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Ping-Pong Recording 29
MD4—Owner’s Manual
Ping-Pong Recording
The ping-pong recording technique (also known as bounce down) is used to free up tracks for
further recording. This is accomplished by bouncing down (i.e., mixing and recording) one or
two existing tracks to an unused track. Those tracks are then used for further recording.
Although MD4 is a four-track recorder, effectively you can record more than just four tracks
using this technique. The only drawback is that once several tracks have been bounced, you can-
not adjust the individual sounds. You can, however, balance the levels and apply EQ and effects
during the actual ping-pong operation. The following illustration shows the ping-pong tech-
nique.
Tape-based multitrackers always need at least one unused track for ping-pong operations. MD4,
however, provides four-track playback with ping-pong. So you can record on all four tracks and
then bounce them down to one of those tracks. This is possible because MD4 is able to read
audio data from a track before writing new audio data to it. When the ping-pong operation is
complete of course, the previous audio data in that track is lost. However, you can rehearse
ping-pong operations. The following illustration shows four-track playback with ping-pong.
Destination Track
Source
Tracks
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2
3
GROUP ASSIGN
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
GROUP ASSIGN
GROUP ASSIGN
Track 4
Track 3
Track 2
Track 1
Track 4
Track 3
Track 2
Track 1
Destination Track
Source
Tracks
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2
3
4
GROUP ASSIGN
GAIN
LINE MIC
1 2
3 4
AUX
010
HIGH
–12 +12
MID
–12 +12
LOW
–12 +12
PAN
L
ODD
R
EVEN
PB MIC/
LINE
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1
GROUP ASSIGN
GROUP ASSIGN GROUP ASSIGN
Track 4
Track 3
Track 2
Track 1
Track 4
Track 3
Track 2
Track 1