fi recorded the audio as FM on the tape alongside the video signal, if I remember correctly. I was overdubbing with my setup and discovered that the shitty Tascam four-track had speed variations all through the song, on every take. I had to memorize where they occurred and ride the pitch control while copying to the VHS. It took days, and by the time I had an acceptable mix the original tape was wearing out. I kept a VHS first-gen copy I think. When computer audio became a thing I of course digitized all the original tracks and gleefully made a perfect mix. Maybe someday I'll do a surround one. Kids today will never know what it's like to try to edit on consumer audio equipment! I remember memorizing how long it took the pause control to release on my tape decks, to make seamless edits.
    - ofalkaed 3y ago
      >Hi-Fi recorded the audio as FM on the tape alongside the video signal, if I remember correctly. So they broke the format when HiFi came out, tapes recorded on a HiFi VCR could not be played on a pre-HiFi one? Something like that may have happened but if it did it happened back during the early days of the format. From what I remember HiFi just meant it had RCA outs which bypassed the internal RF modulator that was used to modulate the signal to channel 3 or 4 standards so you could watch it on your old fashioned TV. In the early days if you recorded something off of broadcast TV it would be demodulated by the VCR, recorded and later when you watched it it was remodulated back out to the TV which would than demodulate it again, this was not a perfect process, as cable TV grew in popularity demand came about for getting rid of the now useless RF modulation which only served to degrade the signal. I could be misremembering and I was not exactly following this stuff closely back than, I was a bit on the young side but I can not ever recall their being two standards for VHS.
jdalgetty 3y ago
Got any links to your music?
- ofalkaed 3y ago
  Don't currently have anything (that I know of) on the web but my current project will get posted here when it is ready, it has aspects which should be of interest to enough people here to make it worth posting. The VCR recordings are most likely lost to time.

ShadowBanThis01 3y ago

Wow, you used non-Hi-Fi VCRs? I used a VHS Hi-Fi unit as an audio recorder, and also to bounce tracks from a POS Tascam four-track. Before DAT, Hi-Fi VCRs were by far the best audio recorder you could buy for home use. The only problem (which I pretty much never heard talked about) was a "purring" noise that would accompany high-frequency sounds. I suspect this was caused by switching between the audio heads on the spinning head drum.

ofalkaed 3y ago
They were most likely hi-fi (weren't all the non-hifi ones coax?) but it would not have mattered if I had used a 2" Studer, bouncing down is not a good way to maintain quality, especially how I was doing it. Most of my gear was from the 60s and 70s and probably not in the best repair, even if perfect such gear would generally have noticeable noise and I generally used this gear during the bouncing down as well to apply filtering and the like. So 2 track and 2 track to 4 mixed tracks, then 4 mixed tracks and 2 tracks to 6 tracks, then those 6 and another two recording over the 4 track mix, repeat for as many tracks as were recorded. All that noise is getting copied over and over and adding to the total noise floor and those tapes being reused over and over meant wear on the tape since the vast majority of VCRs like the majority of consumer tape based gear had shit transports.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y ago
  If there was surface noise it probably wasn't Hi-Fi. Hi-Fi recorded the audio as FM on the tape alongside the video signal, if I remember correctly. I was overdubbing with my setup and discovered that the shitty Tascam four-track had speed variations all through the song, on every take. I had to memorize where they occurred and ride the pitch control while copying to the VHS. It took days, and by the time I had an acceptable mix the original tape was wearing out. I kept a VHS first-gen copy I think. When computer audio became a thing I of course digitized all the original tracks and gleefully made a perfect mix. Maybe someday I'll do a surround one. Kids today will never know what it's like to try to edit on consumer audio equipment! I remember memorizing how long it took the pause control to release on my tape decks, to make seamless edits.
  - ofalkaed 3y ago
    >Hi-Fi recorded the audio as FM on the tape alongside the video signal, if I remember correctly. So they broke the format when HiFi came out, tapes recorded on a HiFi VCR could not be played on a pre-HiFi one? Something like that may have happened but if it did it happened back during the early days of the format. From what I remember HiFi just meant it had RCA outs which bypassed the internal RF modulator that was used to modulate the signal to channel 3 or 4 standards so you could watch it on your old fashioned TV. In the early days if you recorded something off of broadcast TV it would be demodulated by the VCR, recorded and later when you watched it it was remodulated back out to the TV which would than demodulate it again, this was not a perfect process, as cable TV grew in popularity demand came about for getting rid of the now useless RF modulation which only served to degrade the signal. I could be misremembering and I was not exactly following this stuff closely back than, I was a bit on the young side but I can not ever recall their being two standards for VHS.

jdalgetty 3y ago

Got any links to your music?

ofalkaed 3y ago
Don't currently have anything (that I know of) on the web but my current project will get posted here when it is ready, it has aspects which should be of interest to enough people here to make it worth posting. The VCR recordings are most likely lost to time.