Chapter 3: The Edit Page
The edit page is where you compose, edit, and mix your songs. Almost all of the tools you will use for writing and mixing your music are contained on this page.
3.1 The Input Section
There are two different ways of working with the input section: the per-track view, and the icon view.
To switch between them:
- Click the “options” button in the control section.
- Select the “Use a ‘per-track view’ for input devices” option from the pop-up menu.
Icon view
If you are using the icon view, you will see all of your input devices as icons arranged in the filter section. Drag your chosen audio input device to the track on which you wish to record. To arm the input, drag it to the right. When it is close enough to the track, an arrow pointing to the track appears (Fig. 3.1.1). You can unarm the input by dragging it to the left until the arrow disappears.
Per-track view
To select an audio input device, click and drag slightly on the shaded input region to the left of the track name. This displays a pop-up menu from which you can select your desired input (Fig. 3.1.2).
Input devices in the per-track view can be enabled or disabled by clicking the large red “R” icon. If the icon is solid red, then the input is armed. Otherwise, if the icon is non-solid with a bar across it, the input is unarmed.
In addition to the available input devices, the per-track view pop-up menu also offers the following options for quickly managing multi-track recording:
Assign all inputs to consecutive tracks: When this option is selected, available audio input devices will be automatically assigned to the current track, and the tracks below it. This option does not apply to MIDI inputs.
Note: Any previously assigned audio inputs will be replaced when this option is selected.
Enable/Disable all devices for recording: Use this option to toggle all assigned inputs between armed and unarmed state. This option applies to both audio and MIDI input devices. Keyboard shortcut: ALT + R (CTRL + R for Mac users).
The track names
In addition to the input devices, the input section also contains the track name section. The extra tools available for working with tracks from within the input section are described later in Section 3 of this chapter.
3.2 The Arrange Area
Zooming in and out horizontally
You can zoom in and out of edits in a number of ways:
- Using the mouse-wheel. (See note below).
- Dragging the mouse left or right whilst holding down the right-mouse button.
- Using the CURSOR UP and CURSOR DOWN keys.
- Using the F4 key to zoom in to the edit such that only the selected clips are shown.
- Using the F5 key to zoom out of the edit such that the entire edit can be displayed on screen.
- Using the F6 key to zoom in to the edit such that a few seconds on either side of the play-head cursor are visible.
- Using the F7 key to zoom in to the edit such that only the region between the loop-start and loop-end markers is shown.
Scrolling through an edit
The following tools and shortcuts are available to help you quickly navigate through your edits:
- Using the mouse-wheel whilst the SHIFT key is held down. (See note below).
- Dragging the mouse left or right whilst holding down the left-mouse button.
- Using the CURSOR LEFT and CURSOR RIGHT keys to move the play-head cursor.
- Using the HOME and END keys to move to the start/end of the selected clips, or the edit.
- Using the marker tools to set song markers. Markers are discussed in Chapter Four.
Note: The behaviour of the mouse-wheel can be switched between zoom and scroll. Depending which function is assigned to your mouse-wheel, the alternate functionality can be achieved by holding down the SHIFT key.
To change the default behaviour, click the “options” button in the control-section. Select the “mouse wheel action” option, and choose your preferred behaviour from the sub-menu.
Zooming in and out vertically
You can grow or shrink tracks vertically by:
- Positioning the mouse pointer in the input section, holding down the CTRL key (CMD for Mac users), and using the mouse-wheel.
- Using the SHIFT + CTRL + CURSOR UP / DOWN keys (SHIFT + CMD + CURSOR UP / DOWN for Mac users).
- Using the F8 key to resize tracks such that they are all visible on screen.
- Using the F9 key to resize tracks such that they are all set to the default height.
Zooming into individual tracks
You can expand and shrink tracks individually by either:
- Using the Z key to expand any selected clip(s). The behaviour of this shortcut can be modified in the miscellaneous settings (see Chapter 2.9).
- Holding the mouse pointer between two tracks (Fig. 3.2.2). The dividing line between the tracks will be highlighted. Click and drag vertically on the divider line to resize the track.
- Double-clicking on the track name, or on a clip contained in the track above the divider.
Scrolling through the tracks
You can scroll though the tracks vertically by:
- Using the mouse-wheel whilst the mouse pointer is over the input section.
- Using the SHIFT + CURSOR UP and SHIFT + CURSOR DOWN keys.
- Using the CTRL + HOME keys (CMD + HOME for Mac users) to scroll to the top-most track.
- Using the CTRL + HOME keys (CMD + HOME for Mac users) to scroll to the bottom-most track.
Selecting clips
You can select a group of clips by:
- Holding down CTRL (CMD for Mac users) whilst clicking on the target clips.
- Holding down ALT (CTRL for Mac users) whilst left-click dragging a rectangle (lasso) around the desired clips.
- Selecting a clip and using the CTRL + A keys (CMD + A for Mac users) to select all clips on the track.
- Pressing the CTRL + A keys (CMD + A for Mac users) twice to select all clips in the edit.
