Mackie - T2 - Reference Guide

Chapter 1: The Projects Page

Hello and welcome to Tracktion! If you have not already read through the Tracktion User’s Guide, may we suggest you start there. The User’s Guide is specifically designed to get you up and writing music with your new Tracktion software as fast as possible.

Note: If you have not yet registered your copy of Tracktion, and you are looking for assistance on how to do so, jump to Section Three of this chapter. The description of the “about” button contains specific instructions on registering Tracktion.

Whilst there is no reason why you shouldn’t read this Reference Manual from cover to cover, we are confident that you will find Tracktion so easy to learn that you will mostly want to turn to this Manual when you have specific questions. As such the Reference Manual is structured into broad sections that relate to specific areas in Tracktion. Each of these areas is detailed with explanations of the options you will find, and hints to related options or controls that you may find useful.

1.1 The Project List

The project list is not, as it may at first appear, a list of all projects on your hard-drive. Instead, it shows those projects that are currently open. An open project can be thought of as a book-marked project. It isn’t open in the way that a document may be open in a word processor, rather it is marked as being a work in progress. All newly created projects, or unpacked archives (archives are discussed in Chapter 10.2), are opened by default, ready for you to work on them. Projects that you have previously closed, however, need to be reopened before they can be edited.

The project-list is comprised of two folders. The first of these folders is the “active projects” folder, and this is where all of your current projects will be shown. The second folder is the “library projects” folder, and whilst it is broadly similar to the “active projects” folder, it has a few special properties.

The order in which projects are listed can be changed by dragging projects to a new slot in the list. You could, for example, move your most commonly accessed projects to the top of the list, for easy location. Projects can be moved between the active projects and library projects folders in the same manner.

Active projects

The “active projects” folder is used to bookmark all of your current works-in-progress.

Library projects

Projects held in the “library projects” folder can be used to store material that may be shared between a number of projects.

In particular, library projects could be created to consolidate material such as sample libraries, and MIDI files, that may otherwise be spread across various directories and hard-drives on your computer.

Adding samples to library projects can also be used to keep edit archives as small as possible. The export dialogue-box contains an option labelled “include files from library projects.” When this option is disabled, any samples used in the edit that are also contained in a library project, will not be stored in the archive. Exporting edits is discussed in Chapter 10.

The right-click menus

This reference manual assumes you have a two-button mouse. For Mac users with a single-button mouse, the right-click options are available by holding down the CTRL key whilst clicking. A two-button mouse can be used with a Mac as well as a PC, and you will find Tracktion far faster to use with a two-button USB mouse. Such mice are inexpensive and can be found at most good computer or office stores.

Right-clicking on any project entry in either the active or the library project folders causes a pop-up menu (Fig. 1.1.2) to be displayed:

Unpack an archive into this project...: Use this option to unpack the contents of a Tracktion archive into the current project. Project archives are discussed further in Chapter 10.

Close this project: Select this option to remove the current project from the project-list. Closing projects does not lose, or delete the project; it merely clears the entry from the list allowing you to keep your work-list tidy.Closed projects can be re-opened at any time by clicking the “open project” button in the control-section.

Close all active projects: Select this option to remove all projects from the project-list. The closed projects can be re-opened at any time by clicking the “open project..” button in the control-section, at the bottom-left corner of the screen.

Right-clicking on either the library folder or the active projects folder causes a pop-up menu (Fig. 1.1.3) to be shown:

Load a project or archive: This option allows you to open a previously closed project, or import a Tracktion archive file. You will be prompted for the path to the project or archive file. If you import an archive, you will also be prompted for a folder in which to unpack the archive contents.

Load a recent project: This option displays a sub-menu with a list of recently closed projects. Selecting one of the entries will re-open the project.

Create a new project: Select this option to create a new project. You will be prompted for a folder to save the project in. It is a good idea to create a new empty folder for each project, since otherwise, the various audio files you record in the new project will be scattered among other, pre-existing files. If you choose to use a folder that is not empty, Tracktion will display a warning and ask if you wish to have a new folder created in the current folder.

Close all projects in this folder: Select this option to remove the current project from the project-list. Closing all projects does not lose, or delete the projects; it merely clears the entry from the list allowing you to keep your work-list tidy. Closed projects can be re-opened at any time by clicking the “open project..” button in the control-section. Section Three of this chapter discusses the control-section.

In addition to these options, when a project folder is selected, the properties-panel (Fig. 1.1.4) displays the following options:

Load a project or archive: Like the option available from the right-click menu, this option allows you to open a previously closed project, or import a Tracktion archive file.

Create a new project: Select this option to create a new project.

