Recorded on a "Tascam Porta One"

A 4 tracks cassette recorder

About 30 years ago, a band of four teenagers recorded a few songs after rehearsal, during a couple of years, in an underground storage room.

Some instruments were recorded together on the same track, like the drums and the bass, leaving very little room to work with.

Guitars were separated, but recorded with a distortion directely into the track, creating a very harsh and unpleasant sound.

Vocals and backing vocals were bounced into the last track.

Using a Digital Audio Interface

and standard Hi-Fi tape player

Playing the 4 track tape on the standard tape player,the first and second track were transferred to the computer.

Turning the cassette around, the third and forth tracks were transferred but playing backwards.

Once on the computer, the tracks 3 and 4 were turned back around, and alligned with the other tracks.

The synchronization was a long and difficult process. Not only the tracks were synchronized, but also some playing mistakes were corrected.

Mixing the 4 tracks

Making a better sound

When possible, the guitars were re-amped. Impulse responses were used to simulate a real cabinet, as the guitars recorded without one.

Compression, equalization, reverb, delay, chorus, etc. All standard effects where used to bring a second life to this old tapes.

Far from perfect, but an amayzing improvement, considering the bad quality of the initial recordings.