Tracktion Software - The Edit Screen Video Lecture | Tracktion Tutorial: Master Music Editing - Video & Sound Editing

the Edit screen tractions edit page is
split into several areas and is laid out
broadly to reflect the flow of data
through the program so you bring MIDI
and audio data into the software from
the left side either by dragging it from
the file browser or by recording it from
the inputs the resulting clips can then
be arranged and edited on the tracks in
the middle and are processed and mixed
by filters on the right before emerging
at the outputs the browser section can
be resized by dragging its right edge
and can be hidden from view with the
button in the top left corner when not
needed likewise the filter section can
be resized and can be hidden with the
button in the top right corner or by
pressing ctrl shift and F traction
treats tracks clips and filters as
objects which can be dragged and dropped
or cut copied and pasted with the
standard ctrl + X C and V keys
respectively and they display their
parameters in the panel at the bottom of
the screen when selected so if you
select a track the properties panel will
display all the routing options for that
track and if you select a midi clip it
will display that clips quantize and
groove options if you hold the ctrl or
command key you can select multiple
objects of the same type in which case
the properties panel will affect all of
those objects the whole bottom section
of the screen can be resized by dragging
the top edge and can be hidden using the
long bar shaped button in the top right
corner the global and marker buttons
just to the left allow you to show or
hide two special tracks which are
grouped at the top of the edit page the
global track allows you to define tempo
time signature or key changes which
affects the whole edit while the marker
track allows you to label sections of
the edit such as intro or chorus or
middle eight
in the middle we have normal trucks
these can be used for stereo or mono
audio clips MIDI clips or to display
automation curves or any combination at
once trucks can be resized by dragging
the bottom edge or by double-clicking
the track name or with the default is
erred key command MIDI clips
automatically display a piano roll
editor when enlarged and audio clips
show a waveform display if this is
enabled in the options menu trucks can
be organized into folders and subfolders
by dragging and dropping or by holding
ctrl to select several tracks and
pressing the create folder containing
button in the properties panel tracts
folder tracks and clips can all be
renamed by selecting them and pressing
tab to highlight the name field in the
properties panel you can zoom
horizontally by right clicking and
dragging or using the mouse scroll wheel
when the cursor is hovering over the
tracks area holding the shift key allows
us to navigate using the mouse wheel
although those last two can be reversed
via the options menu holding the ctrl or
command key allows vertical zooming as
well
ctrl or command + f8 will zoom out fully
in both directions to display an
overview of the entire edit just above
the tracks is the timeline this can be
toggled between bars and beats seconds
and frames or seconds and milliseconds
using the T key command or via the
timecode menu
the time line can be dragged to navigate
through the Edit as can the scrollbar
under the tracks if you hover the mouse
cursor over the time line directly above
the play cursor it will change to a
four-way arrow symbol left clicking here
allows you to drag the play cursor left
or right
while simultaneously zooming
horizontally by dragging up or down the
browser section can be used to search
your hard drives for audio or MIDI files
which can then be imported by dragging
and dropping into the Edit and you can
create bookmarks for favorite folders
alternatively this section can be
switched to show your loop library which
will be explained fully in another
chapter a list of markers or the current
contents of the clipboard the list of
markers corresponds to the marker track
displayed at the top of the edit and
each marker is assigned a number if you
type a number of up to three digits and
press Enter traction will look for a
marker with the same number if it finds
one it will move the play cursor to the
marker position otherwise it will create
a new marker with that number at the
play cursor position new markers can
also be created via the add button at
the bottom of the markers list you can
then use the arrow symbols in the top
corners of the marker clip to stretch it
out to indicate a region double clicking
a marker in the list will move the
playhead to the start of the marker clip
if you select a marker either by
clicking in the marker list in the left
panel or by clicking on the marker clip
on the marker track you have options in
the properties panel to change the
number assigned to that marker or to
give it a name such as chorus there is
also a type option to switch the type
between bar and beats markers which will
change their position when the tempo is
changed in order to remain at the same
relative song position or absolute
markers
which will stay locked to the same time
code regardless of the tempo as an
example if you were scouring the
soundtrack for a film you would need to
use bar and beats markers to indicate
different musical sections of your
arrangement but use absolute markers to
indicate important cue points in the
film you could then adjust the tempo of
your music and watch the different types
of marker move relative to each other if
you select the marker track you can opt
to view the different types of markers
on separate tracks in which case you can
change the marker type by dragging from
one track to another if you select a
marker clip and press ctrl + Enter
traction will play just the section of
the Edit indicated by that clip in
between the browser and the tracks we
have the track names display along with
the MIDI and audio inputs you can rename
a track by selecting it and typing in
the name field in the properties panel
if you need to rename several tracks you
can hold alt and use the up and down
arrow keys to select each in turn and
then press tab to highlight the name