3.3 The Track Options
The input section, and track namesRenaming tracks quickly:
- Click the name of the track to be renamed. This selects the track, and displays its properties.
- Press the TAB key on your keyboard. This automatically moves focus to the track name field in the track properties. (The track properties are described in greater detail later in this section.)
- Type a new name for the track.
Moving tracks:
- Click and drag the name of the track you wish to move.
Tip: Resizing tracks is discussed in the previous section.
If you see a yellow exclamation mark after the track name (Fig.3.3.1), this means that there are audio or MIDI clips on the track that are likely to be inaudible. This will happen if audio clips are placed on a track that outputs to a MIDI device, or MIDI clips are placed on a track that does not contain a VSTi or output to a MIDI device. Setting the track output is described a little later in this chapter.
The right-click menu
Right-clicking on the track name area causes a pop-up menu (Fig. 3.3.2) to appear. Some options in this menu operate on all selected tracks; others operate only on the track that received the right-click. The options available are:
Copy selected tracks to clipboard: Use this option to copy all selected tracks, and their filter sections, to the clipboard. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + C (CMD + C for Mac users).
Delete selected tracks: Use this function to delete any currently selected tracks from the edit. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
Insert clipboard at cursor position: When this option is selected, the contents of the clipboard are inserted into the target track. Space is inserted into the track’s existing contents to accommodate the pasted material. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + I (CMD + I for Mac users).
Create a new track: A new track will be added to the edit. The track will be inserted directly beneath the selected track. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + T (CMD + T for Mac users).
Select all tracks: When this option is chosen, all tracks will be selected. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + A (CMD + A for Mac users).
Select all clips in this track: Choose this option to quickly select all clips on the target track.
Deselect all clips in this track: This option returns all clips on the track to an unselected state.
Expand track: Use this option to increase the vertical size of the target track to a level suitable for MIDI editing, etc. Keyboard shortcut: Z.
Shrink track: Choose this to reduce back to normal the size of a previously expanded track. Keyboard shortcut: Z.
Fit all tracks on screen: This option vertically resizes all tracks such that they all fit on the screen. Keyboard shortcut: F8.
The “tracks” button
Clicking on the “tracks” button displays a pop-up menu (Fig. 3.3.3) with the following options:
Create a new track: Select this option to have Tracktion insert a new track into the edit. The new track will be placed below the currently selected track. If no track is selected, the new track will be created below the last existing track. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + T (CMD + T for Mac users).
Create several new tracks: This option allows you to create a number of new tracks in one operation. A sub-menu appears from which you can select any number between two and sixteen tracks to add.
Fit all tracks on screen: When this option is selected, Tracktion will resize the height of all tracks such that they can all fit on screen. Keyboard shortcut: F8.
Set all tracks to default height: When this option is selected, Tracktion resizes all tracks to the default track height. Keyboard shortcut: F9.
The track properties
Clicking on a track’s name in the input section displays the properties for that track (Fig. 3.3.4). As with most things in Tracktion, a number of tracks can be selected at once by holding down the CTRL key (CMD for Mac users). When multiple tracks are selected however, a few of the options described below are not available.
Name: This field allows you to view or set the name of the track(s) as shown in the filter section.
Mute/solo: These options allow the track(s) to be muted or soloed. These controls are duplicates of the mute/solo controls in the track’s filter section.
Delete track: This button removes the track(s) from the edit. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
Freeze track: This option “freezes” the track(s). Freezing is discussed in Chapter 8.1.
Render track: When this button is clicked, a pop-up menu appears. From this menu, you can export the track as an audio or MIDI file. Rendering is described further in Chapter 8.2.
- Render into the project directory: Select this option to have Tracktion place the rendered file in the current project folder.
- Render to a specific file...: This option allows you to control the name and destination of the output file.
Insert new tracks: This option adds new tracks to the edit. From this menu you can choose to add a number of tracks at once from a set of preset menus. You can also add a single track by pressing
CTRL + T (
CMD + T for Mac users). New tracks will be inserted between the current track and the next track.
Insert a new clip: When this button is clicked, a pop-up menu is shown from which you can choose the type of clip to add. The new clip will be placed on the current track. If there is a loop region set, and the “make new clips the size of the marked region” option is selected in the “options” menu, then the new clip will fill that region. Otherwise a new clip of arbitrary length will be created at the cursor point. For information on the “options” button pop-up menu, see Chapter 3.5.
- Insert new MIDI clip: Adds a new MIDI clip to the edit. Keyboard shortcut: G.
- Insert new audio clip: Adds a new audio clip to the edit. The audio clip will not reference any audio files, so you will need to set the referenced file after inserting the clip. If you are working with an existing audio file, it is usually faster to copy it to the clipboard and paste it as a new clip in the edit. You can also use the “import audio or MIDI file” option from the “import” button located in the control-section (see Chapter 10.1).
Move track up/down: These options allow you to move the track up or down in the track-list order. You can also reposition a track in the list by dragging on the track’s name.
Select all clips in track: This option highlights all clips in this track. Keyboard shortcut (with clip selected): CTRL + A (CMD + A for Mac users).
