Tascam Digital Portastudio 788 Owners Manual

							1 – Introductory concepts–Real and virtual tracks on the 788
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 11
If we sample this photograph, which originally con-
tains pure white, pure white and almost every shade 
of gray in between, we must convert it to a fixed 
number of gray levels. Here, we can see that the more 
grays we use to represent the picture, the more realis-
tic the photo appears. 
Note that we use the number of bits (a bit is either 
“on” or “off”) to show how many grays are used to make up the picture. The number of grays can be 
given as 2n, where n = the number of bits.
So: 2 bits give us 2
2 = 4 grays, 3 bits give us 23 = 8 
grays, and 8 bits give us 28 = 256 grays,
For our eyes, 256 grays is just about enough, but our 
ears need a little more quality. If you listen to sound 
recorded at 8-bit resolution, you’ll notice that it 
sounds somewhat rough, especially in the quieter 
passages.
CDs are therefore produced at 16 bits (2
16 = 65,536 
“grays”) and this is fine for playback. For recording, 
though, when sound is being manipulated and pro-
cessed, it’s a good idea to have more bits available. 
The 788 therefore gives you 24 bits of resolution (2
24 
= 16,777,216) which allows complete precision and 
sonic quality at all stages of the production process.
At the final stages, when the mix is transferred to CD 
or to any other digital medium, the 24 bits are 
reduced to 16 for compatibility with other audio 
equipment.
Note, though, that when you record using 24 bits 
rather than 16, more space is used on the hard disk 
(50% more, as you might well expect). In practice, 
given the size of the hard disk in the 788, this should 
make little or no difference to the way you work with 
your recordings.
Real and virtual tracks on the 788
When you use the 788, you can record “spare” 
tracks; for instance, different versions of the lead 
vocals, and pick and choose between the different 
versions to find the one which works best.
These “spare tracks” are known as virtual tracks. 
With the 788, you can record up to 250 tracks per 
song. From those 250 tracks, you pick the eight that 
you want to fit together to make your finished mixed 
song. This can be re-takes of the same material (for 
instance, many attempts by a singer to capture the 
perfect vocal line), or alternative tracks (different 
guitar lines or effect settings, etc.). This allows you much more freedom to experiment than a tape 
recorder can provide.
2-bit resolution 
(4 gray levels)3-bit resolution
(8 gray levels)
8-bit resolution
(256 gray levels)
Track 1: Drums Left
Track 2: Drums Right
Trac k  3: L ead  Gu i t ar
Track 4: Rhythm Guitar
Track 5: Saxophone
Trac k  7: L ead  v o c al s
Track 6: Bass line
Track 8: Backing vocals
Assigned 
playback 
tracks
Different harmony arrangements for 
backing vocals
Lead vocal attempts
Bass line played on different instruments
Saxophone takes
Rhythm guitar experiments with 
different effect settings 
Different takes of lead guitar line
Virtual 
tracksHere, we pick the best 
takes from the virtual 
tracks and assign them to 
the eight assigned play-
back tracks. 
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–Real and virtual tracks on the 788
12 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
Editing
One of the most useful features of a disk-based 
recorder such as the 788 is the ability to edit material. 
When working with a stereo tape recorder, the usual 
way of editing was with a white pencil, a razor blade 
and sticky splicing tape. In this way, unwanted parts 
of tape could be removed, and parts of a song (e.g. 
verses, choruses, intros) could be moved from one 
part of the song to another. However, there were 
many disadvantages to this (and it didn’t work with 
multitrack recorders).
The other way of tape editing is assembly from one 
recorder to another—you need two recorders, and 
some very precise (and often expensive!) synchroni-
zation equipment to do this.
Nondestructive editing on the 788 By con-
trast, the 788 allows you to use a wide variety of 
sophisticated editing techniques with no additional 
equipment.
If you have ever used a computer for word-process-
ing, you will know that you can cut and copy parts of 
a document, and paste them into other locations in 
the document, saving you a lot of boring, repetitive 
work.
Since the 788 stores its information as digital data, 
just as a word-processor stores your documents as 
digital data, parts of a song can be cut, copied and 
pasted to other locations in the song. You can cut, 
copy and paste all the tracks which have been 
recorded to make a song, or just one or a few tracks.
As a practical example, let’s suppose that you’re 
recording a song that has three chorus sections, with 
an identical, rather complex, guitar hook at the end of 
each of them. If you were recording to tape, you 
would record the hook for these three sections three 
times, each one in the appropriate place. Because this 
is a slightly tricky passage to play, you might only 
get it right once or twice. You’d have to go through 
the process of punching in and out at the places 
where you made the mistake, until you got it right 
three times.
With the 788, this becomes easier. You can copy and 
paste the part which was recorded properly, and 
replace the bad versions. This makes life a lot sim-
pler and quicker, as you only have to get the hook right once—the other times are simply “clones” of 
