Nowadays, we all (hopefully, at least) understand the benefit (and arguably the necessity) of multi-track recorders. Separating out instruments or categories of instruments onto distinct tracks allows you greater control over the individual elements, and the ability to process, tailor, and tweak them as required for the best sounding mix possible. After all, the EQ that you may wish to apply to a kick drum is unlikely to be the same as you would apply to an acoustic guitar. The delay you apply to a vocal might not work with a bass guitar…etc. You get the idea.
At this stage, one may contend that we are probably somewhat ‘spoiled’ by the near-unlimited tracks on offer by digital audio workstations such as Ableton and Logic, or at least that’s what the old-timers seem to claim. However, to be fair, it wasn’t really all that long ago that multi-track cassette recorders were the essential tool for bedroom producers and aspiring musicians.
Whether strumming out singer-songwriter ballads or putting together fuzzy lofi pop as part of a larger crew, this decidedly limited medium was for a long time the most accessible way for the masses to commit compositions to some kind of permanence—even after digital technology became commonplace. With just a few cheap microphones, creative technique, and—ideally, but not necessarily—lots of practice, the humble four track could be used to produce a perfectly reasonable demo that would hopefully open doors to bigger and better things… or perhaps just end up in the hands of supportive friends and family. Mind you, if you didn’t have a reliable way to duplicate the tape, you might well be forced to re-record the songs fresh each time, like infamous ‘outsider musician’ Daniel Johnston. What a nightmare.
Despite their inherent limitations, multi-track cassette recorders were often utilised to great effect. Many famous artists used the technology at home to practice and perfect their art, but their importance and significance went much further than that. For example, Springsteen’s solo acoustic album Nebraska was originally recorded on a four track PortaStudio, before later being re-mastered for commercial release. The lead line of one of the Flaming Lips most famous songs "Race for the Prize," and probably one of the most recognisable hooks ever, was created by manipulating recordings partly made on one of the members’ four track. Once you hear it, you can’t un-hear the tape. So as it turns out, these things weren’t just for shonky DIY garage-band demos.
Still Relevant?
As integral as multi-track cassette recorders were to the democratization of home-recording and development of the music industry in a particular era, they are far from being just relics of the past. Plenty of modern-day artists make use of—and even actively prefer working with them for a variety of reasons. This can sometimes be down to the straightforward nature of the workflow, but can also be due to the specific idiosyncrasies, and even the inherent flaws of the medium.
For a start, limitations have a habit of breeding creativity—or so they say—and in the case of tape, there is probably something there. When you are faced with just four tracks to work with, and no ability to just copy and paste sections of your arrangement, you end up having to naturally approach every part of the composition and recording process much more deliberately. Whether that means intentionally stripping out ancillary instrumentation, or paying particular attention to the tone of your instruments from the get-go…such a thing can bring you much closer to the actual act of creation, as opposed to just resorting to slapping things down messily, then ‘fixing it in post’. With tape recorders, your drummer needs to actually be able to play in time, and you can’t just quantize or auto-tune things after the fact.
This kind of simplicity—which can lead to increased focus—or even just happy accidents—is also arguably one of the (many) reasons that Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 has been so successful, based as it was around the concept of a four track tape style recorder. Online debate rages about the lack of an ‘undo’ button on the Swedish company’s flagship product, but in some respects, that is one of the key things that defines the philosophical approach that makes it stand out in a fairly crowded marketplace. There is something kind of liberating about clearly understanding—and then pushing—the restricted parameters you have to work within. If you only get one take, you are much more likely to ensure that you play the damn thing right. Right? Right.
The Sound
Whilst seemingly antiquated workflows requiring focus and dedication can often act as a source of inspiration, the contemporary affinity for tape machines is not solely attributable to that alone. The analog nature of the medium brings with it an unpredictability, where each element of the process is capable of providing individual character. Different tapes of different ages and different machines with different designs will all bring something different to the party—and this can be deployed at its extremes as a deliberate effect. In particular, the nostalgic sounds of imperfections from poor maintenance and age, such as hiss, wow and flutter, with the resulting variations in pitch and tonality impacting the final outcome in a manner that lofi-loving hipsters are powerless to resist (and I am not using that in a pejorative sense! Well, not entirely).

It is worth noting that the appeal of tape isn’t just limited to its more obvious degradations—and cassette recorders in excellent condition have a lot to offer. For a start, the frequency response of the medium is inherently much more limited than digital, rolling off the high-end of the input signals. Combined with liberal use of heavy-handed built-in compression and pre-amp circuits, this means that the results of recording with multi-track cassette recorders are often described as having a natural ‘warmth’ or saturation which can be difficult to accurately reproduce digitally. Or at least, using a VST never feels quite the same.
The enduring popularity of tape-style effects is evident in the number of modern devices which are based around, or seek to emulate them. At the top end, we have the gorgeous EFX series of Space Echo style units from Echo Fix—which utilize real tape. Bastl Instruments have a magical tape-style digital delay called Thyme+ which packs in a whole host of modulation possibilities. Chase Bliss have their Generation Loss pedal, which emulates the noise, warble, and failings of different tape-based mediums including cassette, but also VHS and other weird and wonderful things. In addition to the OP-1, Teenage Engineering also has the gorgeous TP-7 digital tape-style recorder with. In Euro-land, Instruo has its tape-style looper module Lubadh, complete with "fake" dual rotating reels and CV control over the various parameters. There is also the truly unique hand-operated Human Controlled Tape Transport from Landscape…I could go on. The point is: tape is great. People love tape. Even, and perhaps especially, when it’s crap.
