We bring you this product announcement by setting the stage with some background music, literally: It’s 1984, and the airwaves are ruled by Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Bruce Springsteen (and Courtney Cox), The Romantics, The Thompson Twins, Van Halen, Corey Hart, Ratt, and…DaBarge, there we said it.
While the big names were churning out millions from songs crafted in multimillion dollar recording studios, a revolution was quietly beginning in garages, because 1984 was also the year that TASCAM introduced Portastudio, the 4-track casette recorder that made multitrack recording possible outside a studio (and long before Pro Tools or Logic were even possible).
It’s Wednesday, 26 years later, and the company announced that it is bringing this bit of revolutionary music history to another bit of what will no doubt be characterized (sooner, rather than later) as another bit of revolutionary history, Apple’s iPad. Portastudio for iPad is designed to look just like the original Portastudio, as you can see in the image below, complete with VU meters for each channel, a volume slider, and controls for high EQ, low EQ, and panning.
The app records one track at a time (as is the case with other iPad multitrack recording apps, and can record with the iPad’s built-in microphone, or a mic plugged in through the headphone jack, which includes any of the audio adapters for guitar and bass, like IK Multimedia’s iRig.
Portastudio by TASCAM is available now on the App Store for US$9.99.
Portastudio Screenshot