FEATURE:
Music Technology Breakthroughs
Part Seven: The TASCAM Portastudio
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FOR this edition of Music Technology Breakthroughs…
PHOTO CREDIT: @joshsorenson/Unsplash
I am looking at something that, on the surface, seems quite basic and taken for granted! I want to bring in an article that looks at the endurance of 4-track recording. The TASCAM Portastudio vastly changed the way artists could record. Although it is still used – or similar models -, there has been a wider move towards something more high-tech and digital. That said, one can hear so many artists relying on the ease, convenience and warmth that you get from the TASCAM Portastudio. Before moving on, this Wikipedia article provides some historical background:
“The TASCAM Portastudio was the world's first four-track recorder based on a standard compact audio cassette tape. The term portastudio is exclusive to TASCAM, though it is generally used to describe all self-contained cassette-based multitrack recorders dedicated to music production. The Portastudio, and particularly its first iteration, the Teac 144, is credited with launching the home-recording wave, which allowed musicians to cheaply record and produce music at home, and is cited as one of the most significant innovations in music production technology.
The Teac 144 Portastudio made its debut in 1979, at the annual meeting of the Audio Engineering Society. It was followed by several other models by TASCAM, and eventually by several other manufacturers.
For the first time it enabled musicians to affordably record several instrumental and vocal parts on different tracks of the built-in four-track cassette recorder individually and later blend all the parts together, while transferring them to another standard, two-channel stereo tape deck (remix and mixdown) to form a stereo recording.
The Tascam Portastudio 244, introduced in 1982, improved upon the previous design with overall better sound quality and more features, including: dbx noise reduction, dual/concentric sweepable EQ's, and the ability to record on up to 4 tracks simultaneously.
In general, these machines were typically used by musicians to record demos, although they are still used today in lo-fi recording. The analog portastudios by TASCAM (a division of TEAC) and similar units by Fostex, Akai, Yamaha, Sansui, Marantz, Vestax, Vesta Fire, TOA, Audio-Technica, Peavey, and others generally recorded on high-bias cassette tapes. Most of the machines were four-track, but there were also six-track and eight-track units. Some newer digital models record to a hard disk, allowing for digital effects and up to 32 tracks of audio”.
I am not sure how sophisticated recording equipment was pre-1979, but it is clear that the TASCAM Portastudio provided greater options and a better sound for artists. That did not mean that, upon its introduction, artists forsook the studio and recorded everything on this device. By the same token, it was not used as a novelty. It became an important go-to for many musicians. I want to bring in an interesting article that charts the use of the TASCAM Portastudio through the decades. Its development and popularity through the 1980s is interesting to read:
“In the meantime, musicians seized upon the hitherto unparalleled creative freedom offered by this new ‘Porta[-ble]Studio’. Bruce Springsteen recorded his entire 1982 folk-noir album ‘Nebraska’ at home, using just two cheap Shure SM57 microphones and his newly acquired TEAC 144.
Its successor, the Tascam 244, improved over the diosync in having dbx noise reduction (helping offset the inherent hiss of tape), a two-band, four-knob sweepable EQ, two headphone sockets (one for the engineer, one for the talent), and an electronic tape counter. The four tracks of the 244 were also labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4, replacing the diosyncratic A, B, C and D of the 144.
In 1986 came the machine that enthusiasts regularly hail as the ‘king of the four-tracks’ – the Tascam 246 Portastudio. Comprehensively specified and built like the proverbial tank, this mighty machine offered an unparalled swathe of essential recording and mixing features. It had six channels, so multiple inputs could be routed through the mixer, and it could record on all four tracks of the cassette tape simultaneously.
The 246 also debuted Tascam’s new two-speed tape deck (3.75 inches per second vs standard 1.875ips), whereby the transport could be run at twice the normal speed in order to capture better quality audio. This was still some way off the 15ips of a professional 2-inch reel-to-reel tape machine, but the increase in fidelity for home recording was welcome!.
