Tascam Digital Audio Production Environment SX-1 Reference Manual

							Part VII–MIDI Sequencing
 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 161
Quantize
This is a destructive quantize. That is, it writes quan-
tize changes directly to the MIDI performance. For a more detailed discussion of the quantize parameters, 
see “Quantize Controls” on page 140.
Randomize Duration
This operation allows the SX-1 to randomly vary the 
duration of selected notes.Randomize % The percentage of time that the 
notes’ durations will be randomized.
Randomize Time
This operation allows the SX-1 to randomly vary the 
timing of selected notes.
Maximum This field determines the maximum 
allowable amount of variance.
Randomize % This field lets you set a strength 
percentage.
Randomize End Times Check this box to vary 
note durations.
Randomize Velocity
This operation allows the randomization of selected 
MIDI note velocities.
Base Velocity Use this slider to determine the 
selected notes’ initial velocities.
Randomize This slider determines the percentage 
of variance.
Apply To This field allows the selection of Note 
On, Note Off, or Both as possible targets for the ran-
domization process.
Repeat Selection
This operation allows the selection to be repeated a 
specified number of times. Repeats are pasted 
sequentially, end to end.
Count This field determines the number of repeats.
Merge Events Leave this box unchecked if you 
would like the repeats to overwrite pre-existing data. 
Check this box if you would like the repeats to be 
merged with pre-existing data.
Reverse
This operation takes the selected area or event and 
reverses it.
Set Duration
This operation sets the duration of all selected notes 
to a single value.Duration This field determines the selected notes’ 
length.
Set Min/Max Duration
This operation lets you set floor and ceiling values 
for MIDI note durations.
Minimum Duration This field determines the 
smallest (shortest) value desired for the selection’s 
note durations.
Maximum Duration This field determines the 
largest (longest) value desired for the selection’s note 
duration. 
						

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Set Min/Max Velocity
This operation lets you set floor and ceiling values 
for MIDI note velocities.
Minimum Velocity This slider determines the 
smallest (most quiet) value for the selection’s note 
velocities.
Maximum Velocity This slider determines the 
largest (loudest) value for the selection’s note 
velocities.
Apply To This field allows the selection of Note On, 
Note Off, or Both as possible targets for the operation.
Set Velocity
This operation sets the velocity of all selected notes 
to a single value.
Velocity This slider sets the velocity value (from 0-
127).
Apply To This field defines whether the operation 
will affect the note’s 
On, Off, or Both velocities.
Smooth Events
Use this operation to even out a performance. It is 
especially useful for smoothing MIDI controller data, 
as it averages values to produce smooth curves.Smoothing Factor This field determines the 
amount of smoothing applied to the event selection.
Split Notes
This operation lets you transfer selected notes from 
one track to several new tracks. Each note of the 
selection is placed on its own discrete track.
TIP
This function is especially useful when you wish to split 
up a drum kit that currently exists on one MIDI track. 
After running the Split Notes edit operation, you will have a separate track for every instrument in your drum 
kit. This means you can solo the kick and snare alone, 
for instance.
Delete Source Track Check this box to delete 
the original track after splitting out selected notes. 
Leave this box unchecked and the original track will 
remain untouched.
Step Record
Choosing this operation opens the Step Record dia-
log for the selected track. When Step Record is 
active, notes can be entered one at a time from a 
MIDI controller connected to the SX-1’s 
MIDI IN jack. Step Record’s many parameters and basic oper-
ations are explained in “Step Record Mode” on 
page 146.
Transpose
This is a destructive transpose operaiton—it writes 
the transposed data directly to the MIDI performance. For a more detailed discussion of these 
parameters, see “Transpose” on page 144. 
Trim Duration
This operation lets you modify the duration of 
selected notes by a set amount.Trim Amount This field sets the amount of length 
to be added (or trimmed).
Trim Velocity
This operation lets you modify the velocity of 
selected notes by a set amount.Trim Amount This slider determines the amount 
of change. Velocity values can be added to or sub-
tracted from the original notes’ velocities. 
						

