Help: Bouncing Tracks on the BR-864

[rboyce_boston]

Hey all.

I just recently picked up a lightly used BR-864, with the intention of using it primarily as a songwriting tool (I have also have a recording setup based around a Fostex VF-16 that I use to record my band). So far, I've been extremely impressed with the amount of functionality that the BR-864 offers, as well as how easy it is to use.

However, I've got a question about bouncing tracks on the BR-864. On track 4, I had a small guitar part that I wanted to "combine" with a previously recorded guitar part on track 3. (an acoustic guitar was on track 1 and a bass on track 2). So, I figured the way to combine these 2 tracks was to "bounce" tracks 3 & 4 to a virtual track on track 3, and then substitute this newly created virtual track when it's time to mixdown. So, I set everything up as described in the manual, with the faders up on tracks 3 & 4 and the faders down on tracks 1 & 2 - my intention was to keep the existing parts on tracks 1 & 2 and create a new track #3. However, after I hit the "stop" button, it appeared as though tracks 1 & 2 had been erased (the green light no longer appeared under the track numbers, indicating that they contained no data). And since they weren't included in the "bounce" to the new virtual track (containing the contents of tracks 3 & 4), they appeared to be lost. Luckily, the BR-864 has a nice "undo" feature - after hitting the "undo" button, the data on tracks 1 & 2 reappeared.

So...is there a way to bounce only a few selected tracks? Or does the BR-864 assume that when you are bouncing tracks, you want to use all the tracks that have data recorded on them?

Thanks in advance,

Ray

[Wish14]

What you'll need to do is bounce the tracks like this example:

Bounce track 3-Virtual track 1 (3-1) and track 4-1 to track 2-2 (make sure you are not bouncing to a v-track you want to keep on track 2.

Then you can move track 2-2 back over to track 3-2 when you are done bouncing.

You can't bounce down to the same track unless the BR allows you to record a track to itself...I don't know the answer to that...but you can do it in the 2 steps described above.

[jimmiebananas]

You don't have to do that. The tracks are actually still there even though the lights go out. The reason the lights go out is because for some reason after bouncing it sets you up in the next available v-track on all the tracks. It's hard to explain but here's what you do.

Press the "v-track" button and boxes come up, black means data, empty means no data. You'll notice the cursor is underneath the next available v-track after the one you bounced to. Just simply set the cursor back to the desired tracks that you want. After exiting the "v-track" mode you'll notice the lights are lit up again. I'm kinda having trouble explaining for some reason. PM me if you're still having trouble and I'll help you out.

The tracks are still there though, trust me. I use the 864 and I encountered the same problem before. And I just went and did it on my 864 to make sure I was right before posting.

[rboyce_boston]

That's great news...thanks for the info. I'll give it a shot and let you know if it works.

Though...it is kinda weird that the 864 would return you to the next available v-track after bouncing....maybe they should change that. To me (and I assume most people), it would be more logical to return you to where the "real" tracks are located.

Thanks again for both replies... I really appreciate it.


-ray

[72fender]

It takes you to the next V-Track, to keep you from recording over the first bounce .

[rboyce_boston]

Thanks again for all the replies. I followed Jimmie's suggestions/directions and everything worked perfectly. Part of my problem was my experience using the Fostex VF-16 - the way you record and select virtual tracks is implemented much differently. Now I better understand how Boss has implemented virtual tracks, and that allowed me to better understand how to bounce tracks on my BR-864.

Thanks again,

ray

[hheilman]

It selects only the 2 (L/R) virtual tracks which were just written by bouncing and tweaks the pan so that if you play immediately after bouncing you will hear just those 2 tracks and each will be panned L/R so you can hear the stereo mix.

If you want to go back and bounce it again, it is a pain because you have to reselect all of the source virtual tracks again, not too mention resetting your panning etc. Not my favorite feature...