the perfect recording.
There are other ways you could use this feature—
used with care, it could be used to correct timing 
problems with an out-of-time player, or signals from 
microphones which are widely separated.
788 editing On the 788, you can copy, move, 
paste, add silence, close up gaps, wipe whole tracks, 
etc. in very simple operations. See “Track editing” on 
page 65 for details of the track editing operations 
available with the 788.
Undo and redo Furthermore, compared with a 
tape recording system, disk offers one very big 
plus—the ability to undo changes. For instance, if 
you make a mistake and copy a bad take of the cho-
rus over a good copy, you can undo it and restore 
what you originally recorded. You can’t do this with 
tape. This is why we call editing with disk “non-
destructive”—you don’t actually destroy the data 
immediately when you write over it, cut it or delete 
it, but you have a “safety net” to catch your mistakes.
However, the undo function is not available for every 
operation, though. For instance, there is no way to 
undo formatting a disk (and destroying all data on it). 
This is an operation from which there is no escape, 
once it has started (there are a few other non-undo-
able operations, such as erasing a song—these func-
tions are explained as being non-undoable when they 
are described in this manual).
Copy the good version and 
overwrite the bad takes
Bad takeBad take
Bad takeBad take
Good 
take
Good 
take
Good 
takeGood 
takeGood 
take
Good 
takeGood 
take 
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–Assignment
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 13
Multi-take punch-ins on the 788
Similar to the concept of “virtual tracks”, and also to 
the editing procedure above, is the idea of multi-take 
punches.
The 788 allows you to repeat a punch-in section, 
playing or singing the same phrase many times until you stop the punch procedure. All the successive 
takes of this phrase are stored on disk, and you can 
audition them all, and pick the best one to insert into 
the track.
Instant location on the 788
With a tape recorder, you must always wait a certain 
amount of time before moving from one part of a 
song to another. This is because it takes time for tape 
to be wound or rewound (even with the fast DTRS or 
DAT systems, moving between the start and end of a 
repeated section takes a definite amount of time).
However, a disk-based system like the 788 does not 
need to rewind, and therefore if a section is being looped, the start can follow immediately after the end 
section. This can be a little unnerving for musicians 
brought up on tape systems, and so the 788 allows 
you to set the period between the end and the start, 
simulating a tape rewind time.
You can set many location marks throughout a 788 
song, allowing you to jump instantly around even the 
longest pieces of music.
Recording technique
Remember, the 788 is a tool which helps you create 
recordings. Although it has many features which will 
assist you in making high quality recordings easily, 
the use of a 788 (or indeed, of any piece of equip-
ment) does not in and of itself guarantee a perfect 
recording. Above all else, we encourage you to learn to listen 
critically to your recordings—this will enable you to 
make the most from your equipment and add to your 
ultimate enjoyment.
Assignment
When recording signals on a multitrack system, the 
outputs of the signal sources (microphones, instru-
ments, effect returns or previously-recorded multi-
track tape tracks) must be plugged into the 
appropriate channels of the mixing console and 
assigned or routed to the appropriate destination.
When recording the first tracks, the destination will 
usually be the track or tracks of the multitrack 
recorder on which the signal will be recorded.
In the mixdown phase of a project, the destination 
will usually be the stereo pair to which the tracks will 
be mixed (usually on another recorder).In a conventional system, to change (say) a micro-
phone signal from input channel 1 of the mixer to 
input channel 4, it is either (in a small setup) neces-
sary to unplug the microphone from the mixer and 
reconnect or (in larger setups) to use a patchbay, 
where all the inputs and outputs are permanently 
connected at the rear of a “patch panel” and links are 
made using patch cords on the front. Digital patch-
bays are also available for the connection of digital 
signals.
The 788 internal patchbay
With the 788, no external patchbay is necessary. The 
unit incorporates its own digital patchbay with many 
advanced features. The techniques of actually mak-
ing the assignments in this internal patchbay are 
explained in more detail in “Assignment on the 788” 
on page 36. This section provides a brief overview of the facilities available when using the assignment 
patchbay of the 788.
The illustration here tries to show that although the 
sound sources may be connected to the same inputs 
of the 788 throughout a session, the signals from  
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–Assignment
14 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
these inputs may be assigned to different mixer chan-
nels as required during the recording process.
Although only a few dashed lines are shown here for 
simplicity, it is possible to connect any of the shown 
inputs to any of the eight mixer channels.
Every mixer channel is tied directly to the associated 
