I’m using ardour to test out ideas in composition for guitar and voice.
workflow
I’ve been selected ranges and setting them to punch in/out (pressing 8), and then
using the count in button ‘<’ with the cursor at the beginning of the punch in/out region to record only to that range within
the track on the timegrid.
bug
After working a few times over the same range using the same hotkey no longer has the same effect. Instead I see the playhead pass over the range without capturing any waveforms.
If I use shift-space sometimes I get a range captured, other times the playhead passes over the punch in/out section without recording anything to a new take.
Only if I unselect the range (pressing 8) and press record (shift-space) I get a capture, but if I select the range with the punch markers, press 8 for punch in/out, ensure that i’ve pressed ‘R’ and pressed ‘B’ I don’t get a capture.
Expected behaviour
I would expect it to always capture into a new take when I have the punch in/out area selected with (8) and I press count-in (<) with the cursor at the first beat of the that section.
Extra help
I also need help with selecting the range, as when I first started the session ‘control’ dragging with the mouse over the range timeline would select the range and create a pop-up window with a question for looping or for recording. Now that pop-up window no longer appears.
Does it work when you move the playhead a bit before the punch range?
If so check if you’re perhaps using Music (Beat) Time (Session > Properties > Misc) as main time-domain. That is known to have position rounding errors, so the playhead. Switching to “Audio/Wallclock time” may help.
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PS. Also why use count-in and punch-in together? The main idea of punch is to allow to roll into a range with context and replace a certain part with an overdub. The main benefit of count-in is that it also works at 00:00:00:00 where there is no context.
Yes it does work when I move the cursor a bit before the punch range. This is vital information that is somehow missing from the user manual. If I was contributing to those pages I was make a pull request immediately.
I just lost 2 hours of good studio time trying to figure this out. Thx you for replying
Okay so I guess that it isn’t a bug. In which case I think that it needs to be documented, and easily searchable. I really like the layout of the documentation but I feel it is too sparse.
In my opinion I think that having the playhead position create scenarios where the user cannot record is a flaw. As a user to come up against this sort of thing is an indication of “handbook syndrome”. Which is the need to read a lot of documentation to get things done. I can’t find the definition for anywhere but it comes from a developer’s convention I watched online. The reverse of it, the presenter said was “cookbook syndrome”. Where the documentation shows you how to do a limited amount of things.
Was it really necessary for me to create an account and become active on a forum board in order to understand this software?
Also I would hope that the software begins recording before the punch-in marker, since it adds a layer of tedium to recording when regions can’t be rolled back to include what happened before the marker. As when accidentally I would set the punch-in marker after the first click chopping off the first transient of a section.
Also thank you for getting back to me. I appreciate it
DAWs are among the most complex applications anyone could use. Punch in/out are features that I would guess more than half, and perhaps more than 90% of all users never use. The expectation that you will be able to understand how this software works simply by using it is going to fail (just as it will for more or less any other DAW).
Do we need better documentation? Certainly. For better or worse (mostly for worse, obviously) we don’t have the resources to provide what is actually needed. We are very happy to receive (well-written) contributions from anyone.
Also I would hope that the software begins recording before the punch-in marker, since it adds a layer of tedium to recording when regions can’t be rolled back to include what happened before the marker.
It does not. This is fairly advanced feature that a few other DAWs added within the last few years. We have not yet added it, though it is on a list of advanced features to add in the future.
Punch-in/out is modelled on traditional studio recording techniques, where a performer would be listening to the existing material until the punch point and then commences their new performance, ending at the punch out. It therefore doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, given that workflow model, to capture material before or after.
There are new workflows, that acknowledge that we’re no longer using tape, that all edits are non-destructive etc. etc. in which pre- and post-capture would certainly make sense.