Prerequisite to this tutorial
Before you read this tutorial it will be helpful to have read or have an understanding of:
What is Multitrack Recording?

The Fundamentals
vTake stands for Virtual Take (Sometimes known as Virtual Track). Think of the word 'Take' like it's meaning in Film making - "Scene 0ne. Take one" but we are using "Track one. Take one".

It refers to a wonder of digital recording that allows us to record many times to one Track without erasing what is already recorded, allowing us to choose the one we prefer later. The difference in using a new vTake than a new Track when overdubbing a new part of a song is that only one vTake of a Track can be played back at any one time, where as using a new Track you would be able to play back both the new recording and the old recording simultaneously, but using a vTake will not take up a precious Track.

Practical use of a vTake
To explain further it is useful to go back to our previous analogy of Tracks as Dictaphones and our simple song we recorded in the 'What is MultiTrack Recording' tutorial.

Quick summary:
We were using a theoretical recording device comprising of Multiple Dictaphones for the Tracks controlled by Status Keys and a main unit for the Play, Record, rewind etc features.

• Track one Guitar
• Track two Vocal
• Track three Bass
• Track Four Guitar Solo

The Solo was giving us some trouble but after some overwriting we got it like we wanted it.
But now we listen to all four Tracks and have an idea for a different bass line, but don't want to overwrite our first bass line in case we change our minds again nor do we want to use a new Track as we are going to need these for more instruments later.

Perfect situation for a vTake.
Now we need to get hold of a bunch of extra tapes for our Dictaphones. Ten for each Dictaphone we are using. Each one of these Tapes represents a vTake.

We need to get our Tapes/vTakes into some kind of order before we start mucking around with them.
Lets add a Tape holder to our setup. One rack for each Dictaphone, each rack can hold ten Tapes.
Label the rack's slots 1, 2, 3, 4.... 10. Leave Slot 1 empty on all the racks but fill the others with new, blank tapes.
Ok, lets swap some Tapes around!

To preserve the original bass line but save us using a new Dictaphone/Track we are simply going to:

1. Eject the tape in Dictaphone-three
2. Name it 'Track3-Take1' and put it in 'Rack3-Slot1' of our Tack holder.
3. Take the blank tape from 'Rack3-Slot2' and call it 'Track3-Take 2' and insert it into Dictaphone-three.
4. Set the Status Keys to record on this Track/Dictaphone and record the new bass line.
5. Play back all four Tracks and see how it sounds.

Digitally, it's just as simple. Using the 'Track Parameters' of any Track you can scroll to the vTake options and select a new vTake (This is done different depending on the MultiTrack Recorder in use - Refer to your manual for 'Switching vTakes' - MRS-8 users see vtake guide ). This vTake will now be used when you hit Play or Record and the original Take is safely stored in the Units memory. To recall the original vTake, go back to the same menu and select the original vTake.

In this manner you can see the limitations and possibilities associated with vTakes.

• You can't play back two vTakes on one Track at the same time.
• You can keep using new vTakes until you have a whole bunch of Takes to choose the best from later.

Moving vTakes.
OK, so we just said that we couldn't listen to two vTakes at once. Now we are going to break that rule!

1. Hit eject on Dictaphone-two, name the tape "Track2-Take1" and put it in its slot.
2. Insert the tape named "Track3-Take1" (This is the original bass line) into Dictaphone-two.
3. Move the Blank tape from "Rack2-Slot2" to "Rack3-Slot1".
4. Play back all four Tracks.

We can now hear:

• Track one Guitar
• Track two Original Bass
• Track three New Bass
• Track Four Guitar Solo

But we also have a vocal recording tucked away safely for later.
This is getting complicated! Thank goodness for digital! The main rule for the tape rack system is that there must always be 9 tapes in each rack and one tape in the Dictaphone. Apart from that you can move them around as much as you want.

There are various ways to do this digitally - You need to use the "Track Parameters" and scroll to the same menu as before, but this time select the option for "Move vTake". Specify the destination Track & Take and confirm the command. Very Important - Make sure that the destination does not already contain a recording. Most digital systems will warn you if a Take has a recording on it. In this situation you should scroll until an empty Take is selected. (This is done differently in different MultiTrack Recorders. Refer to the manual under "Moving vTakes". MRS-8 users, see vtake guide)

Editing vTakes
There are a number of other options we have with vTakes. Have a look in your Manual to see what you have, now that we understand the basics they should all be quite logical. The most common are:

• Erase
• Copy
• Move

Erase vTake
Need I say? Wipe the contents of one vTake

Copy vTake
Copy the contents of one vTake to a blank tape, leaving you with two identical recordings.

Move vTake
See above

A note on digital time and memory
In our Fantasy setup we have not mentioned how long our Tapes are. Theoretically we could use any length tape to give us unlimited recording time. But in a digital MultiTrack Recorder we are limited by the amount of memory we have. Different MultiTrack Recorders have different memory sizes. Some use memory cards which come in a variety of sizes.

All your recordings use memory, regardless of where they are - Being listened to, stored for later, etc. If we recorded on 1 Track for 20 minutes, this would use 20 minutes of recording time.

If we were to record on 4 Tracks for 5 minutes, this would also use up 20 minutes of recording time.
Equally, if we were to record 4 vTakes of 5 minutes each on 1 Track , this would also use 20 minutes of recording time.

This is also true for combinations of Track and vTakes. I.E:

• 4 Tracks of 5 minutes, with an additional vTake stored in Track 3 (also of 5 minutes) will result in 25 minutes of recording time used.

Summary

• vTakes are a feature of digital recording that allow us to make new recording on a Track without overwriting its current contents.
• It is common to have ten vTakes per Track. One vTake can be played/recorded at once, the other nine are stored away for later.
• vTakes can be moved to different Tracks to hear both at once.
• A vTake uses memory/recording time in the same way as any other recording.