recording track on disk. This means that when 
recording, the output of mixer channel 1 always feeds recording track 1, mixer channel 3 always feeds 
track 3, etc. This cannot be changed.
However, when mixing down or track bouncing, the 
tracks themselves, which are usually the destination 
of the signals, become signal sources. In this case, 
tracks are assigned to channels, becoming the signal 
source. Again, track 1 is always assigned to channel 
1, track 2 is always assigned to channel 2, etc. In this 
case, however, there are 250 virtual tracks per song 
(see “Real and virtual tracks on the 788” on page 11) 
to choose from, and the virtual track that is currently 
assigned to a real track will be sent through the mixer 
channel to the 
STEREO outputs.
Track bouncing
As a further refinement, it is also possible to send the 
stereo output signal to a track or pair of tracks, allow-
ing track bouncing to take place, as described in 
“Multitrack tapes” on page 9. In this illustration tracks 7 and 8 are used to receive 
the mixed stereo tracks, which are fed by tracks 1 
through 6:
Note that the stereo fader does not actually affect the 
volume of the mixed tracks—it is placed in this dia-
gram for illustrative purposes only.
ABCDLR
AUX
INPUTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
81
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8 
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–Synchronization and the 788
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 15
Quick setup and the assign screen
The 788 allows you to see your current assignments 
easily in two ways (as explained in more detail in 
“Assignment on the 788” on page 36):
Firstly, when you press a mixer channel’s 
SELECT 
key, it flashes, along with the inputs that have been 
assigned to it.
Secondly, to see the whole map of the current assign-
ments, press and hold down the 
SHIFT key while 
pressing the 
ASSIGN MAP key:
Inputs are listed down the left side of the screen, and 
destinations along the top. A black mark at the inter-section of the input and destination means an assign-
ment of the input to the destination.
As well as this map, the 788 also allows you to set up 
different commonly-used assignment maps using the 
QUICK SETUP key.
The assignment maps that you can set up in this way 
are: 
RECORDING (where the inputs are 
assigned to the mixer channels (and hence to the 
tracks on a one-to-one basis), 
MIXDOWN, where 
the recorded tracks are routed to the stereo output 
bus, and 
BOUNCE 7/8 where tracks 1 through 
6 are routed to the stereo bus, which in its turn is 
routed to channels 7 and 8.
There is also a special library, as described elsewhere 
in this manual, where custom routing patterns can be 
stored and retrieved (as well as a library for storing 
the whole of the mixer’s settings).
Synchronization and the 788
One of the other key features of the 788 is its ability 
to synchronize with other equipment. This is espe-
cially useful when working with MIDI equipment, as 
the MIDI instruments do not actually need to be 
recorded until the final mixdown stage. 
Instead, one way of working is to record the basic 
MIDI tracks (say a bass and drums sequence) on a 
sequencer, and play it back as a guide “click” or 
backing track while recording guitars, vocals, etc. 
Alternatively, the acoustic tracks may be recorded 
first, and MIDI tracks added later as atmosphere.
In either case, at mixdown, the 788 provides you with 
a sub mix facility, that allows the inputs to be routed through to the master stereo mix in addition to the 
tracks recorded on disk.
There is no “right” or “wrong” way of working—you 
should choose the method that works best for you 
and your material. 
Note that in either case, the MIDI must be accurately 
synchronized to the acoustic recorded material at all 
times.
There are three basic methods of synchronization 
between the 788 and a MIDI system, briefly 
explained below. Full details of how to use these syn-
chronization facilities are provided in “Synchroniza-
tion” on page 94.
Timecode synchronization
Timecode is a way of specifying an absolute position 
in a recording. It is expressed in hours, minutes, sec-
onds, frames and bits. The number of frames in a sec-
ond depends on the timecode type—these are related 
to the audio-visual industry where timecode (some-
times known as “SMPTE” or “SMPTE/EBU” time-
code originated. There are five major “flavors” of 
timecode supported by the 788:
The 788 converts internal timecode so that it can be 
transmitted over MIDI (MIDI Time Code or MTC) 
and this is the way in which the 788 transmits and 
receives timecode.Frames/
second (fps)Timecode type
24 Movie
25 PAL/SECAM TV
29.97 drop NTSC color for broadcast
29.97 non-drop NTSC color TV
30 non-drop NTSC mono TV 
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–MIDI external control (MMC, etc.)
16 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
When synchronizing acoustic recordings to MIDI 
instruments using MTC, the 788 can act as a time-
code master or a slave with respect to your MIDI sys-
tem. Of course, your sequencer must be able to use 
MTC in order to do this.
In other words, when the 788 acts as a timecode mas-
ter, the sequencer determines its playback/record 
position from timecode received from the 788.When the 788 acts as a timecode slave, the sequencer 
sends out MTC to locate the 788 playback/record 
position. Note that many computer sequencers are 
