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Guide to Multitracking

The Fundamentals
A MultiTrack Recorder is a device that can record and playback multiple sounds at once. This process can be used to record one sound then rewind and record another sound while listening to the first sound. These and subsequent sounds are recorded separately so can be, at a later time, changed, rerecorded and played back separately, all together or only selected sounds at once.

These separate sounds are recorded separately on 'Tracks'. A simple way to think of a Track is like a Dictaphone or tape recorder with Play, Record, Rewind, Fast-forward, Stop and Volume/mute Features.

Recording a song
Theoretically, we could use Multiple Dictaphones to record a song (We shall name these Dictaphones 'one' 'two' and 'three' etc for reference
  1. We first record a Guitar on Dictaphone-one. Press stop then rewind this back to the beginning.
  2. We then press play on Dictaphone-one while pressing record on Dictaphone-two at exactly the same time.
  3. We then record a vocal on to Dictaphone-two, singing along to the guitar that is playing from Dictaphone-one.
  4. Press stop on both machines, rewind then press play on both Dictaphones (at the same time) to hear what we have recorded - A song!

Processing each Sound separately 
Now we have two separate sounds that can be 'processed' separately. We will go into the different processes later, for now we are just interested in Volume.
Lets say that the guitar is a bit loud and is drowning out the vocal. Simple. Just lower the volume on Dictaphone-one during play back until it sounds good.
Ok. Lets add some bass.
  1. Rewind both machines. Now press play on Dictaphone-one & two while pressing record on Dictaphone-three.
  2. Play the bass part of the song while listening to the guitar and vocal.
  3. Hit stop on all the machines when finished, rewind and press play on all the machines. Have a listen. Change the volumes on the machines so it sounds good.
  4. Now add a guitar solo. Simultaneously press play on the first three machines while pressing record on....

HANG ON! Running out of fingers now! And it's tricky to hit everything at exactly the same time! If only we had some kind of system to control all the machines at once....

Making things simpler & adding 'Status Keys'
This is where the MultiTrack Recorder comes into it's own. It controls all play, stop, record, rewind, and fast forward features of the 'Tracks' (Remember: our Dictaphones in the example above represent Tracks) from a central control unit while still allowing you to control volume separately and also you can decide, with a simple switch, which Track will record, which will play and which will be muted.

So now our set up is much simpler to control. The only timing we have to worry about is our own rhythm. We now have one Play button, one Record button etc, but still have a volume control for each Track. But now we also have a button on each 'Track', just above the volume control, which:
  • When pressed once turns Green - Which means the Track will play only.
  • When Pressed again will turn Red - Which means the Track will record the sound.
  • When pressed again will turn white - Which means that the Track will be muted, it will neither Play nor Record. We'll call these buttons 'Status Keys'

Lets continue with our new set up and add that guitar solo.
  1. Tap the Status Keys on Tracks one, two and three so they turn Green (play only)
  2. Tap the Status Key on Track Four until it turns Red (record)
  3. Press record and you will be able to hear the Guitar, Vocal and Bass while you Solo to your hearts content.
  4. When done, hit stop then rewind on the control unit, change all the Status Keys to Green and press Play to hear a 4Track recording!

Overwriting
But let's say that the Solo is no good. No problem. Just repeat steps 1 to 4 above as many times as you want, each time you will overwrite Track four but never effect the other Tracks.

This system of Status Keys and Control Units also provides us with some security against accidentally overwriting good Tracks either by forgetting to change the Status or forgetting which Track we want to overwrite.

Imagine you just got the solo perfect and in your eagerness to listen you forget to change the Status Key to green! Don't panic, so long as you only press play on the control unit our MultiTrack Recorder will treat the 'red' Track as 'green' and not record over it. 

Similarly, if you press record on the control unit but only have 'green' Tracks, the MultiTrack Recorder will only play the green Tracks. Unfortunately you will not record what you are playing. 

Should you forget which Track you want to record over, change the Status keys so all are white except one lit green, there by only hearing that Track. Find the bad Track, change it to red, change all the others to green again and you are ready to hit Record.

Muting Tracks
Ok, Lets say that the Solo is proving to be tricky. That Vocal is good but putting you off your stroke. (A very common problem!!).
  1. Tap the Status Keys on Tracks one and three so they turn Green (play only)
  2. Tap the Status Key on Track Two until it is White (Mute)
  3. Tap the Status Key on Track Four until it turns Red (record)
  4. Press record and you will be able to hear the Guitar and Bass while you Solo to your hearts content.
  5. When done, hit stop then rewind on the control unit, change all the Status Keys to Green and press Play to hear your recording. The Vocal Track is preserved as originally recorded.

Summary
  • A MultiTrack Recorder is nothing more than a bunch of recording devices linked together.
  • Think of each Track as a separate recording device like a Dictaphone
  • A MultiTrack Recorder assists in controlling all these devices simultaneously
  • Status Keys are Important but Simple ~ Green is Play ~ Red is record ~ White is Mute
  • Record all parts of a song to a separate Track to process or rerecord at a later date.

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