How to Record Live Audio to Reel to Reel

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village, Kurt Glaser, KGB Studios, Seattle. Let's continue now with our sessions on "How to Use a Two Track Reel to Reel Tape Recorder". Now we have everything set up, we've got the headphone plugged in, we've got both the microphones. We're actually going to record. As you can see, if you're looking really close, you can see the microphones moving here as I speak. They are actually moving quite readily as we are opening the volume controls so that they are set to a nice level. And you don't want to be pinging them too highly here into the red, I don't know if you can see that, but if you get above zero db, you actually have a problem with just the amount of traffic that is going onto the tape and it will distort the tape. So that's something that, of course the volume controls will monitor. And that is an important setting as well to keep in mind when you're actually recording live. Now what I tend to do is I use, when I use a live recording situation, I absolutely make sure that the band or the speaker, I say "Hey, speak as loud as you're going to talk", and then I will just back the microphone off just a little bit here with these controls so that we'll get great audio but not distorted audio. And that's the name of the game for recording off of the microphone here onto the reel to reel deck. That should do our audio side. Let's check another way to record in our next session. This is a short session. Once you get the volume set, you click these two guys here and you're in a record mode and these things are lit, and then you just kick it and let it just roll, and off you go for a recording! And that's all that you do for that, just like that, it just starts to roll tape, and you are recording as you go. That's how you do it in a two track reel to reel. Join us next time on Expert Village."