Modern Techniques
Outside of the devices that have been created specifically to replicate different characteristics of tape, people are actively using real multi-track cassette recorders in a variety of creative ways.
One of the more experimental practices embraced by ambient musicians in particular involves the use of a cassette tape that has been modified to create an endless loop. Recording different but complementary instrumentation onto these can build up dense and complex layers of sound, which can be mixed to taste with the use of a multi-track cassette recorders’ faders. The possibility of unintentional yet aurally pleasing coincidences is high, and this concept is closely linked to the operation of one of Chase Bliss’ more intriguing pedals: Habit.
Composer/performer Alessandro Cortini is one notable artist that consciously treats tape machines as a performance instrument, making use of a Tascam PortaStudio while playing live. His approach involves bouncing down finished songs from Logic into four separate tracks, which are then manipulated on the fly with the tape machine’s controls. Each channel is processed through different effects boxes to give truly fascinating results.
Another artist that is well-known for their adventures with tape is none other than test-equipment wielding Hainbach, who frequently speaks of the beauty of ‘half speed’; in other words, changing the pitch of the recorded material by slowing down the playback speed of the tape. Doing so can very quickly produce beautiful results that many would swear to their dying breath are richer and fuller and completely distinct from anything that you could easily achieve digitally—and whatever the truth of the matter—I have to say, there is something particularly satisfying about manipulating a tangible…thing in this way, along with the visual feedback of the tape reels. Beautiful.
Buying Guide
By this point I know that you are probably salivating at the thought of the analog warmth you could achieve with a multi-track cassette recorder: ebay open and wallet in hand. I can see the ‘ambient lofi beats to study to’ playlists on Spotify growing as I type this. So what do you need to know right now if you want to dive in for yourself?
Well, Fostex and Tascam are probably two of the most famous names in the world of vintage mult-itrack cassette recorders—and the PortaStudio series remains popular with enthusiasts to this day. Both the 424 and 414 in particular come up frequently in any discussions about what multi-track cassette recorder is ‘best’, largely due to the number of features they boast—but also probably because of what I am going to dub the "Cortini Effect."
While these are undeniably very nice machines, there are plenty of different varieties out there to discover and experiment with, and you shouldn’t be afraid of straying from the well-trodden paths. Sometimes the more obscure models have particularly interesting sonic qualities or functionality that you won’t find on the usual suspects, and half the fun of using tape is finding and playing about with these for yourself. Coming across an odd-ball multi-track for twenty bucks in a charity shop is a much more interesting and personal origin story than buying the same thing as everybody else just because a bunch of faceless people on an internet forum said to do so.
Irrespective of which model you go with, some of the key features that you’ll want to keep an eye out for include the ability to manipulate the pitch, EQ, pan, and volume of each track separately. Some models double up the controls for different channels, which isn’t quite as practical, and can quickly become annoying, so keep an eye out for that if it seems like something that would get on your nerves. Which, I guarantee it will. In addition to this, my personal preference is to ensure that the volume controls are on faders rather than pots, as I feel like this gives you more granular control. The Yamaha MT3X is one model in particular that even has the EQ controls on faders, which makes it something of a unicorn monster in this regard!
Recorders that support multiple different tape speeds, as well as sliders to control the pitch are especially interesting, as this gives you a much wider range for experimentation than those that simply have one or the other. If you look about, you can often find modified units to add the functionality though. The ‘higher-end’ models often also include something called dbx noise reduction, which can be useful if you are looking for a ‘cleaner’ sound, though its usefulness and effectiveness is highly dependent on a number of factors including the material you are recording, type of tape, etc. It is another thing that can be fun to experiment with, but I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way to secure a unit just because it has that. Some more intriguing features that I think are pretty useful are the presence or absence of dedicated aux send/returns. These allow you to hook up external effects and dial them in to taste on individual channels, though be sure that you have both a send and return, or else you will need to sacrifice an additional track for the latter. Finally, some models have separate outputs for each individual track on the recorder—an especially useful feature for those of us with hybrid studios that want to eventually port everything back into the digital realm. This way you can keep your tracks entirely separate for any final touches in your DAW.
As with all music gear that has been re-discovered and re-purposed by enterprising individuals, prices of multi-track cassette recorders have steadily been on the increase—particularly those with the more alluring features that have been discussed. Devices which you would have struggled to give away less than a decade ago are now fetching hundreds of dollars on the used market, with no sign of prices coming back down any time soon. One benefit of this is that you can often pick up a device that has been cleaned, repaired, tested, and perhaps even modified by enthusiasts for about the same price—or at least not much more—than one listed as ‘untested’. Given the way that the market is going, and the amounts that these things are fetching, I would recommend that if you don’t find one at a bargain price, it is worth stumping up a bit extra for that peace of mind. There is nothing worse than spending a decent chunk of change on a vintage bit of gear only to find that it has something specific badly wrong with it. Hiss and warble can be charming, but faulty input or output jacks, are not.
Just in case it isn’t clear, I am something of a latent tape geek. I have fond memories of recording fake radio shows as a kid with my own multi-track cassette recorder, and even ran a very DIY tape label for a while. Despite this, it has been a while since I have made use of the magical format in my own music. While writing this article, the dusty mechanical cogs in my brain started spinning again. I must admit thatI got a bit carried away thinking of all of the possibilities…how great drums and dreamy synths can sound with that inimitable analog saturation, and ended up buying a Yamaha four track at a ridiculous price. Another victim of tape’s siren song. Good luck with your own voyage. There’s no better time than now.