Overdubs to playlists help

[johnnybregar]

Hi -

I'm sure this has been mentioned before - but I've done some searching and can't find my exact situation.

I'm coming from Cubase, where life was easy for me because tracks all have layers, and the top layer plays (but clients want PT so I'm learning it).

Here's what I did, and I need some help to figure out how to get myself out of the situation I'm in:

1. Recorded a vox track.
2. Went in and overdubbed two parts.
3. Did NOT create a new playlist and then recorded the whole thing again.
4. Clicked on "Playlists" in the track controls and I only see my first take.

I can see my overdubs in the clip list, along with my full second take, but now I would have to drag them over and place them on the track which seems tedious and crazy.

Is there a way to "expand alternates to playlists" at this point? Can someone tell me the best way to do this?

I wish PT worked like all the other DAW's and just layered the tracks.... But I'm sure there's a good reason for not doing this and I need to get used to the workflow.

One of the reasons this was a problem for me was that I was recording from across the room and had the V-Control in front of me. I can't find a way to make a new playlist with that tool - so I just hit record without creating the playlist. I would love a way (besides loop record) where a new playlist would automatically be created every time I hit record. That way I could at least expand everything out and see all my takes, even if they were overdubs, as new playlists and I could then promote them to the main track easily.... maybe there's a way to do this too?

Thanks,

jb

[albee1952]

Create New Playlist IS exactly what you SHOULD have done. If you can ID the clips from the first take(with the punched in bits) in the Clips bin, you can probably spot them without too much trouble. To keep it simple, create another audio track below the original(name it Vocal take 1?). Select SPOT mode(from SPOT-SHUFFLE-SLIP-GRID) and drag the clips from the first pass onto the blank track, if they still have their time stamp intact, they MAY snap right to where they belong. If not, use SLIP mode and drag them to the track and use the second pass as a reference to place the bits from the first pass.

I may be off base on the SPOT thing as I have not used it for this exact function. You might also try right-clicking(option-click for Mac) on the region and see if it gives you the option to SPOT the clip. By what you described, you should not have too many clips,and you can see which is take 2 by highlighting the audio on the track, and seeing which clip is highlighted in the clips bin).

[johnnybregar]

So I figured out sort of how to do this. I right clicked in the region -> Match -> Set my match criteria -> expand matching alternates to playlists.

BUT! My overdubs were then placed in a completely random place in the song. How do I make sure my overdubs keep their place in time?

I guess my big frustration is that if I am sitting in the middle of my studio with my guitar all mic'd up and headphones on, I don't want to get up and go hit Ctrl+\ to create a new playlist - I can't move! I need to do more takes and stay put.

Does anyone have a way I can do this without having to purchase a new wireless keyboard?

Thanks.

[Stig Eliassen]

You can set criteria to clip start as long as you start recording from the same spot. But I would recommend that you loop record instead, and go to Setup (menu) > Preferences > Operation tab > Record section, and check Automatically create new playlists when loop recording.

[johnnybregar]

Originally Posted by PT Lover

You can set criteria to clip start as long as you start recording from the same spot. But I would recommend that you loop record instead, and go to Setup (menu) > Preferences > Operation tab > Record section, and check Automatically create new playlists when loop recording.

Thanks - yes - I do have the new playlists checked with loop recording. I'm not in the studio at the moment so can't try this - but I'm curious, will it create a new playlist even if I don't make it to the end of the loop? In other words:

1. Enable loop record (with the preference set)
2. Start at the top, get about halfway through and hit stop.
3. Go back to the beginning and record again - do I get a new playlist?

Or do I have to finish out the entire loop to do this....

The reason really is that if I have a whole band recording, we don't just start looping takes - we stop between takes and talk about it, then go from there. It would be great if it were all ready to roll whenever we want, with nice new playlists for everyone....

[Stig Eliassen]

2. You have to record more than 50% of the selection before you stop, or else the last pass will be discarded.
3. No, you will not get a new playlist. PT records on top of the previous take in the current playlist, but the rest of the passes will get their own playlist automatically created.

[Drew Mazurek]

PT really needs to adopt what other apps do better and that is allow files to "be on top of" other files but not "go away". So when you delete a file, whatever was below it is still there. Would make life a lot easier.

[johnnybregar]

Originally Posted by dmazurek

PT really needs to adopt what other apps do better and that is allow files to "be on top of" other files but not "go away". So when you delete a file, whatever was below it is still there. Would make life a lot easier.

Totally agree. It's archaic. But unfortunately, a lot of clients still want Pro Tools and just getting it set up and running has already brought me in three bands....

[johnnybregar]

Originally Posted by PT Lover

2. You have to record more than 50% of the selection before you stop, or else the last pass will be discarded.
3. No, you will not get a new playlist. PT records on top of the previous take in the current playlist, but the rest of the passes will get their own playlist automatically created.

OK - I get it. Thanks for the help.

jb

[albee1952]

If you are on PC, you might do what I do. I have a harness with 30' cables for VGA and PS2(x2) and I have a little rolling stand(OnStage Stands Autolocator stand) that holds a 22" LCD and a mini keyboard/trackpad. I can roll that around and put it in the vocal booth, by the drums, or out by itself, so I can control the session from anywhere within 30' of my desk.