1.2 The Search Tool

The search tool (Fig. 1.2.1), located just below the project list, can be used to search your projects for keywords. The search is often useful for finding resources attached to projects. For example if you have a hi-hat sample in a project and you wish to use it in another, assuming the sample had “hi-hat” somewhere in its name, you could do a search for that keyword to locate it.

Search keywords: Enter the name, or part of the name, of the material you are searching for, in the box.

Select projects: Click this button to select which projects the search is performed. A pop-up menu (Fig. 1.2.2) appears, from which you can select your list of active and library projects.

Search: Click this button to start the search. The results are shown in the items list. Click a search result to find out more about it, including which project it is in.

1.3 The Control Section

The control section is located below the search box (Fig. 1.3.1).

The following options are available:

New project..: Click this button to create a new project. You will be prompted for a folder to save the project in. It is a good idea to create a new empty folder for each project. If you choose to use a folder that is not empty, Tracktion will display a warning and ask if you wish to have a new folder created in the current folder.

Once the project has been created, Tracktion will add an entry to the project-list.

Clipboard: This button displays a pop-up menu (Fig. 1.3.2) containing various standard editing options, such as cut, copy, paste, and delete. The contents of the clipboard are shown in the clipboard panel. You can use the clipboard to copy content between projects, and also, once copied, material can be pasted into edits. This can be an efficient way of locating audio clips for use in an edit.

The following keyboard shortcuts can also be used to work with the clipboard:

CTRL + X (CMD + X for Mac users): Cut
CTRL + V (CMD + V for Mac users): Paste
CTRL + C (CMD + C for Mac users): Copy

Open project..: Click this button to open a previously closed project, or import a Tracktion archive file. You will be prompted for the path to the project or archive file. If you import an archive, you will also be prompted for a folder in which to unpack the archive contents.

Help: Click this button to the access help on using Tracktion (Fig. 1.3.3).

Show Tracktion help pages: This option displays the Tracktion User’s Guide.
Keyboard shortcut: F12.

Turn on pop-up help: When this option is enabled, holding the mouse pointer over an option will cause Tracktion to display a pop-up window containing a description of the option. This can be handy when you are first finding your way around Tracktion.
Keyboard shortcut: F11.

Use longer delay before pop-up help appears: When this option is activated, Tracktion will wait a few moments before displaying the pop-up help. This setting has no effect unless the pop-up help is enabled.

About: When this button is clicked, a dialogue-box showing credits and information about Tracktion is shown. In addition this dialogue-box also shows your registration information.

If you have purchased, but not yet registered your copy of Tracktion, there are two ways you can unlock Tracktion from the 30-day demo period.

If you have an Internet connection on the computer that you are using Tracktion on:

Click the “about” button. The “about Tracktion” dialogue-box will be displayed.
Click the “unlock” button at the bottom of the dialogue-box. A second window will be shown.
On the new window, click the “unlock online” button (make sure you are connected to the Internet at this point).
You will be prompted for your email address, password, and license number. If you have never created a registration account with Mackie, simply place your email address and your choice of a password into the first two fields. If you do have an existing account with Mackie, you should just enter the email address Tracktion 2 12 and password you previously chose. Enter the license number for your copy of Tracktion. You can find this number on a card that came with your Tracktion CDs. We strongly advise that you write this number in your printed Tracktion User’s Guide if you have one, or keep it safely with your install CDs at all times!
Once you have entered the required information, click the “register” button. Tracktion will then authorise itself, and if necessary, create a new Mackie registration account. You can use this account to log into the registered-users area of the Mackie web-site (http://my.mackie.com).

If you do not have an Internet connection on the computer that you are using Tracktion on:

Click the “about” button. The “about Tracktion” dialogue-box will be displayed.
Make a note of the Machine ID. You will need this later.
Using a computer that does have Internet access, go to http://my.mackie.com using a web-browser such as Safari or Internet Explorer.
If you have never created a registration account with Mackie before, follow the links to create a new account.
When you have an account created, follow the links to log into the site.
You will see a page with your registered products, if any. If you have already registered your copy of Tracktion, you will see it listed here. If not, follow the links to register your copy of Tracktion.
Clicking on the Tracktion entry in the registered software list will take you to the download and keyfile page.
Follow the links to register your machine ID, and enter the number you wrote down earlier.
Follow the links to download the keyfile.
You will need to transfer this keyfile to the computer onto which you installed Tracktion. Floppy disks, write-able CDs, or USB JumpDrives (memory sticks) are good ways to transfer files between computers.
Once you have the keyfile saved on your the computer that Tracktion is installed on, you can use it to unlock Tracktion. Open Tracktion as normal, click the “about button,” and click the “unlock” button at the bottom of the “about” dialogue-box. A second window will be shown.
On the new window, click the “unlock from keyfile” button. A window will be displayed, from which you can navigate to the location to which you saved the keyfile.
Select the keyfile and click “OK.”
Tracktion will now be registered.