Shrink / grow: These options reduce, or increase, the vertical size of the track through four preset sizes: squashed, normal, large, and extra-large. The largest two sizes are especially useful for MIDI clips, as these sizes are large enough to allow for MIDI editing in the piano-roll editor.
Mute / unmute all filters: These buttons cyclically set all filters on the track to muted (disabled) or unmuted (enabled).
Auto-advance: This option sets whether Tracktion chooses an optimum value for the “advance” field, or whether you are instead providing a manual setting. Unless you have a very good reason to adjust this setting for a track, it is a good idea to always leave it enabled.
Advance: Sometimes in order for a track to play in synchronisation with the edit, it is necessary to introduce a timing offset to the track. Although this may seem counter-intuitive, there are lots of good reasons why this may be. For example, if external MIDI hardware tends to respond a little late to MIDI messages, you can compensate by adjusting the advance value so that this track plays a little early in relation to the rest of the edit. The “advance” value is also used to correct for plug-ins that introduce a delay to the signal passing through them (commonly referred to as “plug-in delay compensation” or PDC).
If the auto-advance option is enabled, Tracktion will compensate for delays caused by plug-ins automatically.
Insert into tracks: Clicking this button displays a pop-up menu (Fig. 3.3.5) with options for inserting material into the track.
- Insert space in the marked region: This option creates an empty region between the loop markers on the current track(s). All clips and automation points at, or subsequent to, the loop-start marker are moved to the right by an amount equal to the current loop size. If there is marked region, this option will appear greyed-out. If all tracks are a selected, you can use this option to insert space into the entire edit, for example, to make room for an extended intro.
- Insert clipboard contents at cursor position: This option places the contents of the clipboard at the current cursor position. All subsequent clips and automation points on the track will be moved accordingly. If there is no content stored in the clipboard, this option will appear greyed-out. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + I (CMD + I for Mac users).
Delete marked region: Clicking this button displays a pop-up menu (Fig. 3.3.6) with options for removing material from the track.
- Clear marked region of selected tracks: This option deletes any clips contained within the loop markers on the selected track(s). Subsequent clips are not affected by this action.
- Clear marked region of all tracks: This option deletes any clips contained within the loop markers on all tracks. Subsequent clips are not affected by this action.
- Delete marked region of selected tracks and close the gaps: This option deletes any clips contained within the loop markers on the selected track(s). Subsequent clips and automation points are moved to the left by an amount equal to the current loop size.
- Delete marked region of all tracks and close the gaps: This option deletes any clips contained within the loop markers on all tracks. Subsequent clips and automation points are moved to the left by an amount equal to the current loop size.
Destination output for this track: By default all tracks send their output to the default audio device. If you wish to have audio sent to an alternate audio device, or have the MIDI data from a track sent to external MIDI gear, just select the desired output. You can also send the output of a track, or even a number of tracks, to another track.
3.4 The Filter Section
A fundamental part of bringing a song to life is the process of setting the volume of all instruments, vocals, and percussive sounds, such that the listener’s attention is drawn to the sounds you wish to emphasise, while keeping other sounds clearly audible. Effects processes, such as reverb, may be used to give sounds a sense of position and space. Treatments, such as compression, may be used to give sounds punch or weight without making them too loud. You may even use a little EQ to boost the bass of a kick drum, or maybe roll a little of the treble off an overly bright piano. Tracktion allows you to do all of these things, and much more. Fundamentally, mixing is all about levels, and Tracktion makes this very easy.
Note: When we refer to filters, we are describing any effect or instrument that can be inserted, or ‘plugged’ into, the filter section. The terms filter and plug-in within this context are synonymous.
When a track is first created, it contains a volume/pan filter and a level meter. These are the filters you will use for setting levels. In this way, the filter section of each new track represents the functionality of a classic mixing console. Figure 3.4.1 shows the default filter configuration.
Adding filters to a track
If you want to add other filters to your tracks, simply drag the icon labelled “new filter...” that is located just above the filter section and drop it where you want the new filter to be placed. Figure 3.4.2 shows a filter being added to track one. Notice that the area in front of the volume/pan filter is glowing red; this is how you can tell where the filter will be placed. If there is no illumination, then you are not currently over a valid target area.
Once the “new filter” icon has been dropped, a list of available filters appears. Choose the filter you wish to add to the track from this list.
Copying, moving, and deleting filters
A filter can be easily removed from a track by selecting it, and pressing either the DELETE or BACKSPACE key.
You can alter the order of the filter list, or even move a filter to a different track, by a simple drag operation.
Holding down the CTRL key (CMD for Mac users) whilst dragging a filter creates a copy of it. The copy is created with identical settings.
The right-click options
If you right-click on a filter, you are presented with a pop-up menu (Fig. 3.4.3) with the following options:
Disable: Use this option to toggle whether this filter is active. Disabling a filter stops it from processing the incoming signal. In addition, disabled filters typically do not use CPU resources. This option is useful for making A/B comparisons. Keyboard shortcut: F.
Disable all filters in this track: Use this option to quickly disable all filters on the current track. This option is only available when right-clicking on filters that are situated in the filter section.
