Auto arm selected track

[dellboy]

Is there a way to set up the tracks with inputs auto assigned as in other daws?

At the moment I can only find a way to have virtual inputs that play all tracks at once.

I want to assign instruments or audio inputs to tracks and then press record,and then click on the next track and record again without having to assign an input.

All I can find at present is the convuluted way of assigning an input to a track,recording,and then reassigning the input to the next track. Please tell there is an easier way than this at it destroys workflow for my way of recording.

[AGreen]

You can set consecutive inputs if your interface has multiple inputs, otherwise if you select an input then arm the track, the next track will automatically be armed when you select it's input by right clicking the inputs section.

[dellboy]

I fear my request is not possible.

The only workaround I can find is to assign instruments to consecutive tracks,and different virtual midi inputs to each track,and then mute all the tracks other than the one I want to hear. Not very satisfactory. most daws allow auto arm nowadays.In fact I have just downloaded the Sonar demo,loaded a pop template and all the basic instruments for a pop song are up and running when I select a track. Just play the keyboard and go.

Am I the only one who finds the Waveform way clunky ?

[AGreen]

I'm not really a midi expert so I'm not sure why you want to record like this. What is the reason for recording on multiple tracks, but one at a time ? If you're just trying to loop record then Waveform has excellent comping features.

[dellboy]

I'm not really a midi expert so I'm not sure why you want to record like this. What is the reason for recording on multiple tracks, but one at a time ? If you're just trying to loop record then Waveform has excellent comping features.

For sketching out ideas.

For instance. A piano on track one,bass on track 2,drums on track 3,organ on track 4 etc. Set up a 4 bar loop (or any number of bars) and hit record for whatever instrument you choose first. Then click your controller or computer keypad for the next track and hit record again.

When I use Ableton Live I never look at the daw,I just use the keypad or controller. This is much like I used to work in hardware before the advent of computers and which I happen to find much more productive. To keep stopping and clicking on the mouse is counter-intuitive for me. But like I say,most daws allow autoarm tracks.

[AGreen]

Ok, that's a very different workflow to mine so I can see your potential difficulty. The only thing I can suggest is looking in to Waveforms macro facilities. It can allow you to trigger very complex actions with a single keyboard assignment, but whether the actions exist for your use senario I'm not sure. It's probably possible to assign an input and arm a track with a macro but it might be a bit involved.

[AGreen]

Another possibility might be to set up your instruments on one track or in a rack, each using a different midi channel and switch channels with your controller. If you recorded in loop mode you could then select takes later with the comp editor. No idea if this will work, but it may do.

[dellboy]

Another possibility might be to set up your instruments on one track or in a rack, each using a different midi channel and switch channels with your controller. If you recorded in loop mode you could then select takes later with the comp editor. No idea if this will work, but it may do.

Thanks for your help,but everything you suggest is convuluted and messy.

I originally got Tracktion 1 NFR way back,and then Tracktion 3,I now have Tracktion 6 which came with my interface,but the old problem of inputs remains.

The essential problem (as I see it) is that an input can only be applied to one track at a time,whereas other daws allow one input to be available to multiple tracks at a time. Why it is still like this is beyond me. I was going to upgrade to Waveform,but I have decided to hold off for now because of this.

[dRowAudio]

Yes, not being able to assign inputs to multiple tracks is something that has come up from time to time but unfortunately this wouldn't be a simple change so we can't do this right now.

Would creating a macro to assign a named input to a selected track help your workflow? If so, I'm sure we could add something like this fairly quickly.