CASSETTE MULTITRACKER TIPS

1. FAKING SEPARATE TAPE OUTPUTS

Cassette multitrackers are wonderful things, but sometimes the flexibility offered by a separate mixer when you come to do the final mix can greatly enhance the quality of the end product. On those machines with separate tape outputs for all four tracks, this is no problem, but I was recently asked to mix a tape from a client's Tascam Porta 01 which is only equipped with stereo outputs. The challenge was how to best separate the four tracks before feeding them into the studio mixing console.

The solution I arrived at was something of a compromise, but it was certainly better than using the stereo output. Furthermore, it is applicable to many other models of cassette multitracker as long as they have at least one aux send and a sync facility. The steps are as follows:

• Tracks 1 and 2 are panned right and left and fed to the stereo output as normal. The faders are set close to full up. The aux send controls are fully down on both channels.

• Track 3 is panned either left or right but the fader is set only around a quarter of the way up. The aux send control is set full up and the output taken from the aux send socket.

• Track 4's fader is set fully down, as is the aux send. The output is taken from the Sync socket.

Depending on the make and model of your cassette multitracker, the noise reduction may or may not be disabled when the machine is switched to Sync mode. If you're lucky, you may be able to record with noise reduction on and still get a correctly decoded output from the sync socket. Try setting the Sync switch to off if the signal sounds odd with the Sync switch turned on.

If your machine doesn't allow you to get a normal-sounding signal out of the Sync socket when replaying a recording that was made with noise reduction, re-record track 4 with the noise reduction switched off.

The main compromise comes with track 3; to get a signal out of the aux send socket, the fader needs to be part way up, which means that a small amount of track 3 will appear at either the right or left output (depending on the Pan setting) along with channels 1 and 2. In practice, this is low enough in level not to be a problem unless track 3 actually needs to be muted in the mix. If this is the case, use the aux send to separate out a track that is going to play all the way through the mix; for example, track 1 could be fed to the aux send while tracks 2 and 3 are routed to the stereo output.

2. MANY HAPPY (STEREO) RETURNS

There are one or two cassette multitrackers around that only have a single, mono effects return. This is of little use if you have a stereo reverb unit and wish to use it in stereo, but if you have the patience to solder up a few sockets and resistors, you can get around the problem. Figure 1 shows a simple passive, stereo line mixer that may be used to combine the output of a typical multitracker with another stereo line signal. When using this as an effects return, the effect level must be set at the effect units itself, so a unit with an output level control is essential. Furthermore, any fade-outs must be handled using the input gain controls of the master stereo recorder; if the master fader on the multitracker is used, the mix will fade but the effect will not!