Dynamics

[Bravohorn1]

Greetings friends,
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and that 2019 will be the best of years for you all. So, with Xmas now behind me I can once again indulge my MusicSpirit. My first day back, and already there's a snag.
I was going to practice mixing down a new song (copy of one), and I was enjoying
Phil's tutorial on the subject. I was applying his instructions on dynamics, where you set 1 of the 4 options for each input a thru h. Turned on compression on a, b, & c. Phil then turns on noise suppression d thru f,, and de-essor on g & and exciter on h. When I went to input d to engage noise suppression I got the Error message "Not Available" turn off guitar effects , or use two or less dynamics. So went back and reviewed each song (15 of them) individually and made sure all we're showing off. I went back to the original song, and tried again, and same error message.

During my hunt for a solution I found that whenever I turned on one dynamic in any input all dynamic options for the input selected we're turned on. When I went to select noise suppression on d I got the error message, so I am unable to duplicate Phil's actions in his tutorial# 4 titled "dynamic insert effects"

What am I missing, or not comprehending. Is Phil using an earlier 24 that allowed multiple dynamics concurrently, and my 24 doesn't. Though not a big problem in the scheme of things, it does feel like a disappointment.

Thanks in advance,

 

[-mjk-]

@Bravohorn1 Dynamics are for inputs, but you said you were going to mix a song. Dynamics don't work on tracks. But, they are not all on. When you turn Dynamics on, whichever screen is showing, is the active one. You can cycle thru them, but only one is applied at a time.

If the system says you have to turn off the guitar effects, then go to the Mixer screen, and check each track to find out which one has the insert effect, and turn it off.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Bravohorn - thankyou and season's greetings to you too.
The warning message is because the guitar (track) effect has been inserted into a track, even if this was unintentional.... maybe it was a setting carried forwards from a previous song.
Video tutorial 4 shows an example of this message at approx 8mins. If the guitar effect block is inserted into any track (even if all the effects within the block are off), the no. of concurrent dynamic effects is reduced from 8 to 2.... although as mj says, these dynamic effects will have no effect if you are only mixing tracks (they can be used though if you want to mix inputs).
The effects used for each song are completely independent so there's no need to check through the other songs. You only need to 'fix' the current song.
Also, re. your comment "I found that whenever I turned on one dynamic in any input all dynamic options for the input selected we're turned on". It does look strange - you turn the compressor On, cycle through the other effect types and they all appear to be On... but they're not turning on/off as such. If you turn a dynamic effect on, and then select a different effect, this becomes the effect which is inserted. In other words, you are changing the (one and only) insert effect for the currently selected input (the one which is displayed at the top right of the dynamics screen). So if the Compressor is On for input A, then you select the Noise Suppressor, this becomes the effect for input A, not the compressor.

 

[Bravohorn1]

Hey MJK,
Thanks for responding. I didn't apply any dynamics, or effects at the time we laid down the tracks for the new song. I was trying to apply dynamics now before mixdown, and wanted to view phil's video again.
So the 24sd doesn't allow for applying just compression on chosen input. If myyou want compression you're going to get exciter, noise suppression and de-essor whether you want/need it or not?

 

[-mjk-]

@Bravohorn1 No.

You only get whatever screen is showing. If you leave it on compression, that's what's applied. The others are not running in the background.

Are you mixing live inputs, or are you mixing pre-recorded tracks? Adding dynamics to the inputs does absolutely nothing to the tracks.

 

[Bravohorn1]

Thank you Phil,
You cleared it up for me. Now another?, & I hope I'm not a source of aggrivation. I've bounced a recording from trk 1
(mono) to 13/14 (stereo) I managed my eq, and effects post bounce, and now want to export to PC daw for more enhancement. More as an educational/exercise thing.

In audio depot song list doesn't show new bounced stereo track. Only the original mono tracks are shown.

 

[Bravohorn1]

Hey MJK,
Yeah we laid down the tracks several days before Xmas, so I was trying to manipulate those tracks with dynamics. I couldn't figure it out before I had to take off. I think I have guitar effects figured out, but still working on that.
Q, I made copies of the original songs laid, so I could rehearse on them. Outside of using up SD card, is this a valid way to learn! I did my first bounce with that copy to a stereo track. Too. It seems to have worked out okay.
Thanksabunch,

 

[-mjk-]

Thank you Phil,
You cleared it up for me. Now another?, & I hope I'm not a source of aggrivation. I've bounced a recording from trk 1
(mono) to 13/14 (stereo) I managed my eq, and effects post bounce, and now want to export to PC daw for more enhancement. More as an educational/exercise thing.

In audio depot song list doesn't show new bounced stereo track. Only the original mono tracks are shown.

You export 2 tracks and import them 1 at a time back to a stereo track.

 

[-mjk-]

@Bravohorn1 you cannot (directly) apply dynamics to tracks. You can use the insert Guitar effects on 1 track at a time. You really need to get this straight in your mind or you won't get the results you need. Please go over Phil's videos again.

 

[Phil Tipping]

I hope I'm not a source of aggrivation

No problem - it's the only way to learn

In audio depot song list doesn't show new bounced stereo track. Only the original mono tracks are shown.

If you definitely recorded the bounce onto tracks 13/14 (i.e. you didn't forget to press Record!), then those tracks will appear in the AudioDepot export list as candidates for exporting along with any other recorded tracks.

Stereo tracks will appear as 2 separate entries for left & right; in your case you should see track 13 and track 14 as separate entries so tick both of these and do the export.

Note when you return to the main AudioDepot screen, the exported filenames (which are constructed from the song name and the track number) may be too long for the display so may appear in a truncated/renamed format. These names may also contain a unique number which is nothing to do with the song or track number so it may not be obvious which files correspond to which tracks, especially if you have accumulated lots of previously exported files. The machine does not delete these automatically so it's up to you to keep the AudioDepot folder tidy. You can see the full file names though, when you view the AudioDepot folder using a computer.

When the files from tracks 13 & 14 are on your computer, each one can be played back separately, but the sound will not be spread out between your speakers/headphones unless you play them both together and pan them left & right respectively. The exact method for doing this depends on your DAW, e.g. you could import them to separate mono tracks in the DAW and pan each one left/right, then play them both back. Or you may be able to import them directly into the left & right sides of a stereo track, in which case no panning is reqd. The Step-By-Step guide has an extensive section explaining 'stereo' if you need further clarification.

...I was trying to manipulate those tracks with dynamics...

As mj said, dynamic effects cannot be inserted into the track paths so it's tricky to apply them after recording. It is possible though, by routing track(s) back into spare inputs and then inserting the dynamics effects there... but you have to be clear about the signal routing to avoid feedback. The tutorial videos make extensive references to the block diagram for this very reason - it's hard to get your head round at first, but worth the effort in the long run as it shows how flexible the machine can be.

Q, I made copies of the original songs laid, so I could rehearse on them. Outside of using up SD card, is this a valid way to learn!

Yes this is fine. You could also use Undo, but it's easy to lose track of where you are, moreso if you increase the no. of Undo levels via the Menu, Preference screen, so your method is a safer way. You could also copy individual song folders (which are held under the MUSIC folder) to/from your computer. As long as you copy whole song folders and don't touch the contents, you can backup & restore individual songs this way.