BR1600 ...What way do you use yours...???

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Rickbrown74

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Out of interest (and in search of user tips) in what manner do you use your BR1600 in the creation of songs. ie. trcking, mixing, effects, mastering.

I am new to the game and geting to grips with the machine and think I have figured out a suitable to get through from start to finish.

1. Record all tracks of the band to a click track til content I get a good take.

2. Export to Wave lab on PC for tidying up and then into Cubasis for fine editing / special effects etc..

3. Return to BR1600 for mix down and basic compression on tracks. (not really sure on best implementation of effects on the unit!)

.. this is where i'm at now. Tried Mastering on PC and on BR1600 and PC is winning so far with an old copy of T-Racks I picked up cheap on Ebay. Whats the best way to master on the BR1600?

What about it guys? any useful tips or guidance? I realise I could be doing silly things here and not exploiting the full potential of the BR1600. :rolleyes: Thats one of the reasons I have posted this!
 
mastering kits

Just wondering if you use the mastering kits on the br1600cd. I've got sonar, but it's so much easier for me to do the mastering on the br1600. I'm not very software savy when it comes to mixing on the PC, which is one of the reasons I ended up getting the BR1600. Also, have you acquired the Version 2 software to upgrade your br1600?
 
br1600

Once I have mixed down to tracks 9/10 I hit the Mastering Tool Button on the right hand side of the machine and scroll thru the pre-set mastering blocks until I find the most favorable sounding for the recording and press edit.
This then opens up all the effects that you can use and edit. I am not fully competent on what the frequencies and hertz should ideally be, but using my ear and a good pair of studio monitors, (I have a pair of Roland DS/5s) I have achieved some very punchy and clear recordings using the onboard Mastering Tool. Just make sure when you mixdown all your tracks to Tracks 9/10 that your levels are up around the "0" level. This will ensure that you get the most out of your Mastering Tool.

Gorty.
 
Yes I have the version 2 upgrade. Not sure how much was added with the upgrade but I believe it makes it easier to transfer all tracks to Computer.

As for mastering, none the wiser yet. I have just bought a pair of Alesis M1 actives to monitor with but havent used the Boss from start to finish. I like the track automation on the computer but the way the reverb eq and compressors are all so handy on the Boss makes it hard to ignore too. I think I will transfer to PC any tracks that need precise cut and pasting, wacky effects etc. and then send them back again for mixing and mastering and see how that goes.
 
I use the Boss from start to finish as I have not got a PC set up. I find the Boss to be very precise and easy to use when it comes to editing, track cut, pasting and adding effects.
The effects onboard: reverb, compression, chorus/delay, EQ and the panning I find to be very effective with more than enough editing capabilities to produce some very favourable results. I am interested to hear from anyone that uses the Boss from start to finish including the use of the Mastering tool to hear their opinion of the Boss 1600CD.
 
Re: effects on the Boss

When you apply, say the vocal preset, from the COSM effects to a channel do you have to bounce that track down to save the effects and then move on to apply more effects elsewhere?

Basically what i'm asking is 'Is it only assignable to one channel at a time?'
 
When I said I use the Boss from beginning to end I should have stated I am only recording instrumentals at the moment.
However I have used the Scene Setting procedure which when set you can have effects dropping in and out during track playback eg guitar track + reverb for chorus section and then during verses no reverb. It saves mixing on the fly during bounce down.
I have not used the Vocal COSM as yet but my guess is that you could record two stereo tracks at the same time using this tool, I dont know how many vocal tracks you are looking at recording all up, but if you record your track using COSM and then save, you should be able to add the other effects during mixdown.

I am just making this comment on the knowledge I have thus far using the Boss and the characteristics of the unit and how it works recording just instruments.

I dont know if I have helped at all but I am going to have a go at recording some vocals and maybe I can help by gaining some first hand experience.

As an after thought have you tried selecting multiple tracks when recording?
 
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Gorty said:
However I have used the Scene Setting procedure which when set you can have effects dropping in and out during track playback eg guitar track + reverb for chorus section and then during verses no reverb. It saves mixing on the fly during bounce down.

As an after thought have you tried selecting multiple tracks when recording?
Click to expand...

Scene setting eh? Havent come across that yet. I did an overall browse of the manual but missed that one! Thanks for the help!

Selecting multiple tracks? Do you mean for use with effects or just basic multitrack recording? So far I have used it to record 6 channels at a time and its great!! no effects added while tracking though - save that for later so the rest of the band arent sitting around getting bored!! :rolleyes:
 
Welcome David. This is a common problem. I also have the 1600, and M-Audio BX-5 monitors. I have 'learned' how to adjust what I'm hearing through them to effect the bass properly. At first, I had exactly the same problem you describe, so I've learned how to compromise for the fact that the small monitors are not really projecting the same 'bass' levels that car audio or home stereo systems will. Someday, I will add a sub to my monitors, but I've gotten pretty good at overcoming the bass deficiency during mixdown. I try to almost NOT hear the bass when mixing, and that turns out to be pretty good in the car. Also, I know (from mixing a zillion songs on the BR) where the proper level should be (on the display) in relation to the other instruments/vocals etc for the bass to be properly represented in the mix. Anyway, I am in NO way even close to an expert in this stuff, but I have learned a lot from this forum, and from making, then correcting my own mixing mistakes.

Good luck
steve
 
bass

I purchased a set of Rockit (spelling?) RP8's for listening to play back and they seem to do the job quite well. I didn't notice much of a difference between the bass sound from my monitors and the sound in my truck's stereo. I also use the level monitoring when mixing down to make sure that all the track levels are where they should be, from what I've read that should be about -6 to -12 db I think.
 
I don't use a standard patch. I actually go in and tweak them a little. Some of the brightness might be coming from the Enhancer setting. Not sure where that one is (by default) in the patches you mentioned, but the ones I used had to much 'enhancer' goin on...so I cut it down little. I saved a user patch with the settings I generally use. I can't remember what the settings are, but I tend to back off the highs just a little as well. Ya just have to play with it a while and experiment until you get a sound that works for you and the type of music you play. Check out some of my other posts here from a while back for some samples of my 'cover tunes'.

Good luck.
steve
 
Rick,
From what I am able to gather regarding the vocal COSM effect it appears you can only apply the effect to one track at a time (mono) or a stereo track eg 1/2 or 3/4 etc. Once you have applied the COSM vocal effect to your track and bounced it down you can then apply separate effects to this track.
I had not used this effect until your query was posted, I dont like the fact that you have to leave a track available to bounce down to. But then again when you apply this vocal tool to a track you actually record a new track with the vocal effect applied during bounce down.
 
Thanks Gorty,

That confirms what I was thinking I'd have to do. Not a perfect solution but at least its workable. :rolleyes:
 
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