Automation vs. Gating

[builder]

Just curious... How many out there go through all the tracks that would normally benefit from a gate and just automate the volume?

Pros, Cons.

Thanks

[Timeline]

I use the expander more than the gates. Much better for most things IMHO.

Would like to see MOTU improve it with features like 'learn' where you could have it memorize the moves and manipulate the attack/open period and recovery like look ahead but in a fixed way.

Or... be able to have it learn the expand moves on a track and then convert the open periods to gate.

Weird stuff like that would be excellent. I hope also DP employs 64bit fixed plug upgrades in the near future to have better through dynamics and plug chain performance..

[amerecordingstudio]

We tend to use the strip silence function more here now... because it essentially is a gate, but you can then go through and manipulate the fade ins/outs, and lengths and whatnot, because you're left with just teh used soundbites.

That being said, there's some work to do on that feature... i like the way Cubase does it much more (they have a visual representation for you to go on, and you have much more control over the actual feature)

[chamelion]

For me it depends on what it is I want to lose by gating. If I'm working on a lead guitar track with noise in the gaps,or a vocal track with mouth noises or paper rustling etc.. I just delete them manually and merge soundbites. That gives me ultimate quality control.

To me, strip silence is often more trouble than it's worth because the threshold has to be constant and the noise often isn't. Sometimes you either lose bits you want to keep, or end up with bits you wanted to lose.

For ambient noise like an airconditioner, or just background noise if you're recording outside a studio environment, for a cost-effective solution it's hard to beat Soundsoap 2. It'll probably be the best $99 you'll ever spend.
http://www.bias-inc.com/products/soundsoap/

Cheers,

Geoff