Auto mute tracks when recording only

[acoonrad]

I have researched this pretty thoroughly and I still cant find an answer to my specific question. Apologies if this has been asked/resolved somewhere else.

I'm using Apollo on PT 12 on Win 10. I am using hardware monitoring for any live tracking but also want to hear the previously recorded material on a track while punching.

Is there a setting or method for automatically muting the output of a track while recording only to avoid playback engine delay compared to the hardware monitoring but still be able to hear the prerecorded material on the track while leading up the punch?

I know we now have Input Monitoring, which doesn't help me in this scenario. On Mac you can use low latency monitoring which negates this issue and on a previous setup I was using a PCIe recording interface which had negligible latency, also no issue.

Now, if I want to hear the previously recorded material AND record with no slapback, I have to record the punch to a separate track and merge, or use a mute hotkey with groups to punch and mute at the same time (not always feasible).

Any ideas here? Thanks in advance.

[PMF Media]

Put simply and in a word... No. It's been a missing feature for quite some time, there are 3rd party apps/plugs that achieve this but I gave up on them years ago - try Mutone, it worked well back in the day not sure if it's current tho.

[acoonrad]

Thanks for the reply.

I've mitigated the issue by programming my keyboard with shortcuts that perform one button Mute and one button Mute and Punch Record at the same time. This way I can easily punch one or more tracks and while simultaneously muting the pro tools monitoring (with latency) to monitor only from the hardware cue. Does exactly what I want, but is annoying.

[Drew Mazurek]

LLM.

Low Latency Monitor Mode.

This doesn't exist on PT for Windows? (sorry, I've never actually seen PT run on a PC)

[The Weed]

Try "Unlink Play And Record Faders" in Preferences. Set your RECORD Fader to infinity/zero signal and leave your Play Fader where you want it. When the track goes into record, there will be no signal out.

[Extreme Mixing]

Originally Posted by The Weed

Try "Unlink Play And Record Faders" in Preferences. Set your RECORD Fader to infinity/zero signal and leave your Play Fader where you want it. When the track goes into record, there will be no signal out.

Now that is a great tip. Thanks for taking the time!

[The Weed]

I went years wondering why anyone would want their Record fader and Play fader to be unlinked - I only do voice and a couple of tracks by myself. Then I finally thought about it when a radio producer I was training had to mute record tracks because of latency. A light bulb went off and now I get to tell other people about this simple trick.

Glad I could help.

[RiF]

Originally Posted by The Weed

I went years wondering why anyone would want their Record fader and Play fader to be unlinked - I only do voice and a couple of tracks by myself. Then I finally thought about it when a radio producer I was training had to mute record tracks because of latency. A light bulb went off and now I get to tell other people about this simple trick.

Glad I could help.

Plus, unlinked faders work nicely for giving the vocalist a louder level on the headphones while recording without setting up a completey independent headphone mix.

[moranibus]

Originally Posted by The Weed

Try "Unlink Play And Record Faders" in Preferences. Set your RECORD Fader to infinity/zero signal and leave your Play Fader where you want it. When the track goes into record, there will be no signal out.

Hi, I read your advise yesterday already but cannot figure it out, sorry. I want my client hear what he has just recorded, then punch in and immediately need to mute the track due to heavy latency. To do this, the track must be armed, but then the faders already go to Zero - which they should only do when the track is ON RECORD. Maybe I got something wrong. Any help deeply appreciated. Best.
Update: PT Ultimate 2018.4

[Carl Kolchak]

Originally Posted by moranibus

Hi, I read your advise yesterday already but cannot figure it out, sorry. I want my client hear what he has just recorded, then punch in and immediately need to mute the track due to heavy latency. To do this, the track must be armed, but then the faders already go to Zero - which they should only do when the track is ON RECORD. Maybe I got something wrong. Any help deeply appreciated. Best.
Update: PT Ultimate 2018.4

If you're using a sound card that has it's own direct monitoring software mixer - you need to use Low Latency Monitoring mode in Pro Tools, which mutes input monitoring through Pro Tools (you're getting a direct source feed from your sound card's mixer), but retains playback monitoring from Pro Tools.

Another trick, that I sometimes use to prevent double monitoring, is to put a compressor plug-in on the record track, with the side chain set to the same hardware input that is feeding the track.

Set it up, so that as soon as it receives a signal, it attenuates the output (either mutes it, or ducks it).

This way, when overdubbing, you can hear the previous track material, and as soon as the performer joins in, the signal is muted.

Make sure you consistently insert this compressor plug-in, in the same, otherwise unused, slot - that way you can always use the same slot bypass shortcut, to turn on/off input muting.


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