I couldn't agree with you more. It's one of the reasons I never got into computer recording, I stuck with my multitracks. I would just look at the DAW software or whatever you want to call it, and be overwhelmed by it. There's too many choices, too many rabbit holes to go down. I just want to play my guitar and keyboard, and be better at THAT, and not spend hour after hour figuring out mixes, compression, EQ ... all of this stuff that would drive me up the wall anyway. I want to focus on playing my instruments and not much else. That seems to be what you were saying, and that AI will actually help with that. Good video ... enjoyed it.
i disagree i have the boss br 600 i bought it for 20£ i use it in my daw plug into pc sound interface record unlimited tracks in my daw thru the br600 just use the boss for effects extras kind of like a pedal daw is the best for record my daw is an unlimited multi tracker with every thing you could ask for great for making an album any daw is so simple to use learning the boss br family takes lot of time and manual is like a fat book
Happy New Year Rob! Thank you for your interesting videos. I purchased a BR-80, largely based on your recording experiences. I am just learning the processes and look forward to good results. As the unit I bought was used I will be upgrading from version 1.02 to 1.06, we’ll see how that goes. OK, good luck selling you original songs and keep up the good work.
Yes I get what you mean about the little portable thing. I have a Generation 1 Micro BR (not the BR80) and I can't get rid of it. It's quite different from my BR-800 and nowhere near as good overall, but it does a couple of things that the BR-800 doesn't do so well. I am going to do a very similar video on the Micro BR vs the BR-800. Well done Rob. Love your videos.
Would enjoy the comparison video. There is a guy with a very detailed Boss Micro BR vs Boss Micro BR-80 comparison. One thing he like about the original is it could reamp guitar tracks - you know - record and hear guitar effect but the recorded track is dry and can be reamped. BR-80 cannot do that.
@@Fezzler61 Hi Fez. Are you sure the BR-80 can't do it? The BR-800 can, using Location. Location exists in the 1st Gen Micro BR and the BR-800. That video is by RetroGuy. I'll watch is again. I started to put together the comparison but got side-tracked.
@@AndyInTheUK I could be recalling incorrectly, but I thought he said the original (Micro BR) can reamp and the newer (Micro BR-80) cannot. I think he also said once you learn to navigate the Micro BR menu, it can be faster than the Micro BR-80 graphical interface. FWIW.
@@Fezzler61 - You are correct. Boss removed the ability of the BR80 to be able to apply an insert effect to a recorded track unfortunately. There is no "Location" setting on the BR80, and it can only be applied to the guitar/mic input.
@@masteringtoolkit Thanks for clarifying that. I use that Location thing all the time when making TH-cam videos. It allows me to mess about with settings on A-B loops until I get things sounding right, but outside of that I pretty much never use it.
I can’t say I have followed AI but am aware of it. I think your channel and Yourself are Fantastic. I do use an iPad and I do have a Mac but don’t really record, I just fiddle around. My goal for 2024 is to learn to play my favorite songs and actually remember them. I do have my Boss Micro BR 4 T rk that is mint just sitting in my desk. Thank you for your Music,videos and honesty. Have a great day, and yes that would make a good thumbnail!!🤓
I love a multitracker with MIDI on.I find old machines fantastic, especially if looked after well and transformed to some better storage than hard disk.I bought a Zoom MRS1608 very recently and I love it. All the best to you.I do have an old Mac with Logic but I don't like screens that much. I bought a BR80 because of you !
Thanks for this useful post. I recently started writing songs with my guitar which I then try to elaborate with drums/keys/bass on computer. I find that most of the initial “hard” work is getting the chords and song structure right as well as the vocals. Once that is more or less established, the additional stuff (bass/keys/drums) still takes a lot of time, but the foundation doesn’t really change. For mixing I just use some “AI-like” software. As you, I don’t see myself as a producer. But I find using a computer for the initial sketching/writing is just too tedious and I feel more drawn to a simple recording device like the BR-80 but also the Zoom stuff like the new Zoom R4. Any thoughts on Zoom? BTW: subbed.