If you have not yet purchased Tracktion, there is a button in the “about” dialogue box to purchase the software.

1.4 Setting Up Your Plug-Ins Path

When a project is selected, its properties are displayed in the properties-panel (Fig. 1.4.1). Various tools and options related to the project can be found on this panel.

Name: You can view and edit the project name from this field. This is the name that Tracktion shows in the project-list. Note that changing the name here does not affect the project’s actual file name.

Description: This field allows you to enter a description of the project. You can also use this field to leave yourself notes for future reference.

File: This field shows the location of the project on your hard-drive.

Export project: This option allows you to bundle the project and related materials into an archive. Use this if you want back up your work, or transfer it to another computer, for you or a collaborator to work on.

Selecting this option displays a dialogue-box where options related to the archive export can be set. You may also be interested in reading Chapter 10, where you will find more information on exporting and importing projects.

Create new edit: This option creates a new empty edit in the current project. If you wish to make a copy of an existing edit, select the edit in the item-list and click the “make a copy of this edit” button.

Import material: Use this option to associate audio or MIDI files with this project, or to import tracks from an audio CD. When this option is selected, a pop-up menu (Fig. 1.4.2) appears:

Import an audio or MIDI file..: Use this option to add material on your hard-drive, or on a CD, to the edit. Files located on CDs are copied into the project folder, whereas files stored on a hard-drive are referenced from their source location. Keyboard shortcut: A.
Import all files in a directory..: This option works much like the “import an audio or MIDI file...” option above. The difference is that this option imports all suitable files in to the selected directory (folder).
Unpack an archive and add it to this project..: This option adds the items from an archive into the current project. The pop-up menu that is displayed when right-clicking on a project-list entry also provides this option.
Import tracks from an audio CD...: Use this option to copy tracks from an audio CD into Tracktion. The imported tracks are saved as audio files in the project folder and added to the edit as standard audio clips. Chapter 10 discusses the import audio tracks dialogue-box.

Find orphan clips: This option allows you to find associated audio or MIDI files that are not used by any of the edits in this project. This is useful when you are trying to delete files that are no longer needed.

1.5 Edit Properties

When an edit is selected, its properties are displayed in the properties-panel (Fig. 1.5.1). Various tools and options related to the edit can be found on this panel.

Name: This field shows the item name as seen in the item-list. You can also alter the name here. Renaming the edit here does not affect the file name, however.

Project: This field shows the project to which this item belongs. Description: This field allows you to enter a description of the edit, or make notes for future reference. Bear in mind that this field is scanned by the search tool, so by inserting simple keywords into descriptions, you can make it very easy to locate material later.

File: This field shows the location of the edit on your hard-drive.

Delete edit: Click this button to remove the edit from the project. This option cannot be undone. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.

Create a copy: Use this option to create a copy of this edit and add it to the project.

Export edit: This option allows you to bundle the edit and related materials into an archive. Use this if you want back up your work, or transfer it to another computer for you or a collaborator to work on. The project will also be archived, but other edits within the project will not.

Selecting this option displays a dialogue-box where options related to the archive export can be set. The export edit dialogue-box offers a range of options to strip unnecessary material from the archive. These options are not available when exporting projects.

You may also be interested in reading Chapter 10, where you will find more information on exporting and importing edits.

Find referenced material: This option lists all of the items that this edit requires. It is effectively the inverse of the “find orphaned clips” function for projects.

Import external files...: It is possible for material to be used in more than one project. If one of these projects does not have an entry in its item list for the shared material, Tracktion regards the other project as being the material’s owner. If the project that owns the material is later closed, the current edit will no longer have access to the material.

This option creates an item-list entry for such files, thus making the current project also an owner of the material.

Create a new edit: This option creates a new empty edit in the current project.

Import material: Use this option to associate audio or MIDI files with this edit, or to import tracks from an audio CD. When this option is clicked, a pop-up menu (Fig. 1.5.2) appears:

Import an audio or MIDI file...: This option to add material on your hard-drive or a CD to the edit. Files located on CDs are copied into the project folder, whereas files stored on a hard-drive are referenced from their source location. Keyboard shortcut: A.
Import all files in a directory...: This option works much like the “import an audio or MIDI file...” option above. The difference is that this option imports all suitable files in the selected directory (folder).
Unpack an archive and add it to this project..: This option adds the items from an archive into the current project. The pop-up menu that is displayed when right-clicking on a project-list entry also provides this option.
Import tracks from an audio CD...: This option to copy tracks from an audio CD into Tracktion. The imported tracks are saved as audio files in the project folder and added to the edit as standard audio clips.