							Part VII–MIDI Sequencing
 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 163
Apply To This field determines which types of 
MIDI velocities are affected: Note On, Note Off, or 
Both.
LCD Piano Roll
This LCD screen reflects the Piano Roll parameters 
found on the 
Piano Roll tab of the VGA Track screen. 
All of the parameters found on this screen are identi-
cal to the parameters found in the VGA 
Piano Roll tab 
and are explained on the previous pages. Only those 
parameters that are unique to this LCD screen are 
explained here.To reach this screen, from the 
LCD ACCESS section, 
press 
TIME/ TEMPO and then the TEMPO soft key.
SCROLL PIANO Turn this soft knob to scroll the 
piano roll screen vertically. This allows you to see 
higher and lower note ranges.
Event Lists
Event lists are also a convenient way of editing MIDI 
notes and MIDI controllers. These windows show 
events (MIDI as well as audio and edit events) as a 
chronological list, complete with start times and other relevant information for each event. There are 
screens available for both the VGA and LCD.
NOTE
It should be noted that the VGA Event Lists for Automa-
tion and MIDI show different data.
VGA Event List
From the VGA Track screen, click on the Event List tab 
to reach this window. From here you can select MIDI events individually or in groups for editing. Selec-
tions are color coded for easy visibility. 
						

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164 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual
A selected event is colored gray; the playhead’s cur-
rent position is indicated by light blue—double-
clicking an event locates the playhead to that event 
and highlights it dark blue.
Track Selects the track you want to view in the 
Event List window.
SCROLL When Scroll is enabled, the event list fol-
lows the playhead. When 
Scroll is disabled, it does not 
follow the playhead.
Event Display Filters Click on the arrow to open 
a menu from which you can select the type of MIDI 
data you do not want see. If no MIDI data is filtered, 
then all the MIDI for the selected track appears in the 
Event List window.
TIP
Use the filter function to hide extraneous MIDI data 
that may be cluttering the Event List window. This way, 
you see just the information you want to edit.
Edit Operations
The Edit operations that are available from this tab 
are identical to those found on the 
Piano Roll, with the 
exception of 
Change Tempo, Add Lyric, and Add Time 
Signature
. These three operations are only available for 
the Conductor Track, and can only be instantiated 
from the 
Event List tab. 
The explanations for the other edit operations can be 
found starting on page “MIDI Editing” on page 155.
Add Lyric Allows you to add lyrics to the project’s 
Conductor Track.
Time This field allows the start time of the lyric to be 
entered.
Lyric Add your lyrics in this field. After adding lyrics 
and pressing the 
DONE key, the lyrics will appear in 
the Event List after their respective time stamps.
Add Time Signature This operation lets you 
change the time signature at different points within 
your project, by inserting a new time signature on the 
Conductor Track.
Time Use this field to set the point where the meter 
change will occur.
Numerator This field sets the number of beats in the 
bar.
Denominator This field designates what type of 
note receives a full beat.
Click Interval This field sets the metronome’s Click 
value (1/8 (quaver), 1/4 (crochet), or dotted 1/4 note (dot-
ted crochet)) for the selection.
Tempo Change This operation allows the SX-1 
to effect a tempo change.
Ty p e  This field allows you to determine whether the 
type of tempo change will be a single change or an 
accelerando/deaccelerando. Selecting accelerando/
deaccelerando allows you to set a beginning and an 
ending value, smoothly increasing or decreasing the 
tempo during the time you have set.
Start BPM This field sets the tempo at the beginning 
of the change.
End BPM This field determines the tempo at the end 
of the change.
Start Time This field determines the position (rela-
tive to the EDL) for the start of the change.
End Time This field determines the end of the 
change.
Duration This field determines the duration of the 
change.
Curve This field lets you to select the type of curve 
the tempo change will follow (
Linear, Logarithmic, 
Exponential, and Cosine).
Steepness Determines the grade of the tempo 
change’s curve.
Randomize Determines the amount of variation 
introduced into the tempo change’s curve.
Event Density This field determines the amount of 
tempo change MIDI data that makes up the curve. 
Higher values produce smoother tempo changes 
while lower values yield more stepped changes (but 
require less MIDI data). 
						

