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Post by John Bell on Oct 10, 2013 20:18:40 GMT 1
Tracktion 4 latest official release is version 4.3.2 which I now have installed.
It still has annoying bugs but they are not show stoppers.
The current beta version being tested is 4.4.10, so progress is being made.
I had 2 great studio sessions last week-end. The one on Sunday was for my old project band, just to keep our hands in and I enjoyed drumming and singing backing vocals again.
Both recording sessions mixed very well, thanks to some great IK Multimedia studio plug-ins.
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Post by John Bell on Nov 5, 2013 21:11:06 GMT 1
I have had no further issues recording with Tracktion 4.3.2 for the last 3 studio sessions.
As long as I do not use any filters during tracking it works perfectly.
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Post by John Bell on Nov 15, 2013 9:36:51 GMT 1
At my band's last rehearsal, the Cry Baby wha-wha peddle refused to function. (probably just a broken wire, due to a loose battery cover). When I played back the session, I used an IK Multimedia amp and cab simulator VST and included a wha-wha peddle in the virtual stomp box peddle board. Just using the mouse to articulate the peddle, I was able to convincingly re-create the effect manually, much to my band's amazement. When I mix this session to CD, I will attempt to automate this action, using the record and playback automation facilities of Tracktion 4. However, as I have only ever played back manual automation plotted on the tracks (level control of volume and reverb sends etc), I need to RTFM to get up to speed.
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Post by John Bell on Dec 16, 2013 14:03:44 GMT 1
My old rhythm guitarist/vocalist, Paul Hanley, visited my studio with his latest band line-up, to record a demo CD.
I was all ready for the session, having recorded and mixed-down several of my band's rehearsals with great results.
I was saving each take separately, so I knew I had them "in the can" and all was going very well until I tried to save take 17. This one refused to save, so I started another session and carried on OK.
I got to take 15 on this session, which was the last one we were going to do and that failed to save.
We were playing back the tracks successfully prior to the failures, so I though it would not be a problem.
After the band left, I checked the session and Tracktion v4.3.2 was having headache. Glitchy playback and the VST's wouldn't load properly.
This version of the software was the latest build last month, so I went on-line and found and down-loaded the latest v4.5.6 this morning.
To my great relief, this seems to have fixed the problem and I am very grateful to the team at TSC for their continuing rapid success in de-bugging this easy to use professional recording software.
However, it turned out that it only appeared to work when the iMac was not connected to the mixer.
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Post by John Bell on Dec 18, 2013 10:33:54 GMT 1
I tried everything I could think of to render these 2 sessions and burn CDs, but nothing wanted to work.
After many hours of different work arounds, I managed to get the sessions to play back, with all of the loaded VSTs, but not render or even save.
I still had my old 20" iMac/Tiger/Tracktion 3 & Mackie Onyx 1640 in my studio, so I set them up to capture the mixed output from the Midas Venice F32 into 2 channels, render that and burn CDs.
Sadly this was a terminal event as the first session appears to have self destructed, when it would not save. However as I did not use any compression or limiting on the master bus, the saved 2 track on the old iMac can still be further refined.
I looked at the error logs and it looks like the original sessions got screwed when the last takes would not save, as it was logging in excess of 500 errors per second, swamping the CPU.
All of my previous recordings are not affected and I have another band rehearsal this Saturday, so I will try to see if recording with Tracktion v4.5.6 has cured this problem of not liking in excess of 14 takes per session.
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Post by John Bell on Dec 20, 2013 12:15:47 GMT 1
After listening to the CD's and looking at the waveforms on the old iMac, I used an IK Multimedia limiter to restrain the transient spikes that prevented the normalization working as desired, rendered and burned another set.
I was very pleased with the results.
Paul Hanley picked up his demo CD's and was very pleased with them, after listening to them with me in his car, on it's very good sound system.
Although this was a bit of a salvage operation, the demo CD's sound like the band playing live in a large pub, with no fixes, overdubs or over production. We just did as many takes as it took to get what we wanted.
