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  #1  
Old 06-21-2021, 08:07 AM
sleeto sleeto is offline
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Default One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

Fairly new to PTF and learning as I go...

I'm working on a project that has 12 stereo tracks. I recorded a vocal track using my microphone on input 1 (left side), then did the following:

1. split track into mono (creating 2 additional tracks, 1 with vocal and 1 with nothing)
2. copied left side (vocal) and pasted to blank right side (creating two identical mono tracks)
3. dragged both mono tracks back into original stereo track (overwriting the left-side-only version)

Now, the new stereo track is muted/silent/unlinked (not sure what to call it). The wave is there but it's gray instead of black and the track is completely silent when played. All other tracks are functioning properly. I have done this process to create stereo vocals several times before with no problems.

What's happening? Also, if the wave is there but just not visible, is the file not linked somewhere? How can I find it and re-link?
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  #2  
Old 06-21-2021, 11:20 AM
Sardi Sardi is offline
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Default One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

Duplicating the same track, panning it left and right or placing it on a stereo track track does NOT make it a stereo file. There’s nothing remotely stereo about the audio. All you have is a dual mono file. The audio is still straight down the middle of the stereo spectrum.

Why are you doing this? What are you hoping to achieve?

Also, in PT, when a track is grey, it means the clip is muted. You can have muted clips on a track. When the play head crosses that file, no audio is heard.

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  #3  
Old 06-21-2021, 01:11 PM
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albee1952 albee1952 is online now
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

Indeed, record a mono source to a mono track(examples of mono sources: vocal, bass, guitar combo amp, saxophone....).

Sardi's mention of the clip being muted is likely and Ctrl+M (on Windows) will toggle that(not sure what the Mac version is, probably Cmd+M with the clip highlighted/selected).

If that's not it, check that the track has a valid output.
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Old 06-21-2021, 03:33 PM
sleeto sleeto is offline
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

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Originally Posted by Sardi View Post
Duplicating the same track, panning it left and right or placing it on a stereo track track does NOT make it a stereo file. There’s nothing remotely stereo about the audio. All you have is a dual mono file. The audio is still straight down the middle of the stereo spectrum.

Why are you doing this? What are you hoping to achieve?
Thanks for the reply. While I understand your point, with a dual mono file I can still have the option to pan left or right (or delete one side) as I wish. Also, using the process I described above allows you to have two completely separate mono tracks in the left and right sides. (Not that I'm doing it with this particular project.)
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Old 06-21-2021, 03:42 PM
sleeto sleeto is offline
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

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Originally Posted by albee1952 View Post

Sardi's mention of the clip being muted is likely and Ctrl+M (on Windows) will toggle that(not sure what the Mac version is, probably Cmd+M with the clip highlighted/selected).

If that's not it, check that the track has a valid output.
Thanks .................Dave : )

I tried CTL+M with no luck, I know Pro Tools | First is limited to make me upgrade so I'm not sure if that's a missing feature. Either way, I selected the track in question, clicked CTL+M and nothing noteworthy happened.

As for the output, it's the same as all other tracks (including one that I recorded and "dual monoed" the exact same way). All of those other tracks are monitoring properly.

What's troubling me is that I did the process once, then repeated it exactly and got different results.
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Old 06-21-2021, 04:15 PM
Sardi Sardi is offline
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

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Originally Posted by sleeto View Post
Thanks for the reply. While I understand your point, with a dual mono file I can still have the option to pan left or right (or delete one side) as I wish.
But you have a pan control on a mono track to move the signal to the left or right side of your stereo spectrum. There is no reason to have a stereo track. You’re doing the exact same thing via a convoluted process.

Quote:
Also, using the process I described above allows you to have two completely separate mono tracks in the left and right sides. (Not that I'm doing it with this particular project.)
Do you mean two different audio tracks on the left and right channel? As in say two passes of a guitar track? Again, there’s no need to go through the process of what you’re doing. You use two mono tracks and pan one hard left and one hard right. The result is the same thing you’re doing albeit without the lengthy work around.
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Old 06-21-2021, 07:26 PM
sleeto sleeto is offline
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

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Originally Posted by Sardi View Post
Do you mean two different audio tracks on the left and right channel? As in say two passes of a guitar track? Again, there’s no need to go through the process of what you’re doing. You use two mono tracks and pan one hard left and one hard right. The result is the same thing you’re doing albeit without the lengthy work around.
Yes. Pro Tools First only allows a max of 16 tracks, and as far as I can tell it doesn't discriminate between mono and stereo tracks, so in essence you can "steal" extra tracks. Like the 2 guitar passes you mentioned. Or a kick drum on one channel and a snare on the other, for example.

As I mentioned at the top, I'm a PTF newbie, so I'm learning its possibilities and limits as I go.
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Old 06-21-2021, 11:25 PM
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

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Old 06-22-2021, 02:02 AM
Sardi Sardi is offline
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Default Re: One newly created track has gray wave and no sound

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Originally Posted by sleeto View Post
Yes. Pro Tools First only allows a max of 16 tracks, and as far as I can tell it doesn't discriminate between mono and stereo tracks, so in essence you can "steal" extra tracks. Like the 2 guitar passes you mentioned. Or a kick drum on one channel and a snare on the other, for example.

As I mentioned at the top, I'm a PTF newbie, so I'm learning its possibilities and limits as I go.

If that’s why you’re doing it, I’d strongly suggest either paying for the full version of PT or switch to a less expensive and full featured alternative DAW.

Heck, just use Reaper. You won’t be hamstrung by those limits. Wait til you want to start using plugins and run j to those limitations with PT First.


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