field ready to type each track has an
input icon which will be blank if no
input is assigned to assign an input
click the icon and a list will pop up
with all the MIDI and audio inputs you
enabled in the settings page the input
icon will then display an R button to
record enable the input and a small
level meter the input icons can be
hidden who are not needed using the
button in the top right corner or by
pressing ctrl shift + I and this leaves
more room for the track names the
filters area to the right of the tracks
contains tractions and mixer section in
traction terminology the channel faders
and meters are filters as are any VST
plugins you choose to use new filters
can be added by dragging and dropping
the new filter icon and choosing from
the list filters can also be rearranged
by dragging and dropping and can be
copied pasted and deleted in the usual
way VST plugins' with their own GUI will
launch in their own window when selected
these windows can be locked so that more
than one GUI can be displayed at the
same time the truck names strip and the
filters area can be scrolled vertically
with the mouse wheel when the cursor is
over them holding the ctrl or command
key still changes the mouse wheel to a
vertical zoom control a mouse wheel is
extremely useful for efficiently
navigating around the edit page but if
you don't have one you can use the small
collection of buttons underneath the
filters section instead moving down we
find a display of the current tempo time
signature and root key and the current
position in the song clicking the
timecode display allows you to move the
cursor to a specific position by typing
in the value directly while clicking on
the tempo time signature or root key
fields allows you to edit the current
value if you need a tempo change in a
specific part of the song move the
cursor to that point click on the tempo
display to select it and press the
insert tempo change and cursor button
you can now type in a new tempo or
adjust the slider
notice that the global track displays
this tempo change graphically as a sharp
step to indicate a sudden change from
one tempo to another
you can drag the horizontal lines to
adjust the tempos or drag the node to
adjust the tempos or the position of the
change there is also another node of a
slightly different color on the corner
of the step if you drag this node up or
down you can change the curve value to
create a gradual tempo change
time signature changes can be inserted
in the same way click the time signature
field to select it and press the insert
time signature at cursor button in the
properties panel you can then click the
values in the time sig field to choose
the new signature it doesn't make sense
to offer gradual changes between
signatures so the changes are displayed
as fractions on the global truck which
can be dragged or copied and pasted
the transport controls are fairly
self-explanatory consisting of play and
record buttons plus fast-forward rewind
and return to start there is also a pair
of automation play and record buttons
which you can use to record the changes
you make to a mix as it plays back and
which will be explained in detail in
another chapter the ex MTC button
relates the midi timecode options in the
timecode many and should be turned on
when synchronizing tractions playback
with an external device underneath this
section there are two buttons which
relates to the left and right markers in
the tracks area these markers can be
positioned around any selected clips
using the M key command or dragged
manually and are used to define the loop
region when the loop button is turned on
and the in and out points for the punch
record option by default these buttons
are assigned to the L & P key commands
respectively the click or metronome can
be turned on or off by pressing C
settings for the click can be found in
the click track menu choosing a midi
output will allow the use of a hardware
midi device for the click if needed
change click settings allows the midi
notes to be defined for midi clicks or
audio files to be defined for audio
clicks the snap button to the right is
linked to the q key command
the snap resolution is automatically
adjusted according to the current zoom
level
snapping can also be enabled for the
cursor
in clip boundaries via the snapping many
the end-to-end button will keep the
audio engine running even when traction
is not playing or recording this allows
plug-in synths to be played from a MIDI
controller without having to start
playback first the scroll button forces
the display to follow the current
playback position you can choose whether
to have smooth scrolling or sudden
screen jumps via the options menu
underneath the buttons we have a CPU
meter to show processor activity to the
right we have the master section with a
master fader and space for for pre fade
master filters
selecting the master fader provides
options in the properties panel to scan
the edit and find a normalised master
volume level or to apply global fades
the racks area is hidden by default but
can be toggled with the racks button at
the top right of the screen or ctrl or
command + G the rack can also be resized
by dragging the top edge racks will be
explained in more detail later on
the bottom left corner of the Edit page
contains undo and redo buttons the
attraction also uses the standard ctrl +
Z key command for undo switching to the
settings page then file settings allows
you to choose how many levels of undo
will be remembered
this section also contains an import
button which will allow trucks to be
imported from an audio CD or projects to
be imported from Mackie HDR recorders
and also an export button to render
audio mix downs export MIDI files or
create archives to load up a quicktime
movie file press the movies button
choose set QuickTime movie file and
point traction to the file you wish to
use you can also specify a start time
for the file from the same menu and you
can launch the movie window at any time
by pressing alt + M the window can be
dragged around by left clicking while
right-clicking allows you to set it
always on top to change the window size
and to choose whether the video
soundtrack is audible or not