Welcome to the first installment of "Tech Talk." This monthly article will hopefully help you understand about certain sound and musical gadgets that everyone sees but are just not sure how they operate in the real world.

We will start with a great playback device--Instant Replay by 360 Systems. The Instant Replay is a glorified computer hard drive that will play back--in an instant--any audio that is put into it. The most common use for this device is the play back of soundtracks and if you're listening to your favorite Southern Gospel group on stage and you see no band, more than likely that group is using the Instant Replay.

With Instant Replay, you can also record better-than-CD-quality audio directly onto hard disk. Built-in editing software enables head and tail trims, song fade-ins and fade-outs, and gain (volume) changes. You can search for a track even when another is playing. Fifty "hot keys" enable on-the-fly instant playback of sound effects from 10 different "banks" of 50 clips, and another 500 clips can be stored on the hard disk. Users can build and store multiple play lists of audio clips in sequence, and store up to 24 hours of stereo digital audio on the internal hard drive.

You can go here and see the Instant Replay. You can also download a product brochure as well as the owners manual.

Before I close let me mention this: The Instant Replay is not too cheap. The street price is around $2600.00. So if you find one cheaper than that jump on it--or call me!

Til next time,

Roger Fortner

TECH TALK FAQ

What are some examples of some of the clips that are found on the disk?

You'll find a little of everything...sirens, jet noises, animals, laughs--even the Batmobile is on there!

Who was the first Southern Gospel artist to use the Instant Replay?

To the best of my knowledge it was Gold City.

Is there any drawback to using the Instant Replay?

None that I can find! It works like a charm every time.

Why is the Instant Replay preferred over other equipment like the CD or mini-disc players?

Instant Replays won't skip like a CD can and the editing functions and sound quality are far superior to the CD and mini-disc systems. Best of all, the Instant Replay is much simpler and faster to use, which truly helps the stage presentation, and you can record up to 24 hours of music on it.

Till next time,

Roger