Quirky Roland VS-890... arrrrrrrrgggghhhh...

T

TJ Weger

New member
Hey all -- I just got a VS-890HD and I am wondering about one thing. When I follow the sequence they give in the manual about recording a track, it works... SOMETIMES. According to my manual:

1. Press STATUS track (any track 1-8, they say)and press CLEAR at the same time. OK, did that.

2. Press REC and the STATUS button for the track you want. OK, did that.

3. Press the main FADER until it lights orange for using input source. Okie dokie...

4. Press STATUS for my track, and then the SELECT (CH EDIT) button you want for your input (in this case, track 1 to go with input 1... seems easy enough (this is the part that may be not working).

5. Adjust fader level to hear the instrument going through. OK...

6. Press REC. Red light blinks. OK...

7. Press PLAY and start playing instrument. OK...

8. Press STOP, go back to ZERO and PLAY to hear track just recorded. NOPE... nothing there (but that's THIS time -- half the time it works, half the time, it doesn't).

I follow their sequence to THE LETTER, and sometimes it will work, and it records it perfectly (yay!) -- sometimes not. What's up with that? Oh yeah, their USER GUIDE and OWNER'S MANUAL aren't exactly the same for this procedure, either. Great. That makes it soooo much easier. One says I have to make the main FADER go back to the green light, the other doesn't. Tried both ways. Same results

Half the time, I do Step 4, move the fader, and I DO hear the source, and half the time I do it, yet I still DON'T hear the source. But here's the clincher: sometimes even when I DO hear the source, so that everything all seems well, I track it, BUT it still didn't record it! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhh...

I don't have time to waste on this, as I'm under a really tight deadline to record about 75 tunes in a week or so (just simple backing tracks, but still...). Any ideas on what I might be doing wrong? I think I'm going to have to use my trusty old Fostex 4-track cassette machine for this project.

Thanks.
TJW
 
High!

Don't know if this helps (got an 880 EX), but:

The main fader light just shows you in what mode you are:

green track mixer
orange input mixer
red FX return mixer

When youre in a mixer setting, you can press a status button, HOLD it and then you see those tracks/ins/rets that will be recorded onto that track. De-select blinking stuff by hitting it one more time. This way you can select all the stuff you want.

I seemed to have noticed once that sometimes there seem to be issues when the scene led is lit, so I alsways try to switch this oof for recording...

Ciao

Axel
 
I got the vs 890 also

I'm not to sure what it is you did wrong. I could not see the problem in your steps. I do know there are more than just one way to record. here is the way I do it.

first: Press any status track 1-8 and press "Clear" at the same time.- this will clear any assigned tracks that you may have done on accident. ( If your screen blinks "Assign" with no visiable tabs you have done this step properly.)

Next: Hold down the large record button on bottom right and then the status track you wish to record on at the same time. The status track you chose will blink red. ( There is another way to make your status track blink red)

Next: press your fader edit button until it turns orange.

Next: press the "BLINKING RED STATUS" track and what ever "SELECT CHANNEL EDIT" track that your instument is plug into at the same time. ( if you have done this correctly you will be able to see your status track still blinking red. then when you press the blinking red and hold it. The select channel button you have chosen will blink orange. )

Next : Press the large record button on the bottom right. then when ever you are ready to record press play. ( you will know you are recording when your blinking red status track is now a fluent red status track.)

last: press stop when you are finish. then rewind and play you will hear what you recorded.

If you have any more questions call product support. they taught me a lot. (323 890-3741)
 
4. Press STATUS for my track, and then the SELECT (CH EDIT) button you want for your input (in this case, track 1 to go with input 1... seems easy enough (this is the part that may be not working).

Yep that seems to be the part that you missed ! ! !


It's simple:

Select the channel you want to record to and set the "Status" button to green.

Then just hold down "Shift" and press the Channel 1 "Select" button (While the FADER / edit button is green)

The display should read "TR1" Ins(1) = On / Off.

