FR: Easy track comping (with folders...)

[igglebop]

Maybe this is far-fetched, but I certainly would love this feature. I like being able to take five or six takes and piece together the best parts of them all. Sometimes this even involves switching takes between syllables in a word, or at other times when the track isn't completely silent. The main problem with doing this in Tracktion is (1) I'm totally confused how to do it (2) The methods I have tried are inconvenient, and it's hard to get an inaudible switch between takes. The new loop record feature is a nice option, but I like to have a little break between recording takes to get a drink of water, relax a bit, etc. Plus, this option seems mostly meant for picking a single good take rather than mixing pieces of each take.

So here's my proposal: Make folder tracks, as others have suggested, and include a "comp" option in the folder properties. When set on, it does several things: (1) It only allows one track in the folder to be selected for playback over a specific time interval. This way you don't get any unwanted doubling. (2) It automatically selects zero-crossings and automatically crossfades when switching between tracks, to minimize clicks and reduce overall work time by a lot. (3) It color-codes takes and grays out unused portions.

It's kinda confusing, so here's a photoshopped example showing how one would comp a guitar using this method:



The more I experiment with Tracktion, the more ways I find to make my work easier. I know this option isn't totally necessary, but I would love a feature like this and would use it constantly. I think it still fits with the Tracktion interface too. Any thoughts?

[IIRs]

how is that any better than the current way of doing it?

[IIRs]

Plus, this option seems mostly meant for picking a single good take rather than mixing pieces of each take.

If you slice the clip you can choose a take for each slice: start with the best take, then snip around each offending section, and choose its replacement. Once you have the right take, slip-edit the start & end points to find a suitable join, or create a small overlap and press "auto cross-fade"

[djsubject]

If you slice the clip you can choose a take for each slice: start with the best take, then snip around each offending section, and choose its replacement.

there are all so short cut keys to skip through the different takes of the slice's

Subject

[semiquaver]

It would be great to be able to see all the takes - a comp track as descibed would be terrific.

also it would be really really good to have multiple takes NOT generated by loop recording.

I like to try a take - listen to it. wait a moment and then take it again. At the moment I have to store takes by dragging them onto a muted track where they form a huge tangle of junk - comp track would solve my problem!

[igglebop]

Is that the way most people do comp tracks--using the loop record feature? That doesn't sound too bad, but I think this other way still has a few advantages. First, there's the problem that you have to do take after take in a row. Not only is it nice to get breaks between takes, but the current system means I can't use that "+" option on takes that I've imported from old projects as waves (I'm in the process of switching my recording setup). Folder tracks would solve this. Second, I think it'd be nice to be able to view all your takes, even the unused portion. You'd still have the option to collapse them into a single track, in which case it'd look just like a comp track does now. Finally, it'd streamline the process of crossfading or searching for a good split point, which does take a lot of time.

[semiquaver]

No - I can't use the loop record feature for most recording (singer needs water etc etc). The feature you mocked up is *perfect* - I hope it finds a home in T. Love the indentation to boot.

[djsubject]

Please keep in mind on a public forum, one mans *perfect* is another mans *crap*

I dont let my singer's take brakes! in my studio i'm king

[igglebop]

Glad you agree, semiquaver. dj and platinumears - So maybe some people will never use it, but I don't mean it to interfere with the great features we have already. It's like sync'ing. I bet half the people who use T2 never use that feature, but they could still say, "It's nice to have that option." Course, everyone's entitled to their opinion.

[IIRs]

Glad you agree, semiquaver. dj and platinumears - So maybe some people will never use it, but I don't mean it to interfere with the great features we have already. It's like sync'ing. I bet half the people who use T2 never use that feature, but they could still say, "It's nice to have that option." Course, everyone's entitled to their opinion.

On the other hand, couldn't you achieve what you want with just a new recording option in the inputs menu ("add to multi-clip" or something)* which would probably be much easier to implement than your suggestion..

.. bear in mind that you can copy your clip to multiple tracks while comping if it makes it easier to see where to edit.



* I had to check it wasn't there already!

[igglebop]

Yes that could work, and if they added that feature that would make me happy. But a super easy-to-use comp tool like I suggested would make me super-ultra happy.

I'm also definitely in favor of folder tracks. If we had those, then copying takes wouldn't be so bad because you could easily hide them away or mute the whole set. But that's a discussion for another thread.

[IIRs]

Yes that could work, and if they added that feature that would make me happy. But a super easy-to-use comp tool like I suggested would make me super-ultra happy.

I'm also definitely in favor of folder tracks. If we had those, then copying takes wouldn't be so bad because you could easily hide them away or mute the whole set. But that's a discussion for another thread.

I'm also in favour of folder tracks.. if we had those, plus the extra record option mentioned above (with maybe an option to explode a multi-clip into a group of normal tracks with single clips), then basically that would cover it.. am i right?

[igglebop]

Yup, with the exception of automatic crossfading and zero-crossings, though there are work-arounds to this. More color coding would also be nice. But you're right, if they added any of the features that you mentioned, that would be a major plus.

[semiquaver]

The feature I am liking in the comp track idea above is that you select the portions of the tracks you like and they appear in the "comp track" without having to be copied and dragged. The selected regions also stay highlighted in the source tracks making it immediately plain whats happening.

[Lunch Money]

I'd like to see this, also. The current implementation is very slick and almost always usable; however, as mentioned, it only works for continuous takes. If I press stop and then go to do another take, I'm back at square 1 of the way Tracktion 1 did things-- multiple tracks of clips I have to sort through.

Since Folder Tracks would be handy for other reasons, too, I'm all for this idea.

Greg