Pro Tools 6.9 Question (Button Mapping)

[MechaGodzilla]

Heyo,
So I'm sitting here comping vocal tracks, and I'm wondering, is there any way to map the channel mute buttons to some keys? It would be so freakin' slick to have these 4 vocal takes' mute buttons on the keyboard, instead of mousing around.

I know you can do it in Logic... Any ideas?

[Al_Huero]

You could group the tracks and then muting one will mute them all.

You could also automate the track mutes from the edit window.

[lancebug]

If you are trying to switch between one of each of 4 vocal takes there is a slick way you can set that up in protools so that hitting the solo on one mutes the other 3 while leaving the other tracks unmuted. I dont even know if this is what you are trying to do but....uh...you know.

[the riff]

I usually just keep the vocal on one track and create a new playlist for every take. then when I comp, I create a new track usually named "vocalcomp" then do a buss send to that track from the one i'm editing. This, as far as i know is the easiest and most used method.

[MechaGodzilla]

Usually I track vocals with playlists, then give each playlist it's own track when I start editing, so I can see every take. But I get lazy, and it's a pain having to use the mouse to mute and unmute tracks to compare takes. Almost everything else can be done with a keystroke somewhere, so what I'm trying to figure out is how to map a keystroke to those silly mute buttons.
I know there's got to be a way, right?

[snuffinthepunk]

Usually I track vocals with playlists, then give each playlist it's own track when I start editing, so I can see every take. But I get lazy, and it's a pain having to use the mouse to mute and unmute tracks to compare takes. Almost everything else can be done with a keystroke somewhere, so what I'm trying to figure out is how to map a keystroke to those silly mute buttons.
I know there's got to be a way, right?

I think you're sayin you want to have a separate key, lets say, "a, s, d, f," control the mute on 4 separate tracks, lets say, "1, 2, 3, 4"??? is that right? If so...I doubt it man. That's where control surfaces come in, it's a lot faster to hit three mute buttons with your finger, which is what it sounds like you wanna do, than to mouse around for them. So if I understood you right, look into gettin one of those mackie (insert whatever name of the mackie control surfaces here)? (if it'll work with PT, I'm not sure about that but it'd be a good idea)

[joel hamilton]

I just playlist every take so I can just flip between them and "comp in place."
I make a new playlist called comp, and copy the best take into that to start. If I HAVE to be able to see the tracks all at once, I just put the playlisted audio on a few separate tracks and then un latch the solo's so one cancels the other. That way whichever one you solo mutes the others. You can still shift click to hear two at once.

[snuffinthepunk]

If I HAVE to be able to see the tracks all at once, I just put the playlisted audio on a few separate tracks and then un latch the solo's so one cancels the other. That way whichever one you solo mutes the others. You can still shift click to hear two at once.

hmmmm...how do you do that? I don't think I've done that before.

[knobtwirler]

Heyo,
So I'm sitting here comping vocal tracks, and I'm wondering, is there any way to map the channel mute buttons to some keys? It would be so freakin' slick to have these 4 vocal takes' mute buttons on the keyboard, instead of mousing around.

I know you can do it in Logic... Any ideas?

Pro Tools is not that advanced.

[joel hamilton]

If I HAVE to be able to see the tracks all at once, I just put the playlisted audio on a few separate tracks and then un latch the solo's so one cancels the other. That way whichever one you solo mutes the others. You can still shift click to hear two at once.

hmmmm...how do you do that? I don't think I've done that before.

It is under preferences>operation>solo [gives you the option to choose "latching" or momentary, or "...cancels.." the "cancels" one. Basically just NOT latching.

Look in prefs. i cant seem to remember what the actual stupid wording is in the prefs..... it is easy.

[lancebug]

If you want to see it detailed in print I think there might be a sub chapter on it in a book called "the protools guide for musicians" I hope thats right. I read once(at the bookstore), figured out how to do it and then forgot it. I dont do a huge amount of comping so it was kind of a gee whiz thing for me, but it is detailed in print if you need to see it mapped out.

[bridge audio]

...but there is...

http://www.mackie.com/products/mcu/

I tried to upload the picture here but it didn't work, it's probly too big.

This is what you're looking for. There's a couple companies that provide control surfaces like this that are totally functional with ProTools, Logic, Nuendo, Reason, etc. It's all about the HUI.

-Jon

[jmiller]

One possible workaround- double click a track to highlight all its regions, and press CTRL+M. This will not mute the track but will mute the regions in the track. Not the same thing but if you're trying to move fast it works fine.

The Icon's custom faders feature made o/d-ing to multiple tracks for comping a breeze, so I personally never developed the habit of using playlists to make a comp.

[lancebug]

I used my bcf2000 tonight for comping vox. It makes it insane easy. I just set it up like Joel said so that the individual takes did the solo/exclude thing and deactivated the mutes on the other tracks. I pretty much hate digi as an entity, but the pt/bcf combo is very,very slick. I think mine (bcf2000) was just a shade over $100.