Punch In/Out

Punch in/out recordings are a special kind of partial takes. You can select the part to record beforehand, and you'll hear the existing track before and after this selected part. The track's editor is used to define the part being recorded (see selecting a part). This should be done before recording starts. The new recording becomes a tweakable edit, so you can modify the punch in/out points afterwards.

Punch in/out recording can be activated using the Punch button at the top of the main window.

The existing track, before and after the punch-in region, is audible during punch in/out recording, except for MIDI tracks which have a External MIDI Instrument in their instrument slot. This is accomplished using invisible copies of the track's software instrument and/or effects, hence it won't work with demo versions of VST/DX plugins which are limited to a single instance or can't save their settings.

The software instrument, or the recorded audio signal if Soft Monitoring is active, is audible in the punch-in region only by default. Turning on the Recording Options menu's Full Punch In/Out Monitoring option makes your performance audible all the time. It will also pan the existing track to the other side, so if you pan the track to one side before starting punch-in recording you'll hear the existing track on one side, and the performance you're recording on the other side. This can be a convenient way of working if you're using headphones.

If a MIDI track has multiple streams (not recommended) all streams will use the punch in/out points defined by the track's main editor.

Punch-In Recording step-by-step

• Open the editor of the track you want to record.
• Select the part you want to record in the editor.
• Move the transport position to the point where you want to start playback. This will typically be at least a couple of seconds before the point where you want the punch in recording to start.
• Make sure the Punch button at the top of the screen is red.
• Make sure the track's Rec button is red.
• Start the transport.
• Record the part and stop the transport when done.
• Now you can resize the selected part in the editor if necessary. You can also use the EDIT button and change the punched-in part's volume etc.