4
5
the volume, EQ, effects, and stereo
position of each track, producing a
standard CD , DVD, or cassette for
other people to listen to.
Differences in multitrack
equipment.
No matter what equipment you
buy, the basic process of tracking/
overdubbing/mixdown is the same.
The differences between equipment
consist of:
ó
The number of tracks
(4, 8, 16, or more)
ó
The
medium
that the tracks
are recorded on (tape, hard disk,
RAM, etc.)
ó
How fl exible the mixer is (how
many channels, what kind of EQ,
how many effect sends, what
kind of inputs, and whether the
mixer can be
automated
)
ó
What other equipment is includ-
ed with the
workstation
such as
effect processors
that add reverb
effect processors
effect processors
or special effects, synthesizers
and drum machines, or even mi-
crophones
ó
Whether a stereo mixdown
machine is included in the work-
station (for example, some can
make standard CDs or MP3s to be
posted on a web site)
ó
Whether the system can be ex-
panded for more tracks or chan-
nels or recording
time, without
switching to an
entirely new
system
ó
Whether it
includes a
MIDI
sequencer
which can play syn-
sequencer
sequencer
thesizers and drum machines
in sync to the audio (these are
called
virtual tracks).
Don’t worry if you don’t com-
pletely understand these differences
yet...it will become clear when we
explain each product.
What route should you
take?
TASCAM pioneered the concept
of the personal project studio when
it introduced the fi rst affordable
4-track recorders in the 1970s. It
now offers many different products
designed to help you get started in
multitrack recording, depending on
your needs:
ó
Portastudios
: a 4-track analog
cassette multitrack combined
with a mixer (the features of
TASCAM’s various models are
described in the colored boxes
on page 3 and at right.)
ó
Pocketstudio
5
: a self-contained
recorder/arranger/mixer/effects
device that records into digital
memory (see page 7)
ó
788
: a high-quality 8-track
digital Portastudio with a
digital mixer and effects
(see page 9)
ó
Computer interfaces such as
our
US-
122
,
US-
224,
US-
428
and software that turn your
personal computer into a complete
multitrack music production
system (see pages 9 and 11).
We’ll explain the advantages of
each of these products, but the “right
one” depends on your musical goals
and how you like to work. In addi-
tion to fi nding out about the gear,
you need to answer a few questions
about yourself:
?
How musically advanced are
you?
What kind of music will
you be producing? Do you need
a lot of tracks for overdubbing vocal
and instrumental parts? Will you
play the tracks yourself, or are you a
vocalist singing over someone else’s
tracks?