Yamaha MT 400 Buying Cassette Tapes for the MT400, , MT400 Recording Format

4

—Owner’s Manual

Buying Cassette Tapes for the MT400

It is important that you buy the correct type of cassette tape for use with your MT400. You

should buy high-quality Type II (High Bias, 70

µ

s EQ) chrome cassettes of 90 minutes or less,

such as TDK SA or MAXELL CDXL II.

At normal speed, a 60-minute cassette provides about 15 minutes of recording time. That is

because the tape runs at twice the speed of a normal cassette recorder and you can use only

one side of the tape.

The following table shows the available recording times with three standard tape sizes:

MT400 Recording Format

A normal cassette recorder uses only two tracks (i.e., left and right stereo channels) for each

side (A and B). The transport direction of the A side is opposite that of the B side. The MT400

uses only one side of the cassette, and records and plays up to four tracks simultaneously or

one at a time. Therefore, tapes with all four tracks recorded on the MT400 cannot be played

on normal cassette players. If you try to play back a tape recorded with normal cassette

recorders on the MT400, you will hear Tracks 3 and 4 play backwards.

Normal cassette recorder tracks

MT400 tracks

The tape speed of normal cassette recorders is 4.8 cm/second. On the other hand, the MT400

uses 9.5 cm/second as its standard speed to achieve high-quality sound.

Cassette Tape MT400 Recording Time

(with the standard speed)

C90 Approx. 22.5 minutes

C60 Approx. 15 minutes

C46 Approx. 11.5 minutes

Note:

We recommend that you use a brand new cassette tape for important recording. If you

record on a used tape repeatedly, the recorded sound may skip or sound quality may

deteriorate.

transport

direction

transport

direction

Side B (left channel)

Side B (right channel)

Side A (right channel)

Side A (left channel)

transport

direction

Track 1

Track 2

Track 3

Track 4

Contents

Main MULTITRACK CASSETTE RECORDER Owners Manual E 6 5 8 Important Read the Following Before Operating MT400 Keep This Manual For Future Reference Contents 3 Welcome to the MT400 Recorder Mixer MT400 Features Buying Cassette Tapes for the MT400 MT400 tracks MT400 Recording Format About dbx Noise Reduction Glossary 6 Touring the MT400 CUE control D AUX controls C E INPUT-FLIP switch Fader G PAN control 8 Stereo Inputs STEREO fader K h 9 Recorder Section QP METER SELECT switch O 10 Transport Section 11 Meter Section f c a 12 Front Panel Rear Panel 13 The First Session Rhythm machine Headphones Master recorder Preparation Recording the First Track Preparation Before Recording Selecting a recording track 1 2 3 Checking the recording level 4 16 The First Take 354 The Track 1 REC SELECT indicator ashes. Starting recording 1 Signal ow during track recording CUE bus (monaural) Overdubbing 3 9 784 Selecting a recording track 1 2. Start recording 7 Listening to the recording 8 CUE bus (monaural) Signal ow during overdubbing the beginning and press the [PLAY] button to start playback. Mixdown 65 Connecting a master recorder 1 Sending the tape playback sound to the input channels 2 11 5 6 7 Stereo bus L, R Signal ow during mixdown monitor speakers, adjust the faders, PAN controls, and EQ controls on Input Channel Advanced Recording Techniques This chapter introduces you to various advanced recording techniques using the MT400. 05 A 4 to L and R respectively. 5 Stereo bus Signal ow during multi-channel mixing 6 STEREO fader to the 78 mark. Ping-Pong Recording 509 7 Overdubbing Overdubbing recording This section explains how to mix and record existing Tracks 13 data onto Track 4 as an example. 5 6 R CUE bus Stereo bus R Signal ow during ping-pong recording Multi-Source Mixing 1 INPUTs 1 and 2. 2 5 6 7 Stereo bus Signal ow during multi-source mixing 8 Using Effects Using INSERT I/O 29 Effects processor connection with an insert cable Effects processor 1 Effects processor 2 Outputs OutputsInput Input Connecting external effects processors to AUX SENDs 30 Applying Effects to Multiple Channels When Recording Page 32 Applying Effects to Only a Monitor Signal 39 The vocal will be directly recorded on Track 4. 1 33 Applying Effects at Mixdown 1 2 Tracks 14 signals are sent to Input Channels 14. Punch In/Out Recording 8AB 60 Mistakes Punch in Punch out 35 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 0 A LINE 4. B 2 MIDI Synchronization Synchronizing the MT400 with a MIDI Sequencer SYNC Signal Formats 38 Connecting the MT400 to a MIDI System FSK INFSK OUT SYNC OUT FSK/MIDI system SMPTE/MTC system MIDI tone generator MIDI OUT 1 LR SMPTE INSMPTE OUT 40 Recording a SYNC Signal on the Tape C5A 1 converter or the SMPTE/MTC converter as shown in the diagrams on pages 38 and 39. 41 9 converter. 0 The dbx reduction system is cancelled only on the sync track (Track 4). Page 43 Synchronized Mixdown 78 to external MTC or MIDI Clock. 1 Appendix Troubleshooting 45 Maintaining the MT400 Cleaning the Record-Play Head, Erase Head, Capstan, and Pinch Roller Demagnetizing the Record-Play Head Specications Tape Transport I/O Specications Mixer Recorder Dimensions Block Diagram 1234 Input Source: Input Source: Input Source: Input Source: Input Source: Input Source: Tracking Sheet + 4 3 2