Punch-ins on DAW?

[bassicmike]

Is such a thing possible?

The best $$ I spent recently was the foot switch for my Tascam-008.

Does one need 2 more arms if working on a PC?

 

[Element Zero]

Is such a thing possible?

The best $$ I spent recently was the foot switch for my Tascam-008.

Does one need 2 more arms if working on a PC?

Depending on the DAW, it’s possible to automate a punch in. The DAW I used for a long time (Reason) had a “TAKE” button that you could arm on a specific track. You would highlight the amount of time you wanted to record another take and then after you recorded it you could just drag and drop the new take section to the original track.

I’d be surprised if most DAWs didnt have a similar feature.

 

[silky smoove]

Logic has both punch ins and take folders live in the DAW. You can also just do another take on a duplicate track and edit in the “punched” portion with some careful crossfades in any DAW.

 

[filmtex]

Studio One 5 uses "Layers" and the loop function. I just set the loop start and end points outside the area I want "punch". Every pass yields another layer.

 

[Crater]

Reaper and Sonar have "auto punch in" functions, and I would think any modern DAW would have this feature.

If you want to use a footswitch to punch in with a DAW, you would need a footswitch that transmits MIDI and then you could trigger track record enable/disable via a custom MIDI command, similar to the way control surfaces and controller keyboards can be set up to map their function buttons to function in a DAW.

 

[David Vector]

Indeed, DAWs have had the ability to select a region for automatic punch in/out since Opcode Studio Vision nearly 30 years ago. I guess I probably used a foot switch back in the days of 4-tracks, but there's definitely no need to do it that way with software DAWs.

 

[seamonkey]

Most DAWs now, including Live 11, also offer "comping"
Which allows you to loop through the song or bars, and it keeps each take in a sub-track like manner. Later you can select the one you want, or parts of the different takes to make one single track.
It can negate the need to punch-in

 

[logdrum]

Logic

Punch in and out of audio recordings in Logic Pro

 

[mikewalker]

Yes. Possible since.... "every DAW, ever"?? I don't remember ever NOT being able to set punch points in a DAW, and I've been DAWing since before DAWs were even a thing...

 

[thetragichero]

yes it is possible, but i just start the take for a part i need to redo a bit early and then i get to choose the exact point where the "punch in" goes

 

[AdamR]

I do my punch in on a separate track, then drag them into place. Much easier when you are tracking yourself.

 

[Hummergeist]

Most DAWs now, including Live 11, also offer "comping"
Which allows you to loop through the song or bars, and it keeps each take in a sub-track like manner. Later you can select the one you want, or parts of the different takes to make one single track.
It can negate the need to punch-in

Yeah that was a MUCH requested feature for Ableton; they got there in the end

 

[31HZ]

"Comping" is the new "punching in." Easier and cleaner, and most DAWs can do it.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I used to record on ADAT, and once I began recording on DAWs, I had a hard time remembering that digital tracks are much more plentiful than tape tracks.

I usually take two or three full passes at a bass track and then cut and paste or composite the best parts.

 

[brianrost]

I usually do multiple takes, but if I have an other wise great take I have no problem punching in a few things. For that, I always use the auto-punch feature.

Most DAWs do support using a foot switch as well, but you need a device that takes a footswitch, like a keyboard. Audio interfaces don't.

BTW most hardware digital multitracks allow auto-punching as well as using a foot switch.

 

[rashrader]

You should be able to set time markers for the points that you’d like to punch in an out. Of course you can set lead ins and outs as well. I would usually set my DAW to record multiple takes on separate tracks so that I could pick my favorite too. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be happy you did. Check YouTube for videos on your specific software.

 

[David Vector]

I guess someday I should learn how the takes in Reaper work. Somehow I never quite took to the "take" workflow to the degree of actually keeping 3 or 4 or 6 versions of the same thing. The idea of having to go through multiple takes after the fact and pick the best bits seems a little tedious to me. I'd rather just punch in the problem area until I get it right and then say "that's the take, we're done with that" and move on. (I'm aware of course that many producers do like the method of having multiple passes and comping bits together afterwards...we each have our groove, eh?)

Having said that, though, I do usually have an extra muted track above the lead vocal track for extra "takes". But what I do is, if I do a take of a particular verse or a line and feel like it was good but maybe I could do better, I'll slide the good one up to that extra track as "insurance" and have another go or two at it. If I don't manage to do a better one and feel like that "backup" take was the one to go with after all, then it's still there to pop back into place.

 

[DanGroove]

Is such a thing possible?

The best $$ I spent recently was the foot switch for my Tascam-008.

Does one need 2 more arms if working on a PC?

Most DAW's have an auto punch system. You identify your in and out punch points, set them, enable the auto punch feature and then you don't have to worry about "nailing the punch" when you are playing. The added advantage over the older recording methods is if your punch point turns out to be bad, you can undo, reset the punch point, and try again. Back in the days when we recorded to tape, if you missed your punch, you had to start looking at expanding the section to be punched in order to overwrite the mess from the bad punch.

 

[Paulabass]

I never bother punching in, I open a new track and copy and paste all settings and record a new bit. Trim off the ends.

 

[Cave Puppy]

I know for a fact Logic Pro X has an auto punch feature. Newer versions of Logic also have take folders in which a part can be comped from multiple takes.