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  #1  
Old 07-16-2014, 10:23 AM
ex-oh ex-oh is offline
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Default need help recording virtual instruments

I've used PT in the distant past, but really only used it as a tape machine. Recently got PT11 and would like to use it more as a songwriting tool.

I'm having some problems recording virtual instruments. I start a blank session, add a new stereo, instrument track. Assign an instrument (boom) to the first insert. Arm the track, hit record/play, press play on boom.. drums play. Stop boom, stop the transport control. there is a region there in the track, but it's empty. no audio info, no midi info. just blank. nothing happens when I try to play it.

first question - why is nothing recording?

second question - once something is recording, how do I choose whether the track records midi data or audio data?

Third question - how do I make boom, (or other instruments) or other armed instruments, play automatically once I hit record on the transport control?


Sorry if these are dumb questions. I've never understood midi, so I feel extra dumb.. but the time has come to try and correct that. :)
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Old 07-16-2014, 05:09 PM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
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Default Re: need help recording virtual instruments

Quote:
Originally Posted by ex-oh View Post
I've used PT in the distant past, but really only used it as a tape machine. Recently got PT11 and would like to use it more as a songwriting tool.

I'm having some problems recording virtual instruments. I start a blank session, add a new stereo, instrument track. Assign an instrument (boom) to the first insert. Arm the track, hit record/play, press play on boom.. drums play. Stop boom, stop the transport control. there is a region there in the track, but it's empty. no audio info, no midi info. just blank. nothing happens when I try to play it.

first question - why is nothing recording?

second question - once something is recording, how do I choose whether the track records midi data or audio data?

Third question - how do I make boom, (or other instruments) or other armed instruments, play automatically once I hit record on the transport control?


Sorry if these are dumb questions. I've never understood midi, so I feel extra dumb.. but the time has come to try and correct that. :)
IIRC Boom plays drum patterns and if you want to record them you need to host Boom on an Aux track and route that to an audio track for recording the audio. Instrument tracks do NOT record audio but MIDI.

Audio tracks can only record audio and MIDI tracks can only record MIDI. There is no track that you can change from recording one to the other. Instrument tracks are a combo of MIDI and Aux tracks and can only record MIDI. To record the audio the MIDI on an instrument track generates you need to route the output of the Instrument track to an audio track and enable record on the audio track, make your timeline selection of what you want recorded and then hit f12 and your MIDI gets rendered to audio. In PT11 with offline bounce you could route the output of an Instrument track to a bus, right click and select bounce, and then make the appropriate selections in the window that comes up. Things like interleaved, bit depth, import the audio about to be rendered to a new audio track in the session, etc.

Once you have MIDI recorded on an Instrument track and an instrument on an insert (say DB33 or Structure) with a patch called up on the vi, when you hit play in the transport the audio will play. Again, if you want to record that audio route the output of the Instrument track and do as I wrote above for routing and/or using offline bounce.

I'd suggest getting a good book on MIDI as well as reading the PT User's Guide (aka The Manual).
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  #3  
Old 07-16-2014, 08:37 PM
ex-oh ex-oh is offline
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Default Re: need help recording virtual instruments

ok, so following what you said, I created an Aux track, "Aux 1" and selected boom on one of it's inserts. I created a new audio track, "Audio1", and tried to route the output of Aux 1 to Audio 1. Audio 1 is not listed in the output menu. Under "track" on the output menu, all that's listed is Aux 1. (it's not in any of the other output sub-menus either)

What am I doing wrong?
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Old 07-17-2014, 03:18 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
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Default Re: need help recording virtual instruments

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Originally Posted by ex-oh View Post
ok, so following what you said, I created an Aux track, "Aux 1" and selected boom on one of it's inserts. I created a new audio track, "Audio1", and tried to route the output of Aux 1 to Audio 1. Audio 1 is not listed in the output menu. Under "track" on the output menu, all that's listed is Aux 1. (it's not in any of the other output sub-menus either)

What am I doing wrong?
There's a much simpler way: from the output of the Aux track select New Track and a new window will come up where you select track type, mono or stereo, and can name the track. When the new track is created which in your case would be an audio track the aux track is automatically routed to the audio track.

One thing to do is to go to the I/O setup menu and on every page hit the Default button - that way you will have available to you every possible audio and bus path your particular system will allow. If you have Session overwrite current I/O setup selected that could make things difficult.

Have you started reading the manual yet? That would be a good thing. Also getting a book on PT would be good.
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Old 07-17-2014, 05:39 AM
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Default Re: need help recording virtual instruments

You can go straight from an instrument track to an audio track without using an aux track. Select the audio output from the instrument track to a mono stereo bus. Select the input on the audio track to the same bus. Record arm the audio track, play Boom. You should have audio on the audio track.

Typically what I'll do with Boom or other drum VIs is use the MIDI in the instrument track to play it so that when I record to audio, I just select however measures I want in the audio track, and hit record.

Rinse and repeat for any other VI part.
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Old 07-17-2014, 10:20 AM
musicman691 musicman691 is offline
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Default Re: need help recording virtual instruments

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Originally Posted by DonaldM View Post
You can go straight from an instrument track to an audio track without using an aux track. Select the audio output from the instrument track to a mono stereo bus. Select the input on the audio track to the same bus. Record arm the audio track, play Boom. You should have audio on the audio track.

Typically what I'll do with Boom or other drum VIs is use the MIDI in the instrument track to play it so that when I record to audio, I just select however measures I want in the audio track, and hit record.

Rinse and repeat for any other VI part.
Your wording/terminology is off. There is no such thing as a mono stereo bus. There's either mono or stereo busses and which one you use depends on whether the Instrument track is mono or stereo (use mono bus on a mono Instrument track and a stereo bus on a stereo Instrument track). But Like I wrote there's no need to route to a bus. Just select new track from the Instrument track and choose audio as the track type and whether you want stereo or mono. Done - no messing with busses.
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