Waves Audio Tracks Live User Guide

USER GUIDE

Table of Contents

GETTING STARTED ..........................................................................................................................................4

Main Window Essentials .................................................................................................................................................................5

Operation Modes ..............................................................................................................................................................................7

Setup .....................................................................................................................................................................................................8

RECORDING ...................................................................................................................................................11

Tracks ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

> Track Names .................................................................................................................................................................................. 11

> Adding Tracks ............................................................................................................................................................................... 11

> Master Bus ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

> Track Controls ............................................................................................................................................................................... 12

> Track Meters .................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Monitoring a Recording ................................................................................................................................................................ 13

Starting a Recording ...................................................................................................................................................................... 13

PLAYING BACK ...............................................................................................................................................14

Rulers ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

> Markers ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

> Enabling a Marker for MIDI Program Changes ................................................................................................................. 15

Main Window Tools ........................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Mixer .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Inspector ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 20

2 2

CONTROLS AND MENUS...............................................................................................................................21

Session Window .............................................................................................................................................................................. 21

Preferences Window ...................................................................................................................................................................... 22

> Tracks Preferences: Audio System Settings ....................................................................................................................... 22

> Tracks Preferences: MIDI System Settings .......................................................................................................................... 24

> Tracks Preferences: Session Settings .................................................................................................................................... 25

> Tracks Preferences: Preferences ............................................................................................................................................. 26

> Tracks Preferences: Sync ........................................................................................................................................................... 27

Main Window ................................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Transport Panel ................................................................................................................................................................................28

Top Bar ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 29

Tools ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Region Menus .................................................................................................................................................................................. 31

System Status Indicators .............................................................................................................................................................. 32

Information Page ............................................................................................................................................................................ 33

Meter Section ................................................................................................................................................................................... 34

Export (File Menu) ..........................................................................................................................................................................35

GETTING STARTED

Tracks Live is a unique multitrack sound recorder, designed from the ground up to meet the specic needs of live
sound engineers. It combines rock-solid operation with an intuitive workow. It’s quick to set up, simple to use, and very exible.
Tracks Live does all the things you’d expect of a multitrack recorder, so if you’re familiar with recorders, you can probably
install the software, launch the application, and get to work. You shouldn’t run into problems.

Tracks Live also has a few features that go beyond what you usually see in a recorder. Some of these features aren’t obvious when
you rst open the application, so please consult this user guide in order to learn more about them.

To get the most out of Waves Tracks Live, we suggest that you also become familiar with the Waves support site:
http://www.waves.com/support. There you will nd an extensive answer base, software updates, and current information
about licensing and registration.

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Main Window Essentials

All record, playback, edit, and marking functions are carried out in the Main window. It’s a very straightforward recording
environment, and it’s where you will spend most of your time.

Tracks Live: Main Window

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Solo Button

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Input Monitoring Button

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Track Name

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Mute Button

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Record Enable Button

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Channel Fader Position

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Channel Fader

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Peak Meter

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Channel Panner

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Info Panel Hide/View

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Track Color Selector Hide/View

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Inspector Hide/View

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Mixer Hide/View

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Meter Hide/View

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Transport: Rewind

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Transport: Fast Forward

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Transport: Play

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Transport: Record

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Transport: Stop

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Loop Playback

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System Lock

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Range Select Tool

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Object Select Tool

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Split Tool

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Zoom Tool

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Vertical Zoom Control

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Horizontal Zoom Control

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Stereo Out Mode Selector

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Multi Out Mode Selector

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CPU and HD Usage Indicator

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Media Button

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Waveform Zoom Control

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A Tracks Live session can consist of up to 256 tracks. You can view the Main window timeline only or see the timeline with a mixer.
Alternatively, you can use the Inspector to control a selected track without giving up track space. Enable these views with the
buttons on the right side of the window.

Solo or record-enable tracks individually or with Global Track buttons.

Physical input from the I/O device

Track name as dened in the Audio System Settings window.

Double-click to rename.

Mono track

Stereo track

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Drag a track to change its position. When you move a track, it gets new I/O assignments that match its new location.

Operation Modes

There are two modes for monitoring a recording:

■

The Multi Out mode sends each track to an output port without creating a stereo mix. Tracks go directly to their I/O ports. When
Multi Out mode is selected, the Tracks Live mixer is bypassed and is not visible.

■

The Stereo Out mode adds a mixer with a stereo out, providing a 2-track monitor or reference mix that can be sent to an external
device. When Stereo Out mode is selected, a Master Bus track appears.

Ruler

Above the tracks is the Ruler section. It is divided into four rulers:

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Marker ruler

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Skip ruler

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Loop range

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Timecode/Time ruler

You can hide the Marker and Skip rulers from the Global Tracks drop-down menu.

Setup

When you launch Tracks Live, you will rst see the Session Setup window.

Choose between opening a saved session or template, or creating a new session.

To create a new Tracks Live session:

1. Check that the current settings are correct for the new session. These settings
are displayed in the box on the left.

2. If these are not what you want for the new session, click System Settings and
congure the system in the Preferences window. When nished, click OK to
return to the Session window.

3. Click New Session and save the le.

To create a Tracks Live session from a template:

A template is a complete Tracks Live session, without audio. Templates enable you to store and recall commonly-used setups and to
create new sessions from these.

Open Template takes you to a browser with all available Tracks