Select all filters in this track: Use this option to quickly select all filters on the current track. This option is only available when right-clicking on filters that are situated in the filter section.
Select all other filters of the same type: Use this option to select all filters in the edit that are of the same type as the current filter. It is useful to note that when an aux-send filter is selected, only other aux-sends that share the same bus number will be selected. In this way you can select only your reverb or chorus sends for example, leaving other sends unselected.
Clear all automation curves for this filter: This option allows you to remove all automation data for this filter. If no automation data exists for this filter, this option will be greyed out.
Display an active automation curve: If you select this option you will be show a list of active automation curves for the current filter. Select a curve from the list to have it shown on the track view. If no automation data exists for this filter, this option will be greyed out.
Replace this filter: This option allows you to select a filter with which to replace the current filter.
Wrap this filter in a new rack filter: This option will replace the current filter with a new rack filter. The current filter will be placed inside the rack, with all connections made automatically. This can be a handy way of creating racks for multiple-output VSTis. Place the VSTi on a track that you will be using it on, select this option, and then copy the new rack to other tracks as required. Rack filters are described in detail in Chapter 9.
Delete this filter: This option removes the filter from the track, or audio clip it is located on. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
The mute/solo buttons
Each track has a mute/solo switch, located at the far right-hand side of the filter section. These controls can be used to temporarily silence a track, or hear it in isolation.
Clicking the “M” mute control temporarily silences a track. When a track is muted, the mute button will be highlighted. Mute can be used to hear a mix without a given instrument. It can be very handy when trying to locate sounds that do not complement each other. Clicking the mute button again, un-mutes the track.
Clicking the “S” solo control temporarily silences all tracks but the current one. This is often useful when making changes to EQ, or compression on a track, as subtle changes may not be easy to hear when the full mix is playing. When a track has been soloed, the “S” button will be highlighted, and all non-soloed tracks will have a large cross shown on their mute/solo control. Clicking the solo button again, un-solos the track.
Tip: It is useful to note that when tracks are muted, any filters contained on the track will cease to use its processing power.
If you attempt to solo a track when another track is already soloed, Tracktion simply transfers solo status to the current track. If you want to have two or more tracks soloed, hold down the CTRL or ALT keys (CMD or CTRL for Mac users) whilst soloing another track.
When working with tracks that feed into other tracks, be aware that:
- Muting the destination track will effectively mute the source (sub-mix) tracks.
- Soloing the destination track will mute all source tracks. You can use the multiple-solo key modifier described above to bring your sub-mix tracks into play if required.
- Soloing a track that feeds into another track will solo both the source and destination tracks.
Right-clicking on a mute/solo control displays a pop-up menu option to clear all mute/solo buttons back to the default state.
The volume/pan filter
This filter allows you to set the volume level and panning of a track.
Clicking on this filter displays the volume and pan settings for the track in the properties-panel (Fig. 3.4.4).
Notice how the volume/pan filter icon changes to reflect your pan and volume adjustments. The dark horizontal line shows the level, and the diamond shows the pan. Even more handily, the pan and level settings can be adjusted directly from the surface of the filter icon. To change the pan, for example, just click on the diamond and move it left and right. Figure 3.4.5 shows the volume/pan filter when the mouse is moved over the filter surface.
Notice how the surface changes colour and the mouse-pointer becomes an up/down arrow in the first image. This shows that the volume/pan filter is in level editing mode. Click and drag the mouse vertically to adjust the volume.
In the second image, the dark horizontal level bar is highlighted when the mouse is positioned over it. In addition, the mouse-pointer has become a left/right arrow. This shows that the volume/pan filter is in pan editing mode. Click and drag the mouse horizontally to adjust the pan position.
Tip: Holding down a modifier key, such as CTRL whilst the mouse is positioned over a volume/pan filter switches the mouse-pointer to a four-way arrow. In this state, you can edit the pan and volume simultaneously.
Volume: Use this field to view or edit the current volume fader level.Pan: Use this field to view or edit the current pan position.
Apply to midi velocities: When this option is enabled, the volume control can be used to scale MIDI velocities.
Reset volume to 0 dB: Use this button to quickly reset the volume to the default level.
Centre panning: Use this button to quickly reset the pan control to centre.
Mute: This button temporarily sets the volume to “–inf.” Clicking this button again restores the volume to its previous level. This option is complementary to the main mute/solo controls in the filter section, as it is possible to automate this control if desired, whereas the main mute/solo controls cannot be automated.
Enabled: Use this option to toggle whether this filter is active. Disabling a filter stops it from processing the incoming signal. In addition, disabled filters typically do not use CPU resources. This option is useful for making A/B comparisons. Keyboard shortcut: F.
Delete filter: Click this to remove the filter from the track. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
Tip: You can place as many volume/pan filters on a track as you need. This can be useful for reducing levels fed into filters (some VST plugins can distort easily). You may also find it helpful if implementing level fades. Automate the first volume/pan between –inf and 0 dB to create the fade and use the second as a standard track level.
