Alesis ALESIS M20 owner manual Press Play and Record

Time Code Tutorial, Chapter 17

6Set the SMPTE Rate and type (24, 25, 29.97, or 30 fps, drop or non-drop).

7Press the REFERENCE COUNTER button until TAPE TC is shown in the right numeric display. This isn’t a required step, but it’s good practice.

8Press PLAY and RECORD.

At this point, the M20 is recording time code of the specified type and number onto the TC track, at the specified sample rate and speed.

Time code cannot be recorded on the LEAD and DATA sections of the tape. If the

tape is before ABS time 00h 00m 00s, no time code will be recorded, even though the INT GEN will count properly through those sections.

SMPTE T/C coming from an analog deck or VCR is not recommended as a reference clock for the M20, because it typically has too much wow and flutter to be multiplied into a stable 48 kHz sample clock. Use INT, VIDEO, or WORD clock as a clock source whenever it’s available, using the SMPTE signal as a clock source only if it’s extremely stable (from an external hardware generator or digital source).

17-4 ALESIS M20 REFERENCE MANUAL 1.06