Saturday, August 25, 2018, "SHAKIN' THE HOUSE".

The Faith Mass Choir Gospel Concert" was held at Namba Hatch. TASCAM's DA-6400DP 64-channel Digital Multitrack Recorder and IF-MA64/EX MADI interface card were used for this concert, along with over 30 microphones and up to 62 channels that were connected between the stage and the PA desk, leading to an outstanding gospel performance with rock and ballad music.

TASCAM had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Sasaki, the producer of the project, and his staff at Pasti Menang Co. Mr. Sasaki has a great deal of experience in multitrack recording, and he talked to us about the past and current state of multitrack recording.

TASCAM: Let's talk about the live recording scene in Japan. Do you think multitrack recordings are increasing in live performance?

Sasaki: Increasing...it's rather that we would like for it to increase, actually. I mean, Pro Tools is very easy to get nowadays.

TASCAM: Yes, nowadays it's very easy to get DAWs like Pro Tools, isn't it? But what about having a hardware unit? What did you find interesting in the DA-6400?

Sasaki: That it's very compact for sure! It also can handle multiple channels and the fact that transmission of recorded data is fast too.

Ohnishi: With Pro Tools, it depends on the condition of the PC, so dedicated hardware is more reliable and reassuring in that case.

Sasaki: Exactly.

Ohnishi: It's safe and easy to handle, and a good thing is that you can just press the REC and START buttons to record, which is simple enough.

Sasaki: Although the clock can shift when recording with two or more recorders at the same time.

TASCAM: Cascade operation with two or more units is now supported with firmware version 2.10.

Sasaki: I would like to try that. This time we recorded at 48 kHz, but most recordings use over 32 channels, so we would like to try recording at 96 kHz. Although depending on the venue, we may decide to use 32 channels.

TASCAM: With the included SSD 240GB, recording 64 channels at 48kHz/24-bit will take approximately 7 hours. What do you think about this recording time?

Sasaki: With around 7 hours, I think it's fine. Unless it's not a festival, for a concert like the one we did I think that's enough. Any longer than that and it's going to be hard to listen to the recorded data.

Ohnishi: We sometimes have to work all day long when it comes to festivals.

Sasaki: Yes, that's right. Certainly, for festivals sometimes we run for 7 or 8 hours, but there are always breaks between performances, so the recording media can be replaced during those breaks. Also, the recording is mostly done with two recording units with the recording start time staggered. The recording media is replaced once the data is full in one device, while the other one continues recording.

TASCAM: In that case, you may also want to consider having the SSD 480GB.