Get Started in Digital Recording with the BOSS BR-900CD

If you're a songwriter or musician looking for a simple, portable but high-quality digital recorder, BOSS has the answer to your prayers. It's the BOSS BR-900 Digital Studio. Use it as a scratchpad for laying down your ideas or capturing those perfect riffs guitarists come up with at 2 a.m. Get the music that's in your head into their heads -- make a demo song for your band to learn and for every record label out there.

Just like BOSS effects pedals, the BR-900 is easy to use. So easy, you’ll probably be making your first recording before even opening the manual. That’s because the BR-900 is designed to operate like familiar tape-based recorders. Just select an input, arm a track and hit RECORD and PLAY; no complicated signal routing or bussing to worry about.

Eight tracks and beyond

Capable of recording up to 2 tracks simultaneously and playing back up to 8 tracks simultaneously, this recorder's real power lies in its bank of virtual tracks.

The BR-900 is an 8-track digital recorder with 8 virtual takes per track. That's 64 virtual tracks total. If you aren't familiar with virtual tracks then think of each track as a building with 8 floors. You can store information on each floor to be recalled in your 8-track mix at any time. Virtual tracks can be used for recording different takes or arrangements without sacrificing earlier recordings. You can also use virtual tracks to combine other tracks, known as bouncing tracks. This can be very useful when you have a project that has several instruments or several guitar parts for example.

There's ample room for creative input (the Beatles recorded Sergeant Pepper with a 4-track!) Record a solo multiple times, keep tracks you bounce for re-mixing later, edit several versions of vocal tracks for instant comparison, or keep a "dry" version of your guitar part for adding different effects later.

Convenient Compact Flash storage

All of your tracks are stored on a Compact Flash card that comes with the BR-900. This card is the type used in many digital cameras. The card that you get is 128MB. The BR-900 will take a card as large as 1 Gig which provides up to 624 minutes of record time (standard mode) in one shot. Compact Flash cards can be bought at any outlet that sells digital gear. You can also buy a Compact Flash card reader for your Mac or PC and use this to back up your recording projects to hard drive (and subsequently to CD-ROM if you like) for archiving.

Try this with tape

Because the BR-900 is digital rather than analog tape, a whole new level of editing is possible. Once tracks have been recorded, you can Copy, Move, and Paste tracks with the press of a button. Ever record the perfect vocal in one chorus and blow the others? Now you can use the BR-900's Copy feature to place that perfect take throughout the rest of the song.Or, use Move and Paste to assemble pieces from different Virtual Tracks to one primary track, giving you the ultimate performance.And unlike tape-based recorders, all editing is non-destructive.Just hit UNDO/REDO and you’re right back to your last version of the song! And remember, there's no waiting for tape to rewind; you can assign markers within songs for fast navigation, hit LOCATOR and you're instantly there!

All the right connections

The inputs consist of two XLR phantom-powered microphone inputs, one unbalanced microphone input and a Hi-Z guitar/bass input. In case that's not enough, the BR-900 also comes stock with a built in condenser microphone for recording those acoustic guitar ideas anywhere anytime. There's also a stereo line input (and output) for recording CD/DAT/cassette players or other line-level sources, a MIDI output and headphone jack. Another jack accepts an optional footswitch that can be used for starting, stopping, punching in/out, which is very useful if you're a guitar player working on your own.

USB spoken

Connect the BR-900CD to the outside world with one convenient USB connection. Import and export audio files and song data quickly and easily. Need to add some drum loops or vocal samples to your song? Simply drag and drop your favorite WAV files from USB-equipped computer directly into the BR-900CD. Conversely, you can export audio that you’ve created internally on the BR-900CD to computers.

A guitar-friendly recorder

While any musician can benefit from the BR-900’s compact size and easy digital recording, BOSS couldn’t help but throw in a few things for guitar players. Of course there's the dedicated Hi-Z guitar/bass input and you'll also find a Phrase Trainer and Center Cancel function. Learning those lighting-fast licks is easy with the Phrase Trainer. Capable of slowing down a recorded performance from tape or CD (without changing the pitch), the Phrase Trainer allows you to practice your favorite guitar riffs and solos at a more comfortable pace. With the Repeat function, you can jam along with selected phrases as long as you like. Use the Center Cancel function to remove solos or lead vocals to make way for your own playing or singing.

