Tascam 488 - how to sync?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Frank Wild
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Frank Wild

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I've got some cassettes recorded 25 years ago on a Tascam 488 that I am now ripping into GarageBand.
Some of them have an FSK sync signal on track 8. Not by coincidence, those
recordings are usually lacking drums - I had a MTS-30 synchroniser and an Alesis drum machine
in those days, so there was no need to put the drums on tape.

I did get myself a working 488 for this job, but the drum machine and MTS-30 are long gone.

I do still have the drum sequences as midi files on my Mac, and of course GarageBand can play them.
But is there any way to use the FSK track on the cassette to control the GarageBand clock? Do I need to buy an MTS-30 again?
 
You need any MIDI interface for your computer that will input FSK and convert to MTC, and then you set GarageBand to slave to the incoming MTC. There are multiple options for devices that can do this over USB…but I couldn’t specifically tell you because I’ve never had that kind of setup…I’m pretty sure the MOTU MIDI Timepiece will do this…there are others. Can anybody else chime in with a recommendation?
 
sweetbeats said:
You need any MIDI interface for your computer that will input FSK and convert to MTC, and then you set GarageBand to slave to the incoming MTC. There are multiple options for devices that can do this over USB…but I couldn’t specifically tell you because I’ve never had that kind of setup…I’m pretty sure the MOTU MIDI Timepiece will do this…there are others. Can anybody else chime in with a recommendation?
Click to expand...

I've done a quick search and so far it seems that GarageBand cannot be enslaved. You have to admire such a spirit of independence, but unless that's wrong, there may be no way to do this, even with the MTC/FSK converter. I wonder if the FSK stripe, recorded to one of the GarageBand tracks, might instead be master (after conversion to MTC) to an outboard drum machine. But I don't have enough recordings to justify spending the money on a drum machine and midi interface.
 
How do you set the clock reference in GarageBand? Isn’t there a way to point the software to the clock reference?
 
Frank Wild said:
I've done a quick search and so far it seems that GarageBand cannot be enslaved.
Click to expand...

You probably have to upgrade to Logic for external sync. Software companies commonly only offered synchronisation with their more expensive offerings. Personally I would work out the tempo of your piece and then manually enter that into your software and insert the Midi file. I don't use Garageband but it is fairly easy to do in Reaper.
 
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