Basic Beatslicing in Tracktion - a Tutorial

[Lunch Money]

I've posted this over at the Auditorium so that I could embed an audio file. Thanks Spe3D, for keeping the Auditorium open!!

Must be a member to download the audio, but you can still see the tutorial, complete with screenshots:

http://audioshots.com/auditorium/viewto ... 0692#20692

[zeoy]

Congrats for the tutorial Greg. However, I think I am missing something: I understand that using the sampler and midi notes to trigger the samples gives more flexibility but if the goal is just to play the loop at a different tempo the sampler-midi step is IMO not required.
Since the loop is sliced one has just to alter the tempo having previously checked the "timecode->remap clip positions when tempo is changed" option and the slices will keep their relative positions.
I 've tried it my self and it works but correct me if I misunderstood something.

[haydxn]

there is that, but then you have to copy/paste large numbers of small clips, or export the section as a single clip if you want it to actually loop. with the sampler method, you have only the midi clips to worry about, and you can still change the tempo without having to re-render.

[zeoy]

there is that, but then you have to copy/paste large numbers of small clips, or export the section as a single clip if you want it to actually loop. with the sampler method, you have only the midi clips to worry about, and you can still change the tempo without having to re-render.

Yes I understand that haydxn. That's why I said that the sampler solution is more flexible. I should have added "elegant" too
But if you're set with the tempo, it's much faster to just render the slices after the tempo change.
My intention was to show that if it's just a matter of a single tempo change the whole proccess is much simpler (and stop those ACID guys from saying "... what 10 minutes for this simple thing!" or whatever .

Cheers.

[haydxn]

indeed

i personally don't use the sampler method, although i don't tend to 'beatslice' as such; i do however always create rhythms and patterns from small audio clips on the arrangement, and i export those to new audio clips for looping duties. i always have a big 'play area' at the beginning of the arrangement where i leave things, such as the original arrangement of those clips, so that i can always go back to them and edit/re-render if necessary. when it starts to get complicated i start up a new edit using bounced versions of the tracks, but i keep that edit safe in case i need the source material again.

[btw i was just making sure all arguments FOR the methods shown were present personally i agree in that i'd choose not to do the sampler step too]

[rockstar_not]

there is that, but then you have to copy/paste large numbers of small clips, or export the section as a single clip if you want it to actually loop. with the sampler method, you have only the midi clips to worry about, and you can still change the tempo without having to re-render.

Yes I understand that haydxn. That's why I said that the sampler solution is more flexible. I should have added "elegant" too
But if you're set with the tempo, it's much faster to just render the slices after the tempo change.
My intention was to show that if it's just a matter of a single tempo change the whole proccess is much simpler (and stop those ACID guys from saying "... what 10 minutes for this simple thing!" or whatever .

Cheers.

Zeoy - I'm an old ACID user - I don't know if you use it or not.

I have done the simple '/' method to slice up a loop, then change the tempo. Agreed that the clip start points stay anchored to relative time positions on the tempo map.

The problem is when you want to easily copy those sliced group of clips to other measures and sections of the song.

In ACID, this is ridiculously easy. In Tracktion, as Haydxn stated, it requires at least an export and import operation.

In any typical ACID composition of a drum track that I make, I use perhaps 15 different loops; to change up the feel of a song and make it seem natural. The very natural way of just painting these clips in ACID makes arranging them quite an enjoyable experience.

Imagine doing beat slicing, exporting, importing 15 different loops in Tracktion.

Slicing up one loop may be a fun exercise. But doing this for 15 loops, per song - no thanks.

So I'm still going to be asking for proper time stretching in Tracktion, ala ACID, FLStudio, Sonar, etc.

-Scott

[rockstar_not]

BTW,

I hope Lunch Money's example gets stickied. It is a nice tutorial on what it takes to make this happen in T, and highlights a relatively un-discovered trick - dumping individual clips from a track in T to T's sampler.

-Scott

[Lunch Money]

ze0y, if you read everything I wrote, you'll see that it's obvious I wasn't intending to pass this off as a 'replacement' for people accustomed to Acid.

Why would I, since I myself REALLY want Acid-like functionality implemented into T?

If you'd like, I could amend the tutorial to include that you don't NEED the sampler before moving to the MIDI, but I would personally never do it that way. Unless you render (which defeats the purpose by giving you a static loop again), you're stuck with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little slices by the time a song is done, and no easy way to move them around.

I'll take even-measure-lengthed blocks of MIDI, thanks.

Greg

[chico.co.uk]

Lunch, how d'you see the tutorial with screenshots etc without becoming a member? I've too many forum logons as it is these days ....

[haydxn]

i've posted it here too for LM. if you have a problem with this greg, just ask for it to be deleted

[zeoy]

@both Greg and Scott : the last sentence of my post about ACID users was just a joke. I havent used ACID but I know that its strong point is working with loops and although I am not using premade loops that much I definately want that kind of functionality in T.

About the sampler vs. non-sampler approach I already said that I agree that the sampler method is more flexible and elegant. However when in the past I wanted badly a loop which was in the wrong tempo I just did the non-sampler method and made a new one with the correct tempo.

All I was trying to say was that for simple things there is an alternative faster solution (I first heard about it by IIRs) which may be more suitable for some of us.

Cheers

[flanneljammies]

you don't NEED the sampler before moving to the MIDI, but I would personally never do it that way. Unless you render (which defeats the purpose by giving you a static loop again), you're stuck with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little slices by the time a song is done, and no easy way to move them around.

I see people saying this all the time, but personally I never found it to be that much of a problem. I use Alt+Click and Drag to select all the little slices and cut and paste them wherever. The only caveat is that you have to make sure that your left-most clip lines up with a grid mark so that it snaps correctly. I've gotten quite used to this and it's pretty quick once you know what you're looking for and get the hang of it.

[rockstar_not]

you don't NEED the sampler before moving to the MIDI, but I would personally never do it that way. Unless you render (which defeats the purpose by giving you a static loop again), you're stuck with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of little slices by the time a song is done, and no easy way to move them around.

I see people saying this all the time, but personally I never found it to be that much of a problem. I use Alt+Click and Drag to select all the little slices and cut and paste them wherever. The only caveat is that you have to make sure that your left-most clip lines up with a grid mark so that it snaps correctly. I've gotten quite used to this and it's pretty quick once you know what you're looking for and get the hang of it.

Mr. Jammies,

You remind me of a 'bug' in T which happens about 20% of the time I grab a clip to drag it somewhere - I'll latch onto the clip, then all of a sudden, the cursor position ends up halfway across the song, with no visible clip following along and when I drop the clip, it ends up in an unexpected location.

You say you are grabbing multiple clips and loading them wherever (I want to say to T: Drop this load of clips every measure for 4 measures - like you can with one clip) without any issues.

Does anyone else have this weird clip drag issue I'm describing?

-Scott

[Lunch Money]

Well, I updated the tutorial to include non-sampler, and also using the alt+drag selection method for moving chunks of clips. Good suggestions, and easily worth mentioning in the tutorial.

chico: I thought you could see the tutorial but not download the audio file, but I guess that isn't the case. Thanks for the copy-over, haydxn!

Greg

[haydxn]

another reason i did it is that- as an opera user- i can no longer access Audioshots without having to open a different browser. i've emailed spe3d about it tho.