Tascam Digital Audio Production Environment SX-1 Reference Manual

							Part IV–Mixer Controls
 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 71
Groups
It’s possible to group any of the mixer channels 
(including aux, effect sends, busses, and MIDI chan-nel faders) in two different ways, as stereo pairs or 
groups containing master and slave faders.
VGA Fader Groups
The GROUPS module of the CHANNEL screen gives you 
direct control over the selected channel’s associated 
fader groups.
Press 
CHANNEL in the MAIN DISPLAY MODES sec-
tion to find this module. From here you can add and 
delete master and slave faders.
Master This window displays the master fader 
associated with the selected channel.
Slaves This window displays the slave faders asso-
ciated with the selected channel.
Add Press the key to select the type of fader you 
want to add as either a Master or Slave.
DISSOLVE Dissolves the group when the group 
master is selected.
DELETE Removes the selected Slave fader from the 
Slaves window.
TIP
Step by step instructions for creating a slave group con-
trolled by a Group Master fader are given below.
LCD Fader Groups
The GROUPS/LINKS screens’ GROUPS page parallels the 
GROUPS module on the VGA Channel screen.From the 
LCD ACCESS section, press the GROUPS/ 
LINKS
 key to reach the GROUPS/LINKS screen. Then 
press the 
GROUPS soft key to reach the GROUPS page.
SELECT Allows you to select faders for editing. For 
example, several faders can be simultaneously high-
lighted and removed.
JUMP Allows you to jump between a project’s dif-
ferent fader groups.
EDIT NAME Allows you to name your Fader 
Groups. This feature is unique to the LCD screen and 
is not reflected in the VGA’s 
GROUPS module. 
						

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Understanding Group Masters
Group Masters are faders that are dedicated control-
lers. No signal actually passes through them - they 
merely control a group of slave faders. The benefit of 
using a Group Master instead of a regular mixer 
channel as a master fader is that you don’t waste a 
mixer channel controlling your slaves.
There are eight dedicated Group Masters.
They show up in the Return/Group preset fader bank 
(pictured here—press the 
RTN/ GRP key in the 
FADER BANK section to reach this screen).
To assign a group of slave faders to a Group Master, 
follow these steps:
1Select a slave fader that is part of the group 
of Slave faders you want to control. Press the 
channel’s 
SEL key and then press CHANNEL 
in the 
MAIN DISPLAY MODE section to view 
the slave fader’s channel screen.2In the 
GROUPS module (of the VGA’s Channel 
screen—that you recalled in the last step) 
under the 
Master window, click the Add arrow.
3From the menu, choose 
GRP1 from the Group 
Masters
 sub-menu.
4That’s it. The first Group Master fader will 
now control the selected slave’s associated 
group. If you want to add other slave chan-
nels to the group, click on the 
Add arrow 
below the 
Slaves window (in the same module) 
and select the desired channels.
NOTE
To do this quickly, hold down the suface SHIFT key, 
and press the Group Master’s 
SEL key, followed by the 
SEL keys of those channels you want to add to the 
group. 
						

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Fader Banks
The 16 mixer faders allow level control over all of 
the SX-1’s audio and MIDI channels. The faders 
themselves are not hardwired to a particular channel, 
but instead are able to control whatever channel to 
which they are assigned (including the obvious 32 
mixer inputs, sends and returns, busses, and MIDI 
tracks).All the different types of channels can be recalled to 
the actual faders in “banks” of 16 at a time. These 
banks are called fader banks and can be accessed 
from the keys in the 
FADER BANKS section on the 
SX-1’s slanted front panel.
Fader Bank Section
Fader banks are available as presets, or you can cre-
ate your own user-defined banks. The keys in this 
section are for recalling fader banks.
BANK MODE Use the BANK MODE key to switch 
between our preset fader banks or your own custom 
fader banks. Press 
BANK MODE and then the fader 
bank (Preset or User) you want to recall.
 Indicates that the FADER BANK keys 
will recall the default/preset fader banks (the labels 
on top of the 
FADER BANK keys—see below for 
each key’s individual description).
 Indicates that the FADER BANK keys will 
recall the user defined fader banks (the labels at the 
bottom of the 
FADER BANK keys).
1–16/HDR IN Use the 1 - 16 /HDR IN key to recall 
audio mixer channels 1 to 16 (which default to the 16 
analog inputs), making sure the 
 
