Punch recording

Suppose you are happy with most of a track but want to replace some sound or add new material in one small section—perhaps as small as a couple of notes. This is where punch recording comes in handy, because it lets you record new material only within a specified range of times.

For example, suppose you recorded a 32-bar keyboard solo but made some mistakes in the 24th and 25th bars. With punch recording, you can play the entire solo again, so you make sure you can get the feel you want. However, only the bars you want to correct are actually recorded. That way, you don’t have to worry about introducing new mistakes elsewhere in the recording.

To use punch recording, follow these steps:

Enable punch recording.

Set the start and end times of the punch.

Choose Comping, Sound on Sound mode or Overwrite mode.

Start recording by pressing R or clicking the button on the Control Bar’s Transport module.

The Control Bar’s Punch module shows the punch settings, as shown here:

Figure 97. The Punch module.

A. Auto-Punch On/Off B. Set Punch Time to Select C. Punch In Time D. Punch Out Time

When punch recording is enabled, the punch times are indicated by special markers in the Time Ruler, which is at the top of the Clips pane:

A. Punch In B. Punch Out

After you punch record, choosing Edit > Undo both discards any new material you recorded and restores the original material that had been deleted.

You can also combine loop and punch recording to record several takes of a punch. Say you are working on that perfect take of a guitar solo and you need to hear a couple of bars of the project as “pre-roll” before you punch in. By combining looping with punch, you can have each take begin before you start to play and still have the solo cut in at the appropriate instant.

In the example mentioned previously, you could loop from bar 17 to bar 27 but record only bars 24 and 25. Here’s what this looks like:

A. The loop starts and ends here B. The punch starts and ends here

When punch recording, Sonar saves the entire recording while the transport is rolling, but the recorded clip is cropped to only expose the punch region. By also recording the pre-roll and post-roll, you have more flexibility later when it comes to slip-editing and cross-fading the clip because you have access to audio data before and after the punch region instead of only silence.

If loop recording and punch recording are used simultaneously, only the first and last takes can be slip-edited to expose hidden material.

 

Note: Although Sonar records while the transport is rolling, visual feedback (confidence recording) is only shown within the punch region. If recording is stopped before the punch in point is reached, Sonar discards the recorded data.

 

Tip: When loop and punch recording, the final take will be incomplete if you stop recording before the punch out time. If you want to automatically extend the clip to the end of the punch region, right-click the Record button to open the Preferences dialog box, then enable Extend Takes to Punch Out Time.

To punch record

1.	Choose the input(s) for the track(s) you want to record, and arm the track(s) for recording.

2.	Enable the Auto Punch on/off button in the Control Bar’s Punch module.

3.	Set the start and end times in one of the following ways:

Enter the times directly in the Punch module.

Select a range of time and click in the Punch module.

Select a range of time, then right-click in the Time Ruler and choose Set Punch Points.

 

Note: The minimum punch duration is an 1/8th note.

4.	Right-click the Record button to access recording settings, then choose the desired recording mode: Comping, Sound on Sound or Overwrite.

5.	Set the Now time to a point where you want to start playback.

6.	Click or press R to start recording. If your metronome count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in measures or beats.

7.	Play or perform the material you want to record.

8.	Click or press the SPACEBAR to stop recording.

The material you play during the punch time is recorded in the chosen track, either replacing any existing material (Comping or Overwrite mode) or blending with it (Sound on Sound mode).

To use punch while looping

1.	Choose the input for the track(s) you want to record, and arm the track(s) for recording.

2.	Set the loop start and end times.

3.	Set the punch start and end times, as described previously.

4.	Right-click the Record button to access recording settings.

5.	Choose to stack all takes in a single track or to store them in separate tracks.

6.	Set the Now time to the beginning of the loop.

7.	Click or press R to start recording. If your metronome count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in measures.

8.	Play or perform the material you want to record. At the end of the loop, Sonar will return to the start of the loop and you can record the next take.

9.	Click or press the SPACEBAR when you want to stop recording.

The takes are stored in the manner you requested.

Automatically extend final take when punch recording

When Auto Punch recording, Sonar automatically splits all takes at the position where you stop recording. This happens if the transport is stopped before the punch out time.

This behavior may not be desirable in some cases, such as when speed comping (see Speed comping), where you want each take to be a complete clip.

To prevent this behavior, Sonar now provides an option to extend the final take to the Auto Punch end. Right-click the Record button to open the Preferences dialog box, then enable Extend Takes to Punch Out Time.

 

Note: The Extend Takes to Punch Out Time option also requires that Auto Punch is enabled.

Figure 98. The Record section.

 

See:

Punch module

Loop module

Looping