I'm considering getting a boss micro and wondered how well they work at recording an electro acoustic. Its only for me to record and listen back to my progress but im not sure if it is aimed more at electric recording.
it will depend a lot on the quality of the pickups in the elec/acoustic. if you plug the guitar into an amp and it sounds a bit electric-y then thats how your recording will sound (using the 1/4inch jack input) because the micro br has a great recording sound, will be exactly as it sounds live. however if the guitar sounds dodgey through an amp you can use the onboard mic on the micro br to record the room your in, and just play the guitar unplugged and it will pick up the sound...
micro br is a great little recorder, i love it. one thing to remember is that you have to buy the AC adaptor seperate which here in oz costs $50 :S
I have a question about the Boss Micro, too. I just bought one online. The machine obviously has it's limitations, and I decided on it with the idea of using it as a quick sketchpad. After I download tracks to my computer, is it easy (or possible) to manipulate and mix the tracks using free software such as audacity?
Dan
it is. however you have to convert to mp3 or WAV file on the br first....
this is a forum (the best one i know of) for the micro br. it doesnt really have many limitations...you can make near studio qualtiy cds on it if you have the know-how
That's a really good forum link. I was struggling with how to convert from the BR format to MP3 or WAV, but now it's all become blindingly simple.
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
Thanks for the replies, guys. I read the manual over the weekend and checked out the link Cole posted, and the 'limitations' I mentioned in my first post are not nearly what I imagined.
Cole, have you posted any songs that were recorded and mastered using only the Micro? I'd like to hear some of the possibilities with it.
Dan
check back in a week or two. i dont really know how to use the thing yet either :P so many things to do!! its confusing!
but im gonna try and make a few recordings this week
Looking forward to it, Cole. I got to use the Micro for the first time last night, and while it's pretty impressive, I'm not happy with the guitar presets. I didn't get a chance to tweak them, but if I can't get a usable sound, I'll have to mic (using either the internal mic or I'll buy an external) my amp. Does anyone else find the tones on this machine cheesy?
Dan
yeah they are :S but theres quite a lot of scope for modifying them.
i am feeling SO dumb right now :( i set everything up last night and tried for hours to record...i got...a fair way. guitar track down. vocals first verse on track 3v1 vocals chorus track 4v1...then i tried to combine those two tracks onto track 3v2....on ZIP! nothing...couldnt do it :S the intruction manual shows 'destination-record' but as far as i could tell i could only select one or the other...and when it bounce recorded it recorded T3v1 to T3v2 leaving me exactly where i was in teh first place :S i want to bounce tracks 3 and 4 together to let me record something else on track 4 ..... aaargh!!! spent hours last night failing to 'get it' so annoyed.... :(
following the directions on page 50(ish) of the manual about 'bouncing tracks' didnt work...then screen they show...i dont get on my br...and i looked on the forum but it seems noones had this same problem...
Cole, I haven't gotten that far on mine yet. Still struggling through the basic things. But, just to check the simplest things first - the manual has some mistakes and misprints. I don't know if any of these pertain to track bouncing, though. Have you checked the correction sheet?
Also, if I understand your post, you're trying to bounce tracks 3v1 and 4v1 TO track 3v2. As I understand the manual, you can only bouce to tracks 3 and 4 as a stereo pair. If your main goal is to free up track 4, I'd try copying that to track 1 or 2. Again, you're much farther in the process than I am, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but I don't think the machine is capable of what you're trying to do. Hope this makes sense.
Dan
where abouts can i find the correction sheet? (yes the manual has quite a few mistakes!)
i 'think' that tracks 1&2 and tracks 3&4 CAN be stereo but you can turn that off....
i dont even know how to copy track 4 to track 2 :cry:
what i WANT to do is this...
- record the guitar in stereo on tracks 1&2
- record vocals first verse on track 3
- record vocals chorus on track 4
- bounce track 3&4 together to free up track 4...
- now the verse AND chorus are on track 3
- record vocals second verse to track 4
- bounce to track 3 again...
see how that way i can sing the song bit by bit until im happy with it...save that bit with the rest..and move on to next section? as far as i know thats how the br is intended to be used...but i can make it do it! :evil:
Cole, this link will hopefully bring up the corrections for the manual - http://media.rolandus.com/manuals/MICRO-BR_AD.pdf
As for what you're attempting to do, that stuff is WAY over my head! Last night I figured out how to tweak the effects and amp models, and learned a little about the drum patterns. With any luck, I'll have enough confidence to tackle the recording features over the weekend.
Please keep me posted on your progress, though. It would be nice to have someone to go to with questions, ideas and tips on this complicated thing.
Dan
Well I jumped in and bought one about 3 weeks ago ( been on holiday for the last 2 weeks). I don't play alot of elecrtic but think the tones are quite good especially the couple for electro acoustics. I got a little sony external mic off Ebay for about $10 including delivery from Hong Kong and its an improvement on the in built one. I dont know if you guys have checked out http://microrecorders.org/community/index.php its got some tutorials on there and some very clued up users.
Jase, I've never seen that forum. Thanks for the link. I haven't hooked up an external mic to it yet, but I did play my acoustic through the internal mic and I was quite pleased. After reading some poor reviews of the built-in mic, I wasn't expecting much. But I like it a lot.
Dan
Dan
If nothing else an external mic is easier to place. I have to say the more I use the micro the more impressed I am, not just for its recording capabilities and guitar and mic effects but also being able to jam along with the drum patterns and jam with mp3s, its a great practice tool.
