Tascam 644 Midistudio Owner'S Manual Download

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Summary of Contents for 644 Midistudio

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Page 2: ... ɇ Ĳ ɇ RŴ łŜ ŵOŨ ɇ Rp œ ɇ ô Ʉɇ Ēɇ ń Ȃ Ƈ ƽ ɇț ɇ ķ ɇ ȵ µɇ ɇ N ɇ ũ ɇ U ƾ ɇ ǘɇ Ä ƨɇ ĸŅɇa GǦzȷ ì F ɇjL ɇ ĕ ɇř ƒƏ Ǽ ɇƞǬ ɇ Ĺņɇ Ȋ 0ɇ ǽ 0 u Ơɇõ öɇl ɇ ȱ Ǿɇ ǯ ǿ Ȝ ɇ1Ù_ ɇ ŌPĳ ɇ ɇ ɇ Nn ɇ şȶ T ƿȸ2 ɇ ɇ 9 ɇ ɇ ɇ ɇ 0Çɇ M Mɇl ɇ ōŉo ɇ OůŪ Bū ɇ r į Ŋ ɇ fɇ Ĥèɇğɇ sH ÉZ Ȟǀ ɇŎ ĴŇɇ Ð ǙɇU ǧ ɇƈ ǚ ɇ ȃ ɇ W ɇ Ģ9 ɇ ɇ Đģhɇ İƩS ǁ ɇ U ɇÜ Òɇ Ý ɇ ɇ0 Ǜ ȋɇ5ø ɇ ĝ 5ɇ Ȁ 2 ơɇÈȫ Aɇ Wɇ G Ɠɇǜ ȌŸƢ ɇ ù ɇ 99 ɇ ĿpB ŰQľŠɇ B oɇ sQ rɇ Ʌ Ɇi ɇ ĥímČɇ 2...

Page 3: ...efeate d 12 Power Cord Pro tion Power supply cords should be routed so that they Me not likely 10 be walked on or pinch ed by items placed upon or against them paying part icular attention to cords at plugs convenience receptac les and the point where they exit from th e appliance 3 13 Clean ing The appliance should be cleaned only as recom mended by the manufacturer 14 Power Lines An outdoor ante...

Page 4: ...ou can use a variety of different effects reverbs de lays choruses etc on different inputs MIDI Tape synchronization with Song Position Pointer same as that used by the TASCAM MTS 30 is built in so that the capabi lities of MIDI sequencing can be blended with the advantages of multitrack recording To make the 644 Midistudio easy to use TASCAM designed an all electronic switching system that auto m...

Page 5: ...e scenes preset by the factory but it s easy to make scenes customized for your particular studio You can also have the scenes chanqe via external MIDI commands see p 26 MIDI Aut omation Secti on MIDI Tape Synchron izer MIDI sequencers and rhythm machines can be synchro nized using MIDI clocks digital pulses that set the tempo of the machines A MIDI Tape Synchronizer MTS built in to the Midistudio...

Page 6: ...e 82 499 EEC There are two counter displays one showing the current position and the other showing an autolo cate or punch point The counter display can show either reel revolutions or acts as a timer showing ho w long the transport has been in PLAY mode In add ition the transport capstan motor is servo control ed so that the tape speed can be increased or decreased with the PITCH CON TROL to matc...

Page 7: ...XL II or equivalent formula tions We str ongly suggest that you select one good qualit y brand and use it exclus ively The time you spend creating your multitrack master is much more valuable than the money you save by buying inferior tape The cassette shell essentially becomes a part of the 644 s transpo rt Poor quality shells can cause wrinkles snarls and shredding of the edges of the tape with ...

Page 8: ...ant to recognize that they behave as if they were separate When you plug into Input 1 you re plugging into the mixer not tra ck 1 of the recorder You have to use the mixer controls to assignthat input to whatever track of the recorde r you want it to go to lmlll m 0 I r J I a J 1 J I Multitreck Record er Undemandingthe Mixer The mixer of the 644 functions as a traffic control center for all the ot...