The level meter
This filter shows the level of signal passing through it. When selected, the properties-panel shows a large form of the level meter.
Level meters also show MIDI velocities on MIDI tracks.
When a level meter clips, red bars remain on the meter to alert you. Clicking on the meter clears the clip warning and resets the meter.
If you right-click on a level meter, in addition to the normal right-click options for filters, you will also see the following options:
Use peak mode: Select this option if you want the current meter to display levels in peak mode. In peak mode the meter simply shows the highest level attained by the incoming signal. Peak is particularly helpful for spotting clipping, or sudden spikes.
Use RMS mode: Select this option if you want the current meter to display levels in RMS mode. RMS mode shows the average level of a signal. Clipping may be missed when in RMS mode, but it provides a much better idea of the actual acoustic energy of a track.
Use sum + difference mode: Select this option if you want the current meter to display levels in sum + difference mode. This mode shows two levels, one is the shared stereo level, and the other is the difference between the two stereo levels.
Reset all overloaded indicators: This option clears the clip warning on all meters. Keyboard shortcut: \.
The properties-panel for selected level meters contains the following option:
Delete filter: Click this to remove the filter from the track. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
The 4-band equaliser
When selected, this filter shows a parametric equaliser interface in the properties-panel (Fig. 3.4.6).
Whilst you cannot edit the EQ for this filter directly from the filter surface, changes made to the EQ slope through the editor are shown on the filter icon. This makes it easy to see at a glance what equalisation is being applied to a given track.
The large circles control the frequency, gain, and slope (Q) of the four EQ bands. Dragging the centre square left and right changes the frequency, whereas dragging the square up and down alters the gain.
The slope is depicted by the shaded segment of the circle. The larger the segment, the steeper the slope.
Reset: This button can be used to quickly reset the EQ back to the default (flat) state.
Phase invert: When this option is selected, the phase of the audio passing through the filter is inverted.
Preset: Use these buttons to load, save, and delete EQ presets.
Enabled: Use this option to toggle whether this filter is active. Disabling a filter stops it from processing the incoming signal. In addition, disabled filters typically do not use CPU resources. This option is useful for making A/B comparisons. Keyboard shortcut: F.
Delete filter: Click this to remove the filter from the track. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
The ReWire filter
ReWire is a methodology by which complete audio applications, such as sequencers, can easily be slaved to other such programs running on the same computer. Tracktion is capable of acting as a ReWire master, which means that any software that can be set to run as a ReWire slave can be used as an instrument inside Tracktion (for example Propellerhead Software’s Reason and ReBirth applications.)
To use ReWire you need to enable the ReWire option in the Tracktion settings. See Chapter 2.6 for details on enabling ReWire devices.
ReWire devices are added to tracks in just the same way as any other filter. Once a ReWire device has been added to a track, it is necessary to perform a few simple steps to use a ReWire slaved application:
- Click the ReWire filter in the filter section. The properties are shown in the properties-panel (Fig. 3.4.7).
- Click on the “choose device” button. A pop-up menu appears that lists all available ReWire slave applications installed on your computer. If this list is empty, you either have no ReWire applications installed or they are not installed correctly.
- Select the ReWire application you wish to use from the pop-up menu. The properties-panel will update to show the connection options for the ReWire device (Fig. 3.4.8).
Output channels to use: Many ReWire applications offer multiple output channels, allowing you to have drums or instruments processed and mixed separately in Tracktion. You can select which channels will be received by the current track from the left/right output channel boxes. If you wish to use more than one set of stereo outputs for the slaved program, you can simply add copies of this ReWire filter to other tracks and alter these two output channel boxes accordingly.
Input channel for MIDI: You can also send MIDI data from Tracktion to your ReWire application. A ReWire application will have one or more “MIDI bus” entries available. Clicking the “MIDI bus” drop-down box shows the available buses (many ReWire applications only offer one choice). You can think of the MIDI bus as being broadly similar to a MIDI output device.
In addition to the MIDI bus, each ReWire filter can be assigned a MIDI channel. The MIDI channel is chosen from the “channel” drop-down box.
Launch editor: When this button is clicked, the ReWire application will be launched. This allows you to make edits to the material played by the ReWire device. Closing the application returns you to the Tracktion interface.
The aux send/return filters
Effects Loops in Tracktion are created using two complementary filters, the “aux send” filter and the “aux return” filter.
The send filter replicates the send rotary control of a mixing console, and the return filter is used to create a target for any sent audio. How this works in practise is that a track is designated as a “return” track. This track contains any effects to be applied to each track containing an auxiliary send.
Tracktion’s send implementation is extremely powerful. Because you can place send filters anywhere in the filter list, you can create pre-fade or post-fade send buses by simply placing the send filter before or after the volume/pan filter for a track. Equally sends can be placed before or after any insert effects.
To set up a auxiliary return:
Now the return track is ready to receive audio from your send tracks. To complete the picture, you simply need to add send filters to any tracks that you wish to add effects.
- Place an “aux send” filter between the level meter filter and the mute/solo control on any tracks that you wish to process with this effects bus. The send needs to be after the volume/pan filter otherwise the level of the wet effect would not stay in step with the level of the track. This is called a post-fade send.
