EMUSIC-L Digest Volume 9, Number 5 Today's Topics: Your EMUSIC-L Digest moderator is Joe McMahon . You may subscribe to EMUSIC-L by sending mail to listserv@american.edu with the line "SUB EMUSIC-L your name" as the text. The EMUSIC-L archive is a service of SunSite (sunsite.unc.edu) at the University of North Carolina. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 11:14:00 EST From: Chris Iverson Subject: Re: 4-track recorders I bought a Fostex X-15 series II a couple of years ago for about $400.00 new, including a power supply (it's made to operate on battery power, but it takes about 10 "C" cell batteries and only lasts a few hours on them). As a cheap 'scratchpad' type of recorder it is great: real easy to use, and the sound quality is okay. It is good for trying out idaes, or recording ideas for use later in a better recording setup. For serious recording, get something better. There are many limitations to this 4-track: you can only record on two tracks at a time, you can only monitor line levels on two tracks at a time, EQ is coarse Hi and Lo, and once you start ping-ponging tracks, the sound quality goes fast. However, I am glad I have this one, as I can't afford to get into the pricey stuff, yet (wouldn't mind stumbling across a deal like that 8-track and mixer for $600.00, but those deals don't happen out in agriculturally- zoned areas like Lancaster, PA). Drive cheerfully, -chris ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 11:26:00 EST From: CTDONATH@SUNRISE.BITNET Subject: Audio-to-keyboard Does there exist a device that will take any sound, do a spectrum analysis of it, pick out the frequencies that match a keyboard key, and generate a MIDI data stream for controlling a synth? Is such a device interesting or potentially useful? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 10:47:59 CST From: Jayson Subject: Re: 4-track recorders Tascam PortaOne: I used one of these for a couple years right after they came out. I think this is a very nice dependable machine for getting things down. For the quick-and-dirty stuff it's great. I agree with Chris' comments about his Fostex, and I think they apply here also. The PortaOne has alot of utility to the "Oh God that's great, quick we gotta record before it's gone" composers. MG612: Akai machine with alot of sophistication and a nice mixer to boot. I had the opportunity to buy one of these for $800 used, or trade. It does alot of nice things, like synch track, but as with all cassette based machines, the recording will get saturated pretty quickly. Tascam 234: An upgraded PortaOne with rackmount. It's got separate line ins,outs for each track. Used with a Tascam mixer you're reputedly able to route out for effects on separate tracks and route back in!? Still cassette machine. More expensive than the PortaOne, but much cleaner and crisper. Much nicer recordings, they seem more spacious than the PortaOne. This has now become the 238. Tascam TSR8: 1/2" reel machine. New, more sophisticated eight tracks. < $3500. Best bet for the money, and if you want a real (ie. reel) machine. Yamaha MT100, 3X, ????: For the comparison to the inexpensive cassette machines I like these best. Especially nice are the effects loops and mixing facilities. What are the preferences here? Is DBX or Dolby preferred??? -Buzz. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 14:28:00 EST From: MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET Subject: TR808 To answer an old question, the Roland TR-808 drum machine is no longer in production. It is the trendy drum machine for rap music. When Keyboard magazine did a cover story on rap last year, the TR-808 was praised for its bass drum sound. One engineer was quoted as saying he would put the bass drum on track 3 and leave tracks 2 and 4 empty because the bass drum would bleed through onto them. At the time it first came out, the TR-808 was the first bargin (i.e. less than a Linn Drum) programable drum machine. It provided twelve voices through eight channels, with a switch toggling between tom and conga for each of low, mid, and high tone ranges and between maracas and hand-claps, and between clave and rim shot. Each channel had a separate output, which if used removed that sound from the main mix. This permits such practices as running the snare drum signal through reverb, which really beefs up the sound. The TR-808 also provides three trigger signals, tied to the hand clap, cowbell, and accent signals. The TR-808 is outmoded; newer units do more. But I have no intention of unloading any of my three. Different voices sound different on the different machines. John McIntyre Physics - Astronomy Dept Michigan State University ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 15:42:37 PST From: Dave Hayes Subject: re: Midi Horrors Re: A new MIDI patch-bay I am going to soon make the purchase of something called a MIDI MENTOR. This is a 4 in to 8 out programmable patch-bay that does so much I'm hard pressed to figure out just what it DOESN'T do. I'll keep folks up-to-date on when I get it and how I like it. I'm equally at home with live and studio keyboard setups. ------------------------------=== =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<<<<<([Dave Hayes])>>>>>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= dave%jplopto@jpl-mil.jpl.nasa.gov | Jet Propulsion Laboratory M/S 300-329 {cit-vax,ames}!elroy!jplopto!dave | 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA 91109 BIX: dhayes | (818) 354-1910 ------------------------------=== ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 19:11:02 CST From: Jason Keeler Subject: K4 Just wondering if anyone has had a chance to see the new KAWAI K4? If so, how is it? Is it more towards a synth or a sampler? I have an M1 and I am looking for another axe to complement it. Preferably something that is good for both studio and stage (I'm sort of caught between wanting to do both) ......Jason ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 30 Oct 89 23:58:00 CST From: jeff beer Subject: RE> DBX vs Dolby DBX is better, but I never use it because you need a DBX machine to play it, and most of my tapes I make I want to be able to take on the road. I have decided it is better to not use Dolby, so I have stopped using it, especially on CDs. They are usually quite enough if you use metal tape. Dolby just gives it a funny sound. If I was making cassette master tapes, I would use DBX, the only deck it would be used on would be the master tape recorder. Any mix down would be converted to regular stereo format. Jeff Beer, Chicago End of EMUSIC-L Digest ***********************