Page 9: ...an be connected to the EF FECT RETURNs or even back to anothermixer input Note that the EFFECT RETURNs are act ually fo ur specia lized inputs to the Main Mix since the y can also be assigned to the four groups 9 be recorded onto one track The Main mix is most often used to cut basic tracks overdub ping pong and at final mixdown The Main Mix system can also be used as a sound reinforcement mixer P...

Page 10: ... until SCEN E 01 appears in th e display 2 PressRECALL The scene number will stop blinking To recall scenes you can opt ionally use the RC 60P foots witch When connec ted to the REMOTE UP DOWN jack C nthe front and pressed it has the same effect as pressing UP or DOWN and then RECALL 10 3 Press PLAY The cassette should start to move 4 Find the three DISPLAY keys and indicators and press METER OUTP...

Page 11: ...he MASTER and CHANNEL faders to adjust the monitor level change the monitor controls only Put the recorder into record mode 14 Press PLAY and allow the tape to nm for about 15 second s This will run the tape leader onto the take up reel and put the beginning of the tape in front of the heads 11 15 Press the TRT key until the COUNTER TAT display is in counter mode It will show 4 numbers without a c...

Page 12: ...CORD FUNCTION RECORD and PLAY lights will all go on solid and you are now recording on track two Perform your first overdub 12 12 Press STOP then RTZ The 644 will rewind the tape to the start position Li1tento the overdub 13 Press LAY Incre ase the DUAL LEVEi 10 cont oJ to hear the playback of track 2 You can adjust the DUAL PAN and LEVEL controls to get a stereo monitor mix of the first two track...

Page 13: ... be reading the same if not adjust the input level control of the mastering recorder When in doubt the meters of the master should be your reference 11 Adjust the channel PAN controls as desired See p 21 Using the Dual for effects during mix down Set yo ur monitoring level You can t mix it if you can t hear it And your mon itor ing levels need to be variable wit hout affecting the mix feeding the ...

Page 14: ...ch in track when the tape reaches the punch in point The LEDs above the Track and RECORD button will light steadily showing that recording is taking place 4 To punch out press REC ORD FUN CT ON again you could also press STOP or PLAY IREHEARSAL AND AUTO IN OUT PROCEDUR ES I The 644 MlDISTUDIO can automatically punch in and out for you relying on its built in counter for reference Rehearsing Insert...

Page 15: ... To Leave REHEARSAL Mode To defin itely QUIT rehearsal without recording at any time press CLEAR The RHSL memory points will be 15 cleared and RHSL will disappear from the display To temporarily leave rehearsal press STOP PAUSE REW or F FWD The MEMORY display will continu ously show the start point regardless of where you move the tape to To resume rehearsal press PLAY when you are at a point lowe...

Page 16: ...ents following Using the Scene Display to Create Your Own Scenes col 2 of this page or load factory presets following p 19 Restoring Factory Presets 16 2 Bring up the MONITOR GROUP 3 4 level contro l Turn off all other MONITORswitches except Group 3 4 During a bounce it s important that you don t hear anything in the mix except the mix feeding the tape recorder 3 Press the DISPLAY OUTPUT key o you...

Page 17: ...to change th e sett ings of a scene the re are three steps a Display the data you want to change you can t change what you can t see If th isplay was in a 11 ET ER mode the display will automat ical ly 17 switch to the scene display the moment you press any assign or input key except MUTE b Arm the particular routing you want to take choose the groups you want to assign or the source you want to s...

Page 18: ...re them to on e of the memo ry locations ot her wise th ey will be lost when you turn the power off 18 MEMO RY indicato r Right under the two digit scene number display this indicator shows that you have made some changes to a scene You can think of it as a temporary buffer memory that you can carry UP and DOWN to other memory locations where they can be permanent ly stored The MEMORY indicator wi...

Page 19: ... IN to the MIDIfiler s MIDI OUT 2 Set the MIDI channel of the 644 to match the data filer s send channel and have the filer enter Bulk Out Ready mode 3 Turn the SYNC switch to the SCENE DATA posi tion 4 Press the LOAD SAVE key 1 uml LOAD appears under the scene number display 5 Hav e the filet start sending out the scene data The scene number will begin to count upwards from 01 to 99 this takes a ...

