Yamaha MT8XII Manual Do Utilizador

The First Session

This section describes the fundamental principles of multitrack recording.

Monitoring—This is the process of listening to a sound as it’s being recorded or listening to 
recorded sounds as new sounds are recorded to other tracks. See About Monitoring on page 21 
for more information.

Recording the First Track—The first track to be recorded is typically the drum track. A 
drum track that starts before other instruments makes a good timing and count-in reference. 
If your song starts with several instruments on the first bar, you may find it helpful to record a 
temporary count-in on another track, which can be erased later. See Recording the First Track 
on page 15 for more information.

Overdubbing—This is the technique of recording new sounds to empty tracks while listening 
to the sounds that you’ve already recorded on the other tracks. Essentially, songs are recorded 
track-by-track. This technique is used for most modern studio recording. See Overdubbing on 
page 16 for more information.

Mixdown—This is the final technique in multitrack recording. Here you mix the sounds from 
all eight tracks, with EQ and effects, into a balanced stereo mix and record it to a stereo master 
recorder, such as a DAT, MiniDisc, or cassette tape machine. The MT8XII’s [FLIP] button allows 
you to mix the eight track signals with eight signals from other sound sources (e.g., from 
MIDI-controlled instruments). In combination with the ST INs and TAPE IN, this provides up 
to 20 sound sources during mixdown. See Mixdown on page 18 for more information.

One-Take Recording—With this technique, up to four tracks are recorded in one take. This 
is useful for live recording and recording bands that like to record with all members playing 
together. Punch in/out and ping-pong techniques can be used after the one-take recording to 
add and correct sections. See One-Take Recording on page 44 for more information.

Punch In/Out—This technique allows you to rerecord specific sections of a track. It’s often 
used to rerecord a not so perfect guitar solo or vocal phrase. Punch in/out can be rehearsed 
before actually recording to tape. Punch in/out on the MT8XII can be performed manually or 
automatically, which is useful when you are playing or singing and operating the MT8XII all at 
the same time. See Manual Punch In/Out on page 23 for more information. 

Ping-Pong—This technique allows you to mix and record several tracks onto another track. 
This is often used to free up tracks for more recording. So although the MT8XII is an eight-track 
recorder, you can actually record more than eight tracks using the ping-pong technique. You 
can also combine ping-pong with overdub recording. For example, Tracks 1, 2, and 3 are mixed 
and recorded onto Track 5 along with a new signal coming from Input Channel 4. Ping-pong 
can be rehearsed before actually recording to tape. See Ping-Pong Recording on page 29 for more 
information.

Synchronization—This technique enables the MT8XII and a MIDI sequencer to work 
together as a unified recording tool: the MT8XII for acoustic sounds and the MIDI sequencer 
for MIDI instrument sounds. See The MT8XII & MIDI on page 40 for more information.