Modify volume of a track during a song ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter bagpipe
  • Start date Start date
OK, I get it now.

Learning to use the quote function would cause less confusion when you're responding to a post that has about 5 other posts between it.
 
You better be.

(No smiley, that way you're left with a bit of ambiguity)

-laz.
 
laz777 said:
I use Reaper and I'm new to recording in general. What exactly is the difference between a track and a take? Are takes simply the parts that make up the track as a whole?

Thanks.

-laz.
Click to expand...

A track is the wrapper that holds media. It has a volume level, and you can apply effects to it. Usually, at least when you're starting out, each track in your project will hold a single voice. e.g. Track 1 will hold your drums, track 2 your guitars, track 3 vox, etc. During playback, all tracks (that aren't muted) will play.

A take is a single audio file within a track. (So your tracks contain takes.) The way this usually works is that you have a brand new track. You record the part that goes in that track (let's say vocals) by hitting record and singing all the way through the song. That gives you one take. You're not fully happy with that take, so you hit record again and sing the song again. This will create another take on top of the first one. You'll see that the old one is darker. Only one take plays at a time, so the new take is the only one that will play until you click on the first take to activate it and deactivate the new take.
 
Okay, thanks Vomit, that's what I thought.

So do tracks ordinarily contain more then a single instrument? The recordings I've made generally follow what you wrote, one track, one instrument. I'm not sure how or why you would want more then a single instrument on a single track?

Thanks.

P.S.,

Unless you create stems or something, at least if I'm properly understanding what a stem is?
 
Usually, you have one instrument on a track.

But, of course, there are exceptions.

For example:

1 I used to construct my arrangements using midi and an external module. The midi would stay as midi until all the non-midi stuff had been recorded. I mixed the audio with the midi until I was happy. Then just before bouncing, I recorded the midi as an audio track onto a stereo pair.

2 At times I've recorded a kit straight to a stereo pair.

3 Sometimes I've put a variety of sounds on a single track, even though they are not necessarily related to each other. It's just convenient to have them all in the one spot.
 
Yeah, if space or CPU gets to be a concern, you might want to bounce multiple instruments down to a single track. The upside is that it saves on screen real estate and processing power, but the downside is that you lose flexibility.
 
Okay, that makes sense, I've read about bouncing to save CPU power. I'd have to see an example of multiple instruments on a single track to understand the benefit aside from saving processing power.
 
laz777 said:
Hey Vomit,

I noticed you've been pretty helpful to newbies with questions so I figured I give it a whirl and ask a question.

I'm a bit hazy on automation. Take for instance envelopes, volume or panning specifically, so as to have an example to work with. What makes these processes fit into the term "automation"? In other words, what's automatic about it? I still have to create points and adjust the levels (volume), so why do they fit into what is called "automation" if I'm doing the work?

Thanks,

-laz.
Click to expand...

I was always taught that they called it automation because with a analog mixer you had to program various knobs/faders to move automatically during playback to make volume, pan, mute, or solo type things to happen automatically.
 
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