Last Minute Tips for Getting the Best out of Your VS Workstation

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No matter which VS workstation you have, there are things you can do to keep your machine running in tip-top condition. By adhering to the following tips, you should be able to get the most out of your VS workstation and enjoy its performance for many years to come.

Use Undo Often

Your VS workstation records to a hard drive just like you find on a regular computer. The more you understand how a computer hard drive works, the more you will be able to understand how to maintain your VS hard drive.

When you overdub or punch in repeatedly, the older data remains on the drive. This is how your VS workstation is able to have 999 levels of undo. In most cases, this extra data is not needed and is only taking up valuable recording space on your hard drive.

If you are pretty sure you will not need the current take, use the UNDO button to delete it, instead of recording over it, before proceeding to the next take. This is a good habit to develop and will help keep your hard drive running smoothly.

Optimize at the End

Another way to rid your hard drive of all those unwanted takes is by using the Song Optimize function. This function deletes all the Undo levels stored in the song's memory. When you are finished with your song, and you are sure that you will not need to recall any previous takes (not V-Tracks), use Song Optimize and then save your song to the hard drive. Song Optimize also frees up additional space that can be used for recording other songs.

Save Your Work

If you have worked on any computer before, you probably realize the frustration of losing your work due to a power failure or freeze-up. If you are working on a song and the power source is interrupted , everything you have done after your last save will be lost. If you haven't saved your song at all, then the entire song will be lost. There is no magic button on the VS that will recover this data.

The only way to prevent such a nightmare from happening is by saving your work often. There is a shortcut for saving your work quickly, so remember it and perform it often. Hold SHIFT and press (STORE). Then press YES.

Pressing the Transport Control Buttons

Most lock-ups and failures are caused by incorrectly pressing the transport buttons. On most VS workstations, you have ZERO, REWIND, FAST FORWARD, STOP, PLAY, and RECORD buttons. The button that gets overlooked the most is STOP.

If you are in Play mode, try to make it a habit to use STOP before pressing the other transport buttons. This gives your VS a chance to stop what it is doing and prepare for the next command. Pressing too many transport buttons at a time or pressing them too fast can cause your VS workstation to lock up or freeze. Many times, the only way to unlock the VS is by turning off the power. Unfortunately, you will lose any unsaved data by doing so.

Sometimes, if you press the transport buttons too fast, you may notice the VS will get caught in Play mode and won't stop playing no matter what buttons you push. If this happens to you, press the STOP button one time and let the VS play as long as it can until it stops on its own. If it gets to the end of the song and keeps playing even after you pressed STOP, you may have to restart the machine and lose your data.

There are some transport functions you can use without pressing STOP. For example, while the VS is in Play mode, you can press any marker or locator to move around. You can also press the REW and FF buttons while in Play mode, but don't press them too many times in rapid succession. If you need to move around faster, press STOP and then press the appropriate transport buttons as fast as you like.

Drive Busy

The dreaded "drive busy" message occurs when your hard drive is too busy to perform what you just asked of it. This is the hard drive's way of telling you that it has not yet finished performing the last function and it cannot proceed with the new function until it's done.

The best way to avoid the drive busy message is by following the advice under "Pressing the Transport Control Buttons."

Some other common causes of drive busy messages are:

  • An overly fragmented hard drive

  • A hard drive that does not have enough space left to smoothly perform the operation

An overly fragmented hard drive can be fixed by performing a drive initialization, as described in the section "Defragging," later in this appendix.

You can recover hard drive space by performing Song Optimize on songs where the Undo history is no longer needed. If you have an external CD-RW burner , you can back up your songs to CD-R and then initialize the hard drive.

Initializing the Hard Drive

Initializing the hard drive will erase all songs currently on the hard drive on all partitions. Always back up any songs you want to keep before performing this function.


Once the drive initialization is complete, load the song you were working on back into your VS. Now you should be able to continue working on the song without drive busy messages.

Shutting Down

When you shut down your PC, you have to press START Turn Off Computer Turn Off. Since your VS workstation also uses a computer hard drive, there is a specific procedure for shutting it down, too. Always perform this procedure when you are ready to turn off your VS workstation. This will also help in preventing the hard drive from becoming overly fragmented.

