Newbie trying out DP ... some clearance?

[GuilhermeRadel]

Hey guys, I'm currently trying the demo to DP9 and so far I'm liking it. I discovered DP at a friend's house and decided to give it a try because it forces me to be a little more linear with my songwriting when compared to my Ableton/LPX background. Even though it's a pretty steep learning curve, I've been managing to make my way through the software with only some minor hinderances. Them being:

1- Is there a way to make the comping tool create auto-crossfades between the different selected takes?
2- Is there some file explorer inside the DAW? A lot of times I used chopped drum breaks as my drums of choice (even though I mostly write rock music) but I would like to audition them before importing the audio unto the project. If not, do you guys have any workaround? (ex.: a software sampler that has this functionality in it so I can use it inside DP)
3- Is there offline freezing/bouncing controls inside the project? So far I've only be able to do real-time freezing intraproject or external offline boucing
4- The amount of tweakability regarding the tabs in the workspace can be quite overwhelming. What's the most useful stuff to leave on the left side and right side of the screen while writing? (for songwriters at least). Normally I'm using the them for the channel strip and track selectors, respectively. What about you?

That's basically it. The experience, while being hard, has been quite fun. I hope I can find get the hangs of the software before my trial expires so I can justify having a copy of it

Thanks for all your input in advance

[buhardilla]

My best advice for your questions: have a look to DP video tutorials in Groove3 . I think it's the best choice to learn DP. You can find them in Groove3 and still get some year subscription offer
https://www.groove3.com/Digital-Perform ... -tutorials

[GuilhermeRadel]

My best advice for your questions: have a look to DP video tutorials in Groove3 . I think it's the best choice to learn DP. You can find them in Groove3 and still get some year subscription offer
https://www.groove3.com/Digital-Perform ... -tutorials

Nice! Will definitely make use of this. Thanks

[FMiguelez]

Definitely check out the Groove3 recommended videos. Also check MOTU's YOuTube channel.

To answer your questions...

1- Is there a way to make the comping tool create auto-crossfades between the different selected takes?

Select them all with command-A, then apply the command for crossfades (control-f). Bam! Instant fades in one fell swoop.

2- Is there some file explorer inside the DAW? A lot of times I used chopped drum breaks as my drums of choice (even though I mostly write rock music) but I would like to audition them before importing the audio unto the project. If not, do you guys have any workaround? (ex.: a software sampler that has this functionality in it so I can use it inside DP)

Sounds like the Soundbites window, but the audio must be already imported in the project ( you can easily delete any unused stuff afterwards)

3- Is there offline freezing/bouncing controls inside the project? So far I've only be able to do real-time freezing intraproject or external offline boucing.

You can print in real by recording, or you can use track freezing, or bounce to disc. There are important distinctions among those, as each gives you a different result depending on what you need to do.

4- The amount of tweakability regarding the tabs in the workspace can be quite overwhelming. What's the most useful stuff to leave on the left side and right side of the screen while writing? (for songwriters at least). Normally I'm using the them for the channel strip and track selectors, respectively. What about you?

What works best for me is to invoke any editing window or command on a need-to basis with keyboard shortcuts, that way my main editing windows (SE or GE) are always by themselves and large. Can't think of a faster workflow. In DP, shortcuts are awsome and essential. I use 2 big monitors.

[GuilhermeRadel]

Thanks FMiguelez, you pretty much adressed most of my concerns. Regarding the dubious third question, bouncing to disk is exactly what I was looking for but I never had tried it (I thought it didn't put the bounced audio back into the project - ex.: printing an effect strip - instead it just exported a stem to a fold like the name led me to believe). Thanks a lot for the detailed and well formated response

[mikehalloran]

(I thought it didn't put the bounced audio back into the project - ex.: printing an effect strip - instead it just exported a stem to a fold like the name led me to believe)

You can set BTD to any destination you like and then reuse those settings later. I will have different destination folders inside my project folder such as mp3, radio mix etc. so as to keep them organized. I never bounce back into the Soundbites window although that is the default.

[Babz]

Is there some file explorer inside the DAW? A lot of times I used chopped drum breaks as my drums of choice

Unfortunately, DP does not have any sort of loop browser like Logic or Ableton. (It also doesn't come with any factory loop library, so maybe it doesn't need one, but I have requested it.)

When I need to browse for loops or hits, what I do is use the Mac OS X "Quick Look" feature. Say, I'm looking for a loop that is 110 bpm. I open my HD window where all my loops are and do Cmd-F (or click in the search field). I click the little + button to refine my search and choose options like "Kind Is Music." This gives me a list of all audio files that contain 110 in their name. You can further refine your search in various ways, if necessary. (Maybe you're looking for 808 hits, or samba beats, or whatever.)

To audition the loops, just select hit the Spacebar (or do Cmd-Y, or click the Quick Look "eye" icon in the menu bar). You can use the up and down arrows to browse up and down the list.

This works for just about any type of audio file, but not REX files.