- Select your aux send filters, and in the properties-panel (Fig. 3.4.10) set the “bus” field to the bus you chose above.
- To control how much of the send effect is added to your source tracks, adjust the “send” values for each “aux send” filter.
Enable/Disable all other send/return filters on this bus: Both the send and return filters have buttons to globally enable or disable other send/return filters that are assigned to the same bus as the current one.
The Tracktion sampler
Tracktion has a built-in, light-weight sampler filter that, thanks to an efficient user-interface, is extremely quick to use for simple tasks and uses very little of your computer’s resources.
The sampler supports key-ranges, so different sounds can be assigned to each note, but it does not support velocity layering. If you want to create highly realistic sounding instruments that change timbre depending on how hard the key is struck (velocity), you may want to use a more fully featured sampler plug-in.
Adding and removing samples
Samples can be imported into the sampler either by clicking the “add” button and navigating to the file on your hard-drive, or by dragging them into the file list box. If a sample is added to the list twice, only one copy of it is actually kept in memory.
Removing samples from the list is as simple as selecting them in the list and clicking the “remove” button. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
Setting up a key-range
Sometimes it is desirable to define the range of keys over which a sample plays. This range is called a key-range, or key-map. To set the key-range for a sample, select the sample from the list of loaded samples. Once selected you will see three arrows pointing down towards the piano keyboard. Two of the arrows are joined, and it is these arrows that define the key-range. Simply drag them to point to the lowest and highest keys you wish this sample to play.
If both key-range arrows are set to the same key, the sample will only be heard when that key is struck, which is useful when setting up percussive sample sets.
The third arrow, which should be shown in a different colour, controls the root-note. The root-note of a sample is the note at which the sample should play at its native pitch. Dragging this arrow down an octave will therefore have the effect of transposing the sample up an octave.
Multiple key-ranges
Figure 3.4.11 shows two samples loaded, with each set to play across different two-octave ranges. In this case, the first sample has a key-range spread from C2 to C4, and by setting the root-note to C3, the sample will play one octave either side of its natural pitch. The second sample has a key-range spread from C-1 to C1, and by dragging the root-note to C0, this sample too will play an octave either side of its natural pitch.
A drum map could therefore be created by setting:
- a kick-drum sample to have a root-note and upper/lower key-range arrow all pointing at C1.
- a snare sample to have a root-note and upper/lower key-range arrow all pointing at D1.
- a hi-hat sample to have a root-note and upper/lower key-range arrow all pointing at E1.
Ignore release: When this option is activated, the currently selected sample will not respond to note-off events. If for example you had a collection of vocal phrases assigned to various keys, could trigger them by simply playing the corresponding key on your MIDI keyboard. If this option was disabled, when you release the key, the vocal would abruptly stop. Enabling this option would allow the vocal to play through the entire sampled phrase without you needing to hold down the trigger key. “Ignore release” is commonly used with percussive sounds.
The “ignore release” option is local to a single sample.
The waveform display: The waveform display shows the current sample as a visual waveform. You can trim the start and end of the sample by dragging the sample contents. If you click somewhere on the left-hand side of the waveform-display and drag the mouse to the left or right, you can adjust the start point of the sample. Following the same procedure in the right-hand side of the display allows you to adjust the end point.
Pan: Each sample can be panned individually by selecting it in the list on the left, and adjusting the pan control as required.
Vol: The volume that each sample is played at can be set by selecting the sample from the list on the left, and adjusting the “vol” control as required.
3.5 The Control Section
When the edit page is showing, the control section provides a number of tools and configuration options related to working with edits (Fig 3.5.1).
The configuration options available from these buttons differ from those on the settings page (global settings) in that these options are saved with each edit (session dependent). This means that when you next open an edit you have been working on, it appears exactly as you left it.
Undo/redo: Tracktion supports multiple level undo/redo operations, which means you can step back or forwards through a number of previous actions.
Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + Z, and CTRL + Y respectively (CMD + Z and CMD + Y for Mac users)
.
Save: This button displays a pop-up menu with the following options.
- Save edit: This option saves the edit. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + S (CMD + S for Mac users).
- Save edit as: Select this option if you wish to save the current edit under a new name.
- Revert to saved state: When this option is selected, Tracktion re-opens the last saved version of this edit, losing any subsequent changes.
- Open the directory containing edit: This option opens a Windows Explorer or Mac Finder window focused on the folder containing the edit.
Clipboard: This button displays a pop-up menu with options for working with Tracktion’s clipboard. Note that some of these options are only available when a clip is selected.
- Cut: Select this to perform a standard “cut” operation. The selected clip(s) will be removed and added to the clipboard. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + X (CMD + X for Mac users).
- Copy: Select this to perform a standard “copy” operation. The selected clip(s) will be added to the clipboard. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + C (CMD + C for Mac users).
- Copy marked section: Select this to copy any part(s) of the selected clip(s) that is located between the loop-begin and loop-end markers.
