22 The First Session
An Overview of Multitrack Recording
This section describes the fundamental principles of multitrack recording.
Basic Multitracking
Monitoring—This is the process of listening to a sound as it’s being recorded or listening to recorded sounds as new sounds are recorded to other tracks. See About Monitoring on page 23 for more information.
Recording the first track—The first track to be recorded is typically the drum track. A drum track that starts before other instruments makes a good timing and count-in reference. If your song starts with several instruments on the first bar, you may find it helpful to record a temporary count-in on another track, which can be erased later. See Recording the First Track on page 17 for more information.
Overdubbing—This is the technique of recording new sounds to empty tracks while lis- tening to the sounds that you’ve already recorded on the other tracks. Essentially, songs are recorded track-by-track. This technique is used for most modern studio recording. See Over- dubbing on page 20 for more information.
Mixdown—This is the final stage in multitrack recording. Here you mix the sounds from all eight tracks,with EQ and effects,into a balanced stereo mix and record it to a stereo master recorder, such as a DAT, MiniDisc, or cassette tape machine. See Mixdown on page 21 for more information.
Advanced Multitracking
One-Takerecording—With this technique, all tracks are recorded in one take. This is useful for live recording and bands that like to record with all members playing together. Use DIR recording method to record up to 8 tracks simultaneously. Punch in/out and ping-pong techniques can be used after the one-take recording to add and correct sections. See One-Take Recording on page 83 for more information.
Punch In/Out—This technique allows you to rerecord specific sections of a track.It’s often used to rerecord a not-so-perfect guitar solo or vocal phrase. Punch in/out can be rehearsed before actually recording to disc. Punch in/out on the MD8 can be performed manually or automatically, which is useful when you are playing or singing and operating the MD8 all at the same time. You can use either the DIR or GRP method for punch in/out recording. See Manual Punch In/Out on page 29 for more information.
Ping-Pong—This technique allows you to mix and record several tracks onto another track. This is often used to free up tracks for more recording. So although the MD8 is an eight-track recorder, you can record more than just eight parts using the ping-pong tech- nique. You can also combine ping-pong with overdub recording. For example, Tracks 1 and 2 are mixed and recorded onto Track 4 along with a new signal coming from Input Channel 3. Ping-Pong can be rehearsed before actually recording to disc. Use the GRP recording method for ping-pong. See Ping-Pong Recording on page 41 for more information.
Synchronization—This technique enables the MD8 and a MIDI sequencer to work together as a unified recording tool: the MD8 for acoustic sounds and the MIDI sequencer for MIDI instrument sounds. See The MD8 & MIDI on page 73 for more information.
