Question about a pro tools glitch

[brianhood]

This little son of a glitch has been bugging me as long as i can remember. It always happens while i'm quantizing drums.

Basically, i select a section, press clt+num0 to quantize, but somewhere in the group, one of the sections decides to extend as far as it can go(here are pics to better explain)

before Quantizing

after quantizing

It happens maybe 2 or 3 times per song(give or take)

Any ideas on wtf this is?

 

[Joshua Wickman]

Never done this way..

You using beat detective to slice the hits the quantizing by hand with ctrl+num0?

Please explain your process with this as I'm very curious.

 

[KeithTidd]

have you tried quantizing it in smaller increments? also why not use beat detective's conform instead?

 

[fade_2_black]

If youre using BD to cut the regions at the transients I would highly recommend continuing with BD to conform the tracks to the grid.

 

[brianhood]

Never done this way..

You using beat detective to slice the hits the quantizing by hand with ctrl+num0?

Please explain your process with this as I'm very curious.

I dont have the multi track beat detective, so i just go through the whole song and make the cuts by hand using tab to transient and clt+E(i have everything set to a 1 button macro on my logitech g11 keyboard though). then i quantize manually by pressing ctl+0. I usually keep the grid at 8th notes and quantize the sections between the tom rolls(usually in 5 to 10 second increments). Then change the grid to 16th notes and do the tom rolls. I always work my way from the beginning of the song to the end of the song without skipping any sections when i'm making cuts, and when i'm quantizing.

Then i do the kick track separately (as you see, the kick track above the snare track is untouched at this point). There are certain parts where i'll quantize the kick in the overhead if it's a part where the guitar cuts out or if it's a part i think the kick may be heard in the overheads.

I guess i do it a weird way, but as terrible as some of the drummers are that i've had to work with, this way works perfectly for me. Usually the player is so sloppy on the kick drum that it would completely screw up the overhead track if i tried to quantize the kick with everything else.

maybe i should just make a video to better explain haha. I'm terrible at explaining stuff like this

have you tried quantizing it in smaller increments? also why not use beat detective's conform instead?

I dont have multi track beat detective, so i dont use it for anything except crossfades and filling in gaps(and to make cuts on the kick track)

and of course i have tried smalled sections. This section was fine(nothing was more than a 64th note off the grid, which isnt much when you're quantizing 8th notes). It's just some sort of glitch it pro tools i'm trying to figure out how to avoid

 

[Joshua Wickman]

I think i need one of those keyboards!

 

[brianhood]

I think i need one of those keyboards!

yes you do!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126009

well worth the $60

 

[AudioGeekZine]

or you could just use the free program AutoHotkey to do the same thing. I have a script so I can just highlight a region and it will automatically chop on the transients or on grid lines.

BTW, to cut a region you can just push B
ctrl+E is less ergonomic.

Also I've never seen the problem you're having.

PS. Gawd I forgot how insanely bright PT 7 was.

 

[KeithTidd]

i think if you region group all of your drums before you do the cuts, you can use beat detective to conform all the drums together.

 

[Lasse Lammert]

I dont have the multi track beat detective, so i just go through ...

BD is still easier....create a key-track with your snare, kick whatever.
make a selection on that track and capture selection and analyze it with bd.
now press the key below the "p" to move the selection to the next track (wich is kick or whatever comes first in your drumtracks)...hit "seperate"...press the key below the "p" again (got a german keyboard here, dunno what it is on the us one) to slide to the next track, hit "seperate" and so on.

then you go up again ("p") pressing "Conform" an each track...and down again ("below p") hitting "smooth" on each track.

it works best id you have the tr pad set to like 10 secs (double the crossfade length).


viola


just make sure to press "conform" only once on each track, otherwise some tracks will be quantized stringer than others (assuming you're not using 100% in the first place).

consolidate

 

[KeithTidd]

^ do this. But you can save a bunch of steps if you either group or region group the remaining drumtracks. That way you only have to do the separate/conform steps 2 times.

 

[Joshua Wickman]

^ thats how i usally bd drums...

 

[RyanUsesThis]

I have a script so I can just highlight a region and it will automatically chop on the transients or on grid lines.

You wouldn't be willing to share this script would you?

I just downloaded this utility so I can have a single key stroke PASTE function.. and it works great!

The script you describe sounds very useful though.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

single key paste function?

like just the letter V? that's built in to PT.

 

[RyanUsesThis]

Perhaps. My v button doesn't paste on it's own without Ctrl + v.. unless there's something in the prefs you have to turn on in order for v to work alone.

also, my B button just activates the current mix group. Doesn't separate regions.

Are there different Keyboard templates in PT LE?

 

[Metaltastic]

Nah, it's a key focus thing - up in the top of the edit window there's a little "a...z" button, and if it has a blue border around, that means key focus for the edit window is enabled, so there are lots of one-key commands (e.g. r/t to zoom in and out, z to undo, etc.). Personally, though, I like to have key focus on the edit/mix groups window, so I can disable them with one key for track-specific edits (e.g. disabling the drums edit group to tweak the snare track)

God, PT just DESTROYS all when it comes to editing, seriously...

 

[RyanUsesThis]

pays to RTFM. I always wondered what the A..Z button did.

 

[brianhood]

Nah, it's a key focus thing - up in the top of the edit window there's a little "a...z" button, and if it has a blue border around, that means key focus for the edit window is enabled, so there are lots of one-key commands (e.g. r/t to zoom in and out, z to undo, etc.). Personally, though, I like to have key focus on the edit/mix groups window, so I can disable them with one key for track-specific edits (e.g. disabling the drums edit group to tweak the snare track)

God, PT just DESTROYS all when it comes to editing, seriously...

another useful thing to pick up

 

[Metaltastic]

pays to RTFM. I always wondered what the A..Z button did.

Nah, fuck the digidesign stuff, this book is where it's at!

 

[AudioGeekZine]

The Groove3 videos are kick ass, especially the Kenny Gioia Tips & Tricks ones. 30 day all access pass is the way to go with that