multitrack recorders

i've never used one, how do they work?

is digital a hell of a lot better nowadays?

yeah, they're good! i've owned a few Fostex digital multitracks (though I now use Cubase instead). basically, you will have say, 8 tracks to record on, each with it's own fader, pan and effects knob. you really need something with a MIDI in or MIDI out so you can record each track in sync with the last. I used to use mine as the main MIDI clock source for all my gear - so when I would press play/record on the multi track, it would trigger my sequencers etc to start playing at the same tempo and in sync. so you can for instance, lay down a drum beat in track one (no looping, you'll have to record the entire song's worth of drums), then select track two and lay another beat over that, then some synth in track three etc, until you've filled up all but one stereo track. once you've done that, you then "bounce" all those separate tracks down to that empty stereo track and can then start to add more stuff into the previously used tracks etc etc until you've got your whole song recorded. then you usually bounce the whole song to an entirely new location and add the final mastering effects and you're done! no real advantage to using a multi track over multi track recording software, but I used to like it as it was a way of keeping my set up computer free and also I found the sound quality on the Fostex models I had to be excellent.

i use a yamaha aw16g to record my hardware plus the mixer is excellent (cut down 02r)

You have to spend big bucks to get a decent tight midi clock from a pc and when you tot up an 8 channel interface into the pot then digital multitracks can be a much cheaper alternative with no latency plus you can export the audio afterwards into a computer for editing

digital then ?

yeah, you don't want a tape one really mate....unless you're going for a specific grungy sound or something.

i fucking love my Yamaha AW4416