Massive tutorial!
You're welcome! That's what this forum is for - passing along tidbits to those who need them. I'm just glad that I can actually help someone here, because I'm still using analog stuff myself.
This going to be a long post, so get ready...
RE: connections...
First, what will you be connecting your unit to? Are you going to bounce to an external machine such as a DAT or CD-R? Let's assume that for starters, and then after that we'll look at an internal bounce.
External bounce:
It's actually pretty simple: you'll need stereo cables with 1/4" RCA plugs on each end. Connect the left and right plugs on one end to the Line Out jacks on your Fostex unit. (These may also be marked Master Out or Stereo Out, but it's all the same thing.) Connect the other end to the record inputs (or line in, or whatever they're called) on the machine you're bouncing to. Put a blank CD in the CD-R, or get a fresh DAT tape, making sure to fast forward and rewind the tape through all the way once so that it gets loosened up a bit and packed nice and even on its little reels. Put the machine you're recording onto in pause/record. Plug a set of headphones into the headphone jack on the CD-R/DAT to monitor what you're recording (or better yet, use real monitor speakers!) Now, zero out all the controls on the Fostex. That is, put everything in its factory neutral position: pan pots in the center, eq in the center (i.e., don't boost or cut any eq just yet), and pull all the channel faders and master faders down. Switch each individual track you'll be bouncing into "tape" mode.
Additionally, you'll also need to select the proper assign button for each track. Usually on these machines the tracks are split into 4 groups: 1/2 and 3/4. Tracks 1, 2, 5, and 6 are typically part of groups 1/2; 3,4,7, and 8 are with groups 3/4. Say you have stuff recorded on all 8 tracks. Just go through and find the little assign buttons for each track - they should be above the channel faders. Press down the 1/2 button for tracks 1,2,5, and 6 and the other one for the remaining tracks. You'll also need to assign these to go through the master faders, as there's a little 1/2 and 3/4 button above those as well. Press both of these down. With me so far?
Now, monitoring from the CD-R/DAT with your headphones, cue up the tape in your Fostex while slowly bringing up the channel faders and two master faders. When you hear sound from each track you've recorded on, you know you're in business. If you don't, try playing with the little assign buttons, making sure your faders are up high enough, and checking to see that your connections are all good and that the record volume is set properly on the DAT/CD-R.
Here is where you can have fun: try panning the different parts to different places in the stereo spectrum: put some on the left side of center stage, some on the right, and some in the center. Typically, in rock and pop rhythm guitars and keyboards are panned right and left usually 8:00 and 4:00 or 9:00 and 3:00. Bass should be in the middle because the low frequencies are the most powerful and need to be evenly distributed. That, and bass is not perceived as directional by our pathetic human ears, so panning it to one side isn't useful unless you're doing a jazz recording (and why you'd be doing that on a Fostex 8-track cassette is beyond me...). Same goes for the kick drum. Its energy needs to be centered. Usually, snare and hi-hat are also straight up the middle, though this is not a strict rule you have to follow.
If you REALLY want to explore sonic depth, you can attach an effects device such as a reverb/delay unit to the effects send/returns. More on that in another post, though...
If you need to use eq, do so sparingly. The best rule of thumb is to
BOOST eq while you're tracking to the multitrack and CUT eq while you're mixing down, especially when dealing with the limitations of cassette tape. If you boost the high eq on, say, an acoustic guitar while you're tracking, you can then cut a little and not really lose too much definition when you bounce or mixdown, and this will also cut out some of the tape hiss at the same time. Cutting, or "subtractive eqing," usually yields far better result in mixdown; you usually end up taking out hiss in the high end and mud in the middle and low end that you don't want anyway. But always remember: if you can get the sound you want in the recording process by changing the position of a mic, by all means do THAT first. The less you muck with eq, the better. Then your recording will sound more natural. But as a creative tool, eq can open up lots of sonic possibilities. Experiment!
Once you've got things set where you think they sound good, push play/record on your mixdown machine and play on you Fostex. Watch the record meters on the DAT/CD-R. Be sure not to exceed 0 VU on any digital machine you're recording to because you'll get digital clipping, which is not at all pretty and decidedly unmusical.
Once you've recorded the bounced material, press stop on both machines and rewind all tapes to their start point. Listen to the bounced tracks - how do they sound? You can re-do them as necessary by going back through the above proceedure, tweaking as necessary.
Now, rewind the DAT or put the CD with the bounced tracks in your CD-R. This time you'll need some adapters for your RCA stereo cables so that you can plug one end directly into two of the inputs on your Fostex. The adapters should have a 1/4" RCA jack on one end and a 1/4 phone plug (like on a standard guitar cable) on the other. Better yet, go to your local Radio Shack or music store and buy stereo adapter cables with RCA plugs on one end and phone jacks on the other. .... The end with the RCA plugs gets connected to the RCA line outs on the DAT/CD-R. The other end gets connected to two inputs on your Fostex, say, channels 7 and 8.