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LCD Event List
This LCD screen reflects the Event List parameters 
found on the 
Event List tab of the VGA Track screen. 
Most of the parameters found on this screen are iden-
tical to the parameters found in the VGA 
Piano Roll tab 
and are explained on the previous pages.
Only those parameters that are unique to this LCD 
screen are explained here.
To reach this screen, from the 
LCD ACCESS section, 
press 
EVENT LIST.
The fields in the main window are as follows: note 
start time, MIDI note, note on velocity, note off 
velocity, and note duration. The area below the main 
window changes according to the edit operation 
selected.
FILTER Press this key to open the Filter 
dialog. It is different from the 
Filter menu 
on the VGA 
Event List tab.
SEL ALL Selects all events in the Event 
List window.
DESEL ALL Deselects all events in the 
Event List window.
INVRT Inverts your current selection. 
For example, if you have a single note 
selected and you press 
INVRT, every event BUT that 
note would be selected.
JUMP Use this menu to quickly navi-
gate through the 
Event List window 
directly from the LCD screen.
FIRST EVENT Takes you to the very first 
event of the selected track.
LAST EVENT Takes you to the very last 
event of the selected track.
PLAY HEAD Takes you to the event at 
the playhead’s current position.
FIRST SEL This button moves the Event 
List view to the first selected event. This 
is helpful when a number of events are selected, and 
they are not all visible at once onscreen.
LAST SEL This button moves the Event List view to the 
last selected event in the list.
PREV SEL This button moves the Event List view to 
the previously selected event. This is helpful when 
using HyperSelect to select events that might not be 
adjacent to one another (for example, the previous 
event selected might be two minutes earlier).
NEXT SEL This button moves the Event List view to 
the next selected event in the list.
OPTION Press this key to open the 
Option dialog. These controls define 
how the Event List operates.
SMPTE FORM Determines how time 
will be displayed in the Event List win-
dow: SMPTE, hours:minutes:seconds, 
bars:beats:ticks, feet:frames, or samples.
MULTI SEL or SINGL SEL Allows you to choose 
between selecting multiple events or single events 
only. With 
Multiple events, once an event is selected, it 
remains highlighted until you deselect it. For 
Single 
Events
, only one event at a time can be selected.
AUTO SCRL Determines whether the Event List will 
follow the playhead or not. 
						

							166 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual
Part VIII–Data Entry, System & File Management
Chapter 20 – Project Management
Important Screens
The Project screens are where you manage your ses-
sions, called projects. A project includes all impor-
tant mixer settings, audio tracks, automation, effects, 
and sequencer data (in short, nearly every parameter except Control Room and Studio Out sources). 
Projects are saved to your hard drive as a file, and all 
of this information is recalled to the SX-1 upon load-
ing a project.
New Project Screens
Use the New Project screens to create a new project. 
New projects contain no audio or sequencer data, all 
mixer settings are zeroed, and there are no effects 
loaded. After creating a new project, its name will 
appear on your hard drive.TIP
The SX-1 autosaves your current project after every 
major operation. It is also a good idea to make a copy 
of your project somewhere from time to time that is 
just there for backup. See“Manage Project screens” on 
page 167 for the copy project controls.
VGA New Project Tab
From the MAIN DISPLAY MODE section, press 
PROJECT to reach the PROJECT screen. Then click on 
the 
New Project tab.
Vo l u m e  This menu selects the drive where you 
want to save your new project.
Name The field is where you name your new 
project. You must enter a name for your new project 
here before you can create the file.
Sample Rate Select the sample rate for your new 
project.
Project Displays the projects saved on the current 
disk volume.
Use Project Template Check this box to choose 
another project as a template, or starting point, for 
your new project. You can import libraries, groups, 
routing setups, and MIDI controls.
NOTE
The SX-1 can record 16- or 24-bit data within the same 
project (even within the same Take!). Use the VGA Glo-
bal tab System Settings (“VGA Global Tab System Set-
tings” on page 185) to set the bit depth. 
						

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LCD New Project Screen
This LCD screen reflects the New Project parameters 
found on the 
New Project tab of the VGA Project screen. 
Most of the parameters found on this screen are iden-
tical to the parameters found in the VGA 
New Project 
tab and are explained on the previous pages. Only 
those parameters that are unique to this LCD screen 
are explained here. From the 
MAIN DISPLAY MODE section, press 
PROJECT, then press the New soft key.
Create Project After you have named your new 
project and selected a sample rate, press this soft key 
to write the new project file to disk.
Manage Project screens
The Manage Projects screens are where you load, 
copy, and delete projects on your current disk vol-
ume.
VGA Manage Project Tab
From the MAIN DISPLAY MODE section, press 
PROJECT to reach the PROJECT screen. Then click on 
the 
Manage Projects tab.
Name This field displays the name of the currently 
selected project.
LOAD Loads the project selected in the list.
COPY This key copies the selected project into a 
new file with a new name. The audio files are only 
copied when copying the project to a different drive 
or when backing up. See the section “The SX-1 and 
Hard Drives” on page 175.
RENAME Lets you rename the selected project.
DELETE Deletes the project selected in the list.
CLEANUP Cleans up all currently-mounted disks 
by going through the projects, and checking to see 
what clips are referenced by the projects on the disks. 
Any unreferenced clip files are deleted. If only part 
of a clip is used, the whole clip will be kept on disk. 
Files in the Import folder will not be cleaned up in 
this way.  
						

