A handy hint for MR8

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wilko

wilko

Marking my territory
Here is something I tried last night. I play guitar and bass (+ drum machine) and my friend sings. So we use the MR8 for song writing to a demo standard - so the mixing has to be good but not precise.

I laid down a stereo drum track on tracks 5/6 and then laid guitars on tracks 1,2 & 3 with a bass on track 4. I mixed this and then bounced them to tracks 7/8. I then took a backup of all tracks using the WAV manager. I then copied tracks 7/8 on the PC to a new directory and renamed them to tracks 5/6. I then deleted all tracks on the MR-8 and imported the new 5/6 tracks. I then added some sound effects to track 4 and some extra drums to track 3. I then went through the above routine again (i.e. bounced to tracks 7/8 - copied these to PC - took back up - deleted all tracks on MR-8 - renamed tracks 7/8 to 5/6 on PC and reimported.

This left me with 4 tracks to lay all the vocals down. We laid these tracks down and then bounced this down to 7/8 and created a .WAV file which I then cut to CD.

Ok - I know the purists will say that I should have copied all tracks to a PC and then mixed them there but my point is this:- The singer has to leave and she likes to go with a CD so she can listen what we have done in the car so she can rearrange the song, change bits , new lyrics or just practice the lyrics. So this is an excellent way to record for songwriting and what got me is that it is so easy and quick to do.

I am chuffed so I thought I would share this.

Nick
Still sunny in New Zealand
 
I was doing the same thing with my MR-8. I've heard lots of guff about the pre amps and the lack of good effects in the MR-8, so I did a comparison of bouncing tracks in the MR-8 versus mixing on my PC. The sound quality is below the PC, but I found that if I am really careful with my recording chain when I track, I can get decent results. Until I discovered that I could use my pc to mix, I was doing everything on the MR-8. I learned quickly what will work and what won't.
 
???

you see, with some inginuity, who said the mr8 is only good for 8 tracks....
 
Now you see the invaluable information available on this forum!?!

Chuffed... I like it.

I'm chuffed that you are chuffed :D
 
cellardweller said:
Now you see the invaluable information available on this forum!?!

Chuffed... I like it.

I'm chuffed that you are chuffed :D
And I'm chuffed that you're chuffed that he's chuffed. I can feel a group hug coming on, so I am outta here! :D







Did I mention it was red? AND now it comes in black, too. May have to buy another one so I have a matched set.....
 
I never understood why they made it exclusively red. I thought it would have been better in a deep blue or green even.
 
I was more hoping along the lines of a muave/teal tie-dyed abomination, constructed from sheet metal with spikes and studs.

It'll be the next spinal-tap-esque catch phrase "did i mention that it is red?".
 
wilko said:
Here is something I tried last night. I play guitar and bass (+ drum machine) and my friend sings. So we use the MR8 for song writing to a demo standard - so the mixing has to be good but not precise.

I am chuffed so I thought I would share this.

Nick
Still sunny in New Zealand

Would that be real bass, or drum machine programmed bass? Just curious, as this is how I'm currently acheiving minimal success with bass/drums.

Sunny New Zealand huh? Well...well... I'm still chuffed in slate-gray, cloudy, perpetually-rainy central illinois...err... I mean alaska...
 
Yep that would be a real bass. Lasst night I re-recorded the whole thing again being very careful with the levels. I now have the complete track (minus vocals) on tracks 5/6 - so I am ready to record 4 tracks of vocals. SO far on tracks 5/6, I have 2 acoustic guitars, 1 electric guitar, 1 bass guitar and a stereo drum track from a drum machine.

I must say I am chuffed that everyone's chuffed....!
 
I am in envy or you then. Damn, if I only had a real bass! It'd be beautiful, but then again, I need so many things... :(

Glad that you are again chuffed. Do you have anymore...um slang...terminology you'd like to share with us that we can beat to death and impress our friends/family with? :rolleyes:

Hey, are you backing up your original/singular tracks before mixing down? I think you implied it, but I was unsure, are you mixing down on the PC, or the MR8?
 
Yes - I back everything up at each stage of the process. I create a new folder on my PC for every song and then seperate subfolders for each backup. If the singer doesn't like what I have done we can go back 1 "layer" at a time and then take another direction. At the moment I do all the mixing on the MR-8 but my New Year's resolution is to use the PC to mix down although with the care that we take so far, I am happy with what is coming out of the MR-8

Anyway in New Zealand for "chuffed" you can be "stoked" or "rapt" because using the MR-8 is "sweet as" . If everything is ok I would tell the singer that "everything is ka pai" (Maori for ok).

Then I would ask her to bring a "plate and some piss to the barby because it is your shout" - i.e. to bring some meat and beer for the barbecue because it is her turn to provde the food.

Have you not seen Whale Rider ? (A great New Zealand film)

Nick
 
I live in a relatively small city, where my ex-wife (who at the time had all of my video-rental cards) proceeded to check out the maximum allowable amount of videos, from 3-4 stores, and of course not return them.

Sorry... long story short, I can't/don't rent too many videos!

What's "Whale Rider" about? I have seen "once were warriors", many many times (recorded it long ago). I think that's a New Zealand film, isn't it?

LOL @ "plate and some piss to the barby because it is your shout"!!! :D
 
Whale Rider is a great New Zealand film about a Maori girl comng to terms with her position in a modern day Maori tribe. Her grandfather, who believes that the traditions should not be broken has trouble accepting her future role as leader of the tribe because she is a girl. The film is set in rural coastal New Zealand and gives a good view of this side of New Zealand life. Well worth watching. The girl (Keisha Castle Hughes ) got an Oscar nomination for her acting.

Once were Warriors is a fairly brutal depiction of poverty in urban Maori life. A good film but hard to watch.

My friend's ex wife put all his vinyl records on the driveway and drove her car over them..... :confused:

Cheerio
Nick
Still Sunny in New Zealand
 
wilko said:
My friend's ex wife put all his vinyl records on the driveway and drove her car over them..... :confused:
how much jail time is he looking at? And did she die slowly or was it quick?
 
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