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    Roland VS 880 Digital Audio Workstation

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    To format a new disc, strike the system button until it says "drive initialize?" then keep hitting cursor right and or yes button until it starts whirring. after it initialize, you'll still be in your old drive!?! be sure to change drive.

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    when selecting a sampling rate for a new song MT2 gives you more time and less quality than MT1.

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    aside from pre-mixing, (see below), if you just want to take a track out of the mix and put it only into AUX, (for instance to go out of 3 and/or 4 to use other effetc, limiters, etc, ) if you EPSEPSstrike "shift - eq low" and strike parameter wheel left, you'll get to "MIX switch". turn it off for that track, then strike "parameter right" past the e.q. functions, till you get to AUX switch, turn that to "post fader" - and continue to the right to the window that says "AUX level to make sure that's up, and you may have to check the window to the right of that which says, "AUX pan" - depending on where you have your pan pot on the track you want to go out to AUX -

    but you also have to make sure that in the "edit solo" stuff there's a window called, "Master Mode", and it has to say, "MIX" and to the right of that as you scroll, there's another window that says, "AUX level" and you hve to turn that level up too. now the roland's fader STILL has control of level of that track - but it would shove it out MIX channels 1 or 2. !!

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    under normal circumstances the e.q. changes you put on any given track is in monitor, not being printed to disc. just like effects.

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    however, if you want to PREMIX TRACKS, here's the thing:

    in "input buss", the tracks that you're mixing TO have to be assigned to AUX in the "shift/input buss" realm, (one left, one right- these are above the settings for digital in)

    the tracks that you WANT TO MIX , you have to press "shift- Aux Send" (chnl edit button 6) and assign each track to "post fade" [will probably say "off" when you first look at it.]

    you have to go in there and assign each Aux Switch to post fade, then press parameter right to go the the " Aux level" window and open that up [to maybe 65]. then press "parameter right" again to go to Aux pan" window and do the same there [forget the manual pans for the tracks you're mixing]

    do this for each track you want to mix.

    then you have to hit the "Edit" button, just above the Master fader [don't hit "shift/edit", just "edit"]

    jog "master mode" to "M+A". "parameter right" and jog "master level" [maybe 60], parameter right" and jog "master balance" to zero, parameter right, and jog Aux level" to about 50, parameter right and jog Aux balance" to zero

    then if you want effect to print to the mix channels, hit "parameter right" again, and jog "Effect 1 Return" to "Aux" then the same for effect 2, if you want that.

    make sure your tracks that you're mixing are set to effect 1, post fader, etc.

    keep the faders of the tracks you're mixing TO down, or they'll add to the monitor of the mix. your faders on the tracks your mixing {the ones you've already recorded on} will be operable. you have to mute them on playback and just listen to the mix channels in order to hear a mix of what you've done with other tracks. "pre level" in the display will show you how much signal is going into the tracks you're recording on.

    the effects will mix to the print if you do the above. but be careful - if you have your record channel assigned to an effect - even in post-fader mode, that effect will print to the submixed tracks too. !

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    to slave the mac from the vs, there is a window ins sys that says - SYS syn gen. - MDIDclk -

    if MIDIclk is not in right side of window, forget it.

    24 should be picked for type of MTC, vs must be on internal sync

    in performer, "recieve sync" window must say

    standard beat clocks 24 clock per metronome click neither box checked below ("start on any . . )

    to set a tempo map - go to synch/tempo scroll right til it says "synch tmap" then it says 1= 120. in this case "1" is the first tempo on the map. set it to the opening tempo. then scroll back and selec to "2", then go to bar number and select the bar at which you want to make your first tempo chance. then go back to speed and set appropriately. etc.

    shutdown procedure - press shift/stop and follow prompts

    to store song data press shift/return to zero on tape transport

    what a trip, am i overwhelmed, or what!?!

    for metronome - hit system til it says "SYS sys PRM" go thru prompts to metroOUT, select INT then next page asks "REC ONLY?" etc.

    to toggle the VS between int and ex sync, press "system" til it says "sync/tempo, hit "yes", then it says "syn: source", either jog wheel between "INT and "EXT" or hold down "shift" and press "system".

    to set markers, hit tap, anywhere. punch in and out must be nested inside loop in and out, and must be set after loop in and out. be sure the "loop" and "autopunch" buttons are on.

    to adjust display brightness - SYS system PRM parameter forward till "LCD contrast, then jog

    for track copy, move, etc., try at from, end points, etc, hitting cursor left or cursor right EPSEPSWHILE holding down "shift" button to get to bars and beats (perhaps more acurate or more like midi than real time). to make the damn thing stop blinking, keep hitting cursor right til it shuts up.

    if you find your vs faders controlling volume of midi devices, strike "system midi prg" til you see "sys midi control type" and jog til "off" don't turn off "sys midi ctrl local".

    to adjust bars & beats, strike "shift - cursor no" this will start display blinking. hit "cursor - no" to go from markers window to beats, to bars. keep hitting "cursor - yes" to get it to stop{!} to adjust hrs, mins, etc hit numerics button, then hit "parameter left - right" to move from one time window to the next. hit display to get out. hit "shift - song end (FF)" to get to end of song(!).

    if you want to copy from a track, v trk to the same track, v trak froget the jog wheel, just hit the track button twice in the mixer.

    if you hear a track when no fader is up, try "shift - aux send", check what's up. also make sure "sys midi control local" is on, and "ctr type = off" [but if you turn it off while faders are down, thengs may not have any volume level to them].

    if you hear a track when all faders are down, there is a thing called "mix switch". if you're cursoring left through track functions, it's in between "MIX level" and "Input BUSS". If it's on "prefade", it can cause no end of trouble. If you hear a specific track on ALL faders, check "continuous controler outputs "SYS MNIDI cntrl type " should say "off" in "system midi".

    also try going to the "fader-pan " display, and watch the levels in the window carefully. try moving the faders u and down, PAST the higest point the display shows. may help

    if you still hear a track when the thing is stopped, check your head.

    to go from one scene to another, you must hold down on the "scene" button, WHILE IT IS LIT! and press the scene number you wish. the number to the right of "INT" tells the scene. be very careful NOT to return to a previous scene if you don't want to lose all your changes ?!!

