Alesis ALESIS M20 Extend a PARTIALLY-FORMATTED Tape, END Formatting, Certify Tape Format

Chapter 4, Formatting Tape

4.5EXTEND A PARTIALLY-FORMATTED TAPE

∙The procedure is similar to standard formatting, except:

∙Make sure the tape is located at least 20 seconds before the end of a previously-formatted section before attempting to extend the format.

∙Regardless of the current sample rate and word length, these will change automatically to match the original format.

∙After pressing the Format button, press and hold Play then press Record. Formatting will begin when a lock is established.

Note: The above assumes the tape is somewhere after ABS time 00:00:00.00. If the tape to be extended is in the leader or data sections (i.e., prior to ABS time 0:00:00.00), entering Format mode automatically rewinds the tape to the leader and begins reformatting. While rewinding, the display shows “…format begun” and the Rewind button will light to remind you that the M20 must format over from the tape’s leader and data sections.

4.6END FORMATTING

When the tape reaches the end, formatting ends automatically and the tape will stop.

To stop formatting prior to the end-of-tape, press Stop. You cannot simply punch out with the Play button.

4.7CERTIFY TAPE FORMAT

After formatting, consider playing the tape through to the end to check for a suitably low error count (see section 13.20), thus verifying the tape’s integrity.

4.8REFORMATTING: CAUTION!

Do not stop in the middle of re-formatting over a previously formatted tape. When the tape transitions from the newly formatted section to the previously formatted section, there will be timing discontinuities, and you will not be able to record anything over the transition.

Either re-format the entire tape from beginning to end, or rewind a bit and extend the existing format.

ALESIS M20 REFERENCE MANUAL 1.06 4-5