This is why bands use my studio and why the demo CD's work for getting gigs.
I have given Tracktion Software Company Support details of the problem and Woody has quickly responded.
I have another rehearsal Saturday, so I will go back to my normal routine of not so many takes and saves per session and not rushing, using the latest version of Tracktion 4.5.6. I am confident this tried and tested method is problem free.
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Post by John Bell on Dec 22, 2013 22:58:42 GMT 1
The rehearsal recordings are fine and T4 v4.5.6 has eliminated the intermittent transport controls bug that occasionally prevented scrolling forwards and backwards via the buttons.
After the holiday period, I should be able to get the chance of recording a band rehearsal with Jim Spicer as session keys, with his 5x stereo keyboards, DI and mic all of the guitars amps and max out the Midas Venice F32, to record all 32 channels simultaneously.
Woody of TSC is confident that my set-up is powerful enough to handle it, but he is wary of my Thunderbolt/Firewire adapter.
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Post by John Bell on Jan 6, 2014 21:00:07 GMT 1
Paul Hanley has finally named his band The RPMs. He has put 5 of the tracks off his demo CD on SoundCloud via his new web site www.therpms.co.uk
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Post by John Bell on Feb 3, 2014 0:05:23 GMT 1
Paul Hanley visited my studio on Saturday, to collect some music sheets he had left behind.
He also showed us his finished demo CD, which looks very professional, as one of the band is a web designer.
The tracks had no further processing and were lifted directly from my studio CD.
They are currently being distributed around suitable venues, so I expect gigs will follow.
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Post by John Bell on May 13, 2014 8:03:18 GMT 1
I am currently working with Dave Anderson in my studio, who is a guitarist/songwriter friend of mine, on tracks for his first "album".
After 4 sessions in the studio, it is now sounding very good.
First I used his BOSS sequenced note pad as a click track, to eventually nail my session drummer tracks, then we added the bass and rhythm guitar parts.
We then added the lead guitar parts and Dave's guide vocal track.
Finally, Dave's niece Helen, added her vocal tracks, using the Rode NT2A and SE Reflection Filter, after practicing to the guide vocals at home.
So far, I have only used minimal compression, EQ, reverb and delay, with just a multi-band limiter on the mix buss, using IK Multimedia VST's.
All the guitar parts are comp'd from several takes, as is the final vocals.
They are very pleased with the mix so far and we will now do some polishing.
Tracktion 4.5.6 has been totally stable as we have added more and more tracks and filters and the CPU is coping fine.
TCS have sent out a request that Tracktioneers should now upgrade to Tracktion 5.3, but even though it would make comping a breeze, I don't want to risk it.
My Thunderbolt/Firewire 800 adapter and Firewire 800 to 400 cable connecting the 27" iMac and Midas Venice F-32 works fine with T4.5.6, but it might not like T5.
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Post by John Bell on Jun 5, 2014 10:22:27 GMT 1
Last week, I was adding my session drum tracks to Dave Anderson's second song, when I accidentally caused the lower properties panel of Traction 4.5.6 to shrink to half height, while carrying the wireless mouse back to the iMac.
I can't find a way of reversing the effect and the button are now too small for serious use. Could be a bug.
I now have no option other than upgrading to Tracktion 5.
I will let you know if my set-up still works afterwards, in the Tracktion 5 thread.
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Post by John Bell on Jun 17, 2014 12:58:40 GMT 1
I finally found the method of restoring the Properties Panel to it's correct height, by very slowly moving the cursor near the top of the panel, to reveal the thin blue adjustment line. Easy when you are not totally fed up and stressed.
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Post by John Bell on Jun 22, 2014 7:16:21 GMT 1
Tracktion T4.5.6 working fine. I am happy to stay with it for the rest of the Dave Anderson project for now.
By the time we get around to trying some MIDI keyboard stuff towards the end, T5 might be stable with my set-up.
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