what is smpte???

[neil]

Hello, ive read in places that the first thing you want to do when recording digital is lay down an smpte track. I have a Yamaha RY20 rythm programmer and read it there in the manual too. What exactly is it and how should i use it???? Also, i want to set a tempo (click track) in which to play to until i can lay down drums (once i get a couple of mic's)

Thanks
Neil

 

[DavidK]

Smpte= Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. It is for synching audio to Video. I doubt you need it for home recording, it is a time code with various speeds, based on Frames Per Second of Film or TV, which are different. Good Luck, Dave

 

[Cyrokk]

umm.. well actually smpte does have some uses in audio recording, particularly in synchronizing drum machines and other synth-like equipment.

For example, say you want to have all the instruments from the drum machine go to separate tracks, but you only have two outputs. First, you would dedicate one track to the smpte signal your drum machine makes. The signal has time code information, so that when played back the machine knows exactly when to start and stop playing. This allows you to record a separate take for each piece of the virtual drum kit that you specified for each track, keeping them completely in synch.

What I typically do is dedicate one track to smpte, and another as the click track, both generated by the drum machine. Then once the drums are recorded, I simply use those tracks for other instruments.

Keep in mind that smpte is simply a means of communication between electronic components. You most likely will not use smpte for real drums or other "live" instruments.

Cy