Even though technology became more advanced through the 1990s, there was still desire and demand for the TASCAM Portastudio:
“The 1990s saw the rise of digital recording undermining magnetic tape’s dominant position in home studios. Other companies, such as Yamaha and Fostex, launched rival four- and eight-track machines, each trumping the others with improved features or price points in a race for market dominance.
There was still time for some more classic Tascam tape models during the ’90s, such as the 488MKII and the 424MKIII, featuring digital-style functionality – custom location points, ‘rehearsal’ mode, hands-free punch in/out – before the new millennium ushered in the first all-digital Portastudio.
The original cassette hardware Portastudios still endure. With one million Portastudios sold since the launch of the 144, thousands of working examples are still bought and sold on the secondhand market today. The immediacy and vintage vibe of a cassette-based four-track Portastudio delivers the same thrills it always did.
Famous Portastudio users over the years include Bootsy Collins, Wu-Tang Clan, Lou Reed, Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame (who wrote a song simply called ‘Portastudio’ for his 2006 solo album ‘Western Skies’, in which he sings of “still screwing around with my Portastudio”) and Lady Gaga, who in 2009 described her first Portastudio as “probably the best gift that my dad ever gave me”.
A new generation of Instagram-friendly musicians are incorporating original Portastudios into their digital workflows, using the analogue mic preamps for ‘flavour’, the mixer and EQ section for arranging and sweetening outboard gear, and employing the cassette section for real-life tape loops.
There’s still no quicker or easier method for musicians to capture their ideas. Power up, plug in, press record – that’s lightning bottled again”.
I am not sure whether, today, artists are using four-track recorders for their songs. Maybe there is a split between mainstream acts (and those with a glossier sound) compared to D.I.Y. and bedroom artists. I will end with an article from Reverb, who have illuminated the way 4-track recording has fed into some incredible work:
“4-track recordings by some of the biggest names in rock, alternative, and electronic music carried both the charm and lore: Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, grittily recorded on his 144 and salvaged from his jacket pocket; PJ Harvey's tape-turned-proper-release 4-Track Demos; Ween's warped, Portastudio-grown The Pod; Aphex Twin's first full-length, Selected Ambient Works 85–92, tracked at home on cassette with self-constructed instruments, by Richard D. James' telling at least.
In addition to the raw, homespun sound, many music makers wanted to stretch the limits of the technology. Why not bounce those 4-tracks down and layer more on top, like their heroes at Abbey Road? Use the limitations to spark creativity.
In a review of the Teac 144, Reverb user Trey Y. said he bought one of these "Earth-changing" machines as soon as they came out.
"Suddenly I was able to create beautifully produced demos that were almost as good as studio masters. It was easy to learn and extremely powerful," he writes. "Despite having only four tracks, I was able to ping-pong huge numbers of tracks and create music that was as elaborate as anything produced by The Beatles in their heyday."
There was a downside: Dubbing tape hiss on top of itself over and over again will build up to cacophony. But whether bedroom producers were making the most of what they had or willfully leaning into lo-fi aesthetics, 4-track recordings were in full bloom”.
There are few examples of music hardware that have benefited artists and changed the game more than the TASCAM Portastudio. Perhaps it is not as prevalent and widespread as it was in the 1980s and 1990s, but one can look at modern recording more sophisticated technology and chart things back to the TASCAM Portastudio. It is a humble and stunning device that must have been this enormous revelation and breakthrough back in 1979. I can only imagine the sense of possibility and excitement when it was announced and, in time, became better known and widely used! For artists who want to put down a quick and easy demo with very few layers, the 4-track recorder is invaluable. It is a shame that there is so much reliance on digital technology; a certain charm and history has been removed from music. Maybe there are a lot of artists who prefer older technology. No matter. It is obvious that the TASCAM Portastudio was a remarkable and seismic shift that created ripples that are…
STILL being felt today.