Mixer Modes

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One of the unique aspects of the VS workstations is the concept of mixer modes. Each VS workstation contains multiple digital mixers in one physical box. Each of these mixers is active and available at all times. If we laid all these mixers out end to end, the physical box would be pretty big!

To keep the VS workstations small and truly portable, the VS provides a way to toggle between the different mixers with the press of a button. When you activate one the various mixers, the channel strips are used to adjust the channels specific to that particular mixer. Once you've configured the channels for one mixer and toggled to another mixer, the VS remembers (and keeps active) the settings for the previous mixer. You can now adjust the channel strips to suit your requirements for this mixer without disturbing the settings you made in the previous mixer.

The Mixed Up Modes of the VS-880

The VS-880 was revolutionary, but its implementation of mixer modes was based on the popular tape-based multitrackers of that time. The VS-880 contained two mixer modes: Input Track and Input Mix/Track Mix. The Input Track mode does not have any mixer between the physical inputs and the recording tracks, and it allows you to route an input directly to a recording track. The Input Mix/Track Mix mode contains an Input Mixer and a Track Mixer and uses shared-track busses . For example, if you want to record to track 5, you would need to route the input to the 5-6 bus and pan the input hard left. Shared-track bussing was also used with effects routing.

The architecture of these two mixer modes can be confusing, even for experienced VS-880 users. It seems that Roland also found this confusing, as all subsequent VS workstations featured independent Input, Track, and Effects Return Mixers.


This concept can be confusing for new users, so let's see a few examples. In Figure 2.4, we saw the channel strips for the VS-890. The VS-890 contains an eight-channel Input Mixer, an eight-channel Track Mixer, and a two-channel Effects Return Mixer. If we add these all up, we see that the VS-890 is an 18-channel digital mixer, but there are only eight physical channel faders . The concept of mixer modes allows us to toggle between these various mixers and configure them appropriately.

Here is another example. The VS-2480DVD is a 64-channel digital mixer, but there are only 16 physical channel faders. Figure 2.6 shows the conceptual layout of the various mixers for the VS-2480DVD.

Figure 2.6. The 64 channels of the VS-2480DVD

Let's take a closer look at the three common mixer modes found on VS workstations.

The Input Mixer

The Input Mixer is where you assign inputs ”things plugged into the VS ”to recording tracks. You can route a single input to one or more recording tracks. Normally you'll use the Input Mixer to assign your microphone and line inputs to recording tracks. One or more physical input devices will be the source, and one or more tracks will be in the record condition, and these will be the destination tracks. Any signal processing changes that you make while in the Input Mixer will be recorded on the destination tracks. For example, if you use the channel strip to change some EQ settings on Input 1, then the recorded track will contain the signal after it has passed through the EQ. When you apply changes in the Input Mixer, you are recording the affected signal. You can think of the Input Mixer as a set of devices that sit between your physical input devices and the hard disk recorder, and any changes made within these devices affect what is actually recorded on the hard disk.

The Track Mixer

The Track Mixer is where you listen to tracks that have already been recorded or are in the process of being recorded. The Track Mixer is also used when you want to mix down or bounce tracks. Any signal processing changes you make while in the Track Mixer do not affect your original source material. For example, you might want to apply some reverb to the lead vocal track that you've already recorded. You can apply a particular reverb, adjust some of the reverb parameters, or change to a different type of reverb. You will be able to hear the reverb, but the source material is not changed.

When bouncing tracks, one or more tracks will be your source tracks, and one or more tracks will be your destination tracks. With some of the VS workstations, bouncing all tracks down to two tracks isn't possible. For example, on the VS-880EX, you cannot bounce all eight tracks down to two tracks in a single step. Roland addressed this issue in a feature called the mastering room, which is now available on most VS workstations. The mastering room provides a way to bounce all tracks down to two tracks, allowing you to more efficiently use all the tracks available on the VS workstation.

The Effects Return Mixer

The Effects Return Mixer is where you'll assign the output of any send/return effects. When you use insert effects, the effects are applied directly to the track, and no routing is necessary. By default, the returns from any send/return effects are routed to the Master bus. In order to better understand the Effects Return Mixer, let's look at using effects in the Input Mixer and in the Track Mixer.

When working in the Input Mixer, you are assigning inputs to recording tracks. Suppose you are recording an electric guitar, and you would like to hear a bit of chorus effect added to the sound of the guitar. To do this, you would choose a chorus effect and assign that effect to the guitar input channel in a send/return configuration. When you play the guitar, you'll hear the chorus effect. Now you have a decision to make: record the guitar track with the chorus effect or without the chorus effect. If you want to hear the chorus effect when you play the guitar but do not want to record the chorus effect, you don't have to do anything. But, if you do want to record the chorus effect, you will need to assign the output of the effect to the destination track in the Effects Return Mixer.

In addition, since you can route a single input source to multiple destination tracks, you could route the guitar input to two different recording tracks. One of those tracks (destination track 1) can be recorded dry and the other track (destination track 2) can be recorded wet by assigning the output of the chorus effect to destination track 2.

In the discussion of the Track Mixer, we looked at applying a reverb effect to a lead vocal track. Suppose you want to bounce the lead vocal track and the reverb to another track. In this case, the original lead vocal track is your source, and the new track is your destination. In order to have the reverb applied to the destination track, you would need to assign the output of the reverb effect to the destination track as well. To do this, use the Effects Return Mixer to assign the output of the reverb effect to the destination track.

Remember, if you want to print any send/return effect, you must specifically assign the output of the effect to a track. If you do not assign the output of the effect to a track, you will be able to hear the effect, but it will not be recorded.

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Roland VS Recorder Power.
Roland VS Recorder Power.
ISBN: 1592008364
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 202

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