Fostex X-28 - Page 33

— Tape —
• Keep your cassette tapes at least three teet away
from any magnetic fields — especially those of
computer monitors, speakers, TVs and telephones
— they can damage or even erase what you've
recorded.
• Clearly and logically label your tapes. If your cre¬
ative juices are flowing at all, you'll soon amass a
whole box worth of cassette recordings. If your
tapes are not labeled, you’ll waste alotofti me trying
to find the one you need.
• After finishing a recording on cassette, you should
punch out the two record-protect tabs so as not to
inadvertently erase your newly created masterpiece.
(Be sure to take BOTH tabs out, since you've
recorded to all four tracks.)
— Settings —
• Start all your recordings by "zero ing” the controls—
that is, setting them all to their 0, OFF or minimum
position. Adjust only those controls which pertain to
the operation at hand.
• When using the EQ controls to brighten the sound,
the first impulse is to turn the HI control up. Keep in
mind, however, that you can get a similar effect by
turning the LO control down instead.
• If you haven't already done so, we suggest you take
time to read throug h one of the "least readable” parts
of the manual: the Panel Controls and Terminals
section. Much of the information in the section will be
obvious, but if there are some functions and settings
of the X-28 that have you baffled or just plain
curious, there’s no better place to get more infor¬
mation.
• You should also familiarize yourself with the signal
paths of the X-28 by referring often to the signal flow
and block diagrams in this manual. These, too, are
undoubtedly difficult to understand at first glance,
but the effort you make in following the signal paths
as you read through the instructions will pay off in a
greater understanding of the entire multitrack record
process.
— Recording —
• Make a blank “track chart” for your recordings and
photocopy several ol them. Write down what instru¬
ment or part was recorded to which track, and keep
notes as to what pan, level and effects settings are
needed. Each track sheet should refer to a different
tape, or even a different song.
• Plan your recordings so that each successive track
moves up in frequency range. In other words, record
bass parts first and guitar solos and vocals last.
• Try to keep similar frequencies together, if you are
combining tracks. Put bass and drums together,
rhythm guitar parts with keyboards, etc.
• If you use microphones to record instruments, try
positioning them in different ways. With electric
guitar/bass amplifiers, try putting the microphone
closer to the speaker or pointed slightly away from
the center of the speaker cone. Small changes can
have big effects on the recorded sound. Try different
microphones; use two or even more microphones in
different parts of the room. In other words, experi¬
ment. Remember, cassette tape is inexpensive.
• Always rehearse before you record. You may be
tempted to speed up the process by recording
immediately, oryou may want to make a trial record¬
ing just to check out the basic sound. Even so, you
should take time to practice both the performance
and the operation steps before each take.
• Be persistent. Re-record as many times as you need
to to come up with the perfect take.
— Ping-pong Recording —
• Record your bass parts first if you intend to bounce
tracks. High frequency sounds are the first to disap¬
pear when bouncing.
— External Effects —
• Proper reverb is essential to making a polished,
professional-sounding recording, but be careful to
not overdo it. If you record each track with reverb,
the effect is cumulative, and could make your re¬
cording sound excessively muddy. Moreover, once
you put it there, you can’t get rid of it. (Exception to
the rule: Creating a big, richly textured reverb sound
for unison musical passages, by giving each track
sightly different reverb time, amount and EQ.)
• In general, use signal processors such as reverb,
echo, compression, distortion, etc. sparingly. A little
can go a long way, but too much can clutter the
recording.
— Connections and Other Equipment —
• Use the best microphones that you can afford. At
Fostex, we are partial to our own brand of micro¬
phones. If you don’t use ours, at least use the best
that you can find. Tip: Use condenser type micro¬
phones for recording acoustic instruments (guitar,
banjo, piano, mandolin, accordion, drums, etc.).
This will give these instruments a light, airy sound.
Use ribbon and tube microphones for a warm vocal
sound. ‘ Pop” covers, are sometimes necessary for
vocals but they can dull the high frequencies.
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