Uncle Dave's mishap did some good. I have been telling my friends I need to record dozens of original songs that I have never archived with a demo recording. I have done them off and on to digital recorder but there are a shipload I have not.

So, in case, I run off in a ditch or get knocked in the head... which would be a personal tragedy since the songs would die, being in my head only... I have decided this weekend, I will do it. And fastest way is to just hook up my trusty $35 Sony cassette tape recorder and do them one after the other.

I have done a few and the recordings will do but they aren't as clear as they likely can be. A bit too much reverb, I need to reduce that some. I was able to find connections. I hooked up via the RCA jacks to the MIC jack on the recorder.

Just wondering if anyone had any tips to make this clear as I can. I don't know much about recording at all. I mean, if there is anything I should do on the keyboard to make it less muddy.

I also am using cheap cassette tapes but hey, that's all I got.

It'll work like I got it now but they could probably be better.

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Me Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Hey, that's not a blame! In some cases the old tapes are much better than modern digital systems. I would bet that this system is much less complicated than a PC with its incompetent Windows...

It's a pity that modern labels do not provide normal tapes any longer. Today we need CDs to give them a try to hear. Hey, I remember a time as they only took DATs for testing. The labels are crazy...

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Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

[This message has been edited by Sheriff (edited 05-13-2005).]

This is more expensive but I would recommend getting the cheapest DVD recorder you can get. $150 in Virginia. The audio quality is superb. Also, another great option is to bring a stereo VCR and use that. I think you'll find the audio superior to an audio cassette. Most people don't consider this because they are used to using a VCR for taping tv shows, but it works fine for audio. I'd try both and compare.
On another note: I have a guy who comes to a lot of my shows and he collects old cars from the 30's to the 70's. He has one that has an 8 track player. In that he has an adapter that let's you play cassettes in an 8 track deck. But he has a CD player with a cassette adapter so he puts that into the 8 track adapter. Hard to explain but he's going from cd to cassette to 8 track. Pretty neat, albeit a little hissy...
There's ingenuity for you!

Bill: My PSR-2000 is directly connected to a Cassette Tape Deck for initial recording. It may be yesterday's technology but, in case I don't like the result, I just record the second version over the original or just keep going until I fill up a cassette. Once I have what I am looking for, I copy to a Boss Digital Recorder. Further refinements can be accomplished digitally before finally transferring to my Windows based PC. (I am told that Apple is a better option for music but this works okay for making Demo CD's.)

After making a CD in either WAV or MP3 format, I run the completed CD (printable type) thru an Epson R200 printer and print Logo, Title Info, Artist Info, etc directly to the CD. (The darn ink ends up costing more than the printer but it sure makes a nice, professional looking CD for presenting to Music Publishers, etc.) You can even add your photo or other artwork.

Hope this helps. RICE (The Lone Arranger)

Bill, the stereo VCR thing works great. I did that for years. It must be hi-fi, stereo.
You could also record them direct to PC, you know.
I still use the Creative Labs Nomad Jukebox 3. As you know, it works great. I even have a backup on the way from DNJ.
DonM

I was just speaking of doing it only via what I already 'own.' And I do own a cassette recorder. I also have a Fostex MR-8 but the 128MB CF card is woefully inadequate. I will buy a 1GB card soon. As for RIGHT NOW, I have to do this via cassette tape. I did 31 songs today.

I have three VCR's, so, I will have a look. One of them is portable, with onboard video and was state of the art at the time. When I bought it, gosh, that was 1986, it cost $2,000! Good gracious, that was 19 years ago. Amazing.