- Paste: Select this to perform a standard “paste” operation. The contents of the clipboard will be pasted after the current clip. If this option is performed a number of times, each new paste will be placed after the one preceding it. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + V (CMD + V for Mac users).
- Paste after selected: Select this option to paste the contents of the clipboard at the end of the selected clip.
- Paste (inserting at cursor position): Select this option to paste the contents of the clipboard at the play-head cursor position. If the cursor is located over this, or another clip on this track, the clip will be split to make room for the pasted material. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + I (CMD + I for Mac users).
- Delete: Select this to remove the clip from the edit. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
- Delete (+ delete source files): When this option is selected, the clip and its source material are deleted. Using this function will affect any other clips that reference the source file, so use this with caution. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + M (CMD + M for Mac users).
- Bring obscured clips to front: If this clip is placed over another clip, you can use this option to bring the hidden clip forward. Keyboard shortcut: B.
- Show clipboard contents: This option displays the contents of the clipboard in the properties-panel. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + ALT + C (CMD + CTRL + C for Mac users).
Import: This option allows you to add new material to an edit. Importing material into edits is described in
Chapter 10.
Export: This option allows you to export content from your edit, or export the edit as an archive. The export options are described in Chapter 10.
Timecode: This button displays options related to tempo, MIDI, and video synchronisation. This menu is also available by right-clicking the time-line. The tempo and time-line functions are detailed in Chapter 4.
Click track: This button displays a pop-up menu with options relating to Tracktion’s click-track. The click-track options are detailed in Chapter 4.
Snapping: This button displays a pop-up menu with options relating to snapping and quantising. The snapping options are detailed in Chapter 4, and Chapter 6.
Tracks: This button displays a pop-up menu with options relating to tracks. Tracks are discussed elsewhere in this chapter.
Options: When this button is clicked, a pop-up menu is displayed. This pop-up menu has the following options.
- Scroll smoothly: By default the edit will only scroll when the play-head cursor reaches the edge of the arrange play-head cursor is fixed at the centre of the arrange area and the edit scrolls continuously. This makes it easier to follow the edit visually during playback, but places extra load on computer resources.
- Show waveforms: Use this option to enable or disable whether audio clips show waveforms, and MIDI clips show MIDI data when in shrunken state.
- Audible trimming: When this option is enabled, trimming operations on audio clips will be audible.
- Return cursor to start position when play stops: When this option is selected, the play-head cursor reacts to playback stopping by returning to the point at which playback began.
- Default midi editor vertical scale: Use this option to select how many octaves are spanned when in MIDI editor mode. If you do a lot of MIDI editing by hand, you may find two or perhaps four octaves to be the best choice. Otherwise you may prefer to have a fuller range by default.
- Make new clips the size of the marked region: When this option is selected, new clips will be the size of the marked region.
- Stop all playback when application is minimised: When working across more than one application, for example using a wave editor alongside Tracktion, it is sometimes useful to have the minimise button automatically stop playback.
- Warn about lost midi notes on midi inputs: When this option is enabled, Tracktion displays a warning message if MIDI notes are received by a MIDI input device that is not connected to a track.
- Use a ‘per-track’ view for input devices: This option toggles whether Tracktion uses draggable input icons, or the “per-track” view in the input-section. For users with many input devices, the per-track view is generally the best choice.
- Show big input level meters: When this option is selected, large level meters are shown horizontally across tracks that have inputs attached. This makes it easier to see the input levels at a distance from the screen. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + ALT + M (CMD + CTRL + M for Mac users).
- Mouse wheel action: This option controls whether the mouse wheel is used to zoom or scroll in the arrange area. Note, whichever option is chosen, holding down the SHIFT key provides the alternate functionality.
- Use incoming velocities for midi step entry: When this option is enabled, the MIDI editor’s fixed velocity will be ignored in step editor mode. Instead, the velocity of the incoming note will be used.
- Show QuickTime movie window: This option toggles whether the QuickTime window is visible. Chapter 4.5 describes the video window in detail. Keyboard shortcut: ALT + M (CTRL + M for Mac users).
- Set QuickTime movie file...: Select this option to choose a video file to display.
- Change video start time offset: Use this option to set the time at which the video playback should begin.
- Preview volume: When importing samples into the Tracktion sampler, or into audio clips, audio files can be quickly auditioned by simply clicking on the filename. This option allows you to set a volume level to be used when Tracktion previews audio files.
Automation: This button displays a pop-up menu with options relating to automation. See
Chapter 7 for specifics on automation.
Help: Click this button to the access help on using Tracktion.
- 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, hovering the mouse pointer over a control will cause Tracktion to display a pop-up help balloon describing the control. 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.
3.6 The Transport Section
The top-left-hand corner of the transport section (Fig. 3.6.1) shows the current tempo and time signature. Clicking on this value displays the tempo properties in the properties-panel. From there you can adjust the tempo/time signature. The padlock icon activates time code chasing (see Chapter 4).
To the right of the tempo is the current play-head position. This value can be edited to snap the play-head cursor to an exact point.