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“Safe” startup
On rare occasions, the SX-1 may not be able to load 
the last project you worked on when it starts up (disk 
problems, etc.). If this happens to you:
1Turn on the SX-1 as usual, but before the 
screen shows the “ghost” TASCAM and SX-1 
logos, press and hold the 
PANIC key for a few 
seconds.2The SX-1 now boots, but does not automati-
cally load the last project. 
3You can now restore the offending project 
from a backup, or take whatever steps are 
necessary to restore the integrity of your 
data.
LCD Manage Screen
This LCD screen reflects the Manage Project param-
eters found on the 
Manage Projects tab of the VGA 
Project screen. Most of the parameters found on this 
screen are identical to the parameters found in the 
VGA 
Manage Projects tab and are explained on the pre-
vious pages. Only those parameters that are unique to 
this LCD screen are explained here.
From the 
MAIN DISPLAY MODE section, press 
PROJECT, then press the MANAGE soft key.
TARGET VOLUMES These are the volumes that 
are currently available for saving and loading 
projects.
FUNCTIONS 
CLEAN UP Cleans up all currently-
mounted disks by going through the 
projects, and checking to see what clips 
are referenced by the projects on the 
disks. Any unreferenced clip files are 
deleted. If only part of a clip is used, the 
whole clip will be kept on disk. Files in 
the Import folder will not be cleaned up 
in this way.
TIP
If your disk is getting full, this is a way to reclaim some 
space by deleting the unwanted audio files (multiple 
retakes and retries) from older projects.
RENAME Allows the currently-selected project to be 
renamed.
KEEP Operates in much the same manner as the Keep 
Mix
 function does (“Automation” on page 80), except 
that the command deals with Project files. Press the 
soft key to save the loaded Project under an incre-
mented name (this operates much like “Save As” 
does on a computer).
COPY Makes a copy of the project highlighted in the 
list, excluding the audio files. The audio files are 
only copied when copying the project to a different 
drive or when backing up. See the section “The SX-1 
and Hard Drives” on page 175. 
						

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 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 169
LCD Open Screen
Use this LCD screen to recall projects. Its controls 
parallel the 
Open Project parameters found on the 
Manage Projects tab of the VGA Project screen.From the 
MAIN DISPLAY MODE section, press 
PROJECT, then press the OPEN soft key.
Main Menu Bar Project Commands
New and Open Project 
commands are also 
available from the 
VGA’s Main Menu Bar. 
These commands take 
you directly to their 
associated tab screens (except Keep Project which saves your project and auto 
increments the file name). The key commands for 
each action are also listed on this menu. 
						

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170 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual
Chapter 21 – Mixdown, Author, Backup
The SX-1 and Mixdown Mode
The SX-1 has a built-in mechanism for mixing down 
tracks (also known commonly as bouncing), useful 
both for mixing down the final stereo or surround mix or for combining (also commonly known as 
comping) tracks together.
Philosophy – how it works
Basically, in stereo mode, anything that comes out of 
the L/R Buss can be bounced to a separate stereo file. 
In surround mode, anything that comes out of the 
surround busses can be bounced to a separate multi-
channel file. The control that modifies how this 
behaves is the 
Create Mix button, which we will get to 
in a bit.
For stereo, if Mixdown mode is enabled and record is 
pressed, any audio coming out of the L/R buss is 
bounced down to a stereo file. This bounce actually 
creates two files, a Left and a Right (not a combined 
stereo file, commonly referred to as an interleaved 
file), which can be imported back into the session or 
sent to the burning program for audio CD creation. 
This provides a simple way to comp together a large 
amount of tracks without having to go through a con-
fusing routing scenario. Imagine that you had 16 vocal Takes that you wanted to comp to two tracks. 
All you would need to do is solo the tracks you want 
to comp together, enable Mixdown mode and press 
PLAY and RECORD. After the transport is stopped, 
the SX-1 will create a stereo file of your soloed 
tracks—which you can import into your current ses-
sion. This would allow you to unload the vocal takes 
you have just comped together, saving tracks and 
lowering the mixing complexity.
When the 
Create Mix button is pressed, a new Mix will 
be created and loaded upon exiting Mixdown Mode. 
The resulting stereo file is loaded into Slots 1 and 2, 
panned in stereo and routed correctly, making it pos-
sible to quickly check your mix simply by pressing 
PLAY. To return to the state the SX-1 was in before 
you exited Mixdown mode, just reload the last Mix-
file.
Stereo Mixdown – printing your final mix or comping tracks
Obviously, there are a number of ways to use Mix-
down mode, with stereo mixdown likely being the 
most common. When you have reached the point in 
your mix where you would like to save it as a two-track file (either for audio CD burning or other uses), 
you can accomplish this easily by using this mode. 
The first examples in this section will address the 
way the SX-1 “mixes down to two”.
On the VGA
As has been discussed previously, the VGA Track 
screen has a number of tabs at the bottom. The 
Global tab contains the VGA’s Mixdown mode controls. The Global tab looks like this: