BR-800: Transferring the Built-In Drums to a Computer

If you enjoy using the BR-800's built-in drum machine but would like to transfer the drum Patterns or Arrangements to a computer, this article will guide you through the proper procedure. The BR-800's drums can be Mastered down (recorded) to a stereo track and then exported as a WAV file to your computer. This WAV file will be a recording of the drums alone and can then be dragged directly into a track in recording software (e.g. Cakewalk's Sonar).

    How to Master (Mix Down) to Two Tracks

1. Press MENU.
2. Cursor to "MASTERING," and then press ENTER.
3. Turn the dial clockwise to set MASTERING to the ON position.
4. Press EXIT twice to return to the main screen. The display shows the track(s) to which you'll be mastering underneath the word "MASTERING." By default, “TR78-VMST” is displayed for the stereo virtual mastering track belonging to Tracks 7 and 8.
5. Use the CURSOR buttons to move the cursor selector line underneath “VMST” (part of “TR78-VMST”).
6. Turn the DIAL counter-clockwise to change the v.track to “TR78-1”. This selects Track 7/8 Virtual Track 1 as the destination.
7. Turn down the fader volumes of all tracks except for the RHYTHM and MASTER fader.
8. Press the ZERO button to return to the beginning of your song.
9. Press RECORD and then press PLAY.
10. When the song has finished playing, press STOP. A "PREVIEW" window will appear.
11. Press PLAY to hear your mastered (mixdown) drum track. A stereo mix of your song has now been recorded onto TR78-1.
12. Press EXIT twice to return to the main screen.

Now that you have the drums recorded, you can export the drum track as a WAV file using the BR WAV Converter software. You may download the BR Wav Converter software by clicking here.

Exporting from the BR-800 to Your Computer

1. Connect a USB cable between the computer and the BR-800.
2. On the BR-800, press the MENU button.
3. Cursor to "USB," and then press ENTER.
4. Cursor to "WAV CONVERTER," and then press ENTER twice—after a few moments, the BR-800 appears as an external drive on your computer.
   Note: On Windows, the BR-800 may appear on your computer with an external drive letter (ie: E: or F:). You can close any windows that open automatically, but you’ll need to know this drive letter in Step 6 below.
5. Launch the BR WAV converter software by double clicking the "BRWC" icon on your computer.
   Note: The BRWC software is provided as a .zip or .sit file you'll need to extract before using.
6. Once the BR WAV converter program is open, use the Drive menu at the top left of the screen to select the BR-800 drive you identified in Step 4.
7. Select the song that your drums are recorded on from the Song menu.
   Note: Green squares appear on a grid that shows you the V-Tracks in your song. The columns—up and down—represent the tracks. The top square in each column is V-Track 1 and the bottom square in each column is V-Track 8.
   
8. Click the L/R button on the bottom of Columns 7 and 8 so that it changes to green.
9. On the first row of “V Tracks” on the top of the grid, click on Tracks 7 and 8—they change to orange. You have now select Track 7/8 V.Track 1.
   
10. Click EXPORT at the bottom left-hand corner.
11. Click GO.
12. Select "DESKTOP” as the destination folder.
13. Type a file name of your choice into the FILENAME box, and then click SAVE.
14. Quit the BR Wav Converter software. On the BR-800, press EXIT, and then ENTER to safely eject the recorder from your computer.
15. On your computer’s desktop, you may drag the newly created WAV file (your drum track) directly into the recording software project that you are working on.