Digital Bleed through????

[Spin]

hey...this is probably a dumb question..but i have a fostex FD-8...and when im just recording my own rehersals..i put the guitars on track one..and pan the stereo bus to the left...the drum machine on track two and pan to the right...and vocals on track three and pan to the left..when i listen back...i have guitar AND vocals on tracks one AND three....and just drums on track two what am i doing wrong? does it mater what my moniter selectors is on eg..Mon..L+R+ Mon...and so on?? please help
thanks...Spin

[SN]

I do not have the FD8 , but what it reads like is that you are bouncing tracks useing the buss feature and panning. Select Mon and not L-R.

but If you are multi tracking and overdubbing yourself then record using the Direct feature. Each input will have its own track.

If you are doing a simultaneous record of yourself singing, playing guitar and using a drum machine, then you will not be able to record them separately as the FD8 only records two tracks at a time. (that is why I did not buy it)
all the odd number tracks are Buss L
all the even number tracks are Buss R.

You are recording guitar and vocals through buss L tracks 1 and 3.

You are recording guitar through Buss R on track 2.

If you really need separation, you must overdub.
Record the guitar and drum machine through bus L and R on tracks 1 and 2, (or direct on tracks 1 and 2.)

Then record vocals direct on tracks 3

[Spin]

thank you very much for helping me out..that solved my problem..i didnt realize my machine only recorded 2 tracks at a time..one thing ya said im still not sure i get..you said use the "direct feature" does that mean when im only recording one track at a time i dont need to pan the bus to the left or right...but rather leave it in the center?..sorry but the stereo bus thing riddles me a little

thanks again..
Spin

[SN]

On my 4 track cassette, I can record "direct"

This means that the mixer channel is equated to the recorder track.

If you want to record "direct" to track 6, then you must plug the desired input into input 6 on the mixer.

[William Fleischer]

I own and FD-8 as well. Spin, I agree with SN above. You must make certain that you set it to MON when tracking(not MON+L/R, or L/R). You set it to L/R when mixing down. I'm not sure when you'd use MON+L/R.

Your panning sounds correct. Of course, make sure that the tracks you are plugged into are set to INPUT. And that the Track buttons for those tracks are lit up in the controls under the display.

As far as not being able to record more than 2 tracks simultaneously, I'm not sure that is correct for the Fostex. I don't remember reading about that limitation in the manual. I'll double check, but I can't imagine the Fostex has a flaw that huge (although I have only done two tracks simulataneously for my purposes thus far).

Good luck. And I'd pick up the manual and give it a read if you have it. The manual does kind of suck (poorly translated from Japanese to English), but you can get good instruction with it if look over the section of interest a few times.

Bill

[BobbyD]

My research revealed that the FD8 indeed can only record 2 tracks simultaneously (according to Fostex specs.). However, the Fostex VM04 4 channel digital mixer with DSP effects is supposed to increase the simultaneous recording capability of the FD4 and FD8 (while providing DSP effects), if you use an optical cable. VM04 about $210, cable about $15. I'm still trying to determine by how many tracks the VM04 will expand these units to.

Hope I'm not out of line posting here, having no recent recording experience, and being a very long-time beginner on acoustic guitar. I'm having fun learning, though, And I'm considering buying the above-mentioned package.

[Spin]

thanks for the help everyone...

spin

[SN]

The main reason I did not buy the FD4 or the FD8 was that they can only record 2 analogue tracks simultaneously. Even the 8 track. Says so in the brochures.

They can record 2 analogue plus 2 digital tracks simultaneously, but where are you giong to get two digital inputs from?
an external AD converter?
a keyboard with digital outs?
a sampler with digital outs?

Stuff I don't have or use.