Looking for guidance and instructions re the BR800 effect patches.

[Oldrottenhead]

Hi guys, loving my br800, but finding the preset patches not as good as the presets on my microbr. However i know that the patches on the br800 can be tweaked a lot more than could be done on the microbr.

on my microbr i pretty much used the preset patches, only tweaking i would do would be to turn on tap delay and noise suppression.

so tweaking patches is pretty much a mystery to me.

in particular i am finding it difficult to find a decent preset for vocals and have no idea how to tweak the patches to my liking. on my last outing on the br800. i acualy sang into my microbr using a vox patch i like and recorded that live via the line in.

on the microbr i know you could share patches, i assume the same can be done with the br800. so has anyone saved their own tweaked patches that they might want to share. 

[Groundy]

I was the same James, the last few I have done I have done with my micro BR via the line in, so I too would be thankful for any help.....Alex

[64Guitars]

You should be able to approximate any of the Micro BR's presets on the BR-800 by copying the Micro BR settings for the desired patch which you'll find in the following document:

https://songcrafters.org/64guitars/BR/Docs/Micro_BR_Preset_Effect_Patches.pdf

The first thing you have to do is choose the right effects algorithm. What's an algorithm, you ask? It's a group of effects which you can use to create a patch. Not all effects are simultaneously available when creating a patch. You can only access the effects available in the chosen algorithm. Therefore, to use a particular effect, you must choose an algorithm that includes the desired effect.

You can think of algorithms as being much like effects pedal boards. For example, suppose you had two pedal boards for your electric guitar. One has a wah-wah pedal, a fuzz box, and a compressor. The other has a chorus, a tremolo, and a delay. Obviously, if you want to use the chorus pedal you have to connect your guitar to the second pedal board. Also, you can't use the fuzz box and the delay at the same time. Well, you could if you connected both pedal boards, but for the purpose of this analogy we'll assume you can only use one pedal board at a time.

The Micro BR has only three algorithms - COSM GTR AMP, VOCAL MULTI, and MSTR TOOL KIT. The BR-800 has 13 algorithms (plus a 14th for mastering). There are 5 algorithms for guitar, 2 for vocals, 1 for Line In, 3 for SIMUL (guitar and vocals), 1 for 4-input microphone recording, and 1 for 8-track compression/limiting.

Let's look at a specific example. Suppose you want to recreate the Micro BR's "ForNylon" effect on the BR-800.

Looking in the document from the link above, we find that the "ForNylon" patch in the Micro BR has the following settings:

Algorithm: VOCAL MULTI
Compressor: Off
Enhancer: Off
4­band Equalizer:On
  LowGain: 0 dB
  LowMidGain: 0 dB
  LowMidFreq: 160 Hz
  LowMidQ: 2
  HiMidGain: +2 dB
  HiMidFreq: 3.15 kHz
  HiMidQ: 2
  HiGain: 0 dB
  Level: 0 dB
Noise Suppressor: Off
Delay: Single
  DelayFeedback: 15
  DelayLevel: 15
  Delay Time: 361 ms

So the algorithm used in this patch is "VOCAL MULTI". It includes the effects 3BAND COMP, ENHANCER, 4BAND EQ, NOISE SUPPRESSR, and DELAY.

The BR-800 has two algorithms for vocals - VOCAL MULTI and MIC MULTI.

The BR-800's VOCAL MULTI algorithm includes the following effects:

• PCR (Pitch Correct)
• DYN (Dynamics)
• SFX (Tone/SFX)
• EQ (Equalizer)
• NS (Noise Suppressor)
• DB/HR (Double/Harmony)
• DLY (Delay)

The BR-800's MIC MULTI algorithm includes:

• L. CUT (Low Cut Filter)
• COMP/LM (Compressor/Limiter)
• EQ (Equalizer)
• NS (Noise Suppressor)
• MOD (Modulation which is one of: Enhancer, Pitch Shifter, Phaser, Flanger, Tremolo, Pan, Vibrato, Ring Mod, Chorus, or Doubling Delay)
• DLY (Delay)

Surprisingly, the Micro BR's VOCAL MULTI algorithm is quite different from the BR-800's algorithm of the same name, as it lacks the Enhancer and Compressor effects. The BR-800's MIC MULTI algorithm is a better match for the Micro BR's VOCAL MULTI algorithm as it includes all of the same effects (and more). Actually, either algorithm would do in this case since the "ForNylon" patch has the Compressor and Enhancer turned off. It only uses the Equalizer and Delay, both of which are available in both of the BR-800's vocal algorithms. But we'll choose the MIC MULTI algorithm anyway as it's the better match.

