Exploiting V-Tracks

We've got most of our basic tracks recorded, so now let's record a lead guitar part. The guitar player isn't exactly sure what he wants to play during the guitar solo, so he wants to record a few different takes and then decide which parts are best. Now is the time to understand how V-Tracks work.

From our track sheet, you can see that every track we've recorded so far has been on V-Track 1. The VS defaults to using V-Track 1 for every track, but it's easy to change to record to any V-Track. Let's verify that recording track 6 is set up to record on V-Track 1. You can only change V-Tracks in the Track Mixer, so toggle to it and make sure you are in the Play Condition. Now, press the SELECT button above track 6, and use the and parameter buttons until you see TR6 V.Track = 1. Whenever you bring up the V-Track setting for any track, the display will show the V-Track matrix, as shown in Figure 4.10. This display is similar to the routing display, as the recording tracks are shown across the bottom and the V-Tracks are shown along the left. In the V-Track Routing display, each recording track/V-Track combination can show two bars; the top bar indicates that recorded material exists, and the bottom bar indicates the currently selected V-Track. In our example, we can see that V-Track 1 is currently selected for recording track 6, and no recorded material exists on that recording track/V-Track combination. If you want to change the V-Track, use the jogwheel to select it. When done, press the PLAY/DISPLAY in convention sheet button to return to the Play Condition.

Figure 4.10. The V-Track matrix display

From here on out, I'll abbreviate the combination of a recording track/V-Track as "track r-v," where "r" is the recording track and "v" is the V-Track. In other words, "Track 6-1" represents recording track 6/V-Track 1.

Since recording track 6-1 doesn't have any material on it, and V-Track 1 is the currently selected V-Track for recording track 6, go ahead and record the first take of the lead guitar there. For the next take, let's use recording track 6-2. Press the SELECT button above track 6 and use the and parameter buttons to get to TR6 V.Track = 1. Use the jogwheel to change it to TR6 V.Track = 2. Now record the second take. To record the third take, change to use recording track 6-3 and then record it.

In the chapter on editing and mixing, we'll see how to create composite, or "comp," tracks using multiple takes that are stored on different V-Tracks.