Tune up in seconds: Guitar and bass players will appreciate the BR-900’s built-in chromatic tuner. The LCD display provides visual confirmation of your instrument’s tuning with a single button push, making it easy to have perfect pitch every time without unplugging your guitar.

You don't have a band, but would like to record full song arrangements ...

The BR-900 isn't really set up for recording bands and elaborate drum miking anyway as you can only record two tracks at a time, but it does have a built-in Rhythm Programmer. You can play along and record with 294 preset expressive patterns in a variety of musical styles including rock, blues, jazz and more. Use them as a starting point while arranging your song, or you can piece together rhythm patterns to create a full rhythm track for your own songs. This is all done on its own dedicated track so you don't have to use up your other tracks for your project. You can also program your own patterns and even use your own sounds for drums that you can import from your computer.  And you can customize your own beats using the handy Tone Load function.

Amp modeling and killer BOSS effects

Because the BR-900 is a digital studio and not just a recorder, it includes a digital mixer and two effects processors; one dedicated to Insert effects and one dedicated to Loop (send/return) effects. There are plenty of tools to spice up your recordings.

For example, guitar and bass players can choose between several COSM-based guitar and bass amp models and multi-effects. Roland's COSM (Composite Object Sound Modeling) reproduces the tone, vibe and feel of the world's most popular amplifiers. So whether you want a vintage JC-120 for jazz sounds, adrenaline-pumping stack sounds, or if you want your electric guitar to sound like an acoustic, you can plug in direct to the Hi-Z input and get great sound to record or just use for practicing. Don't have a bass? Just use the onboard Bass Simulator that makes your electric guitar sound like a bass. 

To further sweeten your creations, BOSS includes reverb, dealy, flange, pedal wah, chorus and EQ -- plus many more effects which can be “printed” while recording. The guitar effects are so nicely done that you won't have to bother with an effects pedal -- just plug your guitar straight into the BR-900, dial up an effect, and bang away. There's also a number of vocal treatments from the conventional reverb, delay and flange, to the radical BOSS Voice Transformer which changes vocal gender or creates robot voices.

Mixdown with effects

The BR-900's internal effects processor is extremely flexible, allowing any of its effects, plus an equalizer, to be applied during final mixdown. Once all your tracks have been recorded, use the mixing and processing capabilities to give your song a professional produced sound.

Getting your music to CD

The BR900 has a built-in CD burner.

Record your music anytime, anyplace

The fact that the BR-900 will run on batteries truly makes it completely portable -- a studio wherever you are. Just bring along a mic or two, your guitar or keyboard, plus your creativity. No need to drag along a preamp, mixer, drum machine, signal processor or guitar effects pedals. After all, you've got to be ready to get your ideas down whenever inspiration strikes.

Features summary

• compact 8-track digital recorder using Compact Flash storage
• intuitive, BOSS-style operation for easy recording and mixing
• 8-track simultaneous playback; 64 Virtual Tracks (V-Tracks) for recording
• 128MB Compact Flash card included; expandable using up to 1Gb cards
• sophisticated digital editing including Copy, Move, Paste and Undo
• Insert and Loop effects processors with COSM Guitar Amp Modeling, Bass Simulator and more
• programmable drum machine; Tone Load function to import your own sounds
• choice of Guitar/Bass Hi-Z input, 2 XLR and 1/4" Microphone inputs, or stereo RCA Line input
• Digital out, MIDI out
• USB port for data backup
• built-in CD-RW drive and Mastering Tool Kit
• built-in microphone and battery power for recording on-the-go

All this sounds pretty expensive doesn't it? Not at all. Getting into digital recording today is affordable, easy and fun. So next time you've got the urge to write music, do it with the BOSS BR-900.