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8 – Mastering and backup (CD-R)–Mixdown
TASCAM 788 Digital PortaStudio 73
Mixdown
As mentioned earlier, you can mix the contents of the
recorded tracks, as well as inputs from the sub-mixer,
to the
STEREO OUTPUTs, which can then feed a
DAT or cassette recorder, etc.
The 788 provides you with an additional feature,
allowing you to “pre-master” the stereo mix to the
788’s hard disk, so that you can audition the mix and
re-do it if necessary, before committing it to disc.
Once the pre-master track has been recorded, it can
be used many times, meaning that many CD copies
of the same track can be recorded directly from the
788. As suggested in “Checking the master” on
page 74, this pre-master track can also be recorded
on non-CD-R media.
In addition, since the pre-master mix is saved as part
of the song, any song which has been pre-mastered
can be selected as part of a track list, allowing a
whole CD to be produced from previously-recorded
songs.
Pre-mastering
Pre-mastering can be carried out without the CD-R
drive connected, as it uses the 788’s hard disk only.
The start of the pre-mastered material is always the
00:00:00:00 point, and the end of the pre-mastered
material is the OUT point.
Before starting the pre-mastering process, make sure
that all recorded tracks are assigned to mixer chan-
nels, and that if you are using the sub-mixer, this is
assigned to the stereo outputs.
1 Set the OUT point at the position where you
want the pre-mastered material to stop (“Set-
ting the IN and OUT points” on page 52).
2 With the transport stopped, press the
MENU
key.
3 Move the cursor to
CD-R, and press ENTER.
4 Move the cursor to
PRE MASTERING
and press
ENTER.
The screen changes to the home screen, but
with the word
MASTERING at the top left
of the screen.
If any
REC READY indicators are on, they are
turned off, and they cannot be turned on again
while pre-mastering is being carried out.
While pre-mastering, transport controls work in the
usual way, except that:
• Playback and fast forward will stop at the OUT
point, and the playback position cannot move past
this point.
• Auto punch operations are disabled.
• Jog and trim are disabled.
• Pitch control and SSA are disabled.
• Direct location is disabled (“Direct location (i)” on
page 60).
• Recording is carried out as explained below.
Recording the pre-master To record the pre-
master stereo tracks, press and hold the
RECORD
key, and then press the
PLAY key. Both the PLAY and
the
RECORD indicators light.
Recording always starts (regardless of the current
position) at 00:00:00:00.
The mastering records the effects of all mixer set-
tings and effect settings, etc.
If you do not stop the recording before the OUT
point, it will automatically stop at the OUT point. If
you stop the recording at the OUT point, the master
recording will stop there, and the length of the track
will be from the 00:00:00:00 point to the point where
the recording stopped.
NOTE
The minimum length for a CD track is four seconds. Make
sure that all mastered recordings are at least this length.
The maximum length for a CD track recorded from the 788
is 70 minutes. Tracks made from the 788 should not
exceed this length,
During the mastering operation, all channel opera-
tions (EQ, send, fader/pan) can be carried out, either
from the 788’s controls, or by means of MIDI com-