I am the entertainer, I've come to do my show
You've heard my latest record spin on the radio
It took me years to write it, they were the best years of my life
If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05


from "The Entertainer" by Billy Joel

Just made me think of these lyrics.

- Brian

Squeak, you can bounce your tracks and free up a track and memory. for example if the bass and drums mix is tight and sound okay, bounce them to a free track..this will free up memory[you can not undue the bounce]..

Brian ... As I scrolled through the posts I was mentally preparing my response and the I came to yours and saw you beat me to it!!
The comments on the time of a recording being dependent upon type of music, how it is used etc. are right on ... When I was doing general business (weddings, dinner dances, etc.) work many years ago you could do a song in your own style. Often we would be playing and as long as the dance floor was full we would go from one song into another. While I still can do that at a lot of the piano lounge type gigs I play, the wedding crowd today wants to hear it 'just like the record' ...
I am currently putting together a recording (at the urging of my dear wife of almost 40 years) and I would think that most of the tunes are in the 3 1/2 to 4 minute range. I want to do another of mostly jazz tunes (unfortunately I am not a 'jazz player', but I love the music), and I would expect those to be longer, as I will attempt to affect horn, guitar, flute etc. solos via the kb ...
squeak ... how much does that 256mb card go for?...
t.

You all know that refers to "Piano Man" right? (maybe that was too obvious)

Thanks everyone for your responses... Also I completely understand where everyone is coming from with PC sequencing. I have no dislikes about that set up, but I don't want to have to power up a PC everytime I want to record. There are a lot of good programs out there for that I know wouldn't give me any real limitations in length, but as someone stated earlier there's always the options of upgrades.. That's how it is with this Fostex. I'm not limited to the 128mb card... I can upgrade to any size I so choose, and here's the best part. FOSTEX SUPPORTS THEIR EQUIPMENT!!!!!! They recently released an OS upgrade for this unit free to all owners.. It's on their website and all you have to do is hook it up to your computer via USB, and that's it...

Fran,
You're right about the bounce feature. That's why I'm buying this.. If it didn't have a bounce or as they use to say "ping pong" feauture, I wouldn't buy the things. When I get the 256mb card it's going to be crazy in my home.. Because I'll have 50 minutes for one song Anyways computer based sequencing is a great way to record, but sometimes I'd rather not fire up the computer to record a song. This unit has complete, and I mean complete and total hands on control.. Every function has a botton or knob on the face.. No menues or anything.. It's such an easy unit to use...

Cheers,
Squeak

Holy Crap! Check this out.. This is what someone posted at the Fostex Forum regarding the price drops on the smart media cards.. Now mind you this post is for a 512mb card..

512MB CFC: BIG Price Drop!
I just pulled the trigger on a Viking 512MB compact flash card for my MR-8. Amazon.com is selling the card for $159 plus a $50 rebate!!! Final price = $109 (no charge for tax or shipping)! After I have a chance to give the card a spin, I'll provide a full report.
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$109.00 is not bad for a 512mb card. Gives you an idea on how the price is on the 256mb card.....

Squeak

Just saw on Amazon that you can get a 256mb card for $69.99 (after $20.00 rebate) That's a good deal

Squeak

512mb card will give you 1 hour and 36 minutes of 16bit 44.1khz recording time, and twice that in the extended mode..(which again the extended mode I think is above cassette tape 4 tracks quality)

Squeak

Squeak,
I have a hard disk recorder (Roland VSR880) and the time allotted for total recording is AVERAGED out to a "time per track".
I'm not positive, but I think that time is in a lump sum, just waiting to be used, so if you didn't need all 8 tracks - it's very possible to record longer than the average. It only uses ACTUAL time, as far as I know.
At least, that's the way the Roland works.

UD,
Fostex has it set up so that you don't waste any of your time for recording.. When you record a track it only records when you're playing, and doesn't record when you're not.. Your first track could be a full 3 minutes long, and you're second may only total out to be 30 seconds or so, but even if you start recording from the very begining that track will only contain the 30 seconds you played and not a full 3 minutes so yes if some of your tracks are shorter you can get longer recording time per track..

Squeak