Intro
Here are a few tricks and hints for using the track-editing feature in the MRS8.

General

• Warning. Range editing is a "destructive edit". In other words, any changes you make with these features cannot be undone or adjusted at a later date. Always, ALWAYS, perform a track capture before editing your material.
• Plan your edit before entering the track edit menu. Having markers (page 35 of the manual) for your start and end position and also the start of your destination, if required, (make a note of the mark number for each) will save time and prevent irreversible mistakes later.
• In almost all situations it is best to use the Measure/Beat/Tick counter instead of the Minutes/seconds. This will give a much more accurate range.
• You can use the Status keys (the buttons above the faders) to select the tracks you want to use. The currently selected track will be lit for reference.
• You select two adjacent tracks at once by holding one whilst pressing the other. This can save time for bulk copying etc or if you want to edit stereo linked tracks.
• You can review your chosen range by press play after you select an end point but before you press enter.
• The start and end positions can some times be confusing. Resulting in missing out a measure of your desired range or, worse, pasting over the wrong part. For example: To select the first 4 measures of a track and to select the area immediately after it as a destination....
  • "Start" should be 1- 1- 0
  • "End" should be 5- 1- 0
  • "Destination" should also be 5- 1- 0
  • You do not need to specify the destination end as the length is already determined by the source material.

Copy
Overview
Think of this edit as the copy & paste features in standard word processing software or a TXT file on a PC. The Start & End options select the area to be copied. The destination is the start of the place you want to paste to.

Possible uses

• Use the copy feature to duplicate a passage of music and replicate it in another track, vtake, or in a different position of the current vtake.
• You can "double" a sound by copying to a new track but adding a few milliseconds to the destination.
• If your destination overlaps your source you will overwrite the existing material. To get round this, select a new track as destination.
• If you feel that one measure or bar of your song is "perfect" then copy that section and paste it to the end of that range. This can be repeated indefinitely to build up your verses/choruses etc.
• If you are not sure what affect an edit will have on your material, copy to a new track before editing to compare.

Move
Overview
The edit is identical to the copy but will CUT & paste. Thereby erasing the original source.

Possible uses

• The move feature can be used to adjust the start times of sounds/instruments.
• Another good use is to move a section from one track to another. Once a section is moved, it can be processed and effected individually.
• For example: A rhythm guitar track is required to jump from clean to distortion for the chorus (The classic tension/release style of playing) but you would prefer to add effects after recording ('Dry' recording). Move the chorus to another track and insert the distortion.
• All tracks can be moved forward a measure or two to allow for a drum/percussion/other intro

Erase
Overview
The simplest of all the edits. Everything inside the range will be permanently wiped leaving empty space. No destination is required

Possible uses

• Very useful for removing unwanted noise between, before or after sounds. For example: A vocal track can be silenced of heavy breathing between stanzas or a noisy lead guitar (or twitchy guitarist!) can be silenced before and after it is required.

Trim
Overview

• A very useful tool that can be so easily used incorrectly, causing the loss of material (Of course, you DID capture the track in case this happened, right?)
• The trim option will erase all sounds BEFORE and AFTER the selected range. It will also automatically move the range to the start of the song (Time Counter 0-0-0)
• No destination is required.

Possible uses

• Trim all tracks to the exact length of your song, saving excess noise at the end of the song that waste memory and would be carried over to any WAVs you create.
• If you record without a rhythm track as a guide, you will have wasted space at the start of your song as well as at the end. Trim this section (you will have to find the start and end times manually) to remove the unwanted pause that will, again, waste memory.

Fade i/o
Overview

• The selected range will have its volume permanently altered to either Silence->Recorded level or Recorded level->Silence
• No destination is required.
• There are three different types. These are detailed on page 49 of the manual.
• When inserting a fade I/O, don't forget to ERASE the section immediately before or after (unless you want a false ending. This can be a very pleasing effect if used correctly!)

Possible uses

• Fade I-2 & O-2 will produce the smoothest intro or outro of a sound.
• Fade I-1 will produce an intro that starts very subtly then quickly comes to full volume, Useful for tension/release sections.
• Fade O-3 is the reverse equal of fade I-1. It will start gradually the quickly end in silence. Use to end a heavy/powerful section of music.
• You can produce cross fades between tracks by fading out one while simultaneously fading in another, but be careful of your choice of fades as some combinations will leave an audible "wobble" in the volume.
• Smooth cross fade combinations that will not Wobble:
  • I-2 + O-2
  • I-3 + O-1
  • I-1 + O-3

Reverse
Overview

• Perhaps to most drastic of all the effects (Apart from ERASING, of course!)
• The selected range is simply reversed. The end becomes the start and the start becomes the end.
• No destination is required

Possible uses

• This edit has been used an uncountable amount of times to simple reverse a lead instrument or vocal to produce a very striking effect.
  • After the reverse has been completed, you may find that you need to move the range to fit with the rhythm. Sometimes the reversed section will simply not fit - but this is an artistic opinion depending on your tastes
• A more common (and far more subtle) use is to....
  • Reverse a section or whole track
  • Apply an effect
  • Reverse the section again.

....This works best with Reverb or Delay, resulting in the effect occurring before the actual sound.

• A classic "Reverse Crash" for use as an intro or bridge can be achieved by recording a cymbal then reversing it.