Just subscribed. I really like your videos. Trying to figure out your dialect - which part of the country are you from? I love it, but I have to listen twice and look up the slang. It's awesome. I bought a used BR-80 recently and I'm looking forwarded to getting into it deeply. Thinking about getting one for my adult son, who plays guitar and bass. Keep up the good work and I'll keep watching. And your thoughts on AI are interesting. I too feel intimidated by the DAW and while i think you can produce a much more polished and complex product with a DAW, you can more easily get ideas down and produce quick songs with the BR-80. And if having to go through all the nonsense to use a DAW stops you from creating and getting your ideas down, then it's actually counterproductive.
Yes, they've chopped the head off this video too. Everything was going well on the second day, with great comments, likes, and watch time, but then the video flatlined (shadow banning). It looks like Google/Tube is rattled in the American election year of 2024, and Elon Musk is not making it easy for them. “Thumbs ups” are disabled for me, so I'm not allowed to like people's comments. That may be a glitch, but I doubt it! Who am I? Why would they bother with little old me? Well, little old us are many. They have the technology now in AI to latch onto every single person, so in effect, you have your own little AI Google/Tube bot program controlling your own views, subs, etc. It's easy technology to administer now, very sneaky. If I'm not liking comments or commenting, it may be just “glitches”, right? Anyway, I'm on the road a lot this year and have scheduled videos. I think the enemy is going to pull out all of the stops this year. Good luck.
Great post! I like the older used multi-tracker gear too (And drum machines). Very available, well priced used, and still very capable. I have looked into the AI sites that can do an amazing job of taking a song and extracting the stems of each instrument and vocals. Scary amazing. I have had AI (Chat thing) write a song for me. Scary amazing. I have not seen or used AI mixing yet. Would love to see a video on that and which sites you like. Setting aside intellectual property rights, even with AI it will come down to the song. Is the end result delivering an entertaining or meaningful product or message that connects to people? (Think about painting followed by the invention of printing.) If that is achieved, most people will not care. But there also may be people who seek organic producers and musicians. There is room for both. AI may be a big boon for people who can sing but can't play instruments. Heck, AI singers are available now. All very confusing. Will there be a glut of very good music out there? There is now. Great stuff to consider. ALERT: Prices on used Zoom R8s are dropping. GREAT unit!
If you want to record vocals and guitar simultaneously on the BR-80, you use the stereo line in (not the guitar/mic) and separate preamps for your vocal and guitar. Use a "Y" cord or adapter to put one source on the left and the other on the right. I've done this using an ART Tube PAC for vocals and a guitar preamp. Another way to do it is to use a small mixer and pan 2 mixer channels full left and right. Then send the mixer output to the BR-80 line in. Arm a stereo track on the BR-80 and record. You now have vocals and guitar on separate tracks recorded simultaneously. There's ways to work around the limitations of the BR-80. You can even sync a DAW to it with one additional piece of equipment. I'll tell you how if you're interested.
Yes done all that but wasnt happy with the vocal quality, maybe it was the mixer I was using wasnt good enough because I cant fault the br80 line in. But at the end of the day its an easier and cheaper way around the problem to just buy a br800. Great shout though, and it shows the endless possibilities of the br80.
@@robredheadmusician My little mixer is a Mackie 1202. I've had it since like 1994. Preamps and EQ are quality. You can even bypass the entire mix bus and just use the raw direct mic preamp signal for super clean audio. Most bedroom musicians have a little mixer. I'm just mentioning it to say to everyone use all your gear to the fullest extent before buying anything. Usually you'll find a solution to whatever you're trying to do. Oh, and please do read the manuals. It saves so much time and frustration. That's energy you could be using to make music.
@@ezeriamoore Thanks for trying. I have synced tape machines to MIDI before.The problem I see with the BR80 is that it only has the stereo output, correct? The only way I can imagine doing this is by panning all the mix on one side, thus a mono mix, and having the sync signal track panned to the other side for slaving the DAW. Am I off in theory or your approach?
Whilst i agree partly on AI, look up toon traks ez drummer 3 band mate mode, nothing is going to eq a single wav file correctly, as you can't eq the individual instruments, as a live sound engineer for 30+ years the eq of indivisdual instruments is what creates space within the mix you can't teach that, it's something to learn over the years
I couldn't agree with you more. It's one of the reasons I never got into computer recording, I stuck with my multitracks. I would just look at the DAW software or whatever you want to call it, and be overwhelmed by it. There's too many choices, too many rabbit holes to go down. I just want to play my guitar and keyboard, and be better at THAT, and not spend hour after hour figuring out mixes, compression, EQ ... all of this stuff that would drive me up the wall anyway. I want to focus on playing my instruments and not much else. That seems to be what you were saying, and that AI will actually help with that. Good video ... enjoyed it.
i disagree i have the boss br 600 i bought it for 20£ i use it in my daw plug into pc sound interface record unlimited tracks in my daw thru the br600 just use the boss for effects extras kind of like a pedal daw is the best for record my daw is an unlimited multi tracker with every thing you could ask for great for making an album any daw is so simple to use learning the boss br family takes lot of time and manual is like a fat book
I have an old Boss BR 532 (it was bought in 2001). Working fine without a single problem. I recorded a lot of demos, songs and ideas in it.
