Need an INTRO Four count beat in step 1

[97teledlx]

I thought read this in a former post but cannot seem to find it.  Can someone tell me how to have an INTRODUCTORY 4 count beat (4/4 time) start my Song before I actually start recording it.  This would help me get a general timing before I start playing.  My actual first recorded composition would then begin in step 2 of the piece.  Thanks!!

[Farmjazz]

Use Pattern 265 for one measure only. It will give you four quarter notes on a high-hat.

[Greeny]

Use Pattern 265 for one measure only. It will give you four quarter notes on a high-hat.

That's the one. Then, when the song's finished, replace step 1 with the 'break' pattern to remove the metronome.

[64Guitars]

Use the metronome (P314) or any pattern you like (they're all 4/4) and simply don't start playing/singing until one measure has passed. Then, when your song is finished, you can trim the ends to remove the count-in. There are a couple of ways to do this. The easiest way is to export your finished song (2-track mix) to a wave file and load it into Audacity or some similar wave-editor. There, you can easily see the count-in and trim it off. You can also easily trim any extra silence or noise from the end of your song.

Alternatively, you could remove the count-in within the BR by using the Track Move editing feature (see page 55 of the Micro BR manual, 3rd edition) on your 2 final-mix tracks, and specifying a Start of 002-1 (measure 2, beat 1) and a To of 001-1 (measure 1, beat 1). This will move everything from measure 2, beat 1 till the End measure you specify back one measure so that the song starts at measure 1 instead of measure 2.

As Farmjazz has suggested, the first measure of pattern P265:Cnty1 consists of four quarter notes on the hi-hat. This makes a nicer count-in than the annoying ding!-click-click-click of the metronome. However, P265:Cnty1 is two measures long and the second measure contains sounds other than the hi-hat. So, the trick is to get the BR to play only the first measure of P265:Cnty1. One way to do that is to create an arrangement where step 1 is P265:Cnty1 and step 2 has its starting measure set to 2. Another way* is to copy P265:Cnty1 to a Song pattern, then change the measure count (length) from 2 to 1. This works out better if you prefer a longer count-in (say, 2 measures for 8 quarter notes instead of 4), because you can simply let the song pattern repeat.

But you might not want to go to all that trouble for a simple count-in. So, why not just select any pattern you like and simply don't start playing until the second measure. Afterall, you're probably going to remove it from your finished song anyway so it doesn't make much difference which pattern you choose.

* Damn! After writing this, I realized that the Micro BR doesn't have user-editable song patterns like the other BRs, so you can't copy P265:Cnty1 to a song pattern because there aren't any! But I decided to leave it in my message in case any users of other BRs happen to read this. In the past, I've created a custom count-in on my BR-864 from scratch, consisting of four quarter notes on the hi-hat. But copying P265:Cnty1 and changing its length to 1 is much easier. So, thanks to Farmjazz for the tip!

[64Guitars]

when the song's finished, replace step 1 with the 'break' pattern to remove the metronome.

Yes, I forgot to mention that. Even if you're going to trim off the first measure later in Audacity, it's a good idea to set measure 1 of the song arrangement to P327:BREAK before you do your final mixdown. Otherwise, the drum and cymbal sounds (especially the Crash) from the pattern in measure 1 can overlap into measure 2 and you won't be able to remove them properly. Also, it's easier to trim the song in Audacity if the first measure is empty, because you'll be able to see exactly where the song begins more easily. On the other hand, if you use the first measure of P265:Cnty1 for the count-in, there shouldn't be any overlap and the count-in should be easy to see in Audacity, so there's probably no need to change step 1 to P327:BREAK in that case. But, if you use a fancier pattern for the count-in (especially if it contains a crash cymbal), then you should definitely change measure 1 to P327:BREAK before you do your final mixdown to two tracks.

[97teledlx]

To all who quickly replied to my post, "Many Thanks."  I am going to print this post out and place it in my User Manual.  Now, off to record my work and try this idea out.  As my guitar teacher would say, "Keep practicing and then, practice some more!!" 

[Farmjazz]

As Farmjazz has suggested, the first measure of pattern P265:Cnty1 consists of four quarter notes on the hi-hat. This makes a nicer count-in than the annoying ding!-click-click-click of the metronome. However, P265:Cnty1 is two measures long and the second measure contains sounds other than the hi-hat. So, the trick is to get the BR to play only the first measure of P265:Cnty1. One way to do that is to create an arrangement where step 1 is P265:Cnty1 and step 2 has its starting measure set to 2.

Yes, any pattern used in an ARRANGEMENT string will start from the beginning of that pattern. So, if you want several measures of just hi-hat quarter notes, (like I did on the intro of the Pipeline post http://microrecorders.org/community/post-your-work/pipeline/0/), you set up the RHYTHM ARRANGEMENT to start P265 over again every measure. It works!

[Tony G]

Use the metronome (P314) or any pattern you like (they're all 4/4) and simply don't start playing/singing until one measure has passed. Then, when your song is finished, you can trim the ends to remove the count-in. There are a couple of ways to do this. The easiest way is to export your finished song (2-track mix) to a wave file and load it into Audacity or some similar wave-editor. There, you can easily see the count-in and trim it off. You can also easily trim any extra silence or noise from the end of your song.

Alternatively, you could remove the count-in within the BR by using the Track Move editing feature (see page 55 of the Micro BR manual, 3rd edition) on your 2 final-mix tracks, and specifying a Start of 002-1 (measure 2, beat 1) and a To of 001-1 (measure 1, beat 1). This will move everything from measure 2, beat 1 till the End measure you specify back one measure so that the song starts at measure 1 instead of measure 2.

As Farmjazz has suggested, the first measure of pattern P265:Cnty1 consists of four quarter notes on the hi-hat. This makes a nicer count-in than the annoying ding!-click-click-click of the metronome. However, P265:Cnty1 is two measures long and the second measure contains sounds other than the hi-hat. So, the trick is to get the BR to play only the first measure of P265:Cnty1. One way to do that is to create an arrangement where step 1 is P265:Cnty1 and step 2 has its starting measure set to 2. Another way* is to copy P265:Cnty1 to a Song pattern, then change the measure count (length) from 2 to 1. This works out better if you prefer a longer count-in (say, 2 measures for 8 quarter notes instead of 4), because you can simply let the song pattern repeat.

But you might not want to go to all that trouble for a simple count-in. So, why not just select any pattern you like and simply don't start playing until the second measure. Afterall, you're probably going to remove it from your finished song anyway so it doesn't make much difference which pattern you choose.

* Damn! After writing this, I realized that the Micro BR doesn't have user-editable song patterns like the other BRs, so you can't copy P265:Cnty1 to a song pattern because there aren't any! But I decided to leave it in my message in case any users of other BRs happen to read this. In the past, I've created a custom count-in on my BR-864 from scratch, consisting of four quarter notes on the hi-hat. But copying P265:Cnty1 and changing its length to 1 is much easier. So, thanks to Farmjazz for the tip!

Sony acid studio... i believe thats it.. is what i use to use wen i made beats... its free... well all that you need is free haha.. and use that... or the others.. lol