$Page Recording Audio In this lesson, we'll see how to use $0 for recording live instruments or voice.

We'll learn about routing, monitoring and multitrack recording, and we may even figure out how to play incredibly fast guitar solos. Divider.tif *$0's documents are known as Live Sets. This lesson is accompanied by a Live Set which you'll be interacting with as you follow the lesson. Whenever you're read y, please click $Link here <Set:1-Recording Audio Lessons/Recording Audio.als> t o load the Live Set.* Divider.tif Before we begin, allow us to point out $0's /Info View:/ OverviewInfoView.tif The Info View resides in the lower-left corner of the $0 application window. It' s a very handy resource that will tell you about almost anything that you point your mouse over. Like many other views in $0, it can be shown or hidden as neede d just by clicking the triangular /unfold button/ near its lower-left corner. InfoViewFoldButton.tif Ok, to get started with our recording lesson, please click on the /Next Page/ bu tton below. $Page The Arrangement Most of our work will take place in $0's /Arrangement View,/ which is currently shown in the upper-middle section of the application window. OverviewArrangement.tif The Arrangement can be used just like a tape recorder - sounds can be recorded i nto it freely. Your recordings can be played back at any time, starting from any point. When you're happy with something that you've created, it can be exported from $0 so that you can burn it onto a CD or DVD. Let's make some more room for the Arrangement by folding away the /Browser/ at t he upper-left side of the screen. It also has an unfold button, just like the In fo View. BrowserShowHideRec.tif $Page The Arrangement Mixer This Live Set contains one empty audio track, which is currently titled "1 Audio ." We'll begin by preparing this track for recording. ArrangementOneTrack.tif The right side of the Arrangement View belongs to $0's /mixer./ The mixer has ma ny features which help you build and refine the sound of your Live Set. We usual ly don't need to interact with all of these at once, so the mixer is divided int o sections which can be shown and hidden as needed. ArrangementMixer.tif We use the /In/Out/ section of $0's mixer to tell each track where to look for i ncoming audio signals (inputs), and where to send audio signals to (outputs). Pl ease make the In/Out section visible by clicking on its selector in the lower ri ght corner of the Arrangement View:

InOutShowHideRec.tif $Page Input Routing The In/Out section is now displayed in the mixer: ArrangementIOSection.tif The pair of input choosers in the In/Out section show that our track is receivin g audio from external channels 1 and 2. This is probably the computer's standard audio input (a built-in microphone or Line In jack). Input1And2Rec.tif The upper input chooser allows you to select from among various /input sources:/ external inputs ('Ext. In'), other tracks, or signals from ReWire applications. The lower input chooser is where you can select from different /input channels,/ which might be necessary if you have a multichannel audio interface. For a mult ichannel interface to function properly with $0, it will require some additional setup, as described in the lesson $Link Setting Up Audio I/O <Lesson:/3-Hardwar e Setup Category/1-Setting up Audio IO>. $Page Arming an Audio Track Before recording can begin, we have to /arm/ our audio track by clicking on its /Arm/ button. This prepares $0 for the recording process. *Note:* If you hear loud feedback when you arm the track, click the arm button o nce again to silence it, then read on to find out what's going on. Track1ArmedRec.tif Once the track is armed, you'll see that its /level meter/ shows the signal leve l of the track's input. This represents the volume of the sound which we're goin g to record. InputMeterRec.tif If no signal is indicated in the meter, first lower the volume of your speakers or headphones, so that any sudden changes don't damage your ears or equipment. N ext, verify that you've selected an input channel that has an instrument or micr ophone connected to it. $Page Monitoring We usually want to hear what we are recording, and /monitoring/ determines how w e listen to the signals at our chosen track inputs. Using these three switches in the In/Out section, you can set the monitoring beh avior of every audio and MIDI track individually: MonitoringSectionRec.tif -> Choose *Off* if you are monitoring /directly,/ that is, through the audio int erface or through an external mixing board - or through the air. -> Choose *Auto* to monitor the input signal through $0. If you hear an echo or get feedback, you have a /direct monitoring/ setup. Either set the track's monit oring switch to Off, or deactivate your audio interface's direct monitoring opti on. When monitoring through the software, there will be some amount of delay or /lat

