Does anyone know if / how you can pan the rhythm left or right?

[Greeny]

Just wondering if you can pan rhythms. I've looked at everything obvious, and no luck. Thanks!

[64Guitars]

Panning allows you to position a mono source within the stereo panorama of your final mix. But the drum kits are already stereo, with each (mono) drum sound already positioned in the stereo panorama. For example, the STD1 drum kit is panned like this:

KICK: C00		CRASH: L12		TOM 1: L21
SNARE: C00		RIDE: R16		TOM 2: R04
CLOSED HH: L13		CRS STICK: C00		TOM 3: R13
OPEN HH: L13		COWBELL: L06		TOM 4: R26

If you could pan the entire drum kit, you'd lose the separation between individual drum sounds, making the drum kit mono. So none of the BRs have a pan control for the drum track. However, the other BRs have a TONELOAD feature for creating custom drum kits. With TONELOAD, you can pan each individual drum within a kit, but the Micro BR doesn't have TONELOAD.

The only way you could pan the drums in the Micro BR is to first bounce them to a track, then pan that track. But, as I said, this means the drums will be mono. You can control the apparent position of the drum kit within the stereo panorama, but each drum in the kit will appear to come from that same position.

[Greeny]

Perfect response - as always 

It's interesting to know that I can change the panning on certain parts of the drums at least. It will certainly give me a few more sound options to try.

Shame that I can't pan the whole thing, but I wasn't thinking about the stereo aspect.

Many Thanks!

[64Guitars]

Actually, panning of individual drums isn't possible on the Micro BR. I only mentioned that feature (TONELOAD) because it's available on most of the other BRs (BR-600/864/900, etc). The only way you can pan the drums on the Micro BR is to first bounce them, then pan that track (mono).

Sorry if that wasn't clear, or if I've misinterpreted your reply.

[Greeny]

Actually, panning of individual drums isn't possible on the Micro BR. I only mentioned that feature (TONELOAD) because it's available on most of the other BRs (BR-600/864/900, etc). The only way you can pan the drums on the Micro BR is to first bounce them, then pan that track (mono).

Sorry if that wasn't clear, or if I've misinterpreted your reply.

No - it was my mistake. Getting over-excited and ahead of myself! 

I can always shake a tambourine and pan it far left!

[64Guitars]

I can always shake a tambourine and pan it far left!

Yes, anything you record to a single track can be panned. Sometimes it's useful to supplement the BR's rhythm track by recording a drum or cymbal sample to an audio track and copying it where it's needed in the song. For example, you could record a crash cymbal at a few places in the song. Even on BRs that allow pattern editing, this is often easier than creating a new pattern with the crash cymbal and inserting it into the arrangement.

Obviously, you could simply record an actual cymbal with a microphone. But there are other ways to get a cymbal sample which might be easier, especially if you don't have access to an actual cymbal. You can bounce a pattern to a track, then use the BR's editing capabilities to delete everything but the desired cymbal. This is easier to do if you temporarily slow down the tempo before bouncing the pattern. Once you've extracted the cymbal, you can then copy it to anywhere it's needed in the song.

Better still, you can download cymbal samples from the internet and import them to a track, then copy where needed. This page has links to lots of sites where you can download cymbals, drums, and various other samples (including tambourines):

http://www.geocities.com/sixtyfourguitars/BossBr/DrumSamples.html

Another good source of cymbals, drums, and other rhythm embellishments is an electronic keyboard instrument. For example, my Yamaha PSR-2100 has 186 drum samples in 16 kits, plus sound effects and fills. I can select a drum kit and play the note corresponding to the crash cymbal, for example, wherever I want it in my song. By connecting the Yamaha to the Line In of my BR, I can record this to an audio track to supplement the drum arrangement.

Using these techniques, you can create a basic drum arrangement with the Micro BR's built-in preset patterns and its locked-in panning, then record some embellishments to an audio track which can be panned anywhere you like. You can even adjust the panning during the bounce to create some movement.

[Greeny]

Wow! There's plenty of things to think about and try there. Thanks a million!