Happy New Year Rob!
Thank you for your interesting videos. I purchased a BR-80, largely based on your recording experiences. I am just learning the processes and look forward to good results.
As the unit I bought was used I will be upgrading from version 1.02 to 1.06, we’ll see how that goes. OK, good luck selling you original songs and keep up the good work.
Cheers Henry
Yes I get what you mean about the little portable thing. I have a Generation 1 Micro BR (not the BR80) and I can't get rid of it. It's quite different from my BR-800 and nowhere near as good overall, but it does a couple of things that the BR-800 doesn't do so well. I am going to do a very similar video on the Micro BR vs the BR-800. Well done Rob. Love your videos.
Would enjoy the comparison video. There is a guy with a very detailed Boss Micro BR vs Boss Micro BR-80 comparison. One thing he like about the original is it could reamp guitar tracks - you know - record and hear guitar effect but the recorded track is dry and can be reamped. BR-80 cannot do that.
@@Fezzler61 Hi Fez. Are you sure the BR-80 can't do it? The BR-800 can, using Location. Location exists in the 1st Gen Micro BR and the BR-800. That video is by RetroGuy. I'll watch is again. I started to put together the comparison but got side-tracked.
@@AndyInTheUK I could be recalling incorrectly, but I thought he said the original (Micro BR) can reamp and the newer (Micro BR-80) cannot. I think he also said once you learn to navigate the Micro BR menu, it can be faster than the Micro BR-80 graphical interface. FWIW.
@@Fezzler61 - You are correct. Boss removed the ability of the BR80 to be able to apply an insert effect to a recorded track unfortunately.
There is no "Location" setting on the BR80, and it can only be applied to the guitar/mic input.
@@masteringtoolkit Thanks for clarifying that. I use that Location thing all the time when making TH-cam videos. It allows me to mess about with settings on A-B loops until I get things sounding right, but outside of that I pretty much never use it.
Well done Rob, looking forward to this year. All the best.
I can’t say I have followed AI but am aware of it. I think your channel and Yourself are Fantastic. I do use an iPad and I do have a Mac but don’t really record, I just fiddle around. My goal for 2024 is to learn to play my favorite songs and actually remember them. I do have my Boss Micro BR 4 T rk that is mint just sitting in my
desk. Thank you for your Music,videos and honesty. Have a great day, and yes that would make a good thumbnail!!🤓
I just bought both!😅 Keep the good work going mate!
Good stuff then you've got all you need.
I love a multitracker with MIDI on.I find old machines fantastic, especially if looked after well and transformed to some better storage than hard disk.I bought a Zoom MRS1608 very recently and I love it.
All the best to you.I do have an old Mac with Logic but I don't like screens that much.
I bought a BR80 because of you !
Thats great to hear stratsRUs.. no problem.
Thanks for this useful post. I recently started writing songs with my guitar which I then try to elaborate with drums/keys/bass on computer.
I find that most of the initial “hard” work is getting the chords and song structure right as well as the vocals. Once that is more or less established, the additional stuff (bass/keys/drums) still takes a lot of time, but the foundation doesn’t really change. For mixing I just use some “AI-like” software. As you, I don’t see myself as a producer.
But I find using a computer for the initial sketching/writing is just too tedious and I feel more drawn to a simple recording device like the BR-80 but also the Zoom stuff like the new Zoom R4. Any thoughts on Zoom?
BTW: subbed.
Just subscribed. I really like your videos. Trying to figure out your dialect - which part of the country are you from? I love it, but I have to listen twice and look up the slang. It's awesome. I bought a used BR-80 recently and I'm looking forwarded to getting into it deeply. Thinking about getting one for my adult son, who plays guitar and bass. Keep up the good work and I'll keep watching. And your thoughts on AI are interesting. I too feel intimidated by the DAW and while i think you can produce a much more polished and complex product with a DAW, you can more easily get ideas down and produce quick songs with the BR-80. And if having to go through all the nonsense to use a DAW stops you from creating and getting your ideas down, then it's actually counterproductive.
