Help please with a tascam dp 24 sd effects

[ian r]

hi all
please can you help before i tear all my hair out
i have recorded on track 1 a guitar and on track 2 a flute on track 3 a singer
what i am trying to do is use the internal effects for each track before i mix them down
so on trk 1 i want a chorus trk 2 i want a delay and trk 3 reverb
but if i put a chorus on trk 1 then put a delay on trk 2 then i go back to track 1 ....trk 1 shows a delay
in the select effect menu
how?? or can i use a different effect for each already recorded track
ie) can I use a guitar effect on track 1 and a send internal effect on other already recorded tracks?
also how can i see what effect name is on each track
i have read page 54 in the manual but it does not make it very clear
thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[Mark Richards]

Welcome.

The sticky threads pinned in the shaded area on the first page of the 2488/DP-24/32 forum were created specifically for these types of questions.

Suggest you start with "New Members Please Read This" sticky.

Then read the sticky thread on using FX. ("Definitive Summary of Effects")

Then watch Phil Tipping's free video tutorials on FX found in the "Tutorial and Informational Videos" sticky (Tutorials #4,5,7)

If you still have Qs afterward, come back to this thread, post them here, and we'll have a go at them.

 

[ian r]

Hi Mark
thanks for the reply.
i have looked at the video's and trawled the internet for help
but after messing around with this tascam dp24 sd unit I am beginning to think i have
bought a very limited unit as far as internal send and guitar fx usage goes.
it is next to useless regards the allocation of being able to use them, either on the tracks or inputs
only being able to use them on 1 track only and having to use the same fx on all tracks. if that was possible is a waste of time, I need to have a different internal send or guitar fx across different tracks after the recording has been recorded onto the tracks (example 1 to 6) what good is just one track only?? also when i put fx in track 2 it removes the fx from track 1 to track 2
also I find I can't even allocate them to inputs 1 to 8 and record them down as a live recording but then the matter is, I am stuck with the fx recorded at the same time as the instrument's are being recorded via inputs 1-8 something that should not have to be done, as fx's are always put on to the dry unaffected tracks
Mark if I an wrong here by all means please let me know.
or if you know a better way
as I feel I have bought a pup here
thanks Ian

 

[Phil Tipping]

Hi Ian, all I can say is that you may think you bought a pup, but maybe you're looking at it from an impossible 'ideal' viewpoint.

Yes it would be nice to have all effects available on all tracks simultaneously; yes it would be nice to have hundreds of tracks, etc. but if that's really your priority, use a DAW. There will still be gotchas even with that solution... different ones such as glitches and latency, and they can all take time & effort to sort out unless you buy a ready-tweaked hardware and software package.

These porta-studios are capable of producing CD-quality recordings and the flexibility is sufficient to perform most operations you would normally pay a studio (with engineer) to do... but you need to spend some time learning the signal flow to fully exploit them. For example (as per the pointers from Mark), there are 3 different types of effect and they exist in different parts of the machine so are driven in different ways; some can be used concurrently, some cannot.

These machines imho are a collection (or toolkit) of studio-based items/functions in one box, and the number & quality of items is reflected in the price. If you really want individual effects on every track simultaneously, this is not the machine for you, but I would seriously ask yourself how much you are prepared to spend for this ability... assuming you can find a machine which fits the bill, and also consider that some deficiencies may not be as deal-breaking as it seems.

For example, bouncing is one way round the FX limitations, but if this is deemed an unnecessary waste of time, consider how much time you can spend setting up a performance... choosing a mic, adjusting mic positions, acoustic screens, practice takes, etc. and then weigh that against a simple bounce pass later to add an effect (which takes the length of the track, say 3 mins). You could even assign an input to 2 different tracks and record a dry and wet track simultaneously during the tracking stage to save bouncing later. Agreed this is limited to one track if you want to use the guitar effect, but it could be a time-saver if you're only overdubbing 1 part at a time... and there are other effect types.

So although the limitations can be a bit tedious to overcome, that's the nature of the game... and once you know your way round the machine, you may discover different workflows which suit you better.

 

[ian r]

hi phil
thanks for your reply
i am not going to let it beat me. just having a bad day and at the same time trying to get my head around the tascam. anyway sent off for your instructions Phil as i am sure they will help
i have found my way round 80% of the tascam just the sends and inserts and how to manipulate them or use was driving me mad
anyway i'm back in the pram with dummy again after spitting it out (lol)
take care all
regards Ian

 

[-mjk-]

A Wise Man Once Said:

For example, bouncing is one way round the FX limitations, but if this is deemed an unnecessary waste of time, consider

.... the fact that you can do that effects bounce over and over until you get it right. However if you record the track with the effects on you are stuck with it. That is not a design limitation with the DP machines (this is been discussed before), this is actually pretty much standard multitrack recording engineering practice. Unless you know exactly what you're doing (by doing it hundreds of times) you generally record the tracks with as little stuff on them as possible. By the time you get most of the tracks recorded you should have a pretty good idea of what effects might be needed in the mix and that would be an appropriate time to start bouncing tracks with specific effects added to them. I wouldn't do that at the beginning of the recording process.

 

[Mark Richards]

And let's not forget about all those virtual tracks that can store multiple bounces, be moved to other virtual tracks, etc., all discussed in the "Production Tips" sticky thread.

 

[mijama]

I agree with Phil; once you know the machine and learn a few tricks, the effects situation is not nearly as limiting as it seems at first. Same goes with basic track editing, I might add…

 

[BazzBass]

read the manual before you start rubbishing it. Listen to the wise men who explained that recording fx by bouncing is the correct method to add fx, not at the recording stage. These guys have many years of experience so take their advice as being gospel.

 

[Mark77]

When I use Studio One Pro DAW by default no effects are recorded. That is just logical because as was mentioned then you’re “stuck” with it. This machine makes a lot of sense if you take the time to learn it.