Advance the time knob until "Ins(#)" is = to the # of the input source that you want to record from.

Make sure that the "select" button of the source AND the "Status" button of the track are both green and press "YES", by pressing "YES" you've just assigned the input source to the desired track.

The display should read for example "TR1 INS 3 = on (on is blinking). By looking at the graph below this you will be able to see which source is assigned to track 3. Then press the "PLAY / display" button to return the display to normal mode and follow the normal recording procedure, then record away.

This has worked for me each and every time.

Lyon
 
Last edited:
Thanks! Working great now!

It's all good now -- I've recorded 50 tunes, and have another 50 or so to go to get a good "basic 100" standards that I need for doing a variety of jobs.

Appreciate all the help, and oh yeah -- the VS890 is FANTASTIC!!!
 
100+ tunes from VS-890

Hallo Axel -- good question! No, I don't use the VS live (although, I suppose I COULD have it at a live gig for a backup). What I do is record any percussion a tune may have, then, put down the bass and rhythm guitar parts for my "backup band." In most cases, I put down rhythm parts on a baritone ukulele (yep -- really!), because I do a lot of old Hawaiian tunes. Then, I burn my backing tracks to CD for live solo work.

My primary instrument when playing solo is a 1956 Fender Triple-8 "stand-up" steel (also known as a "Hawaiian steel) guitar. This is NOT to be confused with the modern pedal steel (my guitar has no pedals) that is used for country music. The sound is very different. The "triple" part refers to the fact that my guitar has three necks, with eight strings each. Each neck uses a different tuning (A6, C6 and E13 in my case), for use in different songs. The "stand-up" refers to the fact that it's played standing (tho, it could be played sitting down, if desired -- not as much fun though, IMO).

My "basic 100" tunes are a group of old Hawaiian tunes, island stuff (Buffett, reggae tunes, etc.), plus old standards that usually get requested at some point. I play mosly private and corporate functions, since my playlist isn't really a club type of list. When people ask what style I play, I generally reply with "Hawaiian Swing" or "Tropical Swing." It's a pretty specialized style, and I know of NOBODY in the Tampa/St.Petersburg, Florida area doing anything like it. So far, it's been a big hit! :-)

Sorry for the long-winded reply! I gotta say, the CD backing track method works great, although, one has to have one's arrangements memorized perfectly, because the "band" won't change tempo, key, or arrangement, even when you want to! It's not nearly as flexible as a sequencer in this respect, but I think it sounds more real and organic, since it's all real intruments being played by a real person.

Thanks for asking!

Take care,
TJW
 
Re: 100+ tunes from VS-890

TJ Weger said:
My primary instrument when playing solo is a 1956 Fender Triple-8 "stand-up" steel (also known as a "Hawaiian steel) guitar. This is NOT to be confused with the modern pedal steel (my guitar has no pedals) that is used for country music. The sound is very different. The "triple" part refers to the fact that my guitar has three necks, with eight strings each. Each neck uses a different tuning (A6, C6 and E13 in my case), for use in different songs. The "stand-up" refers to the fact that it's played standing (tho, it could be played sitting down, if desired -- not as much fun though, IMO).

My "basic 100" tunes are a group of old Hawaiian tunes, island stuff (Buffett, reggae tunes, etc.), plus old standards that usually get requested at some point. I play mosly private and corporate functions, since my playlist isn't really a club type of list. When people ask what style I play, I generally reply with "Hawaiian Swing" or "Tropical Swing." It's a pretty specialized style, and I know of NOBODY in the Tampa/St.Petersburg, Florida area doing anything like it. So far, it's been a big hit! :-)
Click to expand...

Sounds like most of your good stuff is between mids and highs I'm sure that you are riding the pots on the low stuff so that you won't distort or add unwanted noise on the lower freq's... But since I'm not familiar with Hawiian style you most likely know better...

Lyon

Lyon
 
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