ency/ between your actions and the audible result. Learn how to minimize latency by following the lesson $Link Setting Up Audio I/O <Lesson:/3-Hardware Setup Ca tegory/1-Setting up Audio IO>. $Page The Metronome It is important to *record in sync* to ensure that everything will later *play i n sync.* The easiest way to record in sync is to use the built-in /metronome,/ w hich is activated via its Control Bar switch. You'll find it in the upper-left c orner of the application window: MetronomeSwitch.tif The metronome ticks when $0 is playing. Press the space bar to start playback, t hen adjust the metronome's volume using the Master track's /Cue Volume/ control. Press the space bar again to stop. CueVolume.tif $Page Arrangement Recording We're ready now to record a take into the Arrangement. First, press the Control Bar's /Stop/ button twice to reset the Arrangement position to 1.1.1. TransportStopRec.tif Please verify that our audio track is still armed: Track1ArmedRec.tif Now press the adjacent /Global Record/ button. (This is probably familiar to tho se of you who have used multitrack tape machines: Individual tracks can be armed for recording, and the Global Record button activates recording for the armed t racks.) GlobalRecordRec.tif Finally, press the Control Bar's /Play/ button (or use the space bar) to begin r ecording. TransportPlayRec.tif Now's the time to make some noise! $Page Recording and Playback As recording progresses, you'll see a new /audio clip/ being created in the trac k. ArrangementClipRecording.tif To stop recording, press the Stop button in the Control Bar. TransportStopRec.tif Now, press the Stop button again (resetting the Arrangement to 1.1.1), and liste n to your recording by pressing the Play button. DividerRec.tif /Note:/ If the recording sounds delayed with respect to the metronome, /latency compensation/ probably needs to be set up. Latency compensation is a trick the p rogram employs in a direct monitoring scenario to compensate for delays incurred by the audio interface and its drivers. To set this up, $0 has to run a little test that unfortunately requires your assistance, as described in the lesson on

$Link latency compensation <Lesson:/3-Hardware Setup Category/2-Driver Error Com pensation>. $Page Navigating the Arrangement If you recorded for long enough, the Arrangement may have started to scroll hori zontally. To scroll the view backward or forward, or to zoom in or out, grab the beat-time ruler along the top of the Arrangement with the mouse: -> Vertical mouse movements /zoom/ in and out; -> Horizontal movements /scroll/ left and right. TimeLineRec.tif Of course, playback and recording can start from anywhere in the song. You can s et an insert mark by clicking anywhere in the Arrangement View (except on a clip 's title bar), and the song will start playing from that point next time. InsertMarker.tif $Page Doing it Again (and Again...) If you're not satisfied with your performance, don't worry. Pressing $CommandMod + Z is all that is needed to undo a take, and be ready to try again. If you'd like to redo only a certain part of a take, you can set up /punch point s:/ Drag the left and right edges of the /loop brace/ to define the in and out p oints... PunchMarkers.tif ... and activate the /Punch-In/ and /Punch-Out/ switches in the Control Bar. PunchSwitches.tif -> When the Punch-In switch is on, $0 will protect the material lying before the loop brace; -> When the Punch-Out switch is on, $0 will protect the area following the loop brace. The loop brace can also be used to define a section of the Arrangement to be loo ped: You can set up a loop, record as many takes as you like without interruptio n, and $0 will retain the audio recorded during each pass. You can later "unroll " the loop recording using the Undo function. The loop is engaged by using its C ontrol Bar switch. LoopSwitch.tif

$Page Multitrack Recording Press $CommandMod + T to create a new audio track for your next take. Unfold the new track by clicking on the unfold button in its title bar. NewTrackArm.tif Remember to activate the new track's Arm button, otherwise you will end up recor ding into track 1 again. By default, arming one track unarms all others. You can , however, independently arm and unarm tracks by $CommandMod-clicking their Arm buttons. This way you can set up any number of tracks to record simultaneously. MultiArm.tif Obviously, this wouldn't make much sense unless you had set the tracks up to rec eive different input signals (from each band member, for instance). In our examp le, we've altered our input selections so that track 1 records input 1 as mono,

and track 2 records input 2 as mono. $Page Tempo Tricks, Count-in and Tapping The tempo of your Live Set can be changed at any time: before, after and even du ring recording. You could, for instance, cheat a bit by bringing down the tempo to record a complicated guitar solo and bringing it up again when you're done. TempoField.tif It's often helpful to have a count-in when recording. This gives you a chance to prepare for a take before the recording actually begins. To set up this behavio r, open the Preferences via the Options menu (on PC) or $0 menu (on Mac), and ch oose the /Record/Warp/Launch/ tab. When the Count-In preference is set to any va lue other than "None," $0 will not begin recording until the count-in is complet e. CountInPref.tif Alternatively, you can have $0 follow your counting instead of the other way aro und. With a 4/4 time signature, it takes four clicks on the TAP button before $0 starts playing (or recording). TapButton.tif $Page Where to Go from Here? Live6LessonsNotext.tif You've already started using $0 to create multitrack recordings, so where do you go from here? We highly recommend that you follow the additional Live Basics le ssons to learn what else is possible with $0: -> Learn how to $Link play and record software instruments <Lesson:/1-Live Basic s Category/2-Playing Software Instruments> by following our next lesson. -> Learn about $Link instant loop recording <Lesson:/1-Live Basics Category/3-Im provising with Loops> in $0's unique Session View. -> Learn about MIDI clips by $Link creating drum patterns <Lesson:/1-Live Basics Category/5-Creating Beats>.