MULTITRACKING using the AUDIO RECORDER
Why use the AUDIO RECORDER for MULTITRACKING when you can multitrack with the MIDI RECORDER? You may well ask! If I was just going to multitrack something on my Tyros 4 .. yes .. I could record my piece using the Midi Recorder and then add more tracks to it.
But what if ...
I already have an audio recording and want to add something into it? Or, I want to collaborate with another musician and between us come up with some multitracking? No point sending him a MID file to play on his keyboard as a MIDIFILE will only come up with the right sounds if it is played back on the keyboard it was created in. An AUDIO FILE (MP3 or WAV file) on the other hand reproduces the 'true sound' of the original recording. Although, agreed, you can't do much with it .. unless you have a Yamaha keyboard!
In this topic I want to take another look at something I have done before .. creating a BASS PART for Michael Row The Boat Ashore. Previously, I had done this with a MULTIPAD. This time the BASS will be MULTITRACKED using the AUDIO RECORDER. I shall be sending Ron a WAV file and asking him to put in a BASS PART. A WAV file because Ron has a Tyros 3, and I have a Tyros 4, neither of which will handle MP3s (although both keyboards will play them).
As we are going to be creating a BASS LINE, I have to record the song with no bass part. I have put this up as a WAV file on audio.com, and you can listen to it and download it from here (Ron .. or anyone who wants to have a go at doing this).
I have called my track Hugh's Band NO BASS.wav. When you click the DOWNLOAD ARROW, if you are given the option, choose to download as a WAV file (22.3MB). If there is no option, it will automatically download it as a WAV file as that is what I put up.
Put this file onto a Memory Stick and put the Memory Stick into your keyboard.
You now need to find the file (which is on your Memory Stick) and highlight it.
Press the SELECT button in the AUDIO RECORDER/PLAYER. Pressing that button three times gives you three options (MODE) .. MULTI, SIMPLE and PLAYLIST. The one you want is SIMPLE.
The file is on USB1, so make sure that 'tab' is showing.
Click on the file to highlight it, and click COPY.
Click OK to confirm the Copy.
Move the 'tab' across from USB1 to HD1. PASTE it to HD1.
Now find the file on HD1 and highlight it.
In the AUDIO RECORDER/PLAYER press the PLAY to listen to it.
To 'play a BASS line' while you are listening to the 'Track with no Bass', you have to set your keyboard up with a BASS Voice in RIGHT 1 (R1).
The quickest way to do this is to turn your keyboard OFF .. and then turn it back ON again.
The 'default' is for your whole keyboard to be set up as PIANO ... ie. piano from top note to bottom note.
A few things to notice.
1. Only R1 (RIGHT 1) is set up.
2. The VOICE chosen is PIANO.
3. The ACMP (Accompaniment) button is OFF (ie. it is not lit up).
We don't need the ACMP button on as we are not setting up the keyboard to play something using a Style. We will be listening to a WAV file and adding another PART by MULTITRACKING it.
This setup ensures that R1 plays your chosen VOICE from top to bottom of the keyboard.
Don't turn the ACMP button on as that will introduce a SPLIT POINT and your VOICE will no longer play from top note to bottom note.
But we don't want a PIANO!
So change the VOICE CATEGORY from PIANO to BASS.
Press the BASS category in VOICE and choose a BASS VOICE.
I have chosen LowBass (tossed between that and AcousticBass).
I will be playing the bass notes with my right hand and not my left. Try playing a few bass notes so you can hear where best to play them.
Check the VOLUME LEVEL of your BASS. When you turned your keyboard OFF and then ON again the 'default' was to set all the VOLUMES across the board to 100.
By pressing the BALANCE button you can change the VOLUME of RIGHT 1.
I did want to hear the bass player, so reckoned 100 was about right.
Also, when you turned your keyboard OFF and then ON again, your WAV file with NO BASS will no longer be set up to PLAY it .. so you'll have to find it again. Follow the instructions above to find the WAV file using the AUDIO RECORDER/PLAYER.
Now you have your keyboard set up to both listen to the WAV track (press the PLAY in the AUDIO RECORDER/PLAYER) and play a bass line along with it .. give it a go!
It really is quite fun to 'play along with a band' (as those that have played in a band will tell you), and to gel with the band 'playing a part by ear' is something else again. If I was a BASS player I would probably play something like this ...
Maybe got too carried away
In my next post I'll explain how to go about multitracking this bass part and adding it to the WAV file.