Page 20: ...ing above the noise that effect units generate To get the best signal to noise from most effects units you should send it as st rong a signal as you can With a properly set input signal in the Midistudio the channe l AUX turned up to about 3 o clock POST and the AUX MASTER at about 2 o clock you should get a fairly loud signal from the AUX OUT jack If your effects device has an input level control...

Page 21: ...s the output of an effects device must be plugged into an EFFECT RETURN either They can also be plugged into LINE inputs and sent to either the MAIN or DUAL mix if you are cautious about one thing make sure the AUX 1 and AUX 2 pots of those channels are set to the center off position Otherwise you will be sending the output of the effect device back to itself which is a kind of feedback If the eff...

Page 22: ... song pointers that allow a MIDI sequencer to chase lock the tape tracks and control synthesi zers in perfect synchronization Click track and sync tone analogy Before there was MIDI or sync to ne there was the human equivalent a click track This was a metro nome that was recorded on one track of the recorder as 22 a time base for the mus1c1ans doing overdubs The drummer would hear the click track ...

Page 23: ... Reverb Delay Echo Comp etc 2 Trac k Mixdown Recorder 23 piece of hardware with a line level signal output and each of the 16 different instruments represents a virtual track to us even if your sequencer sees them as one stream of data THE RECORDING SYSTEM WITH MID I SYNCHRONIZATION On page 8 we showed you the traditional mult itrack system with its six elements When you add MIDI sync you add 4 el...

Page 24: ...H RU jack of the 644 simply echoes them from the sequencer to the instruments However if desired the 644 will respond to and issue a limited number of Channel messages Program Changes can change the 644 from one scene to another and certa in NOTE commands can turn individual mutes on and off For more details on how to do these refer to the sect ion MID I Automation on page 26 24 PROCEDURES FOR MID...

Page 25: ...the multitrack or wait unti l final mixdo wn Three tape tracksplusthirteenother inputs Since trac k 4 will be used for recording the MTS tone you never need to listen to that track it s interna lly routed to the trans lator So in MIDI sync ope ration channel 4 Main and channel 12 Dual are both free to be used for instrument or mic input Hookup Example Here we have a rhythm machine with BASS SYNTH ...

Page 26: ...Program Change comma nds from a MIDI keyboard or other contro ller to change scene numb ers of the 644 Lis e note commands from a keyboard or sequencer to individually mute and unmute the main channels of the 644 Set the MIDI channel of the 644 so it wi ll send and receive commands on any MIDI channe l interface standard A complete explanation of proce dures will be found in the manual for your sy...

Page 27: ... rr nl DC IN f OV lieMOT l U SC W S V OIO CQK Tl IO 0 G6 0 i L Ml N l EXT SYNC_____ 8 EFFECT RETURN MONITOR 0B M D 0 I o O SPL a t CGa 1VNCTION a 9 0 10 0 o g g LJ LJLJ D BEJ EJ B CotJN Tll tfllT ORY 3 4 6 8 1 L 2 A 3 4 01 G G EJ B J L L J Bfl B B 1 0 00 1 l J 27 ...

Page 28: ...ne sources You can determine th e proper MIC TR IM level for your application with the help of the INPUT METER After the mic level has been set with the MIC TRIM control signal goest to the scene display where _MIC INPUT can be chose n for any MAIN or DUAL channe l path 2 EOualizer The three band with midrange sweep equalizer allows you to adjust the tonality of the signal going through the MAIN c...

Page 29: ...tion is usually used for tape mon itoring dur ing tracking and overdubbing but can also be used for eight additional inputs to the ma in mix or as a stereo effects send from the main channels 29 6 DUAL PAN This contro l allows you to create stereo mixes by sending the DUAL input in continuous ly variable degrees anywhere to the left or right of the stereo DUAL OUTPUT It gets its signal from the DU...

Page 30: ... right fader controls the output levels of grol ps 3 and 4 MONITORSEC TION This sect ion controls what you hear in your headphones or mon itor speakers It takes signals from all other mixes and allows you to hear any of them in combination You can adjust the level you hear without disturbing the level going to the outputs or to tape 14 GROU P 1 2 and 3 4 Levels Adjust these rotary controls to cont...

