Arm Single Track to Record by Default

[Byron Dickens]

Wah! I have to click the mouse one more time ! ?

 

 

 

Really, how hard is it to arm and disarm tracks as you go along?

FWIW, 99% of the time I record more thof one track simultaneously.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John Vere]

22 hours ago, insickness said:

What are you talking about, "is this a joke?" If I arm one track and record on it and then go press record on another track, I shouldn't have to disarm the first track I was recording on. Who would want both tracks to be armed for recording? You guys are acting like I'm doing something really weird here. Who records on track one, then moves on to track 2 and presses record and wants to record on both track 1 and track 2 at the same time? 99% of the time, you'll want to record on one track at a time. Am I taking crazy pills? It should be set up by default that if you want to record on multiple tracks at once, you can enable that option or hold the control down to select multiple tracks.  

Well your back after (edit) 7 months  

Your complaint is kinda odd at least to the majority of us who are used to having to actually put a little effort into our craft. Things like this are just a routine habit. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by John Vere

[Byron Dickens]

It pays to be 2% smarter than the stuff you're working with.

[user 905133]

On 8/15/2020 at 8:51 AM, insickness said:

Is there a way to only allow cakewalk to record on a single track at at time? I almost never record on multiple tracks at a time. So whenever I want to record on a new track, I have to unarm all tracks in the toolbar and then arm the track I want to record in. Seems easy but half the time I end up forgetting to do it and record on a multiple tracks, etc. 

On 8/15/2020 at 11:08 AM, User 905133 said:

I'm not sure, but it sounds to me like you want the functionality of a radio button such that pressing record in one place turns off all other record buttons that were on.   

On 8/15/2020 at 2:14 PM, insickness said:

Exactly! . . . .

On 8/15/2020 at 2:51 PM, User 905133 said:

I don't know if there is such a function; I will defer to others on this.  If there isn't, you could make a Feature Request.  . . . .

On 8/17/2020 at 2:31 PM, Rico Belled said:

. . . what I think the OP means is what Ableton Live calls "exlusive" arm . . . which means that if you arm a new track, any other track that  is armed will get 'dis-armed'. This way it takes one command to be ready to record the next thing..

On 3/6/2021 at 7:18 PM, LeoSpit said:

hey. actually, there is an ARM [UnArm] ALL TRACKS button . . . .

On 3/6/2021 at 8:06 PM, John Vere said:

See the Big red button?  or  Ctrl +R   

This will arm or unarm all tracks . . . .

I see a legitimate question asked plus a clarifying exchange.

Obviously some people didn't understand that you were looking for a single button that would arm one track and at the same time disarm all other tracks--an "exclusive arm" button as suggested on 8/16/2020. Maybe my reference to a "radio button" confused people? 

Several months later suggestions were made that (1) you use either the Big red button in the Mix Module on the Control Bar or Ctrl+R (implied: if you weren't already doing that) to disarm all the tracks before (2) arming a new track.

Just a hunch, but I suspect the subsequent tone of ridicule by other was abetted by this piece of sarcasm:

On 3/6/2021 at 8:06 PM, John Vere said:

Tip of the day- Open the help module and point the mouse at everything in your workspace and take some time to learn what everything does you'll be amazed at how many cool features are right under your nose,,, like the big red button.  

 

2 hours ago, John Vere said:

Well your back after 9 months! 

In case you missed it: Between August 2020 (the time of the original post) and March 2021 (the time of this reply) was almost 7 months.   

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by User 905133
to change "your" to "this" to make the reference to the preceding quote clearer

[Byron Dickens]

John's suggestion was actually pretty helpful, I thought. The help module is an invaluable resource

RTFM solves probably 99% of these"issues."

Computers do what you tell them to, not what you want them to.

[user 905133]

8 minutes ago, bdickens said:

John's suggestion was actually pretty helpful, I thought. 

Maybe, but please re-consider that the following had already been posted in August 2020 at the time of the original thread.

On 8/15/2020 at 9:08 PM, tonemangler said:

I believe it's best practice to check the record button in the Mix module of the Control Panel before engaging a track to record.  If it is lit red that means a track(s) somewhere is/are engaged for recording.  Either click on it or press Ctrl + R to disengage so as to ensure no tracks are armed for recording, then arm the track you want to record.  . . . .

So, by March 2021 there had been a question, some clarification, some civil discussion, some valid points raised (including the option to use the Mix Module or Ctrl+R), etc.

And so the drama continues.  

[azslow3]

I guess  (semi)pro users accept current behavior as it is. In fact there are many situations when several tracks should be armed in parallel even for 2x2 interfaces (f.e. Guitar + VOX) and MIDI input (multi-zone keyboard).

There are scenarios when that is inconvenient. F.e. a "noob" (like me) record several tracks using one single instrument (guitar or mic). There are already several points to "remember" during that process (press "Rec" instead of "Play", arm something, echo, etc.) and remembering one more thing, to disarm previously recorded tracks, is annoying.

