norfolkmastering

Okay thanks for the advice

Thanks for the advice. I solved the issue by using an external video editor to move the video (and so also embedded audio) to the right in the video editor timeline, by the exact amount I needed to align with the correct temp point in the Sonar project song. A bit of trial and error but it worked fine.

I have enabled Snap to 1/16 which works okay when I move the time curser manually but I also want to snap to the nearest 1/16 snap position when I stop play. Is this possible? Thanks

I have imported an mp4 video (with audio) into a project. I really need to move the video (and audio) start point which I've read is only possible with the AVI format. So I found the instructions for using the export video option to do the conversion. Briefly they say: To convert a Video project to DV AVI format 1. Use the File > Export > Video command. The Export Video dialog box appears. 2. In the File Name field, type a name for your new video. 3. In the Save as Type field, choose Video for Windows. 4. Click the Encoding Options button to open the AVI Encoder options dialog box, and choose DV Video Encoder in the Video Codec field. Click OK. So I tried that and the 'Video for Windows' option does not appear. Nearest is 'Windows Media Video' and this does not offer the AVI format as an option. Can anyone help with this please?

I had a little challenge when there was a slower bridge in the middle of the song which I didn't do a very good job at the first attempt. By that time I had done the rest of the song! Ooops! So I had my first experience of having to edit tempo points in situ! I put SMPTE locked time markers at a few point along the slower bridge audio to mark where I was sure there should be tempo points and then played around with the tempos between these points until it was sorted, taking care to ensure that the tempo points I added/edited time ended up aligned with the audio markers. Not too difficult after some practice and it worked a treat. 'Set-Beat-At-Now' is a GREAT TOOL!!

I had a first try this morning and it seems to work really well. It's smart enough to know which measure I've clicked close to, even if that measure is not exactly aligned to the beat in the audio waveform. My method at the moment is to keep an eye visually where the measure (n the timeline) starts to wander away from the visual beat on the audio waveform, then pop a 'Set-Beat-At-Now' there. It will take a while to do the whole song but it's very stress free! I worked out what the initial tempo was and put a bar of silence in before the start of the audio. I need a tempo map for this particular song as we're doing a cover of a classic 70's song and want to match the original tempo. This makes it easy to programme a temporary drum track (and of course a click track) for the band to build up the parts from and also makes referencing to the original track easy as it sits in its own track on Sonar.

I will give it a try tomorrow. Thanks so much for the explanations.

That is great news! How does Sonar know how many beats to put between the points I add? Let’s say I add a point then another point 5 beats later, then another point 7 beats later, basically wherever I see a clear beat in the audio waveform. Thats the bit I don’t understand.

Rather than having to tap the tempo along with the song is there any way to set tempo points based on the waveform? I'm creating a tempo map from a CD track right now and I can see where the 'beat' points are. If I could somehow use these as anchor points (say every 5 bars) and then get the tempo map gizmo to calculate the correct temp between the anchor points then it would be really easy to do. I tried the two automatic methods and found them pretty poor.

How about the Soundcraft Ui24R? I realise you are mixing on a tablet but if it's mostly about setting record levels then maybe it has some advantages. It would also make monitoring in another room a lot simpler.

Yes the Tascam Model 2400 ticks a lot of boxes. The lack of metering per channel alongside the faders is for me the biggest issue. Yes you can use tiny onboard screen (not really!) or the app, but nothing beats channel metering next to the faders when you are trying to keep an eye on recording levels. Nevertheless, food for thought! Are there any other mixer based contenders apart from the Model 24 which can record to an SDXC card?

The location recording is a bit of a mixed bag; Last week I recorded a folk-punk group in the pianists front room. Mixture of acoustic and electric instruments. Yes I was in the front room too! I had a mixture of DI and mic'd sources. Some percussion but no drum kit! Typically no more than 8 to 10 sources. Some fan noise was okay in that situation but if it had been an all acoustic folk group (which I've done as well) then a laptop fan would have been a problem. Occasionally it's possible to get the recording gear set up in a different room but it makes comms difficult when there is so much going on. I usually have to do a fair amount of 'herding sheep' as is often the way with musicians (surely not??) I would never use VST type effects when recording, so its just getting the audio recorded. If a singer must have a little reverb on their voice then I would do that using the DSP in the audio interface, so no load on the computer. I like the idea of the MeLE Quieter PC 4C. Am I right that it can mount to the back of a monitor via the VESA system? And does it have an internal SSD or do you need to use a USB connected hard drive?

I’m putting together a mobile recording set up. Ideally, it would be great to find a fanless Windows laptop but it doesn’t look like they exist at the moment. Next best is a low fan noise machine. So if you have recently bought a laptop for use with Sonar and it’s super/almost super quiet, can you share the spec please. many thanks

I came across this MTC to LTC converter on Amazon, https://www.amazon.co.uk/DOREMIDI-LTC-MIDI-Timecode-MTC-20-synchronize/dp/B0CSFGCYZV It's reasonably priced so I will probably get one and see helps with the issue.

1. Yes the Windows Audio settings are the same as Sonar/Cakewalk 2. I have disabled the Realtek audio in device manager. HDMI audio doesn't appear on the list. 3. Windows 11 doesn't have exactly the same options (that I can find anyway) but all the 'Audio, Allows apps and Windows to use this device for audio' are set to Don't allow'. I don't think the problem is timing variations in the Sonar external insert sends. I've tested these extensively today and they are very consistent. I've done some more testing and think the problem may be slight timing variations in my sync system. I use Sonar's MTC output as the timing master. This gets converted to LTC using the Show Cockpit MTC to LTC convertor app. Sadly this PC based convertor only supports native Windows audio drivers (so not ASIO). I've been using my PC's Realtek digital audio output via a D/A convertor to get the LTC in analogue format. It's been okay up till now and tight enough 'timing wise' for my use. So I'm not sure why I'm getting this variation now, although I did update to Windows 11 recently. So what I'm saying is that the path from Sonar MTC output to Show Cockpit's MTC input (happens inside the PC) to LTC conversion (still inside the PC) to LTC emerging from my PC's digital audio output, is varying in the path time delay, a little bit from session to session. That it's worked okay up till now is a miracle! I can pull 'the system' back into sync by putting a frame or two of offset into Sonar's SMPTE/MTC Offset. This (I think) slightly advances or delays Sonar playback timing compared to Sonar's MTC output. It's tedious but it works. I probably need to find a master MTC/LTC generator which I can sync the tapes machines and Sonar. That would still rely on a constant time delay getting the MTC into Sonar (so via a MIDI interface), or perhaps easier would be to find a high quality MTC/LTC unit which I can sync from Sonar (so bypassing the Show Cockpit app). All suggestions welcomed!