Micro BR - adding effects after recording

I have used the "REC DRY" feature to record vocals dry so that I could tinker with the effects to get the right effect sound to apply to this "dry" track. Now that I have found the right effect, I can't seem to get this effect to "print" to this dry vocal track. I can set the "LOCATION" of the effect to the particular track that my vocal track is recorded on to hear how it sounds with the effect, but, like I said, I can't get it to "print" to the track so that I can move forward and use other effects on other tracks. I've tried to bounce the track while the effect is being applied to the source track, but it doesn't seem to print to the track.

Can anyone tell me how I can "print" this effect onto a dry track?

I'm having the exact same issue, on playback the tracks have the effect on but when bounced/mastered the effect is no longer on the track I've sent it to

I had the same issue when I first bought my micro-br. The manual is misleading, I believe, because it gives the impression that you can add the effects to a track after recording "dry".

I realized, when I borrowed a BR1600 and the wording was exactly the same, that those paragraphs were apparently copy and pasted from the BR1600 manual. The functionality we desired is not, apparently, actually in the micro-br (either by bug or by design).

Rereading the micro-br manual in a lawyerly fashion the operative words seem to be "try out" effects. When you record "dry" and add the effects to "try" them out, you are only getting them during playback (see the illustration in the "INPUT " section on page 65 of the manual (at least the USA manual).

That picture (actually all of them except "INPUT ") is what is happening. And since the "INPUT " picture is the only one that shows the insert effect actually getting recorded and the source is coming from the input (as represented by the guitar) it appears that there is no track-to-track recording of the insert effects.


My conclusion became that if you want to try out the effects before selecting one, don't do it with the performance you want to keep. Record a throw-away performance as DRY and try out the effects, then select the effect you desire, switch to INPUT and record the actual performance.

My $0.02

Eric (the other one)

To apply effects to a track after recording it, you have to route the track through the insert effects and re-record it. You do that by setting the Effects Insert Mode to the desired track, selecting the desired effect, then bouncing the track to another v-track.

For example, let's say you want to record your guitar dry to Tr1v1. To do this, simply switch off the COSM Effects. Or, you could set the Effects Insert Mode to "INPUT". The only difference is that with REC DRY you can monitor your playing with an effect while recording it without the effect. If you don't need to monitor with an effect while recording your guitar, then switching off the COSM Effects is easier. Either way, you record your guitar dry (no effects).

Now change the Effects Insert Mode to "TRACK 1". This routes the output of mixer track 1 through the insert effects. Choose the desired effect and press Play to hear it. If you're happy with the sound, select Bounce Mode with the destination Tr1v2, set the counter to 00:00:00-00.0, turn off the rhythm track, and drop all of the track levels to zero except for track 1 (so that the bounce will only include track 1 and not the rest of the tracks). Now arm track 1 and begin recording. The BR will play Tr1v1 through the insert effects and record the result on Tr1v2. When you're finished, don't forget to set the Effects Insert Mode back to "INPUT".

That is how it's done on all BRs, including the Micro BR, BR-900CD, and the BR-1600.

64Guitars, THANK YOU!!!! That little tid-bit about re-recording it with the track volumes at zero in bounce mode could have saved me about 2 hours of pulling my hair out last year.

I've just re-scoured the micro-br manual again to find that information and to be quite honest, I think most newbies would not be able to figure that out on their own. I know I didn't

I think Roland should add a note to the INPUT section that says something like: To add the effect you desire you must bounce the track with the level set to zero for the other tracks. (or something to that effect). At least we'd have a starting point.

I've borrowed the BR-1600 again (more bad singing to be posted soon and I see it has a track mute button for bouncing selected tracks.

Eric (the other one)

I think people get confused about the "INPUT(REC DRY)" insert mode for two reasons.

1) They think it's necessary in order to record the guitar without effects. It's not. You can record without effects by simply switching the insert effects off. The reason for "INPUT(REC DRY)" mode is to record while using an effect, but not have the effect recorded. You hear the effect while you're playing, but only the dry guitar signal is recorded (the same signal that would be recorded in "INPUT(NORMAL)" mode if you switched off the effects).

2) They think that "INPUT(REC DRY)" mode is used for adding effects to a track after it's recorded. It's not. To add effects to a track, you need to set the insert mode to "TRACK x" -- not "INPUT(REC DRY)". Then you need to bounce it to another v-track.


Insert effects get their name from the fact that they can be inserted at one of several different positions in the signal path. These positions are:

1) INPUT. This inserts the effects between the input (your guitar or microphone, for example) and the tracks. There are two variations of this. "INPUT(Normal)" records the effects to the track. "INPUT(REC DRY)" splits the signal, applying the effects to one signal and sending it to the output (headphone jack), while sending the other signal to the track without any effects.

2) TRACK. This inserts the effects between a single track or track pair and the mixer. You hear the effect in the mix, but you haven't yet recorded it anywhere. To record it, you need to bounce the mix to another track. If you only want to use this technique on one track, then it's easiest to simply apply the effect to that track while doing your final bounce/mix. Alternatively, you can bounce just the one track by muting all of the other tracks, but that's more work. So, you'd normally only do that if you have more than one dry track that you want to apply effects to.

Although you'd normally use TRACK insert mode on a dry track, there may be times when it's useful to apply effects to a wet track. For example, the FX effect of the Micro BR (or MOD in the other BRs) allows you to choose only one of several effects. If you want to combine several FX effects, the only way to do it is to first record one effect in "INPUT(NORMAL)" mode, then switch to TRACK insert mode and apply a second FX effect to the track while bouncing it to another v-track.

3) MASTER. This inserts the effects between the mixer and the output. So, they will be applied to the entire mix (all tracks plus the rhythm track and the input).

4) RHYTHM. This inserts the effects between the drum machine and the mixer. You can achieve some pretty wild and spacey rhythm sounds by applying insert effects to the drums. As with TRACK mode, you'll hear the effect but it will not be recorded. To do that, you must bounce the mix to another track. Again, you can do this in your final bounce/mix, or you can bounce just the effected drums to a track pair by muting all of the audio tracks so that only the drums are bounced.

Notice that in all modes except INPUT, the effects come after the tracks. That's why they are not recorded unless you bounce them. Bounce mode routes the output of the mixer back to the specified v-track or v-track pair, allowing you to record what you hear. In INPUT record mode, you hear all of the tracks and the drums from the mixer output, but you only record the input.


All of the BRs have a MUTE button except for the Micro BR and the BR-532. In the MBR and 532, you can drop the track levels to minimum instead, or switch the track to an empty v-track.

- 64Guitars
http://www.geocities.com/sixtyfourguitars/BossBr/

64Guitars, thanks again for the great information. I visited your BossBR website and it is fantastic, too!

Eric (the other one)