Page 31: ...The ASS IGN MAIN switch of a channe l gets its signal from the lower PAN control and sends it to the GROU P MASTER FA DER Note that if a channel s pan pot is turned all the way to the right no signa l will go to group 1 or 3 even if the channel is assigned to those groups The ASSIGN EFF switches get their signals from the EF FECT RETU RN level contro ls and also send it on to th e GROUP MAST ER FA...

Page 32: ...NNEL keys 5 8 will have no effect because t here are only 4 tape tracks If MAIN is lit in the INPUT d ispa ly yo u will be choos ing tape as th e source for a ma in channe l 1 4 Th is is the route usually taken du ring mixdown or bouncing t rack s see p 12 If DUA L is lit you will be choos ing tape as t he sou rce fo r a dua l channel 9 16 which 32 is the usual mon itoring pos ition during trackin...

Page 33: ...terna l two track The LINK DUAL GAP ind icator will light with GAP 1 2 undernea th Anythin g panne d to th e left side of the dual mix will 33 go to group 1 anything panned to the right will go to group 2 Press the LINE GAP 1 2 key again to dis connect the DUAL output from_the groups 31 LINK DUAL GRP 3 4 Press this key to patch the stereo mix from t he DUAL MASTER onto the GROUP 3 4 MAST ER output...

Page 34: ...ginal scene See p 18 Saving Scenes 38 LOAD SAV E This key is active only in MIDI SYNC or SCENE DATA modes set by the 4 position SYNC switch Press this key to switch between SAVE or LOAD in the display under the scene number Save means saving informat ion onto tape and load means loading data from the tape track 4 into either the MlDI SYNC translator or the scene memories of the MIDISTUDIO See p 20...

Page 35: ...LED fo r EXT will light steadily ind icating th at th e capatan motor is under control of a DC 5 V reference signal coming from the exte rior Inte rrup tio n of this externa l signal will cause the LED to blink 42 PITCH CONTRO L Th is knob allows you to adjus t the speed of th e 644 by plus or minus 12 app rox in either PLAY or RECORD You can use this speed con tro l to accommoda te minor changes ...

Page 36: ...oints or tape end is reached 48 RECORD Button Pressing this button alone has no effect Pressing it together with PLAY carr ies tw o funct ions 36 45 46 47 48 1 If any RECORD FUNCTION switches are engaged the LEDs above them as well as the RECORD LED will stay on and record ing will begin on the cor responding tracks 2 If none of the RECORD FUNCT ION switches is engaged the RECORD LED will blink to...

Page 37: ...s in the 644 s memory system They can be used while the tape is stopped or rolling Pressing either button at any point on the tape loads the current tape counter number into that memory register and into the MEMORY display Each time the button is pressed a new MEMO point is established erasing all previous memories in that register MEMO 1 or MEMO 2 will light in the MEMORY wi ndow to show which lo...

Page 38: ... l sta rt a rehearsal loop The MEMOR Y display will read out the fo llowing messages as you go through the Rehe arsal Set operat ions RHSL indicator on solid 1 START xxxx a ppears asyoup ressPL AY an d t he 644 will star t the pre roll 2 I N xxx x appears as you press RECORD Th is loads the 644 s memory with the Punch in point 3 OUT xxxx appears as you press PLAY again This loads the 644 s memory ...

Page 39: ...LR to 1 4 adapter alternatively use an in line mic transformer if you need more gain or if un balanced operation is noisy PS Ml Power Supply cable 68 69 67 POWER a T SC M PS WI Ol Y A A rvu rm 0 g 9 o o M 01 1 EXT SYNC___ J 6 1 62 58 MI C BA L 7 15 8 16 These XLR connectors are the prime connection point for low impedance balanced microphones Pin assignment is as follows Pin 3 is high pin 2 is low...

Page 40: ...ack 4 when the Midistudio is in EXT SYNC mode If you are us ing external MIDI synchronization such as that built in to a sequencer or are using SMPTE t ime code connect to these jacks The IN LEVEL should be set so that signal is recorded between 5 and OdB on Tape 4 s meter The OUT LEVEL should be set to match th e level expected by the external device The LEVEL controls under most conditions shoul...