Open for editing: Clicking this button opens the edit, and switches to the edit page. The edit page is where your arrangements are actually created, and it is here you will do most of your work.

1.6 Audio Item Properties

When an audio item is selected, its properties are displayed in the properties-panel (Fig. 1.6.1). Various tools and options related to the audio file can be found on this panel.

Name: This field shows the audio-item name as seen in the item-list. You can also edit the name here. Renaming the edit here does not affect the audio file name, however.

Project: This field shows the project to which this item belongs.

File: This field shows the location of the item on your hard-drive.

Description: This field allows you to enter a description of the audio clip, or make notes for future reference. Bear in mind that this field is scanned by the search tool. By inserting simple keywords into descriptions, you and make it very easy to locate material later.

Edit audio file: This button shows a pop-up menu (Fig. 1.6.2) with the following options:• Create a copy of this wave file: This option creates a copy of the audio file, and places it in the same folder as the original.• Basic editing operations: This option displays a dialogue-box that allows you to reverse the sample, change the sample rate, change the bit depth, normalise the sample, trim silence, and convert the audio to mono. The basic editing options are described a little later in this section.• Minimise Tracktion when external editor is launched: This option causes Tracktion’s display to minimise when an external editor is launched. This is useful when working in a single-monitor environment. If you are working with two monitors however, you may prefer to uncheck it.• Edit using ...: If you have suitable audio editing software installed on your computer, you can quickly transfer audio material to the editing application using this option. If this menu-option is not available, use the “set the audio editor to use” option to choose an audio editor. • Set the audio editor to use..: This option allows you to choose a default audio editor.

Delete source file: Click this to delete the item and the source audio file.

Delete item: Click this button to remove the item from the project. You will be prompted if you want to remove the source file as well.
Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.

Add marker: This option allows you to mark points of interest on audio files. Drag the arrow to point at the region to which you wish to draw attention. For example, if you feel that a vocal take needs a touch of pitch correction at a certain point, you could use this tool to highlight the problem for future correction.

Preview: Click this to preview the audio file.

Preview level: Use this option to adjust how loud previews are played.

Wave file information: This shows useful information about the resolution, and nature of an audio file.

The basic editing options

Selecting the “basic editing options” menu-item from the “edit audio file” button menu, causes a dialogue-box (Fig. 1.6.3) to be shown. From this dialogue-box, you can access a number of useful tools for working with audio files.

Note: these operations are all destructive, so be sure that you want to make permanent changes to your source audio file.

The “operation type” field shows a drop-down menu when selected (Fig. 1.6.4). From this menu, you can select from a number of different operations. The options available below this field will change depending on the operation selected:

Trim silence: Use this option to remove audio that is below a given threshold from either end of the audio file. When this operation type is selected, the following options are available:

Threshold: Any audio below this threshold will be trimmed.
Trim start: When this option is selected, audio below the threshold level at the start of the wave file will be trimmed.
Trim end: When this option is selected, audio below the threshold level at the end of the wave file will be trimmed.

Normalise: Use this option to adjust the level of the audio such that the peak level of the wave file reaches the desired normalise level. Typically normalisation would be used to make an audio file as loud as possible without introducing any digital distortion, or clipping. There is only one option available for normalise, “peak level,” and it is this level to which the file will be normalised.

Make mono: Use this option to convert a stereo audio file into a mono file. You can opt to merge the two stereo channels together, or to disregard either the left or right channels. This option is not available when working with mono files.

Change sample rate: If you wish to have Tracktion convert the sample rate of an audio file to a different rate, you can use this option.

Reverse: This option can be used to reverse the audio file. Reversed sounds are literally played backwards. There are no options available for this operation.

1.7 MIDI Item Properties

When a MIDI item is selected, its properties are displayed in the properties-panel (Fig. 1.7.1). Various tools and options related to the MIDI item can be found on this panel.

Name: This field shows the item name as seen in the item-list. You can also edit the name here. Renaming the edit here does not affect the MIDI file name, however.

Project: This field shows the project to which this item belongs.

File: This field shows the location of the item on your hard-drive.

Description: This field allows you to enter a description of the MIDI clip, or make notes for future reference. Bare in mind that this field is scanned by the search tool; by inserting simple keywords into descriptions, you can make it far easier to locate material later.

Delete source file: Click this to delete the item and the source MIDI file.

Delete item: Click this button to remove the item from the project. You will be prompted if you want to remove the source file as well. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.

Add marker: This option allows you to mark points of interest in MIDI clips. Drag the arrow to point at the region to which you wish to draw attention.

Preview: Click this to preview the MIDI file.

Preview level: Use this option to adjust how loud previews will be played.