More than 3 effects

Discuss working with MultitrackStudio.
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railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

Greetings from a new forum member!

I've owned lots of DAWs during my time recording: Cool Edit Pro, SAWStudio, Samplitude, Mixcraft, Pro-Tools, and tried many others. I was pointed toward MultitrackStudio by a member of another forum for its simplicity and efficiency. After trying the demo, I can see that uncluttered functionality has been the #1 focus of development. I also appreciate the small file size.

Before potentially purchasing the PRO version, I see one big thing missing. It appears that you can only apply 3 effects (other than the channel effect send) per track. It also appears that volume automation needs to be one of those 3 effects. Am I correct? On a track like a lead vocal, I might routinely use a noise gate, compressor, reverb and/or delay, and volume automation. While I might appreciate some restriction to keep workflow moving along, 3 effects just aren't enough sometimes.

Thanks in advance for your help!

-Mark
André Giroux
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:45 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by André Giroux »

Hi and welcome,
1. In preference menu you can switch from 3 to 6 slots. It's explained in the manual here: http://www.multitrackstudio.com/preference.php and also can ad 6 more per slot like it's explained here: http://www.multitrackstudio.com/multieffect.php now that is a whole lot of effect slots.
2. Automation , Note: this feature is available in the Pro edition only: http://www.multitrackstudio.com/automation.php
Hope it cleared things up for you.
This software rocks and you won't regret it if you prefer recording music rather than learning how to operate a software.
Cheers,
railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

Thanks for that, Andre! One feature that I just realized will be a time-saver is the way that you are able to highlight and move portions of the waveform in "edit" view. In any other software that I've used, this is either a 2 or 3 step process.

Upon further investigation, I thought that MTS was missing the ability to create submixes for things like drums. Thanks to the manual, I just learned that MTS calls these "Groups" instead, and they can indeed be created :)

Unfortunately, I'm not able to audition the pitch correction features in the demo. How do those compare to other programs out there sound-wise?

-Mark
André Giroux
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:45 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by André Giroux »

Rest assure that the effects in MTS are world class. Every recording in this link was done with MTS and it's native effects including pitch correction. https://soundcloud.com/andregiroux
Cheers!
railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

Thanks again, Andre! I checked out your Soundcloud... some great pickin' on there!!! It's nice to hear that you're a Jamstix user too. I'm a pro drummer a country rock band here in the Midwest US, and am going to start working with it using the electronic kit in my home studio to record midi parts to then tweak within the JS. Since very few have reportedly used it in this capacity, Ralph at Rayzoon has asked me to report back with how things go.

I'm pretty excited, and looking forward to getting out of the cumbersome DAWs that I've used in the past. I'll probably be a regular around this forum with plenty of questions as I get acquainted with MTS. Talk to you soon!

-Mark
André Giroux
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:45 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by André Giroux »

If you're use to complicated DAWs then you'll fly through this one. JS and MTS work great together including with electronic drums. Enjoy the ride and the kick too!!! :lol: :mrgreen:
railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

I don't think I've ever put a demo through the paces as much as this one. The last major thing that I could think of that could be crippling with MTS was the ability to route groups to multiple sound card outputs. According to the manual, it's a feature in the pro version, so it looks like MTS is good to go in that regard.

I haven't found to group select multiple wavs to move or drag left or right in time. However, that seems to be more of an overall design concept choice that helps to keep things simple and make MTS what it is. If I'm wrong and just haven't found it, please correct me. Regardless, that feature isn't a deal breaker for me, just a convenience more than anything.

I'm looking to purchase the pro version asap and begin using it on sessions as early as next week. Thanks for all the input, Andre!

-Mark
André Giroux
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:45 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by André Giroux »

I don't know of any softwares out there that will let you route to different sound cards unless the are the same brand and clocked together. MTS pro will you let route tracks, groups and effect returns as long your interface are compatible with each other and clocked to keep everything synced.
To move multiple tracks, have a look at multitrack editor and song editor in the manual I thinks that's what your looking for.
railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

Thanks again Andre! I meant multiple channels on the same sound card/interface, which MTS can do. My interface is a Focusrite Saffire Pro 10, which is 8 ch. in/8 ch. out.

I checked out the multitrack editor in the manual, and it appears to meet my needs. Great!
railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

André Giroux wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2017 8:20 pm Rest assure that the effects in MTS are world class. Every recording in this link was done with MTS and it's native effects including pitch correction. https://soundcloud.com/andregiroux
Cheers!
Hey André! I realize that I'm resurrecting a super old post. However, I'm revisiting Multitrackstudio after finishing our last project in another DAW. I'm putting together some song demos and have been toying with the MTS pitch correction (both the "vocal tuner" and the other pitch correction option found in the edit menu). Listening to all of your vocals, they are dialed in really tight. Would you mind filling me in on which of the two you use and your methods for setting them? Thanks in advance for your help!

All the best,
Mark
André Giroux
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:45 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by André Giroux »

I’m sure others have different ways to attack this mule but here’s what I do to get my best results.

1. Record a good bed track of the song.
2. Overdub every tracks with a good set of headphones at a moderate volume so not to bleed in microphone.
3. No other tracks should have bleed from the vocals. Example: if you recorded a rhythm guitar with microphones in the same room as the singer you will here bleed from both tracks. Redo the tracks individually.
4. Once I have good clean dead on vocal tracks to my ears, only then I apply vocal tuner for polishing.
I always use vocal tuner as a tool and not as a miracle application. I get the best possible track recorded for each one. Everything should sound great before applying any effects so when you do apply the right effects at the right places it should put a very big smile on your face.
Vocal tuner will not work properly if there’s bleeding in the track as it will try to tune all that’s audible in the track.

Editing pitch is my last resort. I use the pitch correction in harmony vocals if the person has already left the session. I prefer punching in rather than fixing with the editor but sometimes there is not choice as the the person who did the track is not available.

Cheers
railway mark
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:40 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by railway mark »

Thanks for the reply, André! I'm always as careful as I can be about headphone bleed and have a set of well-sealing studio headphones.

Now that I know that you prefer the "vocal tuner" effect, Could you elaborate a little bit as to how how you go about activating/deactivating keys: Do you deactivate any keys not used in the melody, or simply use it in the default/chromatic setting? Also, where do you typically have your "speed" set?

I'm hearing unwanted artifacts and am trying to figure out if this vocal tuner can work for me. My best guess would be that because your vocal tone has very little to no vibrato, and your transitions between notes are generally very direct, it works well for your voice. I already have Melodyne, so I can go back to it, if need be.
André Giroux
Posts: 290
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 3:45 pm

Re: More than 3 effects

Post by André Giroux »

Hi Mark,
I use the vocal tuner on all kinds of genre of songs. I recorded males and females singers with wicked ranges and I never had to activate or deactivate any keys. Only at one time it got a bit off with one group I recorded and Giel did some improvements in the plugin which took care of that afterwards. I don’t do any tweaking except clicking (Preserve Formant). I just let the vocal tuner do it’s thing and it does what I need it to do every time.
The only time I experience warps is when there’s something else that is audible in the track and Vocal Tuner will trying to tune everything at once. If your track is clean and the vocal is still bouncing around I’m not sure what to tell you.

Maybe Giel can shed some of his wisdom 😜
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