Labels:text | screenshot | font OCR: AM/FM SPOOL or SPOIL? This month's AM/FM tells you how to look after your DAT tapes Written by Kevan R.Craft When you load new DAT (or analogue) tape, fast forward it to the end and wind back. This loosens up the tape, and spreads any lubricatants across the tape surface. It also allows any loose particles to shake free before you start recording. DAT tapes, like analogue cassettes can suffer from bump caused by the fixing of the tape into the spool - that's why its also safer to leave the first minute or so of any tape blank (though you'll need to record silence for DAT's puposes ). As with analogue, using cue and review wears both tapes and heads. Use them spar ingly. For the same reason don't pause (which leaves the tape wrapped around the rotating head) unless you need to drop into record quickly. DAT heads require cleaning regularly. Make sure you use the correct type of cleaning cassette. Be prepared to have your DAT recorder professionally serviced occasionally. Keep the tapes in a dry and clean place. Dry, because the metalic particles can get rusty, and clean because a particle of dust looks like a small rock next to a DAT track. Don't write DAT labels in pencil or ball-point pen. Graphite and ink particles can flake off and stick to your head or tapes. Use felt pen or a fine marker. Make backups of your important recordings. The best option is to own, borrow, or hire a second DAT recorder, then copy in the digital domain. If like me you own a domestic DAT machine like the SONY DTC 690, containing the dreaded SERIAL COPY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (S.M.C.S) which prevents you making digital copies beyond one generation, then there are a will remove this anti-copy protection - couple of products on the market that for example, 'The CopyRite SMCS defeat box' from Audio Design (+44 0734 844545), or 'Blade Music's Stripper' (+44 0223 208552) Editing tapes: once you've prepared masters of several songs, you'll want to compile a digital master on a single DAT. You'll need either a second DAT recorder, or a hard disk recording system into which you can down load your DAT masters, cut and paste, then recorded, all without leaving the digital domain. (This feature is NOT available on the AMIGA until Commodore get their shit together concerning 16 BIT and the DSP! Come on guys, we Amiga musicans are getting left behind with regard to this aspect of digital recording on our computers !!! The sooner Commodore introduce an Amiga with 16 Bit audio with the DSP the better for the future of both the machine and us users alike! As a side note, could you Amiga designers PLEASE ensure that the 16 Bit DSP is interactive and multi-tasking with a Hard Drive and CD ROM, unlike the doomed A570 and CDTV technology !!! ) If there's a chance your work may end up on CD, record at 44. 1kHz rather than 48KHz. Although the higher sampling rate gives better quality, the conversion rate from 48kHz back to 44. 1kHz effectively negates any real advantage. While conventional wisdom says avoid over loading your DAT inputs, be aware that brief flashes of red from the LEDs aren't necessarily disastrous - percussive peaks (such as snare beats) are generally short enogh for ugly digital distortion to remain inaudible. Take your tape out of the machine when you turn it off. This saves embarrassing poking around should the machine crash next time you turn it on. When you're working on final mixes, don't re-record over failed attempts - just let the tape run, then pick your chosen version. That way, you aviod tape wear and lessen the likelihood of errors. Written for AM/FM by Kevan R. Craft 12 Mount Road Halton Runcorn Cheshire. WA7 2BH. England. U.K. Tel: +44 0928 563762 AM/FM
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