There is no way to select an algorithm directly. Instead, you have to choose an existing patch that uses the desired algorithm. From the BR-800 Effect Patch List on page 150 of the BR-800 Owner's Manual, we can see that preset patches 21 through 30 in the MICROPHONE effects bank all use the MIC MULTI algorithm, so we can use any of these as our starting point.

Press the BR-800's [EFFECTS] button and set BANK to MICROPHONE (if it isn't already there).

Set the PATCH to "P21 Vo COMP1" and press ENTER. You should then see the chain of effects included in the MIC MULTI algorithm. It will look something like this:

-[L. CUT]-[COMP/LM]-[EQ]-[NS]-
                 -[MOD]=[DLY]=

Some of the effects will be surrounded by a solid-line box. This indicates that the effect is currently enabled. And some effects will be surrounded by a broken-line box, indicating that the effect is available but currently disabled. To toggle the enabling/disabling of an effect in the algorithm, use the CURSOR buttons to select the effect, then turn the dial to toggle the effect on or off, as desired. Since the "ForNylon" patch only uses the Equalizer and the Delay, ensure that those are turned on and that L. CUT, COMP/LM, NS, and MOD are all turned off.

Now we need to edit the individual parameters of the Equalizer and Delay effects. Use the CURSOR buttons to select EQ and press ENTER. A new screen appears listing all of the parameters of the Equalizer effect. Ensure that ON/OFF is set to ON (it should be if you did the previous steps correctly). Set LOW CUT to FLAT. This parameter isn't available in the Micro BR's EQ effect, so setting it to FLAT effectively disables it in the BR-800. Set LOW GAIN to 0dB. Set LOW-MID F to 160 Hz. Set LOW-MID Q to 2. Set LOW-MID G to 0 dB. Set HI-MID F to 3.15 kHz. Set HI-MID Q to 2. Set HI-MID G to +2 dB. Set HIGH GAIN to 0 dB. Set HIGH CUT to FLAT (again, this one's not available in the Micro BR so we're disabling it by setting it to FLAT). Finally, set LEVEL to 0 dB.

Now press the [EXIT] button to return to the algorithm screen. Use the CURSOR buttons to select the DLY effect and press ENTER. A new screen appears listing all of the parameters of the Delay effect. Adjust the parameters to match the same parameters of the Micro BR's "ForNylon" patch as follows:

ON/OFF:    ON
TYPE:      STANDARD
DLY TIME:  361 ms
FEEDBACK:  15
HIGH CUT:  FLAT
E.LEVEL:   15

That's it (except for saving the patch). It should now sound pretty similar to the Micro BR's "ForNylon" patch. Of course, you'll want to save this new patch as a User or Song patch so that you can re-use it in the future. To do that, follow the directions for "Saving the Insert Effect Settings (Write)" on page 57 of the BR-800 Owner's Manual.

[Oldrottenhead]

thanks 64 i pretty much understand most of that, i think.

[IanR]

Yep, that's pretty much how you do it.

When you are in the parameters for the effects, I find that fiddling until you hear something you like is a good strategy. Make sure that you save the patch once you get it "right" otherwise you have to do the fiddling all over again if you want it for a new song.

cheers,

Ian

[wyvernwood]

Can I just add a thank you for this post, it has explained some principles in using the BR800 that I hadn't previously grasped. Great Post - thanks

[Popontour]

Just joined as a newbie, started using my BR 800 and am pleased to find this posting, I had a very old BR 8 with zip disc from the year 2000, bought the new BR 800 and now I need to relearn how to use it for singer song writing purposes. Look forward to using this forum. This note on patches will help me later today. Thanks guys.