Tascam 788 Recording & Editing Functions, Recording Overview, Song Menu, Formatting Hard Drives

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Section III

Recording & Editing Functions

RECORDING OVERVIEW

The 788 is a highly advanced 8 track recorder, capable of uncompressed, high resolution recording. The 250 virtual tracks per song allow for extra takes, keeping individual tracks that built submixes for later retouches, trying different parts, or any other application you can dream up.

For getting around the project, you can keep and name 999 locate points. There are dedicated buttons for IN, OUT and TO locate points on the surface of the 788.

These points are used for editing functions, AUTO PUNCH and REPEAT (loop play) functions.

Speaking of editing, the 788 has extensive editing functions so you can slice and dice to your heart's content. The 788 has a waveform display and audio scrubbing to help quickly focus on edit points.

You can feel free to experiment with your editing since you have 999 levels of UNDO/REDO. The UNDO HISTORY is written to disk with the song, so you can even change your mind about your edit the next time you come back to the project.

The recorder has a ±6% PITCH CONTROL, allowing you to help bring a non-tuneable instrument into pitch with your recording, bring a difficult passage to a tempo that is more manageable, or shift the pitch of the song more into your range. There is also an advanced SLOW SPEED AUDITION function, which lets you play a stereo pair of tracks at 85%, 65% or 50% without dropping the pitch. This function is great for learning difficult passages from your favorite tunes.

SONG MENU

On the 788, each project is stored in its own song file. The song files are all maintained in the SONG MENU. To get to the SONG MENU:

1)Press MENU.

2)Select with the DATA/JOG wheel and press ENTER.

Most of the options in this menu are very similar to a word processor or other software application. However, there are a few unique functions.

makes a new song.

saves the current song.

closes the current song without saving it, and reopens the song from disk. This is useful if you don't want to save the changes you've made.

TOPICS

IN THIS SECTION:
Song Menus		p 13
Basic Recording Functions		p 14
Locate Points		p 14
Virtual Tracks		p 16
Auto Punch		p 16
Pre Roll / Post Roll		p 16
Editing Functions		p 17
Pitch Control / SSA		p 18
Formatting Hard Drives		p 19
Selecting the Target Record Drive		p 19
RELATED TOPICS:
Bouncing Tracks	See Mixer Functions, p 12
Synchronization	See MIDI Functions, p 25

(MTC, MIDI Clock, MMC)

recalls a song from the hard drive, saving the song that is currently open.

deletes selected song(s) from the hard drive. This function can be used on multiple songs in the same pass. See below for batch processing instructions.

duplicates a song. This function can make a copy on the same drive, or it can copy across drives for back-up functions. (CD-R back-up is handled in the CD-R menu, see the CD-R insert for instructions on that.) This function can be set to copy multiple songs at the same time. See below for batch processing instructions.

is a space saving function on the song level. This function will delete any audio from the current song that is not being used. It will get rid of virtual tracks that aren't assigned to a physical track, areas edited out of regions, etc. Beware though, this cannot be undone.

offers write protection for the song. The menu will offer the ability to turn PROTECT on and off. When PROTECT is on, you cannot save over or delete the song. When PROTECT is off, you can change anything you want. PROTECT works at the song level, so you can have some songs protected while others are not protected.

Most of the song file functions are fairly intuitive to use, you simply select the function, and follow the prompts in the screen. However, there are a couple of items

TASCAM 788 Operational Tutorial • 8/2000 Edition Recording & Editing Functions