Virtual Tracks

Each recording track on a VS workstation has a set of 16 virtual tracks, or V-Tracks, associated with it. On some VS workstations, the V-Tracks are separated into two banks, with only one bank available at any particular time. To better explain how V-Tracks are used, I like to use the analogy of a tip-proof filing cabinet. Figure 2.7 shows all the V-Tracks (drawers) for a given recording track (file cabinet). Since these filing cabinets are tip proof, you can only have one drawer open at a time. When one drawer is open, the others will not open.

Figure 2.7. Sixteen V-Tracks per recording track

Likewise, when we are working with a recording track, we can access only one of its V-Tracks at a time. If we want to access a different V-Track, we must stop working with the current V-Track (close the drawer) in order to work with a different V-Track (open a different drawer). You cannot switch V-Tracks on the fly while the VS is playing or recording.

When you create a new song, each recording track defaults to using V-Track 1. The combination of recording track and V-Track is usually expressed as 1-1 or 1.1, where the recording track is always first and the V-Track is always second. So, track 5-2 refers to V-Track 2 on recording track 5.

I've heard people say, "I never use V-Tracks." That is a false statement. Look at our filing cabinet in Figure 2.7. 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 of V-Track 1.

Another misconception people have is thinking that they need to erase a track so that they can record something else on that track. For example, I've heard people state, "I recorded on tracks one through six, bounced them to tracks seven and eight, then erased tracks one through six so that I could record more instruments." By simply selecting a different V-Track for tracks 1 through 6, you can record additional material without deleting the six original tracks.

V-Tracks are useful for recording multiple takes of an instrument or vocal. For example, you could use four V-Tracks to record four takes of the lead vocal. You could then piece together the best parts of these takes into a single track, which would reside on yet another V-Track. All the original takes still remain on their V-Tracks, so you could always go back and use them again.

It's important to understand that you can record anything on any V-Track. You can have a vocal track on 1-1, a guitar track on 1-2, and a bass track on 1-3. The key concept with V-Tracks is that only one V-Track per recording track can be active during recording and/or playback.

To manage V-Tracks, you can use the Track Exchange function. Track Exchange allows you to swap any two V-Tracks. Let's go back to the example of recording four takes of the lead vocal track. We've recorded all four of these to different V-Tracks on recording track 1, resulting in vocal tracks on 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4. Because all four of these V-Tracks are on the same recording track, we cannot play back all four at the same time. This is where we use the Track Exchange function. We can swap three of these V-Tracks on recording track 1 with any other V-Tracks. So, in this example, we could swap 1-2 with 2-8, 1-3 with 3-8, and 1-4 with 4-8. Now, our four takes of the lead vocal exist on 1-1, 2-8, 3-8, and 4-8. We can now play back all four versions at the same time.

Whether you use Track Exchange or not, it is a good idea to use a track sheet to document what material exists across the matrix of recording tracks and V-Tracks.