Some general VS-880EX questions, please...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Julia
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Hungry kids!

Hi, Dave...first of all, just for your future reference...kids are ALWAYS hungry. You must have a baby there, and you haven't been educated by him/her in the ways of kid-eating. The older they get, the more frequently, and the more volume they want to eat. Just a little note for your consideration. ;)

Anyhoo...

I like ALL kinds of music...and I enjoy composing in all genres...rap and heavy metal excluded.

Yep, I've got a lot of stuff to buy all at once, that's the truth. Precisely why I was HOPING beyond hope to be able to do some decent digital recording with my PC, but forget it. I've run out of ways to make it work.

At this point, what I MAY have to do for now anyway, is to buy a simple Boss BR-8 (which supposedly will soon be upgraded to a 250mb zip drive...yukky, anyway...but affordable)...and a drum machine, (I have my eye on a Zoom 234), and continue to use what I have here...i.e. my Ovation accoustic/electric guitar, my Yamaha PSR-47 keyboard, various percussion instruments, and of course my vocals.

I was interested to read that you are recording a Ludwig set. I'm a drummer/percussionist actually, (probably why I can't tolerate the non-programmable internal rhythm machine in the BR-8...picky, picky, picky)...and I have an awesome set of vintage Gretsch drums which would be really fun to work with, but to be honest with you, I had NO illusions of being able to adequately record live drums. I'd love to know how you're recording a live drum set, what you're using for mics, etc., and how much noise you have to contend with. (Not the drum sounds, but the outside "airy" sort of noise I used to get when I recorded live drums using my analog 4-track.)

Also, when using your Casios for synths, do you apply effects from your 880? I'm trying to figure out how to simply use my PSR-47 as a synth for now. But the sounds in it...well...ick, in general. :)

It's great chatting with you about all of this...thanks so much for sharing your experience, etc.

Ummm...I think your kid's hungry again. ;)

Enjoy the little angel.

Julia
 
Oh poof. I'm going to go kick my kid and then I'm going to barf all over my 880. It's not the Cakewalk or PC's. Some people just can't become computer literate. Looks like you're one.

[Edited by monty on 09-08-2000 at 17:19]
 
Hmmm...

Well, first of all, you're not a very nice person at all. It's a shame, really. There's absolutely nothing to gain in this world by being unkind.

And secondly, quite to the contrary, I am relatively highly computer literate, in fact. I make my living using a computer, and recently earned a very high award for my work. The fact that I can't get this version of Cakewalk to work appropriately at this point has little, if anything, to do with computer illiteracy, but I'm not going to waste my energy explaining any more of that to you.

Your comments say more about you than they do about me.

Try being nicer. It doesn't hurt at all.
 
Where's my fucking post?

There it is.

That's right lady, I'm not very nice. Bbbrraaaggghhhh!!!:)
 
effects on synths, drums, etc...

Julia--

As for the effects that I use on my Casio.. you need to remember that I work in experimental music. (Sort of my disclaimer) Because of this, results that I am able to achieve which sound good to me, are usually everyone else's noise.

I use a variety of guitar stomp pedals on my keyboards: digital delay/reverb, various echo boxes, a couple ring modulators I have built, two different flangers, a RotoVibe knockoff, wah-wah, you name it... I also make use of the headphone jack for a completely different sound. As you know, that doesn't provide a very powerful signal out, so you can get odd sounds when you compare it to the keyboard's driect signal outs...

And the Ludwigs... I record in a very relective room, because my studio is in a trailer I rent for the purpose. The ceiling and walls are curved, so there are no corners, and the wall behind me is slanted down and out, so I have a lot of odd echo noise, which I temper with big foam blocks, blankets, and other things from my local thrift store. For mics, I use a combination of a Shure SM57, headphones, Radio Shack specials (the unidirectional ones) and two XLR-style mics that I picked up for $5 and $7 respectively. These are remarkably nice old mics with good bass response.

I use the older mics mainly on the floor, one near each floor tom, which are on either side of my kick. Because I do not make heavy use of the kick, I don't mind that it is a more ambient sound in the mix. I hang the Radio Shacks in such a way that they are picking up the smaller toms and hi-hats. I put the SM57 near the hi-hats, and I attach the headphones to the cymbals. This doesn't dampen them much because I have mousepads stuck on the cymbals anyway, because it makes them more "splashy" and big sounding... Generally, I process the sound anyway, usually chopping it up and such, so I don't worry overly about getting it perfect. I also use one of my kick pedals to hit the leg of one of my floor toms, and I try to make sure that can be heard as well. Generally, I try to make sure the tom mics are somewhat close because I bend the heads a lot to get different tones, like pitch bending (?)

I do this by forcefully applying a rubber cork to the drum head, and then tapping with my other drumstick. It sounds very nice.

Hope I was helpful, though I doubt it is applicable to your situation!

DaveX
 
Dragon...they're sending me threatening email. They told me to be nice. They just don't realize how mean that is to tell me to be nice. They're mean. They're bad people, very bad people. Now I have to be nice and nobody will know who I am. I'm just going to kill myself now. I hope all you mean people are happy now that I'm dead.

Where's EddieN when I need him. Oh boo hoo....
 
Disregard this post. It's the only way I can get them all to show up.
 
first off, I have to say that as an owner of Cakewalk Pro and Roland gear in my studio, ALL of my initial tracking is done with the 880. It is the workhorse of my studio before things are bounced into the PC. The 880 does have a learning curve and isn't meant for everyone. I think this is why there is so much hostility over the choice between which format to use. AS for "Monty" instead of complaining ,use the energy to open the manual and he may just surprise himself. Remember the saying, "Garbage in, garbage out". That is the downfall of digital media, it isn't as forgiving as it's analog counterparts. It is designed (within reason) to output what is EXACTLY put into it (give or take cheap converters). As an all in one package, the 880 is it. As for mine, I have a 4 GB drive installed in mine, so therefore I highly recommend it (it comes with a pricetag !!). Monty, do some research and you'll find out how many artists are releasing albums done on the VS series recorders, not in the studio !
 
Monty, didn't mean any disrespect but that was the response I figured that would come from you. Why the hostility ? This is a site based on "tips" on recording, not bickering and fighting. There are people on here looking for and needing advice and not insults !
 
Not hostile. Just yankin' your chain. A little hazing for the newbie. Peace.:)
 
lol, I can understand I guess.....I am a newbie to the forum but am far from a newbie ! I have had the 880 since they first came out. I had the second one in the whole area . I feel that it is an easy machine to use, just takes time to use.....if anyone out there does have any questions about the system just let me know..........there are alot of "hidden" tricks that even the idiots at Roland can't figure out ! Don't get me wrong, they have great gear, just very incompetent personnel (find out for yourself and call tech support !). It a way it has been a godsend and allowed me to learn it on my own.....oh well.....enough about Roland, I figure you guys already know......the CD burner is another issue altogether.....lol
 
Try this...

If you are interested in the VS machines you might try the VSPlanet web site.
 
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