414mkII, what the hell?

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frank_1

frank_1

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I don't get it! Why should I put any channel to hard left or right? What in the world is that record switch, you know the one that says,(frst channel)-"1" and then it says "safe" and then "L". Should I use the "1" position or the "L" postition. What is it for, I'm totaly confused and the manual doesn't help. HELP!!!
 
I use the number and pan to where ever I want the part. You can reposition the pan on playback or mixdown. It is a fairly simple machine, don't let the poorly written sections of the manual throw you.
 
I've been working with that 4 track for a little under a year and still get a little confused with the panning situation. What i've found is that when a signal is going in it is assisned to the left, 1 and 3 or the right, 2 and 5. Unless you pan to the left you will get the signal in more than one channel which makes it difficult to control when mixing down(although for drums and bass I've found it easier to get the right mix up front and have the channel panned to the middle, but that's my preference to have the rhythem in one channel). The key is to experiment.
The safe mode allows you to record another track without overwriting the one on that channel, allowing you to build layers. Setting it to "1" I've use for mixing down and "ping ponging" track which is taking two seperate tracks and dumping them onto a third to save space.

I agree the manual stinks but it's better than most, check out the Alesis manuals if you want to see some bad tech writing!

Get yourself a lot of tape and just play with it until you find what works for you
 
what blipndub said...

pan=balance
safe=no record

fuck it till it sounds good
 
Vurt said:


fuck it till it sounds good
Click to expand...

Here's another little tip that's maybe obvious. Use the same inputs for the same devices, even pretending that you have a real mixer and putting bits of tape with "SR-16" "Guitar" "Vocal" "Bass" so you can think about it even less. Use the force, let the answers come to you.

Here's a question. What luck have people had with the noise reduction?
 
noise reduction

Hey, I don't have this 4-track, but I do have one by Tascam with noise reduction, and my only words about it are USE IT!!! I found some tapes that I had made when I first got the 4-track, and I could barely hear the music because I didn't use the noise reduction while recording. When I tried to switch it on,I heard the music dipping in and out. Other ways I've found out how to beat the noise are by: recording a loud signal to tape (you can always adjust levels during mixdown), but not so loud that it distorts; cleaning and demagnetizing the heads, cleaning the rubber(head cleaner, rubber cleaner, and head demagnetizer are available at music123.com and are all made by Tascam); and taping with the speed dial pointed directly up (12 o'clock) or faster. The quicker the tape moves, the less likely you are to get as much noise to tape. Also make sure you use type II tapes. I always use the maxell tapes because they have a dark outer shell which lets less light in, not allowing the tape to deteriorate, I've heard that light is an enemy to tapes. I've also heard that you shouldn't leave the tape in the deck, and when it's out of the deck keep it in the case. I don't know all the scientific reasons behind all of this, I just know that since I've been doing it, noise has not been a problem.

peace,
da muzicman
 
NR on the 424 is outstanding. I hear no noticable difference on dbl speed or shorter tapes, but the the NR is sweet.
 
Let's hope I got this right ...

Frank_1,

I had some of the same questions you have when I first got my 414 (I have the original one and don't have the XLR inputs you have). I remember having to read and re-read the manual until I finally got the point. One of the hard things to remember is that there's a difference in how this unit differentiates between a channel and a track. The trick is figuring out what the hell that means. I've been recording on my PC for alomst a year and I haven't done this in a while, so I hope I get this right. If not, somebody jump in and correct me - I'm at work and going from memory.

Here's the simple example. Let's say you plug a mic into the jack for Channel 1. You set the record switch to 1 so that the signal being recorded to track 1 comes from channel 1.

You can also record from one channel of the stereo bus. Channels 1 and 3 go to the left channel and channels 2 and 4 go to the right channel. Just for kicks, you could record on track 1 by plugging into the jack for channel 1, set the record switch to "L", and record just like you did before. You'll get the same result.

Let's say you wanted to mic your amp with two mics but only want to record on one track. You could plug the mics into channels 1 & 3 so that the sound from both goes onto the left channel of the stereo bus, set the record switch on 1 to "L", and record. You'll get the sound of both mics recorded onto a single track - track 1. Just because you have a mic plugged into the jack for channel 3 DOES NOT mean that you have to record on track 3. All you did was use the input channels 1 & 3 to record onto track 1. This is basically just another way of putting what blipndub said.

You can also input into the stereo inputs for tracks 5/6 and 7/8 and you'll get a signal on the stereo bus(es). You'd then put your record switches on L or R t pick up what ever you put into those channels. Note that you only have 4 tracks, so there are no tracks 5 through 8. These are just additional inputs that the built-in mixer gives you.

