New Music
12/02/25 12:11 Filed in: mo john
Composition + arrangements are currently the order of the day at twangcorp HQ, this we enjoy. The tricky part is recording all the new stuff with a deal of old fashioned staightforwardness, a process that would have been arguably a lot easier even 15 years back.
At this point we will avoid a long grumble about D.A.W. culture or its myriad adverse impacts on recording + composition. The reader may take it as read that we do not favour the de-facto dependence on computers/AI in music, or anything else for that matter.
As problematic for us, however, is the deliberate limiting and parallel dumbing down of hardware alternatives. Twenty odd years back the Roland VS2480/2400 allowed DAW-like recording at up to 44.1, 48 and up to 96k+. In addition it provided MIDI, CD (and DVD burning), mastering and flying faders - and of course virtually zero latency. Also at this time Akai, Yamaha and Korg offered excellent (and sought after) professional machines with specifications that still leave current 'multitracks' trailing.
Fast forward and we see that even although prices have fallen, this has been at the expense of quality components and professional features (certainly in the multitrack world); one only needs to peruse the current Tascam machines. It is sadly a fact that the old TEAC cassette 4 track portastudio multitracks from the 1980s often command higher prices on the second hand market than current 24/32 track models. It has become a rule that as each iteration comes along so something we once took for granted is lost to cut costs. One example being the revised Tascam DP-24SD, which initially featured MIDI subsequently dipensed with MIDI altogether despite it still being an essential for many musicians and project studios.
So, if one wants MIDI with quailty stand alone recording then one is forced back onto the second hand market. The current alternative is to purchase a stripped back low quality multitrack recorder that also acts as an imperfect USB bridge (interface) to the ubiuitous DAW. In other words (unlike the Roland machines of the early 90s) mixing and mastering away from the computer seems impossible if one wants MIDI. And even if one doesn't want MIDI, makers seem incapable of increasing the quality to 96k or even floating point recording - a standard that is nowadays expected on semi-pro field recorders (ironically even on those produced by Tascam). But Tascam aren't alone. The previously industry leading Roland recording products are shadows of their former selves.
In the interim Zoom produced affordable but genuinely interesting alternatives in the multitrack world (I read that the Zoom corporation hold the copyright on multitracks with built in sequencers). Indeed we here at twangCORP sold two Zoom HD16 models to a band in Germany not so long ago when we were changing our studio around. It seems the HD16 had become such a part of their creative recording process that the band decided to ensure it had plenty tucked away spare for future projects.
Alas the days where Korg, Yamaha, Akai and Roland competed to provide the ultimate high quality professional quality 'stand alone' multitrack recorder are gone; and yet in every forum + review I read I still see many bemoaning the lack of viable, tactile, high quality recorders that can mix and master.
In twenty years, it seems, we have regressed in terms of both standards and features. It's not as if these 1990s machines have been surpassed in terms of recording quaility or audio components, maybe digital storage protocols + devices have changed but that's no big deal. Likewise MIDI is still around and thriving 40 odd years on.
So why the lack of options? Surely someone gets it? Hello…?
MJ
At this point we will avoid a long grumble about D.A.W. culture or its myriad adverse impacts on recording + composition. The reader may take it as read that we do not favour the de-facto dependence on computers/AI in music, or anything else for that matter.
As problematic for us, however, is the deliberate limiting and parallel dumbing down of hardware alternatives. Twenty odd years back the Roland VS2480/2400 allowed DAW-like recording at up to 44.1, 48 and up to 96k+. In addition it provided MIDI, CD (and DVD burning), mastering and flying faders - and of course virtually zero latency. Also at this time Akai, Yamaha and Korg offered excellent (and sought after) professional machines with specifications that still leave current 'multitracks' trailing.
Fast forward and we see that even although prices have fallen, this has been at the expense of quality components and professional features (certainly in the multitrack world); one only needs to peruse the current Tascam machines. It is sadly a fact that the old TEAC cassette 4 track portastudio multitracks from the 1980s often command higher prices on the second hand market than current 24/32 track models. It has become a rule that as each iteration comes along so something we once took for granted is lost to cut costs. One example being the revised Tascam DP-24SD, which initially featured MIDI subsequently dipensed with MIDI altogether despite it still being an essential for many musicians and project studios.
So, if one wants MIDI with quailty stand alone recording then one is forced back onto the second hand market. The current alternative is to purchase a stripped back low quality multitrack recorder that also acts as an imperfect USB bridge (interface) to the ubiuitous DAW. In other words (unlike the Roland machines of the early 90s) mixing and mastering away from the computer seems impossible if one wants MIDI. And even if one doesn't want MIDI, makers seem incapable of increasing the quality to 96k or even floating point recording - a standard that is nowadays expected on semi-pro field recorders (ironically even on those produced by Tascam). But Tascam aren't alone. The previously industry leading Roland recording products are shadows of their former selves.
In the interim Zoom produced affordable but genuinely interesting alternatives in the multitrack world (I read that the Zoom corporation hold the copyright on multitracks with built in sequencers). Indeed we here at twangCORP sold two Zoom HD16 models to a band in Germany not so long ago when we were changing our studio around. It seems the HD16 had become such a part of their creative recording process that the band decided to ensure it had plenty tucked away spare for future projects.
Alas the days where Korg, Yamaha, Akai and Roland competed to provide the ultimate high quality professional quality 'stand alone' multitrack recorder are gone; and yet in every forum + review I read I still see many bemoaning the lack of viable, tactile, high quality recorders that can mix and master.
In twenty years, it seems, we have regressed in terms of both standards and features. It's not as if these 1990s machines have been surpassed in terms of recording quaility or audio components, maybe digital storage protocols + devices have changed but that's no big deal. Likewise MIDI is still around and thriving 40 odd years on.
So why the lack of options? Surely someone gets it? Hello…?
MJ