    * * * not sure about this: * * *

    to add an effect while pre-mixing, make sure the track you're going to record on has been assigned to accept the correct input that the track you're sending from is plugged into. (in other words - "input buss", "record trk", jog wheel till it says "INPUT- 3 or whatever"). then make sure you hit "edit (just left of "ch edit 8) and assign the effect you're recorded track is on to "RTN to= AUX" so you don't hear the original track in monitor. the original track and effect should be assigned to "CH x EFFECT x = PREFADE" when pre-mixing, make sure your 1/4 phone plugs are unplugged ! ! !

    * * * another try: * * *

    to pre-mix -

    hit the edit button, to the left of the chnl 8 edit button (not shift, just edit). then hit the channel you want to pre-mix (say channel 1, hit "ch edit 1"). read-out should say, "CH 1 MIX Sw = off" [you my hve to cursor left or right to get to this]. set jog wheel to say "CH 1 MIX Sw = post fade"]. then hit "shift - effect 1 [above chnl 7]. set this to "pstfade". hit cursor right, to specify send and pan levels.

    here's how to set the controls of the channel you are MIXING TO -

    hit "shift - input buss" then hit correct mix channel. then jog ABOVE imput and digital to MIX L or MIX r. then hit "shift - effect 1" [above chnl 7] and jog it to off. then hit "shift - effect 2" [above chnl 8] and jog it to off. then hit edit button [not shift edit] until it says MST EFF1 RTN Lev = 100, set this level. cursor right brings RTN bal. set this.

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    another explaination of premix:

    the channel you are premixing TO should say AUX-A or AUZ-B in the input buss window. it's channel should be set ot off in the aux send window

    all channels you are premixing should say post fade in the aux send window. this has nothing to do with effects.

    the manual pan pots and master fader have no effect on the Aux output. aux pan and master aux (only accesable from "edit - solo" button above master fader to the right of the ch edit buttons) can only be controlled by scrolling through the prompts. also, the physical aux outputs on the back are not needed when pre-mixing internally.

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    concerning past etc. operations -

    start from end to

    [from - is the beginning of paste section]

    [start - is the beginning of calculated section]

    [end - is the end of the section you're pasting]

    [to - is the destination]

    to is connected to from, not start. in other words, "to" should be where you want "from" to go to. "from" is the actual beginning of the section you're working with. start is used for calculation purposes.

    from must be in between start and end

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    input mix/track mix

    make sure you hit shift/input buss and set each "In BUSS Sel= " to "MIX" [or whatever you want to mix to. if you want to mix to channels seven and eight, set it to "7-8" in "input mix" you're selecting where to mix to for the incoming tracks [upper half of display]. in "track mix" you're selecting for the internal tracks [lower half of display].

    as far as i can tell, neither "input mix" nor "track mix" allows me to record external instruments into the VS under any circumstances, either mixing with internal tracks, or by themselves. the manual is full of shit in this respect [p. 25, 2nd paragraph from bottom]

    remember that when you want to hear what's coming into the VS, you must twiddle the knobs when the thing is in "input mix" mode. when you switch to "track mix" mode, the knobs will have no control over what's coming into the VS.

    the opposite is true for the internal tracks on the VS. don't expect to be able to change volume, pan, etc. on the incoming tracks when you are in "track mode". they will STAY as they ARE.

    the best thing is to strike the "CH EDIT" button for the track you're working on so you can get a digital readout of what's going on with volume, etc. but remember, you can play with a knob, but you won't see the digital readout at the top of the display change unless you have selected that track with the "CH EDIT" button. !

    for effects, hit "shift"/"V. track" and scroll right til you get to tr"x" effect 1= off" at top of display.it works the same way as in "input-track" excpet that you have both input and track assignment in the display. if you now hit "input mix" under "mixer mode". you can turn any given input track on to what ever effect you've got going. switch to "track mix" and you can do the same with the internal tracks.

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    It's not hard to get the VS880's software upgrade into the VS. The main thing is making sure you're MIDI sequencer recognizes these files as sequencing files [of course, they're not sequencing files, but your sequencer needs to see them that way].

    Down load the new software [version 3.1] off Roland's Website [Rolandus.com] and enter it into the MIDI sequencer as a sequencing file [Standard MIDI File]. It appears as 8 different files. Plug MIDI out from your sequencer into MIDI in on the VS. [You don't need to plug MIDI out of the VS into MIDI in on the sequencer.] Hold down chnl edit button 7 and chnl mute/record button 7 while powering the VS up and it'll give you a promtpt like, "edit sys?" and you push the "yes" button and when you run your sequencer, the VS will show you a number of bytes being upgraded. When it's done, it'll say, "Waiting for 2 of 8", then you do the same with the second, third, etcetera. When all eight are in the VS it'll ask you to verify that you want all that suff poked into memory and you hit "yes again, and it'll do it's thing and you're done.

    If it gets screwed up along the way, you still have the old operating system in there, so don't be paranoid. The VS doesn't write anything into memory until you say yes to that last prompt.

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