editing drums - create regions frm multiple tracks

[schmargle]

Hi there.

I have 8 tracks worth of drums that I need to edit. I'd like to be able to find a good measure, highlight the measure using Tab to Transients, create a region with all 8 tracks (and name it something), then bring that region (or, I guess regions) back into the timeline on the appropriate tracks.

Here's the problem: I can find the measure, highlight the measure, but when I create a region and try to name it, I get 8 regions all called the same thing. I have no idea which is the region for the snare drum, which is for the kick. I would think that they would be in the same order as the tracks, but that's not the case. Two of my tracks are overhead L and overhead R--they're actually somewhere in the middle of the 8, but in the list of audio at the right, they're last in the list of new regions. So I can't just drag that cluster of regions back to the timeline and have them all find their correct tracks.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[schmargle]

Alright, well, actually, I figured out how to display the file name and region in the Audio list, but is there no way to drag the whole mess of them and have the regions go to the correct tracks? Right now when I drag them all, they plop down in the same order they're in within the Audio list.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

Generally you'll select the source on the Edit Window (using a group) and copy (Command+C) then place your cursor (insertion point) at the destination and paste (Command+V).

Rail

[schmargle]

Thanks. Actually, what I'm looking to do is not just copy and paste, though. It's more like creating multi-track loops. I want to find a measure--call it Beat 1--and either separate that measure as a region or just create a region from that measure. Then I want to be able to paste in that measure by dragging it from the Audio File list. This would be quicker than re-copying and pasting each time I want to insert Beat 1--especially if I wind up having Beat 2, Beat 3, etc., and it would also allow me to easily insert a measure from one playlist into another.

The problem is both naming (the name for the region created doesn't specify the track--you have to do that manually) and organization (the list of regions from the group is not in the same order in the Audio List as are the tracks). So if I drag in the cluster of regions to the Edit Window, the regions go to the wrong tracks.

Any other thoughts?

[tclash]

You could paste the different sections on the playlist way at the end of the session and then option-drag them back to the spots where you want them.

[Rail Jon Rogut]

The region name is based on the parent region (not the track name).. but I highly suggest you name your tracks before recording.. that way your regions will indicate the track from where they came. As for dragging from the region bin.. you'll have to change the order of your tracks (to match the regions in the region list) if you insist on working this way.

Rail

[schmargle]

Yes, I've got all the tracks and parent regions named correctly. The catch is that if you want to name a new region from a selection, say "Beat 1," that erases the parent part of regions for that selection. So each of the 8 tracks is now named "Beat 1" with no longer any reference to the parent.

You know what I mean? If you have a group, and select a measure (thus selecting all the tracks for that measure), then create a region from that selection, and rename the region, each of the regions on each of the tracks is named the same dang thing. It doesn't say "Kick Beat 1" on the Kick track and "Snare Beat 1" on the Snare track, it just says "Beat 1" for both. So when the regions appear in the Audio List, there's no way to tell which is which. And the Audio List doesn't preserve the order of the tracks from the Edit window, so you're kind of hosed if you want to drag them back into the Edit window. You'd have to go through and edit the name of each region on each track, which probably isn't worth it.

It sounds like there's no way to do what I'm hoping to do. Maybe I do just have to use the Edit window as my "well" -- as tclash recommended -- to draw loops from rather than than the Audio List.

Thanks both for your help.