I also use an older version of Drumcore (2.5), which also allows me to audition REX files (and drag them into DP and the bpm I need) or wav, aif, etc. files, provided they have been imported into Drumcore's database. Even though it's a legacy version, it is still working for me under El Capitan, (except that it crashes on quit). I haven't updated to the current version of Drumcore because I believe they eliminated the ability to import your own loops in the newer version.

Stylus RMX is another good option, and it allows you to import your own loops. I will probably replace my Drumcore solution with that at some point.

Best,
Babz

[Babz]

Is there offline freezing/bouncing controls inside the project? So far I've only be able to do real-time freezing intraproject or external offline boucing

Select what you want to bounce and then do Control-J.

One thing that might confuse newbies is that, unlike most DAWs, Instrument tracks in DP include both an Audio and a MIDI track. You have to make sure you have both audio and MIDI selected before you bounce, otherwise your bounced track will be silent.

[Tip: When I create an Instrument track I always add it with options (Cmd-Shift-Option-I), with the "Add new tracks to a new folder" option checked, so that the MIDI and Audio track are contained within a folder. This helps keep them organized as a single unit.]

You can choose to have the bounced track added to the project or not.

I like to render my Instrument tracks as audio as soon as possible as I go along in a project, not only to free up resources but so I'm not left to bounce a whole bunch of tracks at the end. I like to print all my plugins and VIs in case I ever need to to work with them in the future (at which point the plugins I used may no longer be available), and I prefer to print things as soon as possible.

Best,
Babz

[rumo]

I discovered DP at a friend's house and decided to give it a try because it forces me to be a little more linear with my songwriting when compared to my Ableton/LPX background.

I actually went the same route coming from Live and Logic Pro X. The “Chunks” feature gives you a way to work in a non-linear fashion which I use a bit like the Session view in Ableton Live.

I first make a tracks list of the instruments I want to use and then make Chunks for every part I plan to write (Intro, A, B for example). Then I draft the parts in the given Chunks. When I’m done with harmony and melody I use the “Song” feature to arrange my Chunk parts like I would do in the Timeline view in Ableton. When I’m content with the arrangement of the individual parts I start making a “full song” Chunk where I make refinements such as counter melodies and arranging the harmony/melody for the instruments I chose.

This is mich more convenient then the workflow I had established in Live before with countless clips and re-recording in the Timeline when I changed the clips.

[Michael Canavan]

Is there some file explorer inside the DAW? A lot of times I used chopped drum breaks as my drums of choice

Unfortunately, DP does not have any sort of loop browser like Logic or Ableton. (It also doesn't come with any factory loop library, so maybe it doesn't need one, but I have requested it.)

When I need to browse for loops or hits, what I do is use the Mac OS X "Quick Look" feature. Say, I'm looking for a loop that is 110 bpm. I open my HD window where all my loops are and do Cmd-F (or click in the search field). I click the little + button to refine my search and choose options like "Kind Is Music." This gives me a list of all audio files that contain 110 in their name. You can further refine your search in various ways, if necessary. (Maybe you're looking for 808 hits, or samba beats, or whatever.)

To audition the loops, just select hit the Spacebar (or do Cmd-Y, or click the Quick Look "eye" icon in the menu bar). You can use the up and down arrows to browse up and down the list.

This works for just about any type of audio file, but not REX files.

You can use the Import Audio menu command in the Soundbites window and it does the same, except it emits a nasty white noise when you attempt to audition REX files... found that out the other day...

So avoiding REX files you can use a browser to audition files...

[monkey man]

Hey Babz, I enjoyed reading your tips.

One thing:
Unless the loops have the BPM specified in their names, the method won't work. Your loops obviously do, as do most of the libraries I've seen (not many), but many don't.

What was that once-popular utility... Audio Finder or something? I think that might've been able to calculate the rates for you on the fly. I looked at it but maybe I'm just lazy as it seemed like a lot of work to create and keep updating its database, especially if you tend to rename and move folders as I do.

Who knows 'though, it could be a solution for the OP.

OK, just looked it up. It handles AIFF, AIFC, SD2, REX and WAV, and apparently does calculate BPM values, but this may only be through manual use of the tap pad. The fact that it plays REX files could be a huge bonus 'though, even for you.

Love the avatar, BTW; it so rocks, and you look freakin' cool!

[Michael Canavan]

Oh, and bug reported and acknowledged with the REX file playback in the Soundbites browser window!

So maybe in a bit we will have playback of all audio file types via the Soundbites window. Would be great if it played back REX files and Apple Loops at the current Sequence tempo for sure.

[labman]

Exciting new avatar Babz. You look thrilled to be in 2018!

[rp88.2]

Late to the party... For a simple audio/loop browser that works on Windows and Mac, I use:

AudioExplorer - part of SoundLib's free studio utils: https://www.soundlib.com/studio/

Unfortunately, it doesn't support REX files.

I use it when I get a new sample packs and want to quickly find a few samples to use or ideate.

Hope the OP or others find this useful.

@Babz - I heartily agree, an integrated loop/sample browser would be awesome.

Rich