Westafa is a DJ/producer from Los Angeles, CA who is now living in Las Vegas. From the days of making mixtapes to playing big festivals and now serving as co-host of the Western Conference Podcast with his brother, BigBodyCisco, Westafa’s journey has been through many phases. He has been working as a tour DJ for several years now with artists such as Damian Marley, J Boog, and Common Kings. With a schedule that keeps him constantly on the go, there are always opportunities to capture unique sounds and creative moments—and for this, Westafa relies on the Portacapture X6 Portable Audio Field Recorder and Mixcast 4 Podcast Station from TASCAM.
Westafa has been using his TASCAM gear for roughly a year now and in that time, he has found numerous creative applications for it. “The Portacapture X6 is great for capturing sound on the go,” he reports. “I have been using it to record podcasts while on tour as well as when I’m at festivals. It’s also a terrific choice great for capturing audio directly from the mix consoles of my live sets in addition to music production ideas.”
“Like the Portacapture X6,” Westafa adds, “the Mixcast 4 is great for podcasts—on the road or anywhere. With its 4 mic inputs with auto-mix capability, the Mixcast 4 provides great flexibility when recording shows with multiple guests. Podcasting has become a huge part of our creative outlet in the media space, as we can share the stories and experiences of the artists we work with. And for this, the Mixcast 4 is front and center.”
When asked about those features that make the Portacapture X6 such a useful tool for his creative work, Westafa offered these thoughts. “The touch screen is so convenient to set up high quality recordings with ease,” he explained. “Sometimes you may only have a few moments to capture a sound bite, interview, or a take—and the Portacapture X6’s awesome condenser mics enable me to always be ready to capture the audio. As part of its unique design, the Portacapture X6 has a Launcher with several presets that make for quick configuration of common settings. I use the Podcast and Interview presets the most, and I also use the Music preset for recording live DJ sets.”
Westafa is equally enthusiastic about the Mixcast 4 and its key features. “With its 4 mic inputs with auto-mix, 4 headphone outputs, and its Mix-Minus feature to connect call-ins, the versatility of the Mixcast 4 to record podcasts with multiple guests and a broader scale of production is next level. The capability to stream live or just record is a huge bonus. Further, its direct internal multi-track recording to SD card of up to 14 tracks makes it easy to capture audio and transfer it to a computer or other device if needed.”
With many of today’s electronic products, questions inevitably arise, so responsive and capable customer support services are crucial. Here too, Westafa was very complimentary of TASCAM, “TASCAM’s team is top notch! They are very intuitive and helpful to make certain you are getting the absolute best results from your products. They have been a tremendous help.”
Before turning his attention to the business of the day, Westafa offered these parting thoughts regarding his experience with TASCAM and its products, “TASCAM has always been a huge staple in the world of recording for DJs. From the days of 4-track mixtapes to now capturing live sets, audio, and podcasts on the go or in studio; TASCAM is elite in their approach to practical, everyday recording. Quite frankly, TASCAM is legendary!” To learn more about Westafa and his creative efforts, visit https://www.youtube.com/@westernconferencepodcast
