BR0800: Newbie questions about importing, fx and mastering!

[Johnny_E]

You can move 1/2 and/or 3/4 to 5/6 or 7/8 ! (That is you must copy and delete as there is no move feature )

By default the mastering ends up in 7/8 virtual track 8 (called TR78-VMST), but that can be changed if desired.

Glad to hear your in business for some music

When I used the copy option for say track 1, it only allowed me to select 1-4  No doubt I missed something!

Well, I've got a bass track down. I could try & retry it for months and never do it the same twice  This one's close... but the Ibanex 5 string I used is VERY fat in its tone. On one... just one slide on the 5th string it overloaded the input  Might have 1 last go....

Getting peace to do this is half the battle isnt it 

One last thing I'll need to work out... punch ins and outs. I've a Marshall foot switch. I can use that to insert just a few bars over a track cant I? That'd be handy for sorting this 1 distorted bar - rather than rerecording the track.

Oh... and if I stop the song say 1/2 way, arm the record button and then record... can I record to track from just that point on? Can I do that if I like the 1st half and want to re-try the finish of the track?

Sorry for all the questions!... I'll get there! 

[Johnny_E]

1 last question... I've got tracks 1-8 laid down. Now, I want to master but before, I've always left 7-8 free for mastering to.

How do I make sure I master to a V track on 7-8. Dont wanna mess this up... and theres no "undo" button!!

[64Guitars]

One last thing I'll need to work out... punch ins and outs. I've a Marshall foot switch. I can use that to insert just a few bars over a track cant I? That'd be handy for sorting this 1 distorted bar - rather than rerecording the track.

You need an unlatched or momentary-contact switch (contacts are closed only while your foot is depressing the switch). Your Marshall switch is probably of the latched type (ie; the contacts stay closed until you click it again to open them) so it's not right for the BR. I use the damper pedal from my Yamaha keyboard which is a momentary-contact switch and it works well with the BR. The Roland DP-2 would also be a good choice.

Oh... and if I stop the song say 1/2 way, arm the record button and then record... can I record to track from just that point on? Can I do that if I like the 1st half and want to re-try the finish of the track?

Yes, but you'll probably find it more convenient to use auto punch-in/out (see pages 46/47 in the BR-800 manual). With auto punch-in/out, you set location points for where you want the recording to start and where you want it to end. Then you can rewind to a few bars before the start point and press [REC] and [PLAY]. The BR will start playing your song back but it won't start recording until it reaches the start point. This allows for a more seamless punch-in because you can start playing along with the track right away (well before the start point) to get in sync with the previously recorded part. But the BR doesn't record this new playing until it gets to the punch-in start point. So, as long as you play in sync with your previously-recorded part, the punch-in will be unnoticeable. Likewise, when the BR reaches the end point, recording stops but the song keeps playing. So you can continue playing your guitar for a bit to ensure a seamless punch-out.

[64Guitars]

1 last question... I've got tracks 1-8 laid down. Now, I want to master but before, I've always left 7-8 free for mastering to.

How do I make sure I master to a V track on 7-8.

You don't have to leave any tracks free for mastering. Just specify an empty pair of v-tracks as the mastering destination. See step 4 on page 113 of the BR-800 manual. I believe the BR-800 selects Tr78-VMST by default. "VMST" is just another name for v-track 8. It's a good choice for the mastering destination but you're free to change it to any v-track. So, for example, if you've already mastered once but you're not sure if you like the result, you can master again to a different v-track so that you'll still have the original master on v-track 8 (VMST) for comparison.

Your 8 individual tracks were probably recorded to v-track 1, so using v-track 8 (VMST) as the mastering destination is fine. To verify which v-tracks your original tracks are recorded on and which v-tracks are available (empty), go to the V-Tracks screen (see page 39 of the BR-800 manual). The chart in step 2 of that page shows you how to tell which v-tracks are currently selected, which v-tracks contain previously-recorded data, and which v-tracks are empty.

Dont wanna mess this up... and theres no "undo" button!!

There's no button but there is an UNDO function in the menu. See page 48 of the BR-800 manual.

While you're in this learning stage, it would be a good idea to backup your song before doing anything you're unsure of, such as mastering. See the backup procedure on pages 124/125 of the BR-800 manual.

[Johnny_E]

HUGE thank-you to those above who took time to explain all this 

I tell you what... before I bought the BR-800 I read most of the reviews that I could find. Theres one person in particular that has posted on nearly every review site, that the BR is NOT a true 8 track and that the stereo pairs are reserved for mastering. What a load of b****cks!

The fact that there are few user comments, spoiled by this inaccurate rant, made me insure about buying one. I wonder... is it a real user or a competitor to Boss who posted these?... Wouldnt doubt it. I hear that marketing departments actively place fake reviews online these days 

Anyway..... back to business.... I think my next port of call is to just tinker and explore the many patches. Then work out the drum editor.... then find time!