There are also clear scenarios when that make no sense at all: if several audio tracks have the same input, it is hard to imagine when someone wants more then one of them armed.

-----------------

Cakewalk is long time aware about "auto exclusivity", there is "Auto echo" (effectively implicit switching MIDI keyboard between tracks). And there is mentioned "exclusive arm" for takes.

Many "concurrents" have addressed the problem (f.e. "auto arm" in REAPER, mentioned "exclusive arm" in Ableton). So, clearly the idea is not a joke.

-----------------

When too annoyed, I used "macro" inside AZ Controller, to disarm all tracks + arm required. But that was working from surface(s) only.

In case someone wants try the behavior, I have updated AZ Controller and have made a tiny preset: https://www.azslow.com/index.php?topic=298.msg1453#msg1453
It works without any surface:

 

[murat k.]

Since I work with Cakefolk's Auto Arm for Audio Tracks function, I have no longer trouble with recording with Audio Tracks, like unintentially more than one armed tracks. It works the same principle with the MIDI or Instrument Track's Auto Arm function. When you press "R" key on the keyboard it arms audio track automatically. When you hit "R" key again or press "Space" key on your keyboard, it disarms the track automatically.

Beta Release's download links will be available with the new version come out. Or you can subscribe Cakefolk from Patreon and start to use it anytime you want. ?

 I couldn't use AZ Controller when I try to work with it because it seemed so complicated to me. But it seems it does the job by the way. ?

1 hour ago, azslow3 said:

 

[azslow3]

1 hour ago, murat k. said:

Beta Release's download links will be available with the new version come out. Or you can subscribe Cakefolk from Patreon and start to use it anytime you want. ?I

 

It can be you also have a workaround, unfortunately the link to Github does not exist and another link is to some "subscription"... ?

 

[Xoo]

4 hours ago, azslow3 said:

I guess  (semi)pro users accept current behavior as it is. In fact there are many situations when several tracks should be armed in parallel even for 2x2 interfaces (f.e. Guitar + VOX) and MIDI input (multi-zone keyboard).

There are scenarios when that is inconvenient. F.e. a "noob" (like me) record several tracks using one single instrument (guitar or mic). There are already several points to "remember" during that process (press "Rec" instead of "Play", arm something, echo, etc.) and remembering one more thing, to disarm previously recorded tracks, is annoying.

There are also clear scenarios when that make no sense at all: if several audio tracks have the same input, it is hard to imagine when someone wants more then one of them armed.

-----------------

Cakewalk is long time aware about "auto exclusivity", there is "Auto echo" (effectively implicit switching MIDI keyboard between tracks). And there is mentioned "exclusive arm" for takes.

Many "concurrents" have addressed the problem (f.e. "auto arm" in REAPER, mentioned "exclusive arm" in Ableton). So, clearly the idea is not a joke.

-----------------

When too annoyed, I used "macro" inside AZ Controller, to disarm all tracks + arm required. But that was working from surface(s) only.

In case someone wants try the behavior, I have updated AZ Controller and have made a tiny preset: https://www.azslow.com/index.php?topic=298.msg1453#msg1453
It works without any surface:

 

It seems a not unreasonable request (yes, there are workarounds, but having it do this automatically won't hurt anyone if it's an option, and it does make things more reliable in some cases), so this is neat you got it done so quickly.

As an aside, any idea why I can get azctrl to work fine in 32 and 64 bit versions of SONAR Platinum, but it simply won't open its window in any version of Cakewalk by Bandlab that I've tried?  It installs, gets added to CbB's control surfaces menu fine, appears in the Utilities window...and then does nothing when I select it.

 

[azslow3]

3 minutes ago, Kevin Perry said:

As an aside, any idea why I can get azctrl to work fine in 32 and 64 bit versions of SONAR Platinum, but it simply won't open its window in any version of Cakewalk by Bandlab that I've tried?  It installs, gets added to CbB's control surfaces menu fine, appears in the Utilities window...and then does nothing when I select it.

We better discuss on my forum, since it is off-topic here...

Try to run actfix.exe in the installation folder. If it does not work as well, there is some problem with MS runtime (I don't remember which is used, I always had it on all computers).

Once you see it in Utilities menu, it is loaded fine. On multi-monitor system, check all monitors (the GUI is displayed by Cakewalk, may be it remember "off screen" positions...).

Otherwise it appears in brackets in the Control Surface settings, in recent CbB versions check assigned MIDI IN/OUT are currently connected.

[Xoo]

Yeah, sorry it's off topic but I knew you'd see it (and one more forum to log into otherwise...)!

Definitely not appearing anywhere, and it works fine in SPlat as I said, so I assume the runtime libraries are correct.  And I also assume no-one else reports this...

MIDI is set fine too (as far as I can see, the same in SPlat anyway).

There's no actfix in the installation folder by the way.