Tascam Portastudio 424mkIII Owners Manual

							23 Connections
Master level
Monitor source
Routing inputs
Playback levelHow to mix down
When the 4 tracks are all recorded, the final step is mixing them into a
standard stereo format. This procedure is known as Remixing or
Mixing down. During this procedure the tracks are blended together
and balanced to create the desired sound.
1. Connect the LINE OUTPUT L jack of the 424 MKIII to the left line
input of the mixdown deck, and the LINE OUTPUT R jack to the
right line input.
2. Raise the MASTER fader to the shaded area between 7 and 8.
3. Set the MONITOR SELECT LINE OUT switch to the L-R position.
4. Set all the INPUT select switches on the input channels to the
right TAPE position.
5. Press PLAY and, while listening to the tape play, tentatively set
the channel faders.
6. Adjust the PAN controls to set each tracks left-to-right position
for the desired stereo image. You may also want to use the EQ
controls to adjust the individual tracks for the desired tonality.
(For using effects, see page 35.)
7. Using the MASTER fader, adjust the overall playback level so the
monitor level meter averages around 0 and peaks below +6. 
						

							24Review
Record level8. When the signal balance, level, and tonality sound right, rewind
the tape, and press PLAY again to check the result.
9. Rewind the multitrack tape again. Put a blank tape in the
mixdown deck and let it play for 5 seconds, then stop it and reset
the mixdown decks counter to zero.
10. Press PLAY on the 424 MKIII.
11. Put the mixdown deck into its Record Ready mode, and adjust
its input level controls for the desired record level.
12. Rewind the multitrack tape to the beginning of the recording.
13. Put the mixdown deck into Record mode then press PLAY on the
424 MKIII.
14. When recording is done, stop both machines, rewind the
mixdown tape and listen to it.
If the mixdown tape does not sound right, make the necessary
corrections and re-do from the beginning.
Using channels 5 and 6 with alternative inputs at mixdown: 
When channels 1 through 4 are being used to replay previously-
recorded tape tracks, channels 5 and 6 can be used to add signals
received at the MIC/LINE INPUTS of channels 1–4.
Set the INPUT switch for channel 5 to 1 or 3 or 5, and the INPUT
switch for channel 6 to 2 or 4 or 6.
These signals will appear in the final stereo mix. Use the PAN control
to position them in the desired stereo position. 
						

							25
Using Memory Location Points
MEMO 1
MEMO 2
Establishing new MEMOs
Recalculation of MEMOs
Checking MEMO points
ErasingLoading MEMO points
Two autolocation points can be established in the 424 MKIIIs memory
system.
At the desired moment, hold the MEMO IN key and press the LOC 1
key. The MEMO 1 indicator will turn on, showing that the current tape
location is loaded into that register.
Similarly, if you hold MEMO IN and press LOC 2, the current tape
location is loaded as memory point 2 into that register.
Each time LOC 1 or 2 is pressed while MEMO IN is held down, a new
memory point is established, and the previous memory point is
erased. 
MEMO points cant be entered while the tape is locating to either
MEMO point or during REPEAT.
If the COUNTER RESET button is pressed, both MEMO points are
automatically recalculated, so they stay the same relative to their
original tape positions.
When the tape is stopped, hold down the desired LOC key 
(for 0.5 second or more). The content of the corresponding MEMO
register will be displayed in the counter window.
Remember :If you dont hold down but just hit the LOC key, the tape
is autolocated to the corresponding MEMO point.
Both MEMO points are erased when the cassette is taken out from
the compartment or the power is turned off. 
						

							26To zero
To MEMO 1
To MEMO 2
Auto playLocating the tape
Press the RTZ key to fast wind the tape to the counter zero point.
If you press COUNTER RESET during the RTZ process, the tape
counter is reset to 0000 and the tape stops.
Hit the LOC 1 key to fast wind the tape to the MEMO 1 point.
Note :Only touch the LOC key. If you hold it down for 0.5 second or
more, autolocation does not start and only the tape counter shows
the location point.
Hit the LOC 2 key to fast wind the tape to the MEMO 2 point.
Note :For the deck to autolocate, the current point must be 0003 or
more higher or lower than the memo point. A shorter distance only
causes the MEMO 1 (or 2) indicator to flash upon hitting the LOC 1 (or
2) key.
If PLAY is pressed after RTZ, LOC 1 or LOC 2, the tape will auto-
matically start playing when the location point is reached. 
						