Hold SHIFT and press STOP (Shut/Eject). Then press YES. It will ask you if you want to save the current song. Press YES if you need to save it or press NO if you don't.

Leaving the VS Workstation Turned On

This topic has been debated in the computer world for years. Some computer users leave their computers turned on at all times. Some turn their computers off when they are done using them. Which answer is right for your VS workstation?

The right answer is there is no right answer. This will be a personal choice of yours, depending on which philosophy you subscribe to. I personally turn my VS off when I am done using it for that day, but I have read about others who never turn it off and have never had any problems.

Defragging

Fragmented files are files that have holes or spaces between them. A computer hard drive will become fragmented from the inevitable process of adding and deleting data. In a Windows operating system, you can go to your System Tools and defrag your hard drive, but how can you defrag your VS workstation?

Your VS workstation does not have a defragging option, so you will need to use other methods . There are several ways to maintain an unfragmented and healthy hard drive.

The best method is by using the UNDO button frequently and optimizing your songs when completed. After years of use, it is still possible that your hard drive can become fragmented. In that case, the best method for defragging your hard drive is backing up all your songs and then initializing the hard drive with physical format turned on. When you initialize the hard drive, all audio files are deleted with the low-level format. The recovery process puts all the files together and removes any spaces or gaps that are between them. The files are now contiguous files (files with no spaces between them). Contiguous files are easier to manage, and they allow your hard drive to operate smoother.

If you don't have an optional CD-RW burner connected to your VS workstation, here is another way to defrag the space on your hard drive:

  • Use Song Copy Playable to copy all the songs from your current partition to an empty partition.

  • Delete all the songs from the original partition. The original partition is now defragged. You can start a new song or copy another song to that partition to work on.

The reason this works is because all the files have been deleted off the current partition. Since there are no files left on the partition, there are no files, holes, or spaces to "jump over" to access data. Thus, you will be working with only contiguous files.

Muting Inputs

Always mute any inputs you are not using while recording tracks. This will prevent unnecessary noise from being accidentally recorded to your song.

Tilting a VS Workstation

Is it okay to tilt your VS workstation? This question gets asked a lot. The answer is yes. There are stands you can sit the VS on that allow it to sit at an angle. This provides for easier viewing of the LCD, buttons, and controls.

Using the Monitor Knob as a Pan Knob

Some VS workstations have dedicated Pan knobs . Others, such as the VS-1680, do not. You can use the Monitor knob as a Pan knob for any track or channel you want by doing the following:

  1. Press the CHANNEL EDIT button for the track or channel you want to adjust pan settings for.

  2. While holding the CHANNEL EDIT button, turn the Monitor knob and you will see the pan display move on the screen. You will also hear the pan move in your speakers .

Be Careful

If you use this method to adjust the pan to the far right, remember to return the Monitor knob back to your original position when done or you can end up with your monitor volume being turned up too loud, which can cause possible damage to your monitors .

This will only be a concern if your monitors are physically connected to the monitor out jacks and not the master out jacks. I connect my monitors to my master out jacks to avoid this problem.


Releasing Insert Effects

So many times, new VS workstation users wonder why they are not able to select a loop effect after using an insert effect. The reason is because the insert effect is tying up the effects card so that it can't be used for other effects.

The best tip I can give you for using insert effects is to un-insert them after you are done using them. This will always ensure that your effects cards are ready to be used for any effect you want.

Keeping the Dust Out

Dust is a major enemy to the VS workstation. It can creep inside your VS and cause unwanted static noise when you move your faders . Once the dust gets inside your VS, it's very hard to get it out, short of opening the VS and using a light vacuum or duster. This would be a very last resort, and I don't recommend it ”you could potentially damage something inside your machine and even void your warranty, depending on what damage you cause.

The best way to keep dust out of your VS workstation is by covering it up when not in use. They have specially made VS dust covers that you can purchase, or you can use any piece of cloth that is big enough to cover it. I have been using a bathroom towel to cover mine for several years. It works great.

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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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