Is recording live to tape Low-Fi?

I really enjoy telling people about The Barncast! The main reason I am excited about sharing it with everyone is that I think it's a cool idea. You know, playing music in a barn, recording on tape, very little editing, and nothing that you would consider to be "studio tricks." 

Often, as I am sharing my message of Reel Genuine Music, the term "Low-Fi" comes up. As in "Low-Fidelity." As in "not faithful to reality." I don't blame anyone for thinking of this term. I have even used it to describe our recordings. But is it accurate? We have undergone a revolution, and we now live in an age where almost everyone has access to technology that can record high definition audio and do "studio tricks" that would make Sgt. Pepper era Beatles blush. Does that make them Hi-Fi and tape Low-Fi? I don't think so.

Crystal clear audio products are good, but if the term Hi-fidelity is to be taken literally, there is absolutely nothing Hi-Fi about one person playing 15 instruments on a song that occupied 32 tracks and countless retakes/punch-ins and extensive ripple splices. That is really cool stuff, and it is wonderfully amazing that such consumer grade technology is available to the masses. But it is anything but true to life.

I'll admit, I have to do a minimal amount of editing once we have recorded the performances. My editing is limited to cutting out extensive pauses and major tape defects that sound really annoying. The process that we use to record our guests pretty well eliminates the possibility of fixing performance mistakes, or even recording mistakes. You will hear tape defects, wrong notes, and some overdrive that results from me not watching the meters closely enough. Does this make our product Low-Fi? I don't think so.

There is absolutely NO overdubbing or multitracking so you can be sure that if you hear our guest performing a song on our show, you could hear them perform that same song if they were sitting right in front of you. 

That is Hi-Fidelity. 

What you are hearing is Reel. Genuine. Music.

Technical manuals are fun!

Okay, y'all. I have a confession. I love to read. I tell most people that I don't, but the truth is that I love to read...Owner's Manuals. 

I love reading owner's manuals for a few reasons. For one, it means that I am probably getting ready to play with a new toy. And when I have a new toy I want to know how to get the most out of it. I probably bought it for some obscure feature that I think is really cool, but it probably takes an intricate knowledge of the workings of the new doomafloochie to really use it. 

Secondly, I just like knowing the way the manufacturer intended me to use it so that when I break it for using it the wrong way, I know what to tell tech support so that they don't say "sir, you really shouldn't have done that." They probably know anyways, but I don't want to hear them say it.

Now, those two reasons, I guess are good enough. But the biggest thing is: it's fun to read them! Sometimes the technical writers have a great sense of humor. Here's an excerpt from the 8 track Tascam Reel to Reel we just acquired:

"Since the 38 can use a single head to perform all functions it won't hurt the recorder to use the 'whizbang studio alignment' procedure, which is to do nothing about alignment at all. You won't notice anything wrong with the sound you make, but there are some drawbacks. 1 your tapes won't play properly on any other recorder (whizbang standards are unique)."

This manual is chock full of fun like that. Maybe I'll make a podcast of me doing dramatic readings of owner's manuals.

Sometimes, it's not because of how well written the manuals are. It's because of how awful they are! After all, we do like to make fun of those who don't speak english as well as us. Here is an excerpt from a particular cheap LED lighting fixture made in a particularly cheap manner which is accompanied by a particularly poorly translated owner's manual which touts one of its features:

"This unit may be installed in any angel."

Ahhhhhhhhh, owner's manuals. I haven't read fiction this entertaining since the congressional budget.

James Michael Harris

James Michael Harris is one heck of a songwriter. He has a very genuine sound, and he plays very genuine songs that come straight from his heart and soul. You can close your eyes and feel the songs as if you're living them.

As he sat down in our rusty folding chair on the middle of the old bowling alley approaches that make our "stage" I felt like he was transporting me to a time and place I had never experienced. From the black coal dust footprints, to the lavender sunsets of the American West, I can say I have traveled in my mind.

The most efficient way to travel: James Michael Harris straight from our Reel-to-Reel.

Reel. Genuine. Music.

