Your Favorite DAW Tips and Tricks

[joelplagues]

Not using r+t to zoom in Pro Tools here

left hand= hold ALT and Right hand on the scroll wheel.

fastest/easiest way to get around. makes my life 10000X times quicker

 

[JeffTD]

The best zooming ever is in Cubase and I believe Logic as well, possibly Reaper.

Click in the timeline bar up top, drag downward.


I have TONS of ctrl+opt+cmd+____ keys set up to do various things in Cubase, one of my favorites for new sessions being those +h (header in my mind), which adds a ruler track for seconds, a marker track, an arrange track, a tempo track, and a time signature track all at once.

 

[Morgan C]

Default 'F' in Sonar adjusts the vertical height of all the tracks, making them all equal and as large as possible whilst fitting everything on the screen. Godsend when you're zooming in and out for samples or drum edits or whatever.

 

[PantsSummer]

The record button in audacity <3

 

[mva801]

The tap tempo function in Pro Tools. On transport bar, click conductor mode off. Click in tempo window, and press 'T' along with the beat. Use it all the damn time.

 

[C_F_H_13]

The tap tempo function in Pro Tools. On transport bar, click conductor mode off. Click in tempo window, and press 'T' along with the beat. Use it all the damn time.

Amazing how many people don't know this one.

Ummmm for PT lets think of some decent ones...

Option and +/- on the NUMBER PAD, will add or subtract all selected regions start by your nudge amount. You have to select the regions with the hand tools region selector.

few people take advantage of the "e" command in AZ mode. I use it all the time. I set the parameters (in preferences) to expand to fill screen, that way when I put the cursor on a region, I hit "e" and it zooms totally in view.

Markers aren't just for...markers. You can save screen settings, visible tracks, selections, all kinds of stuff. Spend some time messing around with it. I have key commands setup with quickeys (see my tutorials) thats for all kinds of track selections, from everything from the exact selection final mixes are printed, to individual sections of the song across all tracks. With the latter, I can copy and paste choruses in about 5 seconds.

 

[mmmatthew]

pretty elementary, but the PT duplicate command (apple/command + D) holds a special place in my heart!

 

[ahjteam]

The record button in audacity <3

you mean "R" on keyboard? Way handier than using the mouse.

 

[greyskull]

Cmd and .
In Pro-Tools. Hit this constantly when tracking. It stops recording and deletes the take.
Use it constantly.

 

[koalamo]

Just saying I'd be really interested to see Joey post in this thread as far as my cubase shortcuts

Alt+b bounce selection
Control + space bar record
control + left goes to the beginning of the song
all I can remember off the top of my head but I'm sure there's more

 

[Emdprodukt]

cmd+shift+B = bounce (consolidate)

Mike, can I use this for a guitar-sim track to quickly bounce it? I always open up the export window, select the track and reimport it. Just like I would freeze it... and btw... I never found the freeze button for audio tracks... help?

thx,

Olli

 

[AudioGeekZine]

Ya know how PT can be really buggy sometimes with certain plugins? If you have a session that won't open, hold SHIFT while opening it to make all plugins inactive. Often you can re-enable all the plugins again (a row at a time by using the 3 modifier keys) and go back to working as usual.

 

[koalamo]

Mike, can I use this for a guitar-sim track to quickly bounce it? I always open up the export window, select the track and reimport it. Just like I would freeze it... and btw... I never found the freeze button for audio tracks... help?

thx,

Olli

Track the sim along with the di use whatever sim as an input effect and dial in the tone then record it as your recording the di and no there's no way to bounce an effect onto a track as far as i know what you can do is make a group track for the guitar or an fx track and then record it's output on an audio track and apply the effect that way however I find it easier to just track the sim as well as the di and if I decide I dont like the tone I will reamp with a different setting

 

[006]

Sorry, the Bounce Selection feature will only consolidate what is there, it's not actually rendering anything with the inserts on it. For that you will have to do the File>Export>AudioMixdown + Import Into Project method that you seem to already be using. This is where you freeze tracks:

The bottom right-hand corner here, looks like a snowflake:

 

[Emdprodukt]

awesome, thanks!

 

[Emdprodukt]

Track the sim along with the di use whatever sim as an input effect and dial in the tone then record it as your recording the di and no there's no way to bounce an effect onto a track as far as i know what you can do is make a group track for the guitar or an fx track and then record it's output on an audio track and apply the effect that way however I find it easier to just track the sim as well as the di and if I decide I dont like the tone I will reamp with a different setting

You can print tracks and reimport them pretty fast in cubase with the multi-track export feature. Way faster. I had hopes for a faster solution though

 

[Virgil.]

I use Reaper on a Mac... so my favorite tip is to SAVE and do it OFTEN! It's so unstable on Mac it's retarded.

Edit:
Oh, and for any newbies that want to learn great tips and tricks for whatever DAW they're using, I would HIGHLY recommend these videos...
http://www.groove3.com/str/
The $30 month pass or whatever is a great deal. Just get a pen and paper and take notes and prepare to be blown... away that is.

 

[Charles J]

i have all my cubase shortcuts customized... changed my most used ones...

i personally like "cntrl +" which I have set to bypass ALL inserts when the mixer is open... idk why but I use it TONS to a/b shit... =D

on that note; what is the EASIEST way to go about creating a macro/shortcut to do the 'file>export audio>multi-track>import into session deal so that i can actually BOUNCE stuff down quickly... not consolidate... this is the only thing i haven't bothered fucking with yet.. would save me tons of precious CPU and make sessions way more stable..

 

[::XeS::]

Ya know how PT can be really buggy sometimes with certain plugins? If you have a session that won't open, hold SHIFT while opening it to make all plugins inactive. Often you can re-enable all the plugins again (a row at a time by using the 3 modifier keys) and go back to working as usual.

Gold!!!

 

[koalamo]

i have all my cubase shortcuts customized... changed my most used ones...

i personally like "cntrl +" which I have set to bypass ALL inserts when the mixer is open... idk why but I use it TONS to a/b shit... =D

on that note; what is the EASIEST way to go about creating a macro/shortcut to do the 'file>export audio>multi-track>import into session deal so that i can actually BOUNCE stuff down quickly... not consolidate... this is the only thing i haven't bothered fucking with yet.. would save me tons of precious CPU and make sessions way more stable..

That would be amazing there's definitely a way we just need to be creative I'll try and work on something later I hate making macros in cubase they never work how I expect them too ):