Drum Arrangement...final volume

[Hacker]

I just finished up my first attempt at a full length song with a drum arrangement.

I bounced it down several times until I had TR12V5

I mastered the song but when it played back the drums were too loud in my opinion.

I deleted the MP3, then I lowered the Drum Arrangement level. I went all the way through the range while playing the song but the volume did not go down.
I figured I would re-master it anyway with the level down 15 points. It didn't seem to make a difference once it was mastered either. It sounds to be the same volume.

Is this because the tracks were bounced at the higher level for the arrangement?


Thanks,  H

[64Guitars]

If you use both Bounce Mode and Mastering Mode in a song, then you must remember to set the Rhythm Level to minimum on each bounce. Otherwise, the drums will be recorded multiple times -- once on each bounce and once during mastering.

The Micro BR has a built-in 8-channel mixer. The first 4 channels are connected to the 4 currently-selected v-tracks. Another 2 channels are connected to the drum machine (stereo). And the last 2 channels are connected to the Input (only one channel is used if the selected input is guitar or mic because they are mono, but Line In is stereo).

                    |---------|
         Track 1  --|         |
         Track 2  --|    M    |
         Track 3  --|    i    |
         Track 4  --|    x    |--  Stereo
    Drums - left  --|    e    |--  Output
   Drums - right  --|    r    |
    Input - left  --|         |
   Input - right  --|         |
                    |---------|


In Bounce Mode and Mastering Mode, the stereo output of the mixer is recorded to the selected pair of destination v-tracks. So, to exclude the drums and inputs from the bounce, you must reduce their mixer levels to minimum. You should only include the drums when mastering. Or, if you don't want to use the mastering feature, you should only include the drums on your final bounce.

In Normal recording mode, you're not recording the output of the mixer. You're just recording the input to the selected track or track pair. So you can turn up the drum level so that you can monitor the drums while recording your other tracks. The drums will not be recorded in Normal recording mode. They are only recorded in Bounce Mode and Mastering Mode.

[Hacker]

Thanks 64G's,

That's exactly what I thought "after" I did it.

I bought my BR as the demo from Guitar Center and it didn't come with a manual so I've been printing out pages as I need them from on-line. I simply missed that important piece of info.

The only bitch is now I need to redo everything exept TR1 & 2 V1. it sounds O.K. but it's not right.

Thanks again, H

[64Guitars]

The only bitch is now I need to redo everything exept TR1 & 2 V1. it sounds O.K. but it's not right.

When you bounce, your original tracks are not erased. The Micro BR merely switches to empty v-tracks so that you can continue recording. All of your original tracks are still there, so you shouldn't need to re-record any tracks. Just select the original v-tracks and redo the bounces.

See http://www.geocities.com/sixtyfourguitars/BossBr/Tutorials/V-Tracks_and_Bouncing.html.