Tascam 424 MkII stereo input

S

superstupid

New member
I read that there is one stereo input on this. What does this mean? If I am recording 2 guitars, bass, and drums, can the drums be run in stereo, i.e. the toms on the left will be heard through the left channel, the toms on the right will be heard on the right?
 
how many tracks are dedicating to drums?
you'll need dedicate at least 2 if you want stereo.

The stereo input is for inputing a stereo signal.. ie a submix or a maybe a drum machine or CD player, etc. They also double as your fx returns.
 
I was trying to figure out the manual today, and it does look like if you use inputs 7-8 you can do it on one track. It is kinda confusing though. It looks like it will output the one track in stereo, however, but i'm not sure I guess I'll have to try.
 
The stereo input hat it is talking about 7 8 Stereo input at the top. It is usually used for stereo effects sends in conjunction with the Effect 1 and 2 Sends in a effects loop. If you want the drums to be stereo, you can try using channels 5 & 6 as well as they are stereo on the 414, I am sure they can be stereo on the 424 as well.

If you use the 7 & 8 inputs, the source need to be stereo as well.

FYI - I have been told by many people to pan the drums dead center, but I usually pan them a little off to left and right, usually in the 11:00 and 1:00 positions.

Good luck.
 
I guess my main concern is that I would like to lay down the basic tracks with the band LIVE. Right now the drummer is an Alesis SR-16 w/ stereo outputs (hopefully this situation will change, at which point I'd like to have the drums recorded stereo). A lot of it is drums, guitar bass, vocals (which would be put on in computer along w/ overdubs). 1-guitar, 1-bass, 2- drums, that's easy. But if we had a 2 guitar track, would we be able to record it live, and still keep the drums in stereo, when we output it?
 
superstupid said:
But if we had a 2 guitar track, would we be able to record it live, and still keep the drums in stereo, when we output it?
Click to expand...

Well, doing all this is a little difficult on the 424 since it is limited in tracks. You may have to do some bouncing of the drums tracks. I tell people that bouncing is good if you do it once. Otherwise the noise and hiss starts to build up.

Making the guitars stereo is also a cool thing. The bass is easy since you can pretty much make that mono.

Regarding your question about the drums in stereo and recording guitars live on two tracks: You could try the following:

  • Record the drums into channels 1 and 2. Pan these tracks slightly off to the left and right and not hard left and right, since the stereo field for the drums need not be the wide.
  • Record your bass into a single track on track 5. Move the record function for track 5 directly to to "5".
  • Record the guitars on tracks 3 and 4 and pan them to the 9:00 and 3:00 positions.

Then, you should be able to get a nice stereo effect wih the drums AND the guitar. Let me know how this works.

Bruce
Play the Musicians Stock Market and Get a Free Musician's Web Page at http://www.songwriterstreet.com
 
Last edited:
Thanks bbbkeys

Isn't that 5 tracks, though? This is confusing me. We tried playing with it today, and had trouble figuring out the finer aspects of it. I guess we'll just have to play with it some. But if anything I guess leads could just wait to be put down with the vocals. Most of the high energy stuff where I really feel the live take is necessary only have one guitar.
 
superstupid said:
Thanks bbbkeys

Isn't that 5 tracks, though? This is confusing me.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is 5 tracks. That gives you an extra track to play with and to be available for anything new. Don't be confused. I am only telling you my methods, but there are about 20 ways to do it. I bet about 100 people here will tell you their own way and that my way is not good. There are no right or wrong ways and there are no good or bad ways. You have to do what you think will work.

In your case, you definitely need 2 tracks for the drums to make them stereo and you have to mic each part of your drums to go into the left and right channels during your live sessions. Then, leave 2 tracks for a stereo guitar and one for your bass. I guess that leaves the sixth track available for vocals. :)
 
I have no idea how you're gonna get 5 tracks out of a 4 tracker. If you do, let me know how you do it!

You mentioned doing overdubs on the PC... do you have a 4 in/out card? Maybe just use the 424MKII as a mixer front end for the PC. If you don't have a 4 in/out card, then maybe record 2 tracks drums, 1 track guitar, 1 track bass, and then mixdown to the pc... or at least mixdown the drums and then re-do the guitars and bass to the PC.
 
I've used the "5th" track before at mixdown. You can actually record another instrument at the time of mixdown to whatever...CD, cassette etc. However, don't make any mistakes! It's a one-shot deal unless you want to do it all over again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top