LED is lit (if not, press 
BANK MODE) and press 1 - 
16 /HDR IN
 to recall the Hard Disk Recorder inputs 1 
to 16.
TIP
The HDR IN bank always controls the master input levels 
to the HDR. For example, even if the direct out from 
channel 1 feeds HDR In 1, that channel’s level can still 
be controlled by the HDR Bank.
17-32/USER 1 Use the 17 - 3 2 /USER 1 key to 
recall audio mixer channels 17 to 32 (which, at 
default, have the HDR outs routed to their inputs), 
and your own custom user bank. When recalling the 
User Bank, be sure the 
 LED is lit (if 
not, press the 
BANK MODE key).
RTN/GRP/USER 2 Use the RTN/ GRP/ USER 2 
key to recall the audio mixer’s fader groups and 
Return channels, and your own custom user bank. 
When recalling the User Bank, be sure the 

 LED is lit (if not, press the BANK MODE 
key).
BUSS/AUX/USER 3 Use the BUSS/ AUX/ USER 
3
 key to recall the audio mixer’s busses and auxiliary 
returns, and your own custom user bank. When 
recalling the User Bank, be sure the 
 
LED is lit (if not, press the 
BANK MODE key).
MIDI A/USER 4 to MIDI D/USER 7 Use the 
MIDI A/ USER 4 to MIDI D/ USER 7 keys to recall 
MIDI sequencer channels 1-16 for port A through 1-
16 for port D, and your own custom user banks. 
When recalling the User Bank, be sure the 

 LED is lit (if not, press the BANK MODE 
key). 
						

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VGA Fader Banks
In the FADER BANK section each key has an associ-
ated VGA screen. The User Bank screens reflect 
your own custom bank setups (explained in the fol-
lowing pages).
From the 
MAIN DISPLAY MODE section, press 
MIXER/ USER BANKS and then the preset fader bank screen you would like to view: Channels 1 –32 
(in two groups of 16), Return/Group, Buss/Aux, and 
all the MIDI channel banks (in four groups of 16 
channels each for a total of 64 MIDI channels). See 
the preset fader bank screen examples below.
TIP
The MIXER/ USER BANKS key’s default screen is the 
same as the preset fader bank 
1 - 16 /HDR IN screen 
(showing mixer channels 1-16). Before pressing any 
FADER BANK keys, when you first press MIXER/ 
USER BANKS
, it recalls this screen. Otherwise, the 
VGA 
Mixer screen always follows the selected bank.
Mixer channels
Buss & Aux channels MIDI channelsReturn channels & group faders 
						

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 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 75
USER Fader Banks
From the MAIN DISPLAY MODES section, press 
MIXER/ USER BANKS. Make sure that the BANK 
MODE
 LED is set to  (if not, press BANK 
MODE)
. Then select the User Bank key for the user 
bank screen you want to view.The example below has several different channel 
types arranged on a single screen and saved as a User 
Bank for quick recall.
Creating a User Fader bank (VGA)
To create a User Fader bank in the VGA Mixer screen, 
first make sure that the 
BANK MODE key is set to 
<
USER>. Then right-click on the arrow at the bottom of a channel to select the type of channel you want to 
assign to that display strip. 
						

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User Fader Banks (LCD)
Press SHIFT on the keypad and then the MIXER/ 
USER BANKS
 key in the MAIN DISPLAY MODE 
section. This recalls the 
USER BANKS screens.
PREV BANK Scrolls forward to the next User 
Bank.
NEXT BANK Scrolls back to the previous User 
Bank.
BOTH NAMES Allows the display of both the pre-
set system names and user defined names.
ASSIGN SEL CHAN Selects a channel to be 
edited.
SET TO DEFAULT Returns the currently selected 
User Bank back to its default setup.
SELECT CHANS Selects a channel to be edited.
SELECT BANK POS Selects the channel to be 
positioned at the highlighted slot.
SELECT BANK Selects the bank to be edited.
VGA Bank Menu All Fader Bank screens can 
also be recalled directly from the menu bar’s 
Bank 
menu.
TIP
Note the PS/2 keyboard commands after the menu 
items. Use the PS/2 keyboard as an alternative to press-
ing 
FADER BANK keys. 
						