The two “A” buttons below the tempo toggle automation read mode and automation record mode.
Automation read: When this button is active, Tracktion will play automation curves, otherwise they will be ignored. Keyboard shortcut: H.
Automation record: When this button is active, any changes made to automatable parameters whilst playback is active will be recorded. Keyboard shortcut: Y.
The next five buttons provide standard tape-deck style play, record, rewind, backward, and forward functions.
Play: This buttons toggles whether playback is active. Keyboard shortcut: SPACE.
Record: This button starts recording from all active input devices. Keyboard shortcut: R.
Rewind to zero: This button moves the play-cursor back to the start of the selected clip, or the start of the edit (whichever comes first). Keyboard shortcut: HOME.
Rewind/fast-forward: These two buttons move the play-head cursor backwards or forwards through the edit. A single click moves the play-head to the next snapping location. Holding either of these buttons down causes Tracktion to scroll through the edit until the button is released.
The next series of button controls various aspects related to playback and record:
Loop: When this option is active, playback will cycle through the region set by the loop markers. Keyboard shortcut: L.
Punch: When in punch mode, recording is only active during the time that the play-head cursor is between the loop-start and loop-end markers. Note, punch mode cannot be used at the same time as loop mode. Performing punched recordings is described in detail in the User’s Guide. Keyboard shortcut: P.
Click: This option toggles whether the click-track is active. Working with the click-track is described in detail in the User’s Guide. Keyboard shortcut: C.
Snap: This option toggles whether snap-to-grid is active. Snapping is detailed throughout Chapter 4. Keyboard shortcut: Q.
E-to-E: This option toggles whether end-to-end mode is enabled. When enabled, Tracktion will send data to the output devices even if playback is stopped. It is usually a good idea to leave e-to-e enabled. Keyboard shortcut: SHIFT + E.
Scroll: This option toggles whether the edit will scroll when the play-head cursor reaches the edge of the visible area. Disabling this option can be useful when editing MIDI parts whilst playback is active. Keyboard shortcut: SHIFT + S.
At the bottom of the transport section there is a CPU usage meter. Use this to monitor how much of your available computing power is being used by the current edit. As CPU usage increases, audio stability can be compromised, and pops and clicks may occur in recordings, and during playback. In addition, the user-interface may become sluggish and graphics updates may be noticeably slower.
In addition to the usage meter, you may sometimes see a small exclamation mark (“!”) appear on the usage bar. This notifies you that an edit required more data to be read from your hard-drive than could physically be achieved.
The final part of the transport section is called the master filter section, and it is here that you can see and edit the overall level of your edit. You can also add filters here to create a master insert section, useful for mastering plug-ins such as the FinalMix plug-in that ships with Tracktion.
When you click inside the master filter section, you will see a set of options in the properties-panel (Fig. 3.6.2).
Volume: Use this field to view or edit the current volume fader level.
Pan: Use this field to view or edit the current pan position.
Apply to midi velocities: When this option is enabled, the volume control can be used to scale MIDI velocities.
Find normalised level: This option allows you to have Tracktion select the optimum master level for the edit. A pop-up menu appears with the following options:
- Based on the max level of the whole edit: Choose this option to have Tracktion find the peak level of the edit and set the volume accordingly.
- Based on the RMS level of the whole edit: Choose this option to have Tracktion find the RMS level of the edit and set the volume accordingly.
- Based on the max level of the marked region: Choose this option to have Tracktion find the peak level within the marked region and set the volume accordingly.
- Based on the RMS level of the marked region: Choose this option to have Tracktion find the RMS level within the marked region and set the volume accordingly.
Reset volume to 0 dB: Use this button to quickly reset the volume to the default level.
Centre panning: Use this button to quickly reset the pan control to centred.
Fade in/out: View or edit the fade envelope breakpoints for the edit. These breakpoints define the length of the fades from the start and end of the edit. For example, entering the value two in the first column of both fade fields would cause the edit to fade in over two bars, and begin to fade out two bars from the end of the edit. If fade in/out values have been given, the time-line bar will show fade curves to help you visualise the fades you have set-up. Figure 3.6.3 shows the fade curves at either side of the time-line.
You can of course automate the master volume control to implement a fade, but that requires you to know in advance the final mix levels, and as such, this approach is generally far more elegant.
Fade slope: Choose the slope type for the fade in/out envelopes from these icons.
In addition, right-clicking on the level meter displays options for setting the metering response:
Use peak mode: Select this option if you want the current meter to display levels in peak mode. In peak mode the meter simply shows the highest level attained by the incoming signal. Peak is particularly helpful for spotting clipping, or sudden spikes.
Use RMS mode: Select this option if you want the current meter to display levels in RMS mode. RMS mode shows the average level of a signal. Clipping may be missed when in RMS mode, but it provides a much better idea of the actual acoustic energy of a track.
Use sum + difference mode: Select this option if you want the current meter to display levels in sum + difference mode. This mode shows two levels, one is the shared stereo level, and the other is the difference between the two stereo levels.
Reset all overloaded indicators: This option clears the clip warning from all meters. Keyboard shortcut: \.