Recording in a Barn on Reel to Reel

This has been a fun challenge. The last time I worked with reel to reel tape was back in high school, and I've got to be honest, I found out that I had forgotten most of what of what I thought I knew. I keep learning new things every time we record. For example, this time around I found out that the tape speed gets more unstable as you get to very end of the tape. At least our machine does. I learned (again) that you have to make sure that the tape reel is locked down well BEFORE you start recording.
I have also been learning that tape defects get amazingly clear when using old tape. "Wow" and "Flutter" are fun terms to research.
Meters: man, meters are important when you're doing live sound, but they're way more important when recording. Calibrating, bias, watching the meters....these are things that recording guys have to obsess over when live sound guys don't worry as much about those things. As you listen to this week's Barncast with James Michael Harris, see if you can spot the points where I wasn't watching the meters.

First Episode Drops Today!

Hey Y'all!

The first of episode of The Barncast is here!  We've had a lot of fun getting things together and testing stuff out.  We're not perfect, but we think you'll have a lot fun listening and telling us what you think.

There's a bunch of things that have made this project fun to develop. Some will be kept throughout the show's life, and some may be dropped.  Who knows? Let me take through a little bit of the process we do to make TheBarncast!

First off, we're not using today's most advanced equipment.  We have an old Yamaha mixer that is MOSTLY operational. We record to 4 tracks on a late 80's model reel to reel tape deck (man, it's been awhile since I used one of those!). 4 tracks means we don't have a lot to mix down from, so it's really kind of working without a net.  If the mix isn't perfect, it just isn't. If I get too close to the mic, then I'll be little too loud. We'll get better at making it sound grrrrrreat as time goes by.

The tape: We are recycling old tape for this project because there's a lot of it lying around, and it seems like such a waste to just let it go to the landfill. As a result, there are times when you will here audible tape defects. We don't feel like this gets in the way of the music.  We feel like it really reflects us as people- kinda beat up, kinda worn down, but original and experienced.

You can hear the outdoors.  We are indeed doing this live to tape, out in the country, where you can hear the bugs, dogs, birds, and you never know what.

We want to showcase local musicians! We have already made arrangements with a few, and we have more on the way. We want this to be about you, not us.

So, it is here!  Our very first podcast.  TheBarncast  Real. Genuine. Music.

A little more about the Barncast

We have so much talent here in the KY that we just want climb on a mountain and throw mp3s in the air for the winds to spread to the corners of the Earth!  Unfortunately, doing that would litter the landscape below the mountain with flash drives or cds, and probably no one would listen to them if they were found.

So instead we're showcasing these people on The Barncast!  We're stripping away all the glitz and polish that goes into making big time recordings and costs a mountain of cash, and we're delivering some down to Earth recordings on an old 4 track reel to reel machine that we found. Because reel to reel tape is kind of expensive for us po-boys, we're just using old tapes that have been given to us, and we have no idea how long they are!

Sometimes we run out of tape during recording.  Sometimes the tapes show defect from age.  Heck,  It took us a good hour to figure out how to work the dang stuff!

We want to get some folks in here who can put their talent on display so we can really promote our stuff.

Stay tuned for more information about the coolness!

Ways we can connect

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Use these links to keep connected to The Barncast on your PC or mobile device.

Hey everyone, welcome to The Barncast blog! Check back here for more updates on upcoming artists, new podcast episodes, and all things Barncast. Our goal is to introduce local talent in a raw setting, with no fancy recording tools, and no post-production. We feel this adds a special touch to the music and focuses specifically on the talent and emotion involved.

Using basic recording tools such as tape recording devices, we step back into a time when it was all about the music. We will have videos, audio clips, and interviews with artists to connect you to their passion. At The Barncast we feel it is important for the community to be aware of great local talent, and for that local talent to have an outlet and exposure. We will update as much as possible with different artists working in different genres, but most will be focused on Bluegrass, Americana, and Rockabilly. We are excited to expose some talented local artists and get them connected to the listeners of The Barncast.

Thanks for stopping by!