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TEAC/TASCAM’s digital multitrack system attracts many top rock stars
I t’s hard to believe now in these days of CDs, Walkmans, DATs, mini- discs and DVDs, but 30 years ago there was no home recording mar- ket and no affordable multi-track recording of any kind. The first 24- track recorders were only just
becoming available in the biggest recording studios but shortly afterwards four-channel consumer reel-to-reel decks for the quadra- phonic market arrived, and that was the start of something big.
Engineers at TEAC, founded in 1953 as
the Tokyo Television Acoustic Company,
quickly realised that they could modify the technology used in the tape heads to pro-
vide an affordable audio recorder capable of record- ing, or “overtracking,” on to one or more tracks in sync with previously recorded material.
And with the launch of its 2340 and 3340 recorders in 1972, TEAC almost single-handedly launched the home recording revolution, selling thou- sands of these products to a growing number of musi- cians keen to develop their own recording capability at home or in small, low-cost studios.
TEAC rapidly saw similar possibilities in the audio cassette format, which offered even greater potential for low-cost self-recording products, while at the same time integrating the mix and routing func- tions normally handled by a separate mixing desk, within a single unit with the recorder. In 1979 the PortastudioTM, in the shape of the TEAC 144 cassette multitracker, was born.
From these initial ventures into the musical produc- tion market, TEAC established a profes-
sional audio and music industry divi-
sion, TASCAM, which throughout the
1980s was associated with affordable and innovative recording equipment. These included several series of recording consoles, two-, four-, eight-
and 16-track analogue reel-to-reel recorders, professional cassette recorders, all bringing professional stan- dards and operational capabilities at a price which meant they could be afford- ed by individuals and not just profes- sional recording studios.
The introduction of the DAT (Digital Audio Tape) recorder brought with it affordable digital recording and when TASCAM’s DTRS (Digital Multitrack Recording System), based around the Hi-
8 video media, hit the market in 1992 it was an immediate success.
It offered more professional facilities and opera- tion than ever before, including time code and syn- chronisation which enabled its use within the world of pictures as well as sound.
Its affordability was an added bonus for the pro- fessional “sound for picture” industry that rapidly came to appreciate the many advantages that the rev- olutionary miniaturised format offered over the exist- ing space-consuming analogue and digital machinery.
Private studios, matching the quality thresh- olds of the world’s leading recording facilities, grew up everywhere and with TASCAM’s market-leading DA-88 machine, you could sync the recording when making the video.
The format found success not only in the profes- sional and semi-professional music recording markets but also established itself as the industry standard
audio mix-down and transfer format in the film, television and video post-pro- duction industry.
Today, DA-88s continue to give reli- able service in thousands of recording and audio post facilities throughout the world and TASCAM has continued to develop the DTRS format to provide a latest generation of MDM products, the DA-78HR and DA-98HR, capable of 24 bit resolution and, in the case of the DA- 98HR, even 96kHz sampling frequency.
TASCAM’s growth throughout Europe was propelled by the DA-88. In the UK the
company found a new customer base in the video and film industry.
Tony Gravel, now TEAC UK’s TASCAM Division Manager, was on the road at that time selling the new
recorder. He recalls: “John Wood, of John Wood Sound in Manchester, was among the very first to be impressed by the potential of the DA-88s and equipped his post produc- tion facility with three machines.
“Granada TV in Manchester, for whom Wood did a lot of work, decided to invest in a number of the machines to replace ana- logue multi-track machines. So too did BBC Cardiff, who bought at least six DA-88s to replace analogue multi-track machines.
“In Liverpool the new Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, opened by Sir Paul McCartney, equipped their entire music faculty throughout with 12 DA-88s.
The customer list grew exponentially. Anvil Studios in Denham, a major film and TV dubbing
facility, re-equipped with 10 machines for all their sound recording requirements. TWI in West London, who produce a large majority of sports programmes for terrestrial and satellite television, also equipped with 10 machines for their post facilities and Central TV sites in Nottingham and Birmingham also equipped their post and recording theatres with DTRS.
In the US the pattern repeated itself. Among the most significant customers, Universal Studios equipped all their studios with DTRS machines, which did much to establish it as a standard in the film industry there.
The following year TASCAM was awarded a tech- nical Grammy for the DA-88. The advantages of porta- bility and being able to use and interchange tapes all over the world added increasing momentum to the growth of DTRS.
The list of bands and musicians who have adopt- ed the format at the centre of professional quality per- sonal studios, includes the like of Mark King, Callum Malcolm, Toploader and Jamiroquai.
Today’s hard disk and computer-driven audio production tools means DTRS now sits alongside prod- ucts such as TASCAM’s brilliant MX-2424 hard disk multitrack recorder, but it is testimony to the design of the DA-88 that tape is very definitely still here.
Performance of the new breed of tape formula- tion from Fuji, such as the Fuji DPD 113MP, has assisted TASCAM’s engineers in maintaining data integrity at these higher performance rates with Hi-8 media. ■ RUSSELL FORGHAM
Thanks to Keith Grant at Kga Press and Jo Fialho, TEAC UK Service Manager, for their help in compiling this article for EXPOSURE Magazine.
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The Recording Revolution
The Recording Revolution
EXPOSURE • 15
Photos top: TASCAM’s latest generation DTRS recorders DA-78HR and DA-98HR; above: Tony Gravel, TEAC UK’s TASCAM Division Manager