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Channel Overview Screens
The Overview screens are recalled by pressing the 
OVERVIEW key in the MAIN DISPLAY MODE sec-
tion, and then clicking on the corresponding tab for 
the overview you want to see. These screens show all 
the signals running through the mixer at a glance.
TIP
The Overview screens can also be recalled from the View 
menu on the VGA screen’s Main Menu Bar.
VGA Buss Overview Screen
The returns, mix busses, aux sends, and Master L/R 
buss are displayed in this overview. 
						

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LCD Buss Overview Screen
Press OVERVIEW from the MAIN DISPLAY MODE 
section, then press the 
BUSS soft key.Use this screen to view the fader positions of the 
channel busses, group masters, Aux sends, cue and 
L/R Master busses. The pan positions for the channel 
busses are also shown.
LCD Mixer Overview Screen
Press OVERVIEW from the MAIN DISPLAY MODE 
section, then press the 
MIXER soft key.This screen shows the fader and pan positions for all 
of the mixer’s input channels and cue sends. Mute 
switches and trim are shown for the mixer channels 
as well. Aux send levels are also displayed here. 
						

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 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual 79
VGA Input Overview Screen
All 32 of the mixer channel inputs are displayed in 
this overview.
TIP
The meters of the SX-1’s VGA screens are able to display 
three signal weights at once: Peak, Average, and Cur-
rent. The white dot to the right of the meter (when sig-
nal is present) is RMS (or Average), the peak LED that holds for a few seconds is Peak, and the regular meter 
shows current amplitude (Current).
Incidentally, the speed of meter operation is adjustable 
from the LCD 
Preferences page. You can vary the speed 
between very fast and very slow (which looks a bit like 
old plasma meters on large format consoles). 
						

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80 TASCAM SX-1 Reference Manual
Chapter 13 – Automation
Understanding Modes & States
The SX-1 can write automation moves to any of the 
mixer’s controls, including: faders, mute, pan, sur-
round, EQ, dynamics, aux sends, buss assign, cue 
and library recall. Automation can also be written to 
the effect plug-ins’ parameters.
The automation functions are best understood when 
broken into two categories - those functions that are 
global in scope and those that are controller specific. 
We’ll call the first category Global Modes, and the 
second, Controller States. Global Modes cause all 
controllers to respond in a way that is defined by 
each individual controller’s State. A controller’s 
State refers to its current automation condition — 
which in turn determines how it will react to the Glo-
bal Mode.
While Global Modes can be turned on and off, a con-
troller’s State is always active (even if its automation State is Off, which is still a State). For example, a 
controller whose state is Automatic will read pre-
existing automation data with no Global Mode 
active. However, when Global Write is enabled the 
controller will also (in addition to reading the pre-
existing data) write automation over its pre-existing 
data when the controller is moved. Each of the auto-
mation’s Global Modes and Controller States are 
explained on the following pages.
TIP
The SX-1’s faders are touch-sensitive. During automa-
tion, they sense that they are being touched through 
the stray capacitance in your fingertips. To ensure that 
the touch-sensitivity of the faders is responding prop-
erly, always use the pads of your fingers to move the 
faders. If you use another device (such as a pencil, ruler, 
or even your fingernail), the fader will not register as 
having been touched.
Controller States
There are six different Controller States:
Automatic (Auto)
This is a controller’s default automation state. It is 
highly flexible, as it will change its behavior depend-
ing on the status of the Global Modes, whether or not 
it already has dynamic mix data, and whether or not 
it is being touched.
For example, when a control is in Auto and the trans-
port is running, the control enters write ready if the Global Write LED is lit, or trim ready if the Global 
Trim LED is lit. The control reads pre-existing data 
(if any) until it is moved, and then enters the appro-
priate state (writing or trimming). It is possible for a 
single control, or a group of controls to drop into and 
out of writing and trimming in one pass, while other 
controls remain unaffected.
Static
During the course of an automated mix, some con-
trols require movement (Dynamic automation) while 
others remain stationary throughout the track. The 
position of these controls are saved as part of the mix. A control in Static will have its position auto-
matically updated in the current project’s mix file 
whenever that control is moved, regardless of 
whether a Global Mode is active.
Write
A control in Write Status behaves just as if it were set 
to Auto, and Global Write was on. This status does 
not require that a Global Mode be enabled to enter 
write ready, as the control enters that status the moment PLAY is depressed. Any movement of the 
control while the transport is running will overwrite 
pre-existing data.