Switch recording tracks on the fly

[diliupg]

I suggest an option in the preference menu where one can arm a track simply by selecting it. Also, a keyboard key or a macro to go Up or Down tracks. As it is, tracks have to be manually selected with the mouse. The track selected will be in focus, armed and ready for recording and the previous track will be not in focus anymore.

As it is, recording on a track is possible only if the track is manually armed, which is done by a mouse click.

Edited October 5, 2022 by diliupg
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[Will.]

As it is: You can do everything here with the keyboard. It is a much SAFER way to do things "manually" anyway. 

Read the document to get all the needed shortcuts to navigate through Cakewalk with minimal mouse use. 

[diliupg]

Thanks very much for your reply! I have been using Cakewalk only for around 4 days. I have figured out a vast majority of functions with my experience with Cubase, but this feature I need has eluded me. I even asked on a user group on Facebook to no avail. I know how to arm and record but when I need to record on another track I need to stop and arm the next one and start again. That process is painstakingly slow. So, am I to understand that what I have requested is not implemented currently and may be considered later?

Edited October 5, 2022 by diliupg

[scook]

Can't tell if this is about MIDI or audio.

By default, MIDI requires arming a track, but it is optional, see Allow MIDI Recording without an Armed Track

Still recording would not be based on track selection, it depends on input settings.

[Base 57]

There is an option in Preferences (Project/Record) to "Allow Arm Changes During Playback/Record".  This is un-selected by default. 

When this option is selected you can arm or disarm any tracks record function "On the Fly".

[David Baay]

By default, the up/down cursor keys will move track focus to the previous/next track.

As noted there is an option to record MIDI without arming, and it *is* based on the 'current' a.k.a 'focused' track.

For Audio (and MIDI if needed) Alt+R toggles arming and you could easily to some single key (maybe something close to the cursor keys) to simplify that.

 

[diliupg]

@David Baay, the Up and Down arrow keys are bound to "go to next marker" and 'go to previous marker', and the left and right arrow keys are unassigned. But, when I select the console view, the left and right arrow keys move to the next strip and previous strip respectively (even though they are shown as unbound). I even loaded the default SONAR key bindings, and they are the same. I loaded several key maps and now the original bindings that you said are happening, but they do NOT show up in the key bindings

Edited October 6, 2022 by diliupg
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[David Baay]

The asterisks next to the keys indicate those are custom bindings. Just choosing 'Unbind' will restore the default binding. But you're right the defaults say 'unassigned'. Apparently the internal assignments don't automatically populate to the Keyboard  Shortcuts dialog without some deliberate updating - possibly related tot he fact that there isn't actually a "Focus Previous/Next Track' function available to assign. I have my bindings modified to make PgUp/Down previous/next measure (usually requires Ctrl) and Ctrl+PgUp/Down previous/next marker.

[diliupg]

I managed to solve my problem using AutoHotKeys, an open-source software. My code is below. Works on both MIDI and Audio tracks. All you need is to arm the first track you are on. Then if you have tracks above or bwelow this track, use the relevant Up or Down Arrows. with up arrow you can un-arm the current track,  seamlessly jump to the new track, arm that and continue recording. Same with the Down arrow. Copy the code into a text file and save as a .ahk file. Thats all. 

Up::Send !r{Up}!r

Down::Send !r{Down}!r

Windows lets you bind a short cut key but it is always a three key combination. With this you can do with even one but that can become messy as one letter may be used for other things. Below code can launch Cake walk. Modify to launch anything. Even a website.

!c::Run D:\Cakewalk\Cakewalk.exe - this will run cakewalk with Alt+c.

Edited October 6, 2022 by diliupg
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