not very accurate timecode masters, though—using 
the 788 as a timecode slave is probably best if you 
are going to use a stable MTC source, such as 
another 788.
Tempo map synchronization
As well as timecode, there is another way in which 
the 788 can be synchronized to MIDI sequencers, 
which depends on the position in bars (measures) and 
beats of a song .
The 788 is provided with a “tempo map”, which 
allows it to recognize that bar 1 starts at timecode time 00:00:00.00, and bar 2 starts 2 seconds later (for 
example).
To use this method of synchronization, it is first nec-
essary to set up this tempo map, so that musical posi-
tions can be mapped to timecode times.
Sync track recording
In this method of synchronization, the 788 records a 
MIDI timing clock data from the sequencer, and can later use this information for synchronization and 
song positioning.
MIDI external control (MMC, etc.)
As well as synchronization, the transport controls of 
a sequencer can be used to control transport, etc. 
functions on the 788.
Or, if you want to work the other way, MIDI com-
mands sent from the 788 can be used to control the 
sequencer.
These commands are known as MIDI Machine Con-
trol commands (MMC). Any machine capable of 
transmitting or responding to MMC may be provided 
with a unique ID, from 0 to 127.
Note that it is possible for a machine such as the 788 
to be a timecode slave at the same time that it is a 
MMC master (i.e. MTC timing information is 
obtained from an external source, but the transport 
controls of the 788 are used to control other devices, 
including possibly the timecode source) or vice 
versa.
In the illustration below, the MIDI interface of the 
computer is fitted with two outputs, one of which 
provides the slaved 788 with the MMC transport 
commands, and the other driving the synthesizer bank, etc. The sequencer takes its timing from the 
MTC output by the 788.
When starting synchronized playback, the sequence 
of events is therefore that the sequencer first sends an 
MMC Play command to the 788, which then locates 
to that position and starts playback. Meanwhile, the 
sequencer is waiting for MTC so that it can “lock in” 
and start playback. When the 788 starts playing, this 
MTC is received by the sequencer which then finally 
starts playback to the synthesizer.
Carries MIDI 
musical data to 
synths, etc.Carries MMC commands 
to control 788 transport, 
etc.
Carries MTC to 
synchronize 
sequencer
MIDI INMIDI INMIDI IN
MIDI OUT (2)MIDI OUT (1)
MIDI OUT 
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–SCSI issues
 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 17
MIDI remote control
In addition to the transport control described above, 
the 788 is able to accept MIDI Program Change mes-
sages to change mixer scenes, and routing tables, etc. 
as well as previously-set effector settings.It can also accept Control Change messages, which 
allow a sequencer, for example, to control mixer 
parameters as well as individual effector parameters, 
so that remote control of the sound can be carried out 
in real time for the final mix.
SCSI issues
SCSI (usually pronounced “scuzzy”) stands for 
Small Computer Systems Interface, and is a way of 
connecting computers and peripheral devices (e.g. 
hard disks, removable disk drives, scanners, tape 
drives, etc.).The 788 uses SCSI to communicate with its hard 
disk, since SCSI is a reliable, efficient way of send-
ing data between devices.
You can connect different types of SCSI device to the 
788, for example external hard disks, magneto-opti-
cal disks or other types of removable media, as well 
as SCSI-equipped CD-R and CD-RW drives.
SCSI connections
The 788 uses the SCSI-2 protocol, which is used by 
most modern hard disk drives, and storage devices. 
You can connect almost any SCSI storage device to 
the 788, and use it for data storage.
Any CD-R or CD-RW drive that you use with the 
788 must be a SCSI drive. Contact your TASCAM dealer or consult the TASCAM Web site for details 
of which drives are known to work well with the 788.
NOTE
You should never plug or unplug SCSI devices from the 
chain with the power to any of them switched on. If you do, 
there is a real risk that you will damage the devices beyond 
repair. 
SCSI IDs
SCSI devices are connected together in a “daisy-
chain” arrangement. The total length of the chain 
should be less than 3 m (about 10 ft.). 
Within each chain, each device must have its own 
unique identifier, known as a “SCSI ID”.
There may be up to eight devices within a SCSI 
chain, including the main SCSI controller (the 788 is 
a SCSI controller). Numbering of devices typically 
starts at 0 (zero) and goes up to 7.The internal disk in the 788 has SCSI ID 0, and the 
788 itself has SCSI ID 7. 
Make sure that every device in your SCSI chain, 
including the controller (788) has a different ID. If 
you create a SCSI chain with more than one device 
using the same ID, you will find that you have prob-
lems with the setup.
Consult the documentation for your other devices to 
find out how to set the ID (it may be a set of switches 
or a rotary switch).
SCSI termination
At each end of a SCSI chain, there must be a termina-
tor. This may either be a separate plug, or may be 
built into the SCSI device.Consult the documentation for your other devices to 
find out how to set the termination for them.
The 788 is always at the end of its SCSI chain, and is 
always terminated. 
						

