An Introduction to V-Tracks

1. An Introduction to V-Tracks Chris SkelnikVS-Planeteer “Hook” The VS880-EX FAQs: http://www.ps139.com/vs880ex/pages/FAQs.html

2. VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 8 Track 1 For our discussion, we are going to use the analogy of a working in an office. Your job is that of a filing clerk (glamorous, huh?). Why a filing clerk? Well, think about it…when you are recording, you are “filing away” information to be used later. OK, it may not be glamorous, but understanding how tracks and virtual tracks work will allow you to get the most out of your VS machine. OK, let’s get started… Each physical track on the VS880 series has 8 “virtual tracks” associated with it. We’ll call these virtual tracks “V-Tracks”.Think of a track as one of those office filing cabinets, and think of a V-Track as a drawer in the filing cabinet. Each filing cabinet has 8 drawers. These filing cabinets are “tip-proof”, meaning that you can only have 1 drawer open at a time. When one drawer is open, the others cannot be opened (so that the filing cabinet doesn’t tip over).So, when we are working with a track, we can access only one of it’s V-Tracks at a time. If we want to access a different V-Track, we must stop working with the current V-Track (i.e. close the drawer) in order to work with a different V-Track (i.e open a different drawer). By default, any new song you create is set to use V-Track 1 for all physical tracks. People normally represent a physical track/V-Track combination as “P:V”, where “P” is the physical track number and “V” is the V-Track number. For example, if I was referring to V-Track 2 on physical track 5, I’d represent it as “5:2”.I’ve heard people say “I never use V-Tracks”. Simply put, they are wrong. Look at our “filing cabinet” on the left. There isn’t any drawer for “non-V-Track”, is there? The reason they think they are not using V-Tracks is because they never change from the default (V-Track 1). Another misconception people have is that they need to erase a track so that they can record something else on that track. For example, I’ve heard people state the following: “I recorded on tracks 1-6, then bounced then to 7-8, then erased tracks 1-6 so that I could record more instruments…”. These people are completely missing the point of the V-Tracks! You can record ANYTHING on ANY V-Track.

3. How-To How-To I said this on the previous page, but I think it’s worth repeating here, as it’s a very common point of confusion.When we are working with a track, we can access only one of it’s V-Tracks at a time. If we want to access a different V-Track, we must stop working with the current V-Track (i.e. close the drawer) in order to work with a different V-Track (i.e open a different drawer). VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 To change the V-Track, press the SELECT button for the track. Next, hold SHIFT and press the SELECT button on track 2 (alternately, you could press the Parameter buttons until you see ‘V.Track)’. To change the V-Track, rotate the job wheel to select the V-Track you want. VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 If we are using V-Track 2 and want to switch to V-Track 7, the VS must be in a STOP mode. You cannot switch V-Tracks while the machine is playing or recording. Track 1 Track 1

4. VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 1 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 2 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 3 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 4 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 5 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 6 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 7 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 VirtualTrack 8 Since each physical track has 8 V-Tracks, and there are 8 physical tracks, that means we have 64 V-Tracks. Track 1 Track 2 Track 3 Track 4 Track 5 Track 6 Track 7 Track 8 OK, we can see that we have 64 V-Tracks. But didn’t I hear that these machines have 128 V-Tracks? Well, there really are 128 V-Tracks, but we can only use 64 at a time. Let’s see how this works…

5. How-To How-To There really are 128 V-Tracks, but they are divided into 2 “banks”, called A and B. Think of each bank of V-Tracks as a separate room in our office. Each room has 8 filing cabinets with 8 drawers each. But, since they are in physically separate rooms, we can only work with one set of filing cabinets at a time. The same principle applies to our V-Track banks. We can only work with one bank of V-Tracks at a time. Room A Room B To switch V-Track banks (i.e. rooms), press SYSTEM a few times until you see ‘SYS System PRM?’, then hit YES. Press the >> Parameter button until you see ‘V-Track Bank =‘, then rotate the jog wheel to select the bank you want.

6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TRACK Let’s put some of this information to use. Let’s say we have some basic tracks already “filed away”. We’ve already recorded drums, bass guitar, and rhythm guitar. I’m showing what’s called a “track sheet” with some things already filled in. There are blank track sheets at the end of the Roland manuals, and I also have my own version (http://www.ps139.com/vs880ex). Track sheets are essential to good “file management”, so if you aren’t using them, you should start. RHYTHMGTR 1 BASSGTR DRUMS-L DRUMS-R 2 3 4 V-TRACK 5 6 7 8

7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TRACK Now let’s record some lead guitar on track 5. Let’s leave the V-Track at it’s default value of 1. So, we are recording on track 5:1. Time warp with me…OK, the solo is done! But, the lead guitarist wants to solo all day long, so let’s record another version of the solo. Here’s where V-Tracks come in. We simply change track 5 to use V-Track 2, hit record, and now we’ve got 2 versions of the solo. Here’s what our track sheet looks like now that we’ve recorded both guitar solos: RHYTHMGTR 1 BASSGTR LEADGTR #1 DRUMS-L DRUMS-R LEADGTR #2 2 3 4 V-TRACK 5 6 7 8

8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TRACK To figure out which guitar solo we like better, we want to be able to play them both back at the same time. But, since they are on the same physical track, that’s not possible. So now what? This is where the “track exchange” feature comes in. The track exchange allows you to exchange any two V-Tracks, regardless of what physical track they are on. So, in order to play back the 2nd solo along with the 1st, let’s attempt to swap tracks 5:2 with 6:1. RHYTHMGTR 1 BASSGTR LEADGTR #1 DRUMS-L DRUMS-R LEADGTR #2 2 3 4 V-TRACK 5 6 7 8

9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TRACK After the Track Exchange, we can now play back both lead guitar parts. Easy, huh?Remember, if you are absolutely sure you don’t need a V-Track anymore, you should erase it and then perform a Song Optimize to regain some recording time. RHYTHMGTR 1 BASSGTR LEADGTR #1 LEADGTR #2 DRUMS-L DRUMS-R 2 3 4 V-TRACK 5 6 7 8