How to Use the Front Panel of a Tape Machine

Reel-to-reel tape was one of the earliest methods of recording sound. It uses magnetic tape stored on a reel instead of a cassette. Reel-to-reel tape recorders can record multiple tracks from a variety of sources including CDs, turntables, PA systems and live audio.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Power and Pause Controls

1. Turn on the unit with the "Power" toggle switch. This switch is on the left middle portion of the front panel.

2. Stop and start the tape playback or recording with the "Pause" toggle switch. This setting stops the tape without a hard unit stop.

3. Set your record and playback options after pausing the unit. Pausing to set controls makes the recording smoother because there's no hard unit stop.

Tape Specific Controls

4. Use the tape counter to locate material on the tape. The tape counter is on the top of the unit.

5. Set the tape speed with the "Tape Speed" toggle. Use the faster speed for higher quality recordings.

6. Load the recorded tape (for playback) or blank tape (for recording) on the left tape reel. Feed the tape through the head and onto the right tape reel.

7. Select the tape type with the "Tape Select" toggle switch. "Normal" is for standard ferric-oxide tape, and "High" is for chrome or metal tape.

8. Locate the basic controls on the right side of the front panel. Use the basic controls to record, play, fast-forward and rewind the tape.

Tape Recording and Playback Controls

9. Select which track to record with the "Rec" buttons. "Left" and "Right" are the channels, or tracks, that are recorded on the tape.

10. Switch the record and playback heads with the "Multi-Sync" buttons. For example, set track 1 to Multi-Sync when recording track 2. This puts track 1 in playback mode so you don't record over it with track 2.

11. Adjust the tape volume, microphone or line with the "Record" controls. The volume controls are located on the lower left of the front panel.

12. Record live audio by connecting a microphone to the front or rear mic jacks. Front and rear specify the channels or tracks being recorded.

13. Specify the number of channels on the tape with the "Mode" button. Use 4-channel when recording and playing four channels, and 2-channel for two channels. The 2-channel mode produces higher quality.

14. Set the stereo playback volume with the front and rear playback controls. The outer rings are for left and right, and the center knobs are for front and rear.

15. Add echo effects with the SOS (Sound on Sound) Echo switch. Set the switch to "Sound on Sound" when recording one sound on top of another. Set the switch to "Echo" to add echo effects. Control the amount of echo with the control knob next to the "SOS Echo" switch.

Monitor Controls

16. Monitor the microphone and line volume levels with the volume unit meters. The meters are on the bottom of the front panel of the tape machine.

17. Connect headphones to the phones jacks at the bottom of the front panel. Use the head phones to monitor track volume during recording.

18. Use the "Monitor" buttons to set which channels to monitor in the headphones. If you're listening to record tracks, press the "Monitor" button for the specific tracks that you want to monitor.

Tips & Warnings

• Some reel-to-reel units load the tape from the right reel to the left reel.
• Some reel-to-reel tape machines have more than two speeds.
• The 3 3/4 tape speed is good for standard speech recordings. The 7 1/2 tape speed is good for music recordings.