Always have to nudge audio! Why?

[jason.hegener]

Hello there,

I would appreciate any advice on this problem I'm having. When I lay down some guitar audio over previously recorded drumtracks, the tracks don't line up in time during playback. I always have to nudge the last soundbite(s) "later" (increase) by a bit to get everything in time.

It seems to me that if the musician is playing along just fine with the accompaniment (when monitoring the recording) then DP should figure out how to line them up for playback.

Is there a setting that I've missed?

Thanks.

[oldguitars]

Are you sure you played in time? hehe just kidding, what interface, version of DP and what comp/OS are you on? Those things are needed to give you some advice.

[Tim]

Is there a setting that I've missed?

The beat.















-

[Tim]

Just kidding.

If the performance was coming out later it'd be easier to guess why, but earlier.........

Are you seeing the waveform not lining up with the drums?

There is an input/output timing adjustment in DP. There's also (at least there used to be) a file in the DP app/extras folder to help with calibration. I've never had to tweak it though.

[giles117]

Would be nice to know your system specs, etc....

[stephentayler]

Are you monitoring the guitar through any plugins when recording??

Stephen

[jason.hegener]

Hmm, I thought I was supposed to be notified when I received replies. Oh well.

I'm running DP 4.62 on a Powerbook (1.25GHz, 1.25GB RAM, OSX 10.4.2); audio going to a firewire drive (7200RPM); interface is a 828MKII.

I have some of the accompaniment tracks running through plug-ins, but the guitar I'm recording is not.

I agree that it's kind of wierd that i should have to increase nudge. The drums are aligned with the grid, and the guitar waveforms come out just a bit ahead.

[bongo_x]

I agree that it's kind of wierd that i should have to increase nudge. The drums are aligned with the grid, and the guitar waveforms come out just a bit ahead.

how much is "a bit"? many if not most guitar players tend to play ahead of the drums, IMHO.

bb

[jason.hegener]

You're right, guitar players are usually very eager!

Anyways, it's not musician specific... it happens with vocals, git, bass, etc. I can select the entire soundbite and shift it over 2-3 nudges to line it up with the rest of the tracks (I'm using the default nudge length in DP).

[TheHopiWay]

If you've never fine tuned your I/O timing you need to look there first.
Take one of the drum tracks you have in DP, route it to whatever headphone monitor scheme you use. Take the headphone send (turn it to a very low level), route it to an input in DP using the same path you'd normally use for a guitar and compare the wave form to the original.
Is the timing sample accurate?
If not, tweak your I/O timing until it is.
Once it's perfect the performance will be as played.
** personal rant starts here **
Sadly it's not uncommon for some players to be out in front 10 or 20 ms on a regular basis. They may spend years practicing scales and chord structure ( to the point of idiot/savant genius) but without the same dedication applied to tempo and groove their tracks are amateur at best.

[jason.hegener]

Thanks TheHopiWay!

I will try what you've suggested.

Re: your rant...

In my experience, having some classical training increases awareness of tempo and rhythm. Unless you have someone point it out to you, it's easy for it to take a back seat to "playing all of the right notes." Unfortunately, I've come across some players with the attitude of "it's not my problem." Well, thanks to software sequencers like DP they can get away with that a little bit.

[Tim]

(I'm using the default nudge length in DP).

I have mine on the 'Guitarist' setting.