As far as "Why pan?", that's really a playback question, not a recording question. When you record a track you simply record a track - it will be neither left or right until you play it back. You could set the pan knobs for all tracks to the center, but then you get a mono mix. Adjusting the pan for each track helps gives each one their own space in the mix. You can also fatten up the sound of a voice or instrument by recording it twice and panning one track left and one track right when you play them back. The slight (hopefully very slight) differences in the performance of each take will give you a nice full sound.

I hope that helps makes some sense out of it for you. Like I said, I haven't really used my 414 in a while other than to do some basic tracks that I eventually transferred to my PC. If I'm off base here, someone feel free to jump in.
 
Dang, I didn't realize that was such a long post until I saw it. I hope I didn't make things worse for you.
 
Had to jump in here -

Panning hard left (1 & 3) and hard right (2 & 4) is important when recording - I think what DaveO was trying to sy is that when you playback, you will have full pan control back, in other words, when you record hard left and right, it does not mean it will come out that way in the final mix. Trust the manual! You need to do this to avoid bleed over from other tracks!!!! Remember that your 4 track machine is splitting a 1/8th inch tape into four parts. That is why you need to pan hard left for track one, three, etc.
If you want to experiment and record with the pan in the center on track one, fine - but then listen track 2 alone - you will have bleed through.

Whoever wrote the manual for the Porta-One needs to get his ass back working for TASCAM - That manual was good, at least it was when I read it 15 years ago. I have TASCAM digital equipment now and I think I got the manual that was written by the guy who was new on the job and probably never recorded in his life.

Good luck Frank, but remember - PAN LEFT FOR 1 & 3, PAN RIGHT FOR 2 & 4!!


Brad
 
The pan function serves two different purposes. During recording it tells the machine where to send the signal (hard left or right--bussed to which track, and especially during a 'bounce'). At mixdown the pan function lets you place a track's signal wherever you want it in the stereo field.
 
Just a quick anecdote about the importance of panning.

Last night I put a drum track on 1 panned L and a guitar on 2 panned right, then after the first tracks were done i put a bass on 3 panned center, the result was a horrid blend of guitar and bass on the one track as the 3 picked up the tape from 2. The bass and taped guitar signal blended and distorted and i got some bizzarre reverse-sounding distorted mess. Normally I give every input their own space but I was playing around working from some of the discussions we've had here.

The moral is to take heed to what has been said above and assign each input its own channel and pan those mutha's, and save your tweaking for mix down. that said i would encourage anyone to experiment with all settings, just don't mess around with your best efforts.
 
Same problem as Frank_1

I too am having a difficult time with the Tascam 414 with the recording function. Up until this point I have been recording everything direct. If I record on track 1, I set it to record function "1", rather than "L", etc. From what I 'm reading, it is better to record tracks 1 - 3 to L and tracks 2 and 4 to R. When I do record track 1 to L and then pan left, which the manual tells me, I can only hear what I am recording in the left ear of my headphones. This is annoying since I want to hear what I recording in both ears. Am I doing something wrong?


Also, another question I have is what is the difference between the monitor L/R button, and the effect2/tape cue button. The manual mentions this but it is unclear to me how to use these. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks alot,
YesZep Lick
 
Hey,

I used to have all of the problems that you guys are talking about. I found this book titled, "Using Your Portable Studio : A Complete Course to the Art of Using a Portable Studio," by Peter McIan. It's kind of thick, but it covers so much, and it also has different recording "recipes" and ways to help you understand a 414 or any other cassette based portastudio. You can find it at http://amazon.com or any bookstore, and it's only $20.

peace,
da muzicman
 
Like DaveO, I have a 414 but it has been a while since I used it. So: On machines like the 414, some of the controls do duoble duty. For instance, when you are recording, you use the pan switch to "assign" what you are recording to a particular track. AS mentioned in other posts, track 1&3 are "left", and tracks 2&4 are right. The best example is when you're doing an overdub. You plug your mic or (other input device) into channel input 1. You then set the switch to L, and pan all the way L, and all of the signal you're sending into the unit goes to track 1.

If you then want to add another track, you can leave everything plugged into channel 1, but you now set channel 2 to R and pan all the way to the R. Then when you record the second track, it all goes to track 2, without any of the signal being recorded onto the track you already laid down on track 1.

That is what it means to "assign" a track. You could plug your mic into the input on channel 4, set swithces on channel 1 to record, L, and pan all the way to the L, and even though you're plugged into the channel on the far right you are recording on the track on the far left. Once you get the hang of it, it all makes sense... or even if it doesn't make sense, it works!

"Using your Portastudio" is a helpful book. I also got a lot out of "The Billboard Guide to Home Recording", which is maybe kind of a dinosaur, but very helpful about machines like the 414.
 
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