CHUNKS???

[crduval]

OK, so here's my question: You have several sections in various tempi and meter. How does Song mode deal with the tempo?

I am in this exact situation now, and have been thinking about the best way to proceed.

I have multiple cues as independent chunks, including a separate chunk with film+ narration. My plan is to mix the cue chunks down to audio stems, then position the cue chunks properly relative to the film chunk in the song window. Then I was going to merge the whole thing into a master sequence and mix.

If i need to make changes I can go back to the individual cue chunks; duplicate and edit...

If anyone has a better method, I'd love to hear about it - this is the first time I've had really a complicated project to score (meaning lots of change requests to manage).

[MIDI Life Crisis]

If you're doing stems, I think you're way better off putting them in a new chunk (sequence) rather than a Song as you will have LOTS more control over ALL aspects of the mix. It seems to me that in film and other scoring that isn't simplistic, Song mode just adds a layer of "dumb" that ultimately works against and not for you.

I'd avoid it like the plague... just look at these wannabes who have used song mode in the distant past!

[soloact]

I use chunks for live performance. After doing all sequencing, recording, and mastering to two-track, I create sequences for each song in chunks. Into each sequence I drag the mastered song into that sequence, put in MIDI automation for a rack guitar modeler/fx unit and a vocal fx unit, and set start/stop points.

The control panel is set to auto-stop and auto-rewind, and then I set up a MIDI footswitch to cue/play/stop all songs.

Using/setting up chunks this way gives me complete random access to all my backing tracks at a live gig, and I can cue/play from a footswitch with nary a glance at the laptop. In fact, it all runs under a screensaver, and all I do is sing/play/interact with the crowd...the technology disappears. Chunks is very handy in that application.

[waitsongs]

I'm not sure if this has changed since DP 5.13, but the one time I tried lining up sequences in a song window to play back cues to picture, I realized I couldn't actually use the movie window in the song window (sorry, I don't remember the details... just that it didn't work, which made the whole idea of using the song window as a master scoring sequence a moot point). I used to do this in Studio Vision, and it was great.

Speaking of Studio Vision, I've always assumed DP named sequences "chunks" to avoid accusations of stealing the sequence/subsequence concept from Studio Vision. I confess I also avoided DP for a long time just because I didn't want to have to call something I was working on a "chunk" -- even if it sounded like one.........

[crduval]

I'd avoid it like the plague... just look at these wannabes who have used song mode in the distant past!

[bongo_x]

Thanks Shooshie for the help. I'm going to take a look at all that again.

I use DP pretty much just like I use PT or anything else, I haven't really get into the unique features. Something about the way they are integrated feels kind of awkward. Not intuitive. I'm sure it doesn't seem that way if you've used them for years. There also seems to be some overlap between all these ways of making copies of things that could be simplified, but maybe that's because I haven't wrapped my head around them yet.

I feel like one of my computer illiterate friends yelling "where'd my file go!". I've actually been through all of that with the manual and none of it sticks. I've made v-racks and different sequences and clippings and then I can't find them again or figure out how to use them again. For me, I think they should do an overhaul and simplify some of DP, but that would screw with the compatibility of old files, a feature you treasure. That's the dilemma any software company has.

The word "chunks" doesn't particularly bother me, but I wish it were consistent. It's hard enough to follow this stuff without them changing terminology mid stream.

bb

[bongo_x]

I'm trying to get a little more into this;

I have an instrument group I love and want to save to use in other sessions. It is 2 channels, 2 synths with effects after them, and an aux. From what I'm reading I want to save this as a clipping, is that right? A v-rack is not really for use in other sessions, yes, no?

I would like to be able to save little collections of these instruments and be able to access them.

thanks for your help,
bb

[bongo_x]

I see that I've tried this several times before with clippings. When you have a memory like mine, everything is an adventure!

I have some clippings that I had saved a year ago, but the folders are empty. Must have got lost in the move to the new computer.

bb

[amplidood]

V-Racks got one step closer to making Song mode useful again, but there's still a major problem. Every audio track in every chunk in Song mode is considered active...all at once. If you've got 24 tracks of audio per chunk, and 5 different chunks in a song...well, you can do the math. Tracks aren't allocated as they come along in the song, they are just all active at once.

This makes song mode only useful for programming and very, very few actual audio tracks.

[KEVORKIAN]

I'm trying to get a little more into this;

I have an instrument group I love and want to save to use in other sessions. It is 2 channels, 2 synths with effects after them, and an aux. From what I'm reading I want to save this as a clipping, is that right? A v-rack is not really for use in other sessions, yes, no?

