Zoom Gear & Home Recording Forum

Hey guys. I am so happy to find this forum! I am brand new to the R8 after using BOSS digitals a few years ago. The manual is OK but still confusing. How can I take several existing drum tracks and stitch them together into a complete song. I think I am on the right track but I have hit a road block
Sorry, but I am old school and want to compose a ccomplete drum track overdub bass, guitars, vocals, etc afterward. Your help would be greatly apprecaited.

Hi jerzyelia, welcome to the forum.

To create a complete drum track you have to start with assigning drum patterns (or drum loops) to the tracks.
Because you got only 8 tracks you can only assign 8 patterns.
To play those 8 tracks/patterns in the order you want it you got to use the track sequencer.
But as i said you first have to assign those patterns to the tracks.
Here's a step by step instruction how to do that.
If you got that working i can help you with how to operate the track sequencer.

- start by setting all tracks to play (all leds are green)
- select rhythm and select the pattern you want to assign
- press the third soft button beneath the display called "assign" and keep on pressing it.
- while pressing the assign button the pads of empty tracks will blink
- press one of the blinking PADS (still while holding the assign button) NOT the buttons above the faders
- now still while holding the assign button, WAIT TILL THE PAD YOU PRESSED STOPS BLINKING then release the assign button
- press exit to return to the main screen
The led above the track you assigned the pattern to should now be orange indicating a pattern is assigned to that track.
If you now push the play button the pattern will play infinitely and you can record guitar on another track.
If you don't want it to play infinitely and you want to use other patterns as well, you need to use the track sequencer but as I said I suggest you start with this.

Thanks Henky,

The R8 is alot different than the BOSS products. I will figure this part out and get back to you.

jerzy

OK Henky,

I've got the track assign down. Say I have 4 rhythm patterns I want to make into a complete rhythm track song (one for intro, one for verses, one for chorus and one for bridge). How do I then record them onto one track that I can listen to and overdub bass, guitars, vocals, etc.?
As I said, I am old school and like to record rhythm beds first. I know it has to do with the Sequencer function but can't understand how to use each pattern in the order I need it. Some will be used a lot and others not so much in the song. Thanks for your assistance.

Jerzy

Yep I'm old school too and i always start with laying down a rhythm.

OK so here's the basic idea:
The track sequencer lets you start tracks at a specific moment in time.
So let's say you want 2 bars of pattern A which is assigned to track 1.
And you want 1 bar of pattern B on track 2 and 4 bars of pattern C on track3.
So pattern A (track 1) should start on beat 1.
Pattern B (track 2) should start on beat 9.
Pattern C (track 3) should start on beat 13.
You need to tell/program the track sequencer to do this.

Check out this excellent vid from bob ritsky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlsofvcU ... re=related

Go to 14:00 were he is explaining the track sequencer.
Don't forget to activate the track sequencer first by pressing the fourth soft button below the display.

Great video. I think I get the track assignment and sequencer record. If I use 5 patterns that will tie up 5 tracks so I guess I can bounce down the drums to 1 track at this time?

Jerzy

Yeah, i allways just record to the mastertrack because then you can use all 8 tracks for drumpatterns.
Then i start a new project and import the mastertrack wav file of the first project into a normal track in the new project.
The advantage of starting a new project is that when you want to change something in the rhythm part you can simply go back to the first project with all rhythm patterns still in place.

That is awesome. I think I am starting to get it. Many more possibilities that way. It also allows you to actually "play" the drums when recording the sequencer track which is way, way better than the old style "programming". I am going to try this tonight and I will let you know how i do. Thanks so much man for taking the time to help..

Jerzy

OK, I now have "mostly" figured out how to assign drum patterns and build a drum pattern. If I use 4 patterns for my song and record them onto say, track 6, am I listening to the track 6 on playback? I think so but am not 100% sure. I guess I can then begin a new project and import track 6 or do I have to do something additional before I can import it? Thanks in advance.