Page 41: ...pressing UP or DOWN and RE CALL 72 PHONES 1 2 Jae s Any st ereo headphones with a 1 4 TRS stereo plug may be plugged into this jack Lower impedance headphones to 8 ohms wil l be louder than high impedance 150 to 600 ohms headphones in most cases Do not plug a standard mono 1 4 cab le into this jack under any circumstances A CCESSORY 2 SERIAL CONNECTOR The Midistudio 644 operates to its full potent...

Page 42: ...dry swab Cleaningthe Pinch Roller Clean the pinch roller at least once each day the deck is used Use a good rubber cleaner 1 Push up the transport protection lever as illustrated Press the PLAY button to engage the pinch roller and capstan shaft while holding the protection lever up 2 Lightly press a cotton swab moistened with rubber cleaner to the pinch roller on the right hand side of the capsta...

Page 43: ...tant feature especiall y when you re making live recordings The DBX employs RMS level sensors to eliminate compressor expander tracking errors due to phase shifts in the tape recorder and pro vides excellent transient trac king capabilities To achieve a large reduction in audible tape hiss withou t danger of overload or high frequency self erasure on the tape frequency pre emphasis and de emphasis...

Page 44: ... your inst rument Your instrument should change programs at the same time the 64 4 changes scenes See Note about Program Numbers above CONTRO LLING MUTES WIT H NOTE MESSAGES The 644 makes also it possible to mute individual input channels witn MIDI note commands To experiment with this you must have a velocity sensitive keyboard capable of sending notes 36 through 43 NOTE To use MIDI note messages...

Page 45: ... d Impedance Mi nimum Load Impedance N ominal Oulput Level Maxim um Output Level Compact cassette C 30 to 90 Hi Bias type II Cr0 2 tape 4 track 4 channel single directional record play 1 4 channel record play Permalloy 1 4 channel erase ferrite 1 DC servo capstan motor 1 DC reel motor 1 DC ancillary motor 9 5 cm sec 3 1 2 ips HIGH and 4 8 cm sec 1 7 8 ips LOW 1 0 12 approx HIGH 0 04 WRMS 0 06 W PE...

Page 46: ...armon ic Distortion TH O 1 Mic to 1 Group Out 1 Line B to 1 Group Out Crosstalk Recorder Section Frequency Response Overall HIGH LOW Signal to Noise Ratio Overall Ref t o 3 TH O HIGH LOW Total Harmonic Distortion HIGtt LOW 100 ohms 10k ohms 2k ohms 10 dBV 0 3 V 10 dBV 3 0 V 100 ohms 10k ohms 2k ohms 10 dBV 0 3 V 10 dBV 3 0 V Bohms 100 mW 100 mW 10 kHz 12 dB 250 Hz to 5 kHz sweepable 15 dB 100 Hz 1...

Page 47: ... 16 I I n i1 ga 0 01 1 n oo Ui o__ Q__ o o o o o o E 0 0 0 a 0 0 0 0 D Q _ Q _Q _Q_ O O _Q _Q _Q_ D DClD CJ DD D 0 0 0 Q Q O O Q DOD DDD Q Q CJ D DD Q _Q__Q __Q 1 __Q _Q O _Q 1 _ c__ D OD D ur bSl I I I OptionalAccessories RC 88 Remote Cont rol Unit The RC 88 has duplicates of the rehears al auto punch in and auto locator controls in addi tion to the basic trans port cont rols The cable length is ...

Page 48: ...synchronizer in a single low cost unit It is used to make different machines in this case tape transports and sequencers or rhythm units play at exactly the same rate of speed from any desired start ing point This is called chase lock capability When the MIDiiZER is connected to these other units it be com es the all in one master con troller for the system Available Summer 1989 PW 2Y PW 4Y Insert...

Page 49: ...TE 100Hz 250 l kHI 10kHz S N I CH MUTE 1 p L fO 0 e5ef ef PRE POST iMICl GAIN FREQ I AUX2 I ID c I iuT I ILOW I CHIO IHIGH I DUAL L _ _ t JJ I DUAL l 1 f DUALL c 0 iJ J 10d BVJ I hL v 4 _i l _____ ____ _ el 1 DUAL YL _ R_I _P_A_N_I ou L oR f f 1 HM fE ILEVEL I METER 7 8 L NOTE 1 UNIT OdBV 1Vrms 2 OPERATIONAL LEVEL fOdBV 3 SYMBOLS RCA JACK PUSH SWITCH XLR 3 31 oio ELECTRICSWITCH EQUIVALENT CONT C l...

