20
The First Session
MT8XII—Owner’s Manual
An Overview of Multitrack Recording
This section describes the fundamental principles of multitrack recording.
Basic Multitracking
Monitoring
—This is the process of listening to a sound as it’s being recorded or listening to
recorded sounds as new sounds are recorded to other tracks. See About Monitoring on page 21
for more information.
Recording the First Track
—The first track to be recorded is typically the drum track. A
drum track that starts before other instruments makes a good timing and count-in reference.
If your song starts with several instruments on the first bar, you may find it helpful to record a
temporary count-in on another track, which can be erased later. See Recording the First Track
on page 15 for more information.
Overdubbing
—This is the technique of recording new sounds to empty tracks while listening
to the sounds that you’ve already recorded on the other tracks. Essentially, songs are recorded
track-by-track. This technique is used for most modern studio recording. See Overdubbing on
page 16 for more information.
Mixdown
—This is the final technique in multitrack recording. Here you mix the sounds from
all eight tracks, with EQ and effects, into a balanced stereo mix and record it to a stereo master
recorder, such as a DAT, MiniDisc, or cassette tape machine. The MT8XII’s [FLIP] button allows
you to mix the eight track signals with eight signals from other sound sources (e.g., from
MIDI-controlled instruments). In combination with the ST INs and TAPE IN, this provides up
to 20 sound sources during mixdown. See Mixdown on page 18 for more information.
Advanced Multitracking
One-Take Recording
—With this technique, up to four tracks are recorded in one take. This
is useful for live recording and recording bands that like to record with all members playing
together. Punch in/out and ping-pong techniques can be used after the one-take recording to
add and correct sections. See One-Take Recording on page 44 for more information.
Punch In/Out
—This technique allows you to rerecord specific sections of a track. It’s often
used to rerecord a not so perfect guitar solo or vocal phrase. Punch in/out can be rehearsed
before actually recording to tape. Punch in/out on the MT8XII can be performed manually or
automatically, which is useful when you are playing or singing and operating the MT8XII all at
the same time. See Manual Punch In/Out on page 23 for more information.
Ping-Pong
—This technique allows you to mix and record several tracks onto another track.
This is often used to free up tracks for more recording. So although the MT8XII is an eight-track
recorder, you can actually record more than eight tracks using the ping-pong technique. You
can also combine ping-pong with overdub recording. For example, Tracks 1, 2, and 3 are mixed
and recorded onto Track 5 along with a new signal coming from Input Channel 4. Ping-pong
can be rehearsed before actually recording to tape. See Ping-Pong Recording on page 29 for more
information.
Synchronization
—This technique enables the MT8XII and a MIDI sequencer to work
together as a unified recording tool: the MT8XII for acoustic sounds and the MIDI sequencer
for MIDI instrument sounds. See The MT8XII & MIDI on page 40 for more information.