Jerzy

If you want to record the drums on track 6 you have to go into bounce mode.
If you did not go into bounce mode there's a chance you recorded nothing on track 6 and you were listening to the actual patterns.
However as i said before why would you bounce to a normal track while you can also just record your drums on the mastertrack.
People tend to forget about the mastertrack because they think it's only an 8 track recorder but in fact you got an extra track which is stereo also which makes it a 10 track recorder.
I find it much easier to record my drums to the mastertrack for a couple of reasons.
- It's already stereo so no messing around with stereo links
- No need to go in boucing mode
- You can use all tracks for drum patterns without much ado
- It's easy to playback the mastertrack while all other tracks are muted automatically

Arm the mastertrack by pressing the button above the red fader till the led shines red is all it takes to record the mastertrack.
Press the button again till the led is green and you can playback the mastertrack and you'll see all other leds will go out indicating they are muted.
Press the button till the led is out and your tracks are operational again.
Real simple.
When you assign files to tracks in your new project there's an option to load a file from another project and you only have to choose the master file of the first project.

Henky,

This is so helpful. This is exactly what I want to do! I will try it again tonight and keep you informed. Your assistance is much appreciated. I think the R8 will be just what I am looking for.

Jerzy

Well here I go again. I just keep getting stuck here. After I assign my drum patterns to tracks I go to the track sequencer. I see my tracks lit orange. I arm the red light to record to the master track. I press record and enter my tracks for the complete song. I press the button for Master track to light up green. I rewind to the beginning. I turn down all the faders except master track. But when I press play I hear no sound from the Master track. What am I doing wrong. Help!! Thanks for your patience.

OK we should be able to get this sorted out.

Let's start with what happens when you just press play from the main screen and with the masterfader led off.
Remember that what you hear is what you get when you record the mastertrack.
If you hear all patterns at the same time you need to spend more time programming the track sequencer.
If i read it correctly it looks like you armed and recorded the mastertrack while in the track sequencer screen.
That won't do it, while being in the track sequencer screen you can only program/record the track sequencer.
Also when you programmed/recorded something in the track sequencer it's important to turn the track sequencer on in the main screen (soft button).

Wow. I am really off here. So say I program the drum track patterns in the track sequencer (I have say 4 patterns assigned to the first four faders). I know i have to press the RECORD button in order to program the sequencer patterns. This is where my first confusion comes in. When I record the drum sequencer track do I have to record it to any particular channel or do I just press RECORD and not assign the record track to any channel? I guess we can deal with the second issue after I am straight on this. Sorry but thanks in advance.

OK let's get some things clear:
- There is only 1 track sequencer
You might think otherwise because you have to launch the track sequencer by going into the track options but it does not matter which track is "active".
- Basically the track sequencer starts what's on a track at a specific point in your song (for example a drum pattern)
- There are 2 ways to program the track sequencer: in real time or step by step
- If you go into the track sequencer the horizontal lines represent the tracks the vertical lines the bars and beats
So a dot on the first line on the first beat means the pattern at track 1 should be played at the first beat.
A dot on the second line on the fifth beat means the pattern at the second track should be played starting on the fifth beat.
Generally patterns are 4 beats long so in this case the second pattern would start playing right after the first pattern.

I prefer to program the tracks sequencer step by step.
To do so go into the track sequencer and only press the record button.
Now you can move the cursor around over the grid and press enter if you want to place a dot somewhere in the grid.
I find real time a little more tricky, you have to press record and play at the same time and then play the pads to start the tracks at the point you want it.

Have you studied pages 72-78 in the manual?

The track sequencer is not a track itself -- it is just... the sequencer... it exists as it's own entity.

Thanks Henky and Wulfraed,

I sure made this alot harder than it is. Your advice worked perfectly. So now I have a complete drum sequence composed of say 6 pattern tracks playing in proper order. Now onto part 2. How do I convert this drum track sequnce into a one track recording. I guess how do I go about copying this entire sequence onto one track, say the master track? Sorry for being so dense but it is a little hard. Making progress thanks to you though.