Page 50: ... E I IOdBV I 4 L _ ii R l 10d8VJ O_Nlf Q U J IOdBVJ rN fxi _ N fJ i tci dBV OUT CONTROLSECTION 50 ...

Page 51: ...ON l dBVl o 10 20 30 r C RE O REPRO I I HEAD EO AMP t_ __ ___ _ __ _ _Sr 1 b NR I RECIN I OCIBV 1 0 J 85k H1 I I __ ______ ____ _ ____ _ ___ ___ __ REC CONT SIG 1 4 _ ___ ___ _ I I I I L __ __ __ _ ___ _ ________ _ __ _ _____ _ _ l _E f U E_S _G _ __ _ __ ___ _ I ___________________ ___ _ ______ _ _ _ _ ______ _ __ _ __ ____ ___ _ ___ _ _BIAS CONTSIG_1_ _ _ ___ __ _ l__ _ ____ _ ___ __ __ _ ____ _...

Page 52: ...1 1 181 H8 l l 181 1 18 1 GROUP AUX 1 2 DUAL MONITOR MONITOR MASTER MASTER MASTER LEVEL MASTER MIDI BLOCK DIAGR AM 0 0 1 OoO IFSKI RECO RDER SECTION TRK 4 I LO AD SAVE 52 CPU CONTROL SWITCH tOdBV TAPE OUT GROUPOUT AUX t 2 OUT DUAL OUT MONITOR OUT ...

Page 53: ... Notes Off sages Active Sense Reset Notes Mode 1 OMNI ON POLY Mode 3 OMN I OFF POLY MID I Implementati on Chart T ransmitted Recognized 1 16 1 16 1 16 1 16 X X X X X 36 43 36 43 X 0 9nH v 32 96 0 v 1 127 0 9nH v 00 X X X X X X X X X 0 0 00 98 0 0 0 X X X X X 0 0 0 0 X X X X X X X X Mode 2 OMNI ON MONO Mode 4 OMNI OFF MONO 53 Version 1 0 Remarks memorized trans recog on common ch memorized OMNI On ...

Page 54: ...D DD O c GRP2 0 D O O OD LI C EFF GRP3 D D D D D D C D D D 4 DDD D DD DD DD 1 j lCDDDDDD DD DD L INEOD D DD D D DD D OUAL TAPE D D Do oo POSTD D D D D D D D D D OUTP UT 3 4 1 L 2 R 3 4 TAP E ___ GROUP 54 03 04 CHANNEL INPUT 1 3 4 6 8 MONITOR CHANNEL UUTE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ri lalfilllD GAP 1 _ __ llmDI D D D D D D D D D D ti GAP 2 D D LI_ MAIN D D D D D D D D GAP 3 D D GAP 4 D D D D D D D D D D lll m...

Page 55: ... 0 DD DD o DD DD D 01 0 D D 20 55 07 0a Assignments to Two Groups with Dual LINKed These scenes allow you to record 14 instruments at once onto 2 t racks The DUAL mixes 8 lines and the MAIN mix es 6 mies to a pair of groups The opposite pair of groups are used for tape monitor ing 07 08 CHA NNEL INPUT 1 5 6 7 8 MONITOR CHANNEL MUTE Emm i IIGRP1 MAIN GRP 2 GAP 3 GAP 4 0 D D lllllllllll MAIN LINE D ...

Page 56: ... 1 l 2 R 3 4 TAPE GROUP 56 11 Assignments to All Groups Each MIC LINE A input goes to all four groups at once Leave the pan pots at center use the RECORD FUNCTION switches to select the track to record on without having to change scenes CHANNEL INPUT 1 5 6 8 MON ITOR CHANNEL MUTE 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 GRP 1 DD I I GRP 2 I I DD GRP 3 I Do GRP 4 D D o MIC D D MAIN LINE D D D D D D DD DD TAPE D D D D D D D...

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Tascam 644 Midistudio, Owner'S Manual

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