A few questions....

[mooseyb]

You all seem like very helpful people, so I'm hoping you might have the answers I'm looking for before my BR arrives in the post over the next few days... your help would be massively appreciated!!

Our band is a straight forward rock set up - drums, bass, 2 guitars sharing leads, and vocals (1 lead, 1 backing).

The drummer and I want to record a few side project songs using the same instrument line up.  I'll do all the guitars and vocals, he'll do drums and backing vocals.

What I'd need to record is this...

1.  Drums, stereo ideally
2.  Bass, just a little overdrive, hopefully from the BR, mono
3.  Guitar1, stereo
4.  Guitar2, stereo
5.  Lead parts, cut in where necessary, stereo
6.  Lead vocals - not sure whether stereo or not
7.  Backing vocals - not sure again.

Questions I have are these...

1. Can I get all that on my BR, using bouncing?  Do I put the drums down first in stereo, and say the bass, then bounce those three onto a different v-track, or can I only bounce from 2 tracks?

2. Should I record vocals in stereo?

3.  Do I really need stereo guitars - effects will be used, but I'm not sure what.  Rhythm will most likely just be a bit of O/D and maybe some reverb if need be.  Lead will have chorus/reverb, OD and possibly some other misc sounds.

4.  Is it possible to record more than 4 things before bouncing?  What I mean is, is it possible that I can record all 7 instruments, on 13(I think) different v tracks, then bit by bit bounce them together?  That would allow me to get all the recording done at once, then mess with bouncing on the train to work.  Can that be done?

5.  If I master the track to a final stereo mix, but decide I dont like the mastering setting I've used, can it be undone??

Sorry for all the questions from a new member - I'm all excited about the BR arriving and thought I'd find out so I was ready when it turned up!!

Thanks all!

 

[SteveG]

1. Drums are going to be your problem, to do it properly you will need a mixer and a handful of mikes. It is possible for the BR to use the built in and an external mike at the same time, which will be your best bet,but dont expect to get a studio quality drumtrack. Not the BR's fault, miking drums for recording is an artform in itself.

You can bounce from 1 to 4 tracks.

2. Dunno really, takes up an extra track that way but I have never tried it as I do not (yet) have a stereo mike. Try it both ways and see what you like.

3. No. Boss will handle all them effects no prob.

4. No. 4 max, then bounce them to 2, freeing up 2 tracks.

5. Yes. Just work your way up the 8 virtual tracks as you bounce, leaving all previous takes untouched. If you run out of tracks, master the last 4 to WAV using a flat or mixdown masteting effect, create a new song, and import the WAV to tracks 1v1 and 2v1, then start working up again. Sounds complex but it is not.

Oops, just reread that last question... You will hear the final mix as you are mastering it, if you dont like the result just redo it and overwrite the file,or make a new one. No probs.

Working your way up the tracks is a good idea tho, as you may lose an instrument in the mix later on and have to go back and redo it.

Hope this helps. The manual is available for download somewhere here I think, may be worth a read in advance?

[guitarron]

Welcome to the forum
That is an ambitious project for a 4 trk recorder, but certainly doable

I agree that recording drums will be the most difficult, but most certainly it is possible to get good results, assuming you are recording acoustic drums, an outboard mixer line in to the br may be best or you could try using a stereo mic
another option would be to record into a DAW such as Sonar  then import them-if you wanted to use an audio interface instead of a mixer to capture all the drums
Recording vox in stereo is not necessary
Re; question 4- you can record more than 4 things using v tracks but you would not be able to hear anymore than 4 at a time-one  take per track-during bouncing or playback
I'd keep a detailed track sheet so you can remember where everything is recorded-i would be possible to bounce bit by bit

steveG has a good idea

" Just work your way up the 8 virtual tracks as you bounce, leaving all previous takes untouched. If you run out of tracks, master the last 4 to WAV using a flat or mixdown masteting effect, create a new song, and import the WAV to tracks 1v1 and 2v1, then start working up again. Sounds complex but it is not."

Look forward to hearing the results if you care to post it
Ron