I would like to be able to save little collections of these instruments and be able to access them.

thanks for your help,
bb

1) Select the two instrument tracks and the aux track in the Track Overview window
2) From the leftmost of the two menus above the track names select "Copy Selection To New Sequence" and give this a name.
3) From the Chunks window select and activate this newly created sequence
4) Rename the tracks to something generic and remove any audio files (if need be).
5) Drag the icon for this Chunk to a Global Clippings window (rename if you like)

Now you can add these tracks to any DP Project by dragging them into the Tracks Overview window, beneath the track names. Powerful stuff.

If you drag a V-Rack to the Clippings Window then you also have the option to drag it into the Track Overview to add the tracks to a sequence or to the Chunks window to recreate the V-Rack.

[KEVORKIAN]

V-Racks got one step closer to making Song mode useful again, but there's still a major problem. Every audio track in every chunk in Song mode is considered active...all at once. If you've got 24 tracks of audio per chunk, and 5 different chunks in a song...well, you can do the math. Tracks aren't allocated as they come along in the song, they are just all active at once.

This makes song mode only useful for programming and very, very few actual audio tracks.

It does get bogged down if you try to do use it with full arrangements. Song mode is more useful during the composition process when there are fewer tracks.

[bongo_x]

1) Select the two instrument tracks and the aux track in the Track Overview window
2) From the leftmost of the two menus above the track names select "Copy Selection To New Sequence" and give this a name.
3) From the Chunks window select and activate this newly created sequence
4) Rename the tracks to something generic and remove any audio files (if need be).
5) Drag the icon for this Chunk to a Global Clippings window (rename if you like)

Now you can add these tracks to any DP Project by dragging them into the Tracks Overview window, beneath the track names. Powerful stuff.

If you drag a V-Rack to the Clippings Window then you also have the option to drag it into the Track Overview to add the tracks to a sequence or to the Chunks window to recreate the V-Rack.

Thanks, I'll try that.

bb

[ccrane]

Coming from StudioVision Pro myself, Chunks was the reason why I chose to work in DP!
I like having the flexibility of having a lot of data available all from within one DP session.
And the fact that you can drag a chunk sequence to a DP clippings window and have it available to ALL of your sequences is just brilliant.
Some chunk clippings I have are just tracks and tracks loaded with often used SFX - just a super easy way to have cataloged useful items at hand.
Also chunks rule for production cutdowns of commercials- first I do a :30, then duplicate it to another chunk for the :20 and edit away, then repeat for the :10 etc.
When I score with lots of VI's I must admit I usually will stick to one chunk (even w/ v-rack), and I never use the Tracks window . After Shooshie's comments though maybe I should look into that more! I must say that the Sequence Editor (very ProTools-esque) does everything I need, except for removing clicks (not sure why as you can zoom in enough), oh and no true solo .

Clippings btw are just SO useful. Whether it's a pointer to a folder on my drive, a chain of tweaked mixer insert effects ready to drag and drop, or a clipping loaded with reference mixs, sound effects or previous sequences - I use clippings and chunks everyday.

[bongo_x]

... I must admit I usually will stick to one chunk (even w/ v-rack), and I never use the Tracks window . After Shooshie's comments though maybe I should look into that more! I must say that the Sequence Editor (very ProTools-esque) does everything I need, except for removing clicks (not sure why as you can zoom in enough), oh and no true solo . ...

That's the thing I don't get about the Tracks window, it really just has all the features that are missing from the Sequence and Mixer. So why don't they just put those features in and have less windows? I'm sure at some point in the past it made sense, but now it just seems like a relic.

The other day I figured out that it was really quick to enable/disable tracks from the track window, that's the only time I've used it. Of course there should be a way to do that in the other windows.

I'm hoping with all the great changes they've been making that the next thing on the list is to update the functionality of the Sequence and Mixer windows so you don't need to go to the Tracks window. Things like not having a solo button in the Seq, and not being able to select tracks in the Mix are just silly. They can keep the Tracks window for those that like it and let everyone else hide it.

bb

[bayswater]

... DP cannot play in two separate tempos at the same time, can it?

If you want varying tempos in different vertically stacked chunks, you will need to record them all at the tempo of the main chunk, but record them out-of-time.

KCS was able to play multiple sequences, each with its own internal tempo. I always thought that was a natural and useful function for any sequencer, and one I'd like to see again.