							27
Repeat Play
Operating procedure
To interrupt REPEAT
sequence
Note 1
Note 2
The REPEAT function provides a Playback Loop or Block Repeat
between the two programmed MEMO points. The 424 MKIII
understands the lower MEMO point as the start point of the loop, and
the higher point as the end.
1. Use MEMO IN and LOC 1 and LOC 2 (as explained above) to
establish the beginning and the end of loop.
2. Press the REPEAT key. The tape will fast wind to the lower MEMO
point.
3. As soon as that location is reached, the tape will automatically
start playing to the higher MEMO location.
4. When the tape reaches the end of the loop, it will automatically
rewind to the lower MEMO location and start over.
Press any transport keys (except Play). The function pressed will be
activated. If the tape is wound outside the repeat loop points, the
REPEAT LED that was on solid will start blinking.
To resume the REPEAT sequence –;
-Press the LOC 1 or LOC 2 key.
OR
-If you are now within the loop or shortly behind the lower MEMO
point, press PLAY.
Repeat Play does not work while the 424 MKIII is in Record mode
(REC LED is blinking or lights on solid).
A space of 0003 or more (as controlled on the tape counter) is
required between two memo points. If you create a smaller loop and
press REPEAT, the REPEAT indicator does not light up in the display
and both the MEMO 1 and MEMO 2 indicators flash, showing that the
loop cannot be played. 
						

							28
PUNCH-IN or INSERT Recording
Selecting in and 
out pointsPunching in or insert recording is recording over a small section
of previously recorded track to correct or improve a performance,
while keeping the rest of the track intact. The mixer settings should
be exactly the same as they were during the original recording.
In the following, well use track 2 as the punch-in track as an example.
1. As the punch-in track is track 2 in our example, your input must
be sent to the stereo right bus. To do so, rotate the PAN control of
the channel into which your source instrument is plugged all the
way to the right.
2. TAPE CUE signal path is used to hear the tape, so set the 
EFFECT 2/TAPE CUE select switch (located below the 
MONITOR LEVEL control) to the TAPE CUE position and set the
EFFECT/CUE monitor switch to EFFECT 2/CUE.
3. To hear the instrument, set the MONITOR SELECT LINE OUT
switch to the MONO position. 
4. Press PLAY to play the tape, adjust the TAPE CUE control on
channel 2 until the MONITOR level meters read a maximum of
from 0 to +3, and adjust the MONITOR LEVEL control for the
desired headphone listening level.
5. Play the instrument. Youll hear it together with the tape signals
through the headphones. Stop the tape, and you hear only the
instrument being played.
6. Set the TRK 2 RECORD FUNCTION switch to BUSS R. The REC 2
indicator will start blinking in the display window, and meter 2
will show your instruments output level. Adjust the channel and
MASTER faders for the proper recording level.
For both musical and technical reasons, when punching in or out of a
track, you must select points that are in the points clear, i.e., in
pauses between phrases or notes. Sound seems unnatural and
inserts are noticeable if a new note is recorded before the old one has
ended, or a note is held as you punch in or out. Making smooth
inserts requires practice. Spacing between the erase and record
heads requires that you anticipate in/out points by a fraction of a
second for extremely tight cues. Use the following procedures with
the REHEARSAL switch on.
Preliminary 
						

							29 Rehearsing Punch-in
(Insert) recording
Storing the punch-in and
out points into memoryRehearsal and Auto In/Out Procedures
You can rehearse your punch-in as many times needed without
affecting the existing recording. During rehearsal, what you hear in
the monitor mix and read on the level meters will be the same as
during recording, but signal wont be recorded on tape.
1. Cue the tape up a few seconds before you reach the expected
punch-in point.
2. Press the REHEARSAL switch. The RHSL indicator will start
blinking in the display.
3. Press PLAY to start playing (preroll). The START indicator will
glow on the display. The counter readout at which the key was
pressed is stored as the START point. The MEMO 1 or 2 indicator
turns off (if it was lit).
4. When you reach JUST BEFORE the error, press RECORD to start
recording (punch in). The IN indicator will glow on the display
and an LED will start flashing above the RECORD button. The
counter readout at which the key was pressed is stored as the
PUNCH-IN point.
5. When the tape reaches the expected punch-out point, press PLAY.
The OUT indicator will turn on, and the IN indicator and the
LED above the RECORD button will turn off. The counter readout
at which the key was pressed is stored as the PUNCH-OUT point.
6. The tape will play for about 3 seconds (postroll), then will
automatically rewind, stopping at the START point. The RHSL
indicator that was blinking will glow solid in the display.
7. Press PLAY (or REPEAT if you want to practice the performance
over and over again, continuously). When the tape reaches the
preset punch-in point, the monitor will switch from tape to live
instrument on the punch-in track (in our example, on track 2).
The RECORD LED will blink to indicate that you are rehearsing
punch-in recording, not actually recording. Rehearsal 
						

