Anyone go DAWless recently? (or partially?)

[Kapo_Polenton]

I am thinking of grabbing one of the tascam analog mixers with SD cards. I've been checking different options out and the features for inserts are limited and EQ is basic (at best) BUT what appeals to me is the sort of old school portastudio meets new world flexibility. The recording functions to card are basic in that like tape, you have to punch in and punch out. You actually have to nail your takes. No more dissecting to make perfect passages in your daw and cut/pasting them together for perfect take. Real takes and real music. I've got some external preamps and compressors just collecting dust. I had big plans that never took off. With the tascam I figure not having the computer in front of me will simplify things, force me to make decisions on the way in, and actually record. Once the song is done, you slam the SD card in your DAW for further shaping with whatever plugins you want to use. Send it back out to mixer to sum it and then back in the DAW off the master. It seems silly but listening even to stems bussed back out through basic 600$ mixers makes a diff to the sonic spread to my ears. It sounds wide and creates space.

So this is a hybrid approach and gives you the hands on fun instead of worrying about turning off the screen because of buzzing or monitor latency etc.

Anyone track and record without DAW? Mixing obviously will be diff and that is where the DAW world has it's advantages. Recall too.

 

[RaceU4her]

That sounds like a huge pain in the ass.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

That sounds like a huge pain in the ass.

Yes and no. You can record a drumtrack played through an E kit and throw it in on one of the stereo channels and then you just hit record and do some punch ins on guitar where needed. Throw your bass on top and boom. Add vocals. Never have to see the inside of a daw except when you route your stereo drumtrack to the mixer. Or straight out from E kit into mixer as scratch track and then later play it in SD3 or map it to SD3 from the Roland midi. I don't know, maybe I just like faders!

 

[texasslinger]

If I don't want to dissect takes "to make perfect passages in your daw and cut/pasting them together for perfect take" I just don't. Yes, it takes some discipline but it's worth it. No need to buy hardware.

But if it works for you to use something that limits you to the old school way of doing things, by all means go for it.

 

[japetus]

https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/digital-mixer-multi-track-recorders/digital-mixer-recorder/LIVETRAK-L-8/
I ordered this, will review when it arrives. Seems to tick a lot of boxes and reviews are good.

 

[Will Onyx]

I do most of my writing and tracking on a boss br-600. It’s cool because I can literally take it anywhere. Once I have all of my basic tracks recorded, I’ll dump everything into Logic and start mixing it down and adding effects. Anything new I decide to add after that point is usually recorded directly into the daw.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

I think we are on to something boys! (n girls) I just feel from experience that working with a DAW just lends itself to chasing too much perfection because it is too easy to do certain things. Now yes, I could force myself to work in DAW the same way i plan to work on a mixer buuuuuut knobs and faders yo!

 

[DanTravis62]

I record all of my takes like this in a DAW, because I have self control


but i understand the appeal

 

[midnightlaundry]

External gear flat out sounds better..
I still have most of my late 90's recording gear. I was using it well into the 2000's during the HCAF days. The problem was that I had to rip CDR's to get it into the computer!
Nowadays, posting my shitbag internet clips is way easier in the box.

Remember these??

 

[Monkey Man]

The best argument for going the hardware route IMHO is nipping option paralysis in the bud. If it's an issue for you, there can be no better remedy.

The next-best solution IMHO is to constrain yourself by:

Setting the maximum number of busses available very-low.
Setting the maximum number of tracks available very-low or equal to a hardware unit you like.
Parsing your plugin collection to retain only one or a couple of each flavour (comp, EQ, chorus, delay etc.).

Then it's up to you to resist over-editing to the point that you're wasting time or sapping the life out of your recordings.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

The best argument for going the hardware route IMHO is nipping option paralysis in the bud. If it's an issue for you, there can be no better remedy.

The next-best solution IMHO is to constrain yourself by:

Setting the maximum number of busses available very-low.
Setting the maximum number of tracks available very-low or equal to a hardware unit you like.
Parsing your plugin collection to retain only one or a couple of each flavour (comp, EQ, chorus, delay etc.).

Then it's up to you to resist over-editing to the point that you're wasting time or sapping the life out of your recordings.

Definitely. But to the point that analog sounds better, it does. Enough to notice? Maybe not but a/b two samples and you Def hear it. But mixing and editing though, daw is king. I'm still gonna see how this treats me and I look forward to using my external pres and effects. Also ckmebin hany to record my crappy band off the floor when we play without setting coputer up and only having 10 inputs in.

 

[Monkey Man]

Oh, you'll get no argument from me about the sound of analogue, mate.

I was just responding to your OP, which focussed mainly on the workflow / simplicity side of things:

I am thinking of grabbing one of the tascam analog mixers with SD cards. I've been checking different options out and the features for inserts are limited and EQ is basic (at best) BUT what appeals to me is the sort of old school portastudio meets new world flexibility. The recording functions to card are basic in that like tape, you have to punch in and punch out. You actually have to nail your takes. No more dissecting to make perfect passages in your daw and cut/pasting them together for perfect take. Real takes and real music. I've got some external preamps and compressors just collecting dust. I had big plans that never took off. With the tascam I figure not having the computer in front of me will simplify things, force me to make decisions on the way in, and actually record. Once the song is done, you slam the SD card in your DAW for further shaping with whatever plugins you want to use. Send it back out to mixer to sum it and then back in the DAW off the master. It seems silly but listening even to stems bussed back out through basic 600$ mixers makes a diff to the sonic spread to my ears. It sounds wide and creates space.

So this is a hybrid approach and gives you the hands on fun instead of worrying about turning off the screen because of buzzing or monitor latency etc.