Zero out all the controls on the Fostex again - faders down all the way, pan pots centered, eq centered, assign switches all off.
Now, pop a fresh tape in the Fostex and fast forward/rewind it all the way through once to loosen up any tape that may be packed too tightly.
Let's set it up to record on tracks 7 and 8. Push the assign buttons for 3/4 above the channel faders for those tracks. Turn the pan control for track 7 all the way to the left. Pan track 8 all the way to the right. The reason you do this is because the pan pots on these machines serve two functions: they control placement in the stereo spectrum in mixdown, and in recording they tell the signal where to go. Left = odd-numbered tracks; Right = even-numbered tracks. (More accurately, left= groups 1/2, right = groups 3/4, though I may be off on this. My machine isn't here in front of me, so I'm sorry if it's not exactly right, but if you play with it, you should figure it out very quickly!)
On the Fostex, switch the track selector switch to "input" (it was on "tape" just a minute ago) because you will be recording a signal coming INTO the machine. Enable the tracks you want to record on by pressing the record buttons under the display for tracks 7 and 8. Set the master faders up to the shaded area, or somewhere around 7-10, which is their ideal setting. Put the machine in pause/record. Now play back the CD-R/DAT, and at the same time slowly bring up the channel faders until you see a signal. You can record this fairly hot and get away with it, but again be careful you don't saturate the tape. +3 on the meter, with an *occasional* jump up to +6 will usually be fine. After you've practiced this, try pressing play/record on the Fostex and recording your "bounced" tracks back onto your cassette machine. Listen back to the results, and don't be afraid to keep trying if you don't quite get it at first. When completed, you'll now have a stereo submix of your rhythm tracks on tracks 7 and 8, which leaves you an additional 6 tracks to play with for lead and backing vocals, guitar leads, sax, or whatever else floats your boat.
Internal bounce (mono)
Let's say you've got something recorded on tracks 3,4,5,6,7,and 8 and you want to bounce them down to track one. Pretty easy:
Set up track 1 to record by setting its pan control all the way to the left. Select 1/2 and "input," and pull the channel 1 fader all the way down. Turn down the headphone volume, insert your headphone plug, and adjust volume accordingly. (*It's MUCH better to use regular near-field monitors when bouncing and mixing down, but headphones will work in a pinch.*) Press the record button for track 1. The "rec" light should flash.
Now you have to send all the other tracks to 1. First, set the input selector switches for tracks 3,4,5,6,7,and 8 all to "tape" because you're sending a signal that's already recorded onto those tape tracks to a different location on the same tape to be re-recorded. Remember: pan all tracks left because by doing so you're telling the machine to send them to an odd-numbered track (track 1). To check, you can push play on the Fostex and monitor the signal from each track individually. That is, as the machine plays, press the assign switch 1/2 on track 3 and turn its pan control to the left. You should hear the signal coming through to track 1 and see the meters moving. Is it set to "tape?" Double check.
Set all the tracks to play as I've described, adjust the individual levels as they're all playing together, and then practice the bounce a few times. Depending on what you've recorded and how complex it is, it may take a few tries to get the balances right. Also, you might want to cut a bit of the lower midrange on some of the tracks if there are lots of guitars/keyboards or other instruments that are occupying the same frequency range. This is where eq comes in handy: If you've done everything right, you shouldn't need any, but if certain parts are becoming indistinct, you could try to alter their eq to make them stand out. Remember that it's usually better to CUT than to boost here. If a guitar and a keyboard are fighting for the same space, cut some of the lower midrange on one to make the other stand out and check how that sounds. Of course, you certainly CAN boost, but do it sparingly. Always let your ears be the judge.
Once you've executed the bounce, listen back to it to see if it is satisfactory. If so, you can then erase all the original tracks to
make room for others.
Internal bounce (stereo)
Same thing, only this time we'll bounce tracks 4 - 8 to tracks 1 and 2. Remember, we're not using 3 because we want to leave a guard track. Adjacent tracks often don't bounce well on these machines! Pan tracks 1 and 2 full left and full right, and set their selectors to "input." (or is it "tape"? I'm getting sleepy here!) pull their faders down, and set their eq to center (flat). Now, for the tracks you're bouncing, you'll need to adjust their pan position just like you did when you bounced to an external machine. Put some things in the center, some left, some right, some a little off center, etc. Set their selector switches all to "tape," and set their assign switches accordingly. Press the respective buttons to put tracks 1 and 2 into "rec" mode, press play, and go for it!
Does all of this make sense? If it helps in any way, I'll be very happy. I'll probalby have to come back to this and fine-tune it a bit, but this should get you started....
Happy bouncing!
Bruce in Korea