							30When the tape reaches the preset punch-out point, you will be
able to hear the old material existing on track 2, letting you check
that the new material is smoothly followed by the old one. The
RECORD LED will turn off, indicating that the dry-run record is
over.
After 3 seconds of play (postroll) the tape will automatically
rewind, stopping at the START point, so you can again go
through the rehearsal procedure.
cTo change the punch-in and out points, press CLEAR, and
restart from the beginning.
cIf you want to quit Rehearsal mode for any reason, press
CLEAR. RHSL goes out and the start, punch-in and out points
are cleared from memory.
-Practice the performance until you are sure that you will get it
right when actually recording. Remember, punching-in over
existing material erases the original signal.
-When the REHEARSAL key is pressed during playback, the
counter readout at which the key is pressed is stored as the
START point. 
-You can store the Punch-In/Out or Rehearsal point also using the
optional remote footswitch (RC-30P). 
Suggestion: During the punch-in setting or the rehearsal process,
if you press the footswitch after STOP, the tape will rewind to
your START point.
-Rehearsal function is not available while the 424 MKIII is in the
locate, repeat or record mode.
-Locate or repeat function is not available while storing Punch-
In/Out points in memory. 
-After the Punch-In/Out points have been stored in memory, the
424 MKIII cannot enter the record mode (whereby RECORD LED
blinks or glows).
-If you press any of the transport keys during storage of the
Rehearsal (Punch-In/Out) points, the 424 MKIII will start operation
corresponding to the key pressed. However, only when the REW
key is pressed, the tape will rewind, stopping at that Start point.
Once youre sure your performance and the in/out points selected are
correct, youre ready to actually record the insert using the Auto
Punch-In/Out feature.
Before proceeding to the next step, #8, check to see that the RHSL
indicator is on solid in the display, showing that your punch-in and
out points are in memory, and that all REC indicators beneath the
meters are off (except the one for the punch-in track), showing that all
non-punch-in tracks are in Safe mode.
Actual Auto Punch In/Out 
						

							31 Manual Punch-in
8. Press the AUTO PUNCH switch. RHSL will turn off and AUTO
will start blinking in the display.
9. Press PLAY.
What you have anticipated in REHEARSAL will automatically
occur in sequence: preroll, punch in, punch out, postroll, rewind,
and stop.
AUTO will be solidly displayed when the 424 MKIII punches out
of record.
10. Press PLAY (or the optional footswitch). The tape will play the
entire length of insert and rewind to the START point.
After completing auto review if you want to re-do the auto
punch-in and out using the same settings, press the AUTO
PUNCH switch once more and AUTO, which was lit steadily,
starts flashing as before, showing that the auto punch-in process
will restart when pressing PLAY.
cTo Disable AUTO PUNCH Mode,press CLEAR. The memory
points will be cleared and AUTO will turn off in the display.
The 424 MKIII lets you manually punch in, too. There are 2 ways to
initiate the punch-in recording. The first is with the transport RECORD
button, and the second is with the optional footswitch.
We always use track 2 as the punch-in track in the following example.
Perform the Preliminary on page 28, if you havent yet done so.
1. Check to see that the REC 2 indicator is blinking showing track 2
is in Rec Ready mode. Locate the tape a little behind the expected
punch-in point. Then press PLAY.
2. When you reach JUST BEFORE the error, press RECORD. The
REC 2 indicator that was blinking will be solidly displayed and
track 2 enters Record mode. 
3. To punch-out of record, press PLAY. The REC 2 indicator that was
solidly displayed again blinks to indicate that recording is over.
4. To stop the tape, press STOP. Auto Review
Punching-in/out with
RECORD 
						

							32Using the remote
footswitch (RC-30P)If you are recording alone and are too busy playing an instrument to
push the switches, the optional remote footswitch really comes in
handy.
1. Plug the RC-30P into the REMOTE PUNCH IN/OUT jack on the
rear panel of the 424 MKIII.
2. Check that the REC 2 indicator is blinking, and locate the tape to a
point a little before the error, then press PLAY.
3. When you reach JUST BEFORE the error, press the footswitch.
This has the same effect as pressing RECORD, and the REC 2
indicator that was blinking will glow steadily to indicate track 2 is
in Record mode.
4. To punch-out of record, press the footswitch again. It has the
same effect as pressing PLAY. The REC 2 indicator will start
blinking again.
5. To stop the tape press STOP.