NS2 and MultiTrack Audio Recorder
If NS2 audio recording worked like MIDI recording it would be great and make the use of MultiTrack Recorder even better.
What I mean is, if you hit Record in the Sample Recorder and NS2 did a 1-2 bar pre-roll and then started recording rather than having Record and Sequence Playback be separate as they are now, you could record clean loops based on where your loop in the timeline is set and then just drop that loop into MultiTrack Recorder which follows the NS2 timeline like a charm.
It works pretty well as it is now but that one change would make a huge difference.
Also, if you could access the Sample Recorder without going through Slate or Obsidian that would make it even more betterer!
Or you could just implement audio tracks... 😉
Comments
I agree, @anickt, if audio tracks have reached some sort of technical hurdle....
Some sort of "synch start" for the recording, even if just synched to the bar, e.g. in the "sample record" function, add an option to "synch start" the recording (e.g. as a checkbox), or have a separate record button which is "synch record" (although not sure what happens if you pause that during a recording). If selected, the sequencer play would automatically start, and the recording wouldn't start until the next bar.
If that worked then it would be just as easy to drop the sample into a Slate pad, for me
so I could see where the audio is triggered in the timeline...
At the moment, I can do it by manual editing of a sample, but it gets tricky to get the timing right.
By the way, @anickt, do you meant the 4pockets plugin version? Is it good? And reliable?
+1. For resampling, a mixdown set to "Song Loop" works well but sampling external audio, timed record would be incredibly useful.
I asked already on AB forum 4pockets dev if it is possible to add to AU plugin direct recording from HW input instead of waiting for HOST audio input .. this would be solution for NS .. But i'm in doubt that AU plugin doesn't have access to HW input of device .. ok we will see, waiting for reply ...
I suspect you're right, @dendy
I bought it to see how well it works, and it does sync nicely, if only it got audio in it would be reasonable in the short term (see downsides at the end of this post)..
I think that there would have to be a track type which would let audio through to the AU FX. (The other types are Obsidian, Slate, AU Instrument, and None.) If this would be a published virtual audio port of the sort which could get audio from Apematrix or AUM or other apps (sort of like Multitrack recorder can) then more clever things could happen, but at the least allowing h/w audio in to all NS2 tracks of this special new type (e.g. "Ext Audio"?) might allow an AU audio recorder to work... Apparently the dev wrote the AU with AUM in mind.
An example of a side benefit would be that @BjørnFelle could route his mic into a track, add effects (eg a simple one like delay, or something weird like a granular effect or Turnado), and of course that live vocal would be sent to the master for any effects on that track as well.
stop reading here if you're not interested in Multitrack recorder within NS2
Downsides of Multitrack recorder as an AU within NS2, by the way, that I have found so far:
1. audio clips seem likely to be stored centrally in the app, rather than within the AU (probably a limitation of the maximum AU size), so:
a. you have to create a new "song" within each NS2 project, or
b. you risk deleting audio clips from other projects if you "tidy" the clips
c. I suspect that if you archive the project, or copy it from one device to another, the audio clips won't go with that archive
2. I find editing and moving audio clips, and hitting some of the buttons within the AU hit and miss (but that is pretty minor to me)
3. It has crashed once when running as an AU within NS2, and I've only done an hour or so of testing, so there may be a stability issue.
Interestingly (to me), when running as an AU, it has a mode to follow the host timeline, which it seems to do well within NS2 (i.e. if you have a loop enabled, it follows the loop, if you move the playhead within NS2, it follows). I didn't know that AUs could do this... (OK - I just looked in the Mozaic manual, and it looks like it can read the hostbar and hostbeat too, so there you go!)
I also tried running it as an AUfx withing Apematrix, then using Ableton Link to sync NS2 and Apematrix. It doesn't really help in the way I expected it to, although I haven't yet exhausted the options there.
So in short it might help, especially if it can get audio when running as an AU within NS2, but would still be compromised IMO.
Finally, apologies for the essay!
... I've got to learn to edit my thoughts...
Interesting, thanks Trigger. Life effects would be nice, but I've got my Boss pedal which can take MIDI input from NS2 so I can effectively get all the live effects I want with NS2 control. Much more interesting though is whether this plugin could be used to work around audio tracks until they are added to NS2, as I always have a backing track running. Do you know if Multitrack Recorder will begin playback from the current bar position?
yes, plugin is capable to follow song position, song loop points and it's playback/recording can be triggered by nanostudio's play / record / stop buttons
Ok, that's pretty cool. So I could use this as a stop-gap for audio tracks if it's not possible for it to be implemented in NS2 soon/ever. I haven't had a problem using Slate to trigger long samples as backing tracks, but it does cause some anxiety should I ever need to start part way through a song, and also means that I have to match the tempo and make sure the number of bars for the sample note to the original song, which is a bit of a pain and I don't trust myself to do it properly.
Does anyone know if there is a more simple audio plugin available? The MultiTrack Recorder plugin looks amazing but is overkill just for a backing track, and at £9.99 I would love to find a cheaper plugin which will just provide one track of audio.
no other solution... this is very unique plugin...
If you happen to already own DigiStix by the same developer, check out the bundle pricing.
Thank you @dendy and @number37
I already had DigiStix so did the bundle purchase which made MT only £7 - bargain!
Looking forward to improved integration with Multitrack, including direct audio in to NS2. Eventually, built-in audio tracks in Nanostudio 2 would be amazing!
It feels inevitable at this point. It is the only thing holding it back from being classified as a DAW, and it has already been said that it will be an IAP. So the time invested in developing the feature will definitely pay off for the developers
I haven’t had a chance to work with MultiTrack much lately but with the recent updates the only thing really missing is the ability to feed external audio through NS2 into MT. Everything else works great including being able to cue NS2 and MT.
MT works well in AUM with external input.
I still would prefer to see native audio tracks, though, mainly because it would be better to see the audio waveform in the timeline
but also because the audio would be part of the NS2 project, not somewhere else waiting for me to accidentally delete it! So even if it works well, I'd still pay for an audio track IAP.
Absolutely! 100%
Anickt
I agree with you on the deleting a editing stuff.. so many times I have changed a sustain loop or chop a sample and for get to save as a new name! Then other preset sounds weird lol
I've just bought this plugin and wanted to come back and say thanks for the pointer. It works really nicely with NS2. Loading the backing track into MultiTrack Recorder is straightforward once you know how, though it wasn't immediately apparent. This video was really helpful in that regard:
Now I can set up live versions of my material really easily
What is CPU hit like?
I am interested, but if it's not light I will continue to compose in NS2 (best midi hands down) export and do effects/various AuV3 stuff in cubasis.