Is this the best way to re-record part of a track?

[products7074740]

I have a guitar track which is fine all except the ending, and I've used the pre roll option to re-record that ending section smoothly (playing along with the playback and then recording it so it sounds as one take).

This is frustrating because I wish the preroll had the option to only apple to recording and not playback.

I'm new to recording with pro tools and was wondering if there was a better way to accomplish this and if not, if there was a way to make pre-roll only apply to recording and not playback.

[audiogeekzine]

Read up on punch recording in the manual. There is a variety of methods to what you want to accomplish. The easiest of which is to have someone else push record.

Also you can turn preroll on and off quickly with apple+K

[flommer]

If it's a tricky punch, you might want to learn about loop recording. It let's you define the region you want to loop, then it keeps recording takes until you hit stop. Helps you keep focused instead of worrying about the transport between every take..

Also, if you have in interface that supports it, you can use a foot switch to punch in..

[products7074740]

Right, I think i know about loop recording. This would just be, lets say i played two extra bars of verse when i was supposed to go into chorus, and i just want it to sound smooth when i re-record over the mistake. I guess pre-roll is the best way to do this then?

Punch recording: so that would be if i want to take something i played during the pre/post-roll sort of extend that into the track as well right? in other words, it records during pre/post roll?

[albee1952]

What interface? With 002/003, a footswitch can be used for punch in and out and I use this all the time when recording myself on guitar or bass. You can also highlight the section of the region you wish to record over and let PT punch for you. Search youtube and watch every protools video you can get your hands on. You can also record to a new track and then make a comp track, or just paste the new region over the original in the corrct spot(works fine for using a single new region). Just highlight the part of the new track you want to use, hit Ctrl-X, move the cursor up to the original track by using the P key as it will move up but stay in the same spot in the timeline, and paste. Maybe add a little crossfade and you're done.

[flommer]

If I needed to hear my existing guitar track to get the punch in to groove, I would do what Albee suggests and record the new section on a new track. I would use loop recording and make the loop selection long enough to include the pre-roll. That way the existing track will be audible for each pass through the loop...

Punch recording just allows you to turn recording on and off during playback, and the footswitch makes it so you can keep playing while you do it.

Spend some time with these topics in the ProTools reference manual and the videos that albee mentioned. It will be time well spent...