North East is my guess, closer to Newcastle than hull
Yes, they've chopped the head off this video too. Everything was going well on the second day, with great comments, likes, and watch time, but then the video flatlined (shadow banning). It looks like Google/Tube is rattled in the American election year of 2024, and Elon Musk is not making it easy for them. “Thumbs ups” are disabled for me, so I'm not allowed to like people's comments. That may be a glitch, but I doubt it! Who am I? Why would they bother with little old me? Well, little old us are many. They have the technology now in AI to latch onto every single person, so in effect, you have your own little AI Google/Tube bot program controlling your own views, subs, etc. It's easy technology to administer now, very sneaky. If I'm not liking comments or commenting, it may be just “glitches”, right? Anyway, I'm on the road a lot this year and have scheduled videos. I think the enemy is going to pull out all of the stops this year. Good luck.
Great post! I like the older used multi-tracker gear too (And drum machines). Very available, well priced used, and still very capable. I have looked into the AI sites that can do an amazing job of taking a song and extracting the stems of each instrument and vocals. Scary amazing. I have had AI (Chat thing) write a song for me. Scary amazing. I have not seen or used AI mixing yet. Would love to see a video on that and which sites you like. Setting aside intellectual property rights, even with AI it will come down to the song. Is the end result delivering an entertaining or meaningful product or message that connects to people? (Think about painting followed by the invention of printing.) If that is achieved, most people will not care. But there also may be people who seek organic producers and musicians. There is room for both. AI may be a big boon for people who can sing but can't play instruments. Heck, AI singers are available now. All very confusing. Will there be a glut of very good music out there? There is now. Great stuff to consider. ALERT: Prices on used Zoom R8s are dropping. GREAT unit!
If you want to record vocals and guitar simultaneously on the BR-80, you use the stereo line in (not the guitar/mic) and separate preamps for your vocal and guitar. Use a "Y" cord or adapter to put one source on the left and the other on the right. I've done this using an ART Tube PAC for vocals and a guitar preamp. Another way to do it is to use a small mixer and pan 2 mixer channels full left and right. Then send the mixer output to the BR-80 line in. Arm a stereo track on the BR-80 and record. You now have vocals and guitar on separate tracks recorded simultaneously.
There's ways to work around the limitations of the BR-80. You can even sync a DAW to it with one additional piece of equipment. I'll tell you how if you're interested.
Yes done all that but wasnt happy with the vocal quality, maybe it was the mixer I was using wasnt good enough because I cant fault the br80 line in. But at the end of the day its an easier and cheaper way around the problem to just buy a br800. Great shout though, and it shows the endless possibilities of the br80.
@@robredheadmusician My little mixer is a Mackie 1202. I've had it since like 1994. Preamps and EQ are quality. You can even bypass the entire mix bus and just use the raw direct mic preamp signal for super clean audio. Most bedroom musicians have a little mixer. I'm just mentioning it to say to everyone use all your gear to the fullest extent before buying anything. Usually you'll find a solution to whatever you're trying to do. Oh, and please do read the manuals. It saves so much time and frustration. That's energy you could be using to make music.
Sync to DAW? Please, I'm interested.
@@paxsincera836 Tried to reply with instructions but my post was blocked. Research LTC to MIDI sync.
@@ezeriamoore Thanks for trying. I have synced tape machines to MIDI before.The problem I see with the BR80 is that it only has the stereo output, correct? The only way I can imagine doing this is by panning all the mix on one side, thus a mono mix, and having the sync signal track panned to the other side for slaving the DAW. Am I off in theory or your approach?
Whilst i agree partly on AI, look up toon traks ez drummer 3 band mate mode, nothing is going to eq a single wav file correctly, as you can't eq the individual instruments, as a live sound engineer for 30+ years the eq of indivisdual instruments is what creates space within the mix you can't teach that, it's something to learn over the years
Do you know any AI for mastering? Thx 😊
I wonder if the BR-80 has a newer audio chip?
Br80 is better than br800, the issue with br80 is not durable , the ratating tracker is always getting error