Write Standby And Master Record; Fader Motors Off - Mackie Digital 8 Bus Owner's Manual

off regardless of whether tape is rolling, which
allows this filter to act as a real-time write safety
operation for automation writing other than
faders, mutes and pans.
Note: The ALL filter is a very powerful filter,
which obviously encompasses everything that is
automatable and may in some instances be used
to accidently overwrite parameters that weren't
meant to be overwritten. Before engaging any au-
tomation Write activity, SAVE your sessions, be it
to disk or floppy. And then proceed with caution.
Even after you learn how to use the ALL filter, re-
member to save your work often. That is all.

Write Standby and Master Record:

Automation Write/Record Enable
The basic channel strip WRITE button opera-
tion and the transport Master RECORD enable
button are both explained in Chapter 2. The pur-
pose of discussing these two operations in this
section is to clarify when these buttons are used,
according to which Automation mode is enabled.
The following points about parameters and
Write-engage status are very important for you to
understand:
1) Write Standby occurs when Auto Touch is
not used, i.e., using Absolute or Trim without
AUTO TOUCH engaged.
2) The Master RECORD button does not need
to be engaged for Auto Touch to record automation
moves. The Master RECORD button will not auto-
matically engage when Touch mode is engaged.
There is one more automation filter, which is
available on a "per track" basis rather than as a
parameter change (such as faders or mutes). This
filter is the Write engage on each channel — and
operates in conjunction with the Master RECORD
button and the other filters in the Automation
section. We could have labeled the button Write-
Ready, but the WRITE button works in more
ways than one.
In Absolute or Trim mode, without AUTO
TOUCH engaged, and without the Master
RECORD button enabled, pressing the WRITE
buttons will cause their LEDs to flash. Now they
are in Write standby and are ready to have auto-
mation written to their specific tracks.
But... Touch mode is similar to the analog
mixer concept of grabbing a knob and moving it
without having to think about whether a track,
DSP module, or automation is engaged. In Touch
mode the D8B's parameters are always in standby.
So, if the console senses that a parameter has been
changed, the WRITE button LEDs will not flash
first, they will simply go solid and the updated pa-
rameter will be written as soon as tape rolls. Or it
will be written if tape is already rolling.
However, when AUTO TOUCH is not engaged,
it's possible to specifically change a parameter at
7-4
Automation
a certain point by punching-in (write-engaging by
pressing the PLAY and Master RECORD buttons)
at a specific point in time (with tape rolling),
with the knob in a different position. Whether
the track is in Touch mode or not, you can al-
ways punch-out at a specific time by toggling
either the individual track WRITE buttons off, or
by pressing and disabling the Master RECORD
button, or stopping timecode.
In Touch mode, Write-enabled tracks turn off
if time code is stopped. When the console is not
in Touch mode, Write-enabled tracks go back to
their flashing state when time code is no longer
received, or the STOP button is pressed, or the
Master RECORD button is toggled off.
Note: The Master RECORD
button also acts as the audio
Master Record button—i.e.,
the MMC Master Record en-
gage button. If you are
remotely arming tracks on an MMC-compatible
multitrack, for whatever reason, and you press
the Master RECORD button and send a message
to engage the Master on the multitracks, you
may accidentally erase audio on the multitrack.
We recommend that you always arm and dis-
arm individual tracks of the multitrack from the
D8B Rec/Rdy buttons to avoid any mix-ups or
heartbreaks that may occur. Remember: Write is
for automation, and Rec/Rdy is for audio—as
simple as it may seem—but the Master Record
serves both purposes.
Why did we design it this way? Because some
people prefer to automate and record audio simul-
taneously. If you can keep all that information
straight in your head, then go for it.
Automation Mistakes
What if I get all of this confused and mess up
my automation tracks? There are three things to
remember:
1) The UNDO button will undo the last auto-
mation pass.
2) The Mix Editor can be opened and used to
cut, copy, and paste data, in case of overwrites or
unintended tweaks.
3) Save often. Use the Auto Save feature—set to
"Save after every pass" if you feel more comfortable
working with a safety net. Automation doesn't take
up much space on your hard disk and floppies, so
save as often as you think is necessary.

Fader Motors Off

At times, you may find fader movement distract-
ing during automated playback. The FADER
MOTORS OFF button in the Automation Section al-
lows you to turn off the fader motors and prevent
any fader motion during automated playback.