							1 – Introductory concepts–Further reading
18 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
SCSI devices and backing up
The 788 contains a large, fast hard disk, which allows 
the recording of many songs on the same disk.
However, if you keep all your material, eventually 
this disk will fill up, and you must do some “house-
cleaning” to sweep away the unwanted material. 
The 788 incorporates a very useful feature which 
allows you to back up a song to CD-R or CD-RW 
media. These discs can hold a lot of data. In the case 
of a song being too big to fit on a single disc, the 788 
will automatically create multi-disc archives on 
which you can store your work. This, of course, is in 
addition to you being able to use a CD-R/RW disc as the final mastering device (mixdown of the final mas-
tered stereo tracks to CD-R/RW via SCSI).
In case you do not have a CD-R/RW drive, we sug-
gest the use of an external SCSI device which uses 
removable disks: the Iomega® zip® and jaz® drives 
can hold large amounts of data, as can magneto-opti-
cal (MO) disk drives. The songs on the internal hard 
disk can be copied to the external media for archival.
Note that you should not attempt to install an internal 
disk drive (either hard disk or removable) in your 
788. This is an operation that should be performed 
only by authorized TASCAM service agents.
Further reading
This section does not pretend to be a comprehensive 
listing or explanation of all these issues. If you have 
the time and interest, reading about these subjects is a 
very good way to add to your practical experience 
with the 788.
If you have Internet access, the Web is an excellent 
source of information. The following books are also 
useful reference sources, if you wish to explore these 
subjects in more depth.
Sound & Recording, 2nd edition 1994, Francis Rum-
sey & Tim McCormick, Focal Press, Oxford, is a 
good general introduction to recording theory and 
practice, starting from basic principles. However, the 
section on hard disk recording is not very long.
For detailed information on digital audio, including 
disk recording theory, The Art of Digital Audio, 2nd Edition 1994, John Watkinson, Focal Press, Oxford, 
is invaluable, but is somewhat technical in places.
MIDI Systems and Control, 2nd Edition 1994, Fran-
cis Rumsey, Focal Press, Oxford, has an excellent 
section on synchronization and machine control 
(chapter 6).
There are also many resources regarding SCSI. It’s 
not a subject that you usually need to know in enor-
mous detail, but an Internet search for “SCSI primer” 
will probably give you all the information you need.
If you are using your 788 with a sequencer, make 
sure that you read and understand the relevant sec-
tions of the sequencer manual, as well as the 788 
manual. This will probably avoid many problems 
with regard to synchronization. 
						

							TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 19
2 – Getting started
This section explains some of the principles of using 
your 788. It is not a “tutorial”—there are so many 
different ways in which the 788 can be used that it 
would probably not be useful for us to give you step-by-step instructions here covering every possibility. 
Instead, we have provided you with general instruc-
tions that will work in most cases.
Precautions, etc.
Treat the 788 with the same care and respect that you 
would treat a notebook or laptop computer, and it 
will last for a long time, and act as a useful creative 
tool to help you in your music-making.
However, there are a few precautions you should take 
with the 788:

always operate the 788 on a firm level surface. Do 
not locate it where it can be knocked or shaken—
hard disks are more sensitive than tapes.

always take note of any special instructions regard-
ing the care and maintenance of removable media, 
if you are using such media with the 788.

never eat or drink over the 788. Spilled liquid or 
food crumbs will not improve its performance! 
Also, smoke particles are the enemy of studio 
equipment. If possible, we suggest that you make 
your 788 work area a no-smoking area.

always allow the 788 to adjust to room temperature 
if you are bringing it from a cold to a warm place. 
This may take between 1 and 2 hours.
never connect or disconnect audio equipment with 
the monitoring levels turned up. This can cause 
damage to speakers (and ears!). Always turn down 
levels before making or breaking such connections.

always shut down the 788 before turning it off (see 
the following section). 

never move the 788 while it is powered on. Take 
special care never to move it while recording or 
playback is taking place, in order to avoid any pos-
sible damage to the disk. Shut down and power off 
the unit before moving it.

never make external SCSI connections with the 
power to the 788 or the external SCSI device turned 
on. Making SCSI connections with the power 
turned on can cause damage to the units, including 
the 788, which is expensive to repair! Shut down 
the unit and turn it off before making or breaking 
these connections.
Shutting down the 788
It may seem strange that the first thing we explain is 
how to turn off the 788. This is important, though, 
and you should get into the habit of always turning 
off the 788 in this way, as this will avoid any possible 
loss of data. 1Stop playback or recording (you cannot shut 
down the 788 while playback or recording is 
taking place).
2Turn down the level of the monitoring ampli-
fier (to avoid speaker “thumps”).
3Press the 
EJECT/SHUT key. 
4The indicator lights, and a message appears on 
screen asking if you are sure. Press 
ENTER/
YES
 to shut down the 788.
5As the 788 “tidies up” before closing down, 
appropriate messages appear on screen. At the 
end of the shutdown process, the message: 
is shown and the indicator flashes. Turn off the 
788 with the power switch on the rear panel.13
42 
						

							2 – Getting started–Power-on
20 TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio
Power-on
When the power is turned on, the display shows the 
power-up screen. All the front panel indicators light 
briefly.
The disks are then scanned, and the 788 performs 
internal self checks.
You will probably be able to hear the sound of the 
disks as the startup progresses. Depending on the 
number of disks connected to the 788, this may take a 
little time. 
After the check is complete, the 788 loads the song 
you were last working on.
NOTE
When you first purchase the 788, a demonstration song 
(“Liquor Store”) is already recorded on it. See the “Brief 
Guide” for details of how to load this song.
The song is recorded in 24-bit resolution and is protected. 
If you want to edit this song, or change parts of it, you must 
unprotect it, or make an unprotected copy of it first.
When the “home” screen (“The “home” display” on 
page 26) is shown, you can start to use the 788.
NOTE
There may be some noise output through the monitoring 
system while the 788 is turned on. For this reason, we 
strongly suggest that you follow the power-on order 
described previously (i.e. turn on the 788 before the moni-
toring system. If the monitoring system is already turned on 
when you need to turn on the 788, make sure the monitor-
ing system volume is turned down before you turn on the 
788.
Remember that you must always turn off the 788 “prop-
erly”, that is, using the method described in “Shutting down 
the 788” on page 19.
Do not simply press the power switch to turn off the 788—
there is a risk of possible loss of your recording if you do 
this.
About the demonstration song
We suggest that you use this song “Liquor Store” to 
experiment with some of the features of the 788.
However, before you start editing and experimenting 
with the song, you may want to make a copy (if only for comparison purposes), even though the 788 
includes a sophisticated undo function. Use the song 
copy function described in “Copying songs” on 
page 29.
A few notes about this manual
When we refer to a control or a connector on the 788, 
the name of the control, as printed on the front panel, 
is written like this: the 
RECORD key (front panel 
controls are called “keys”). We refer to the cursor 
keys as §, ¶, Ó and Á or sometimes as 
UP, 
DOWN, LEFT or RIGHT.
When we refer to a control or connector on another 
unit, it is written like this: the sequencer’s MIDI 
OUT connector.
On-screen messages are written like this: 
Go.
Always take note of the notes and tips if things aren’t 
working quite the way you might expect—they may contain information that you need to make things 
work properly.
Do take note of warnings and cautions—these con-
tain information which advises you of possible dam-
age to you and the equipment!
NOTE
Notes like this are useful additional information which 
explain features and other matters, etc. that affect the 
working of the 788.
TIPmay help you to ge t the  b est ou t of your 7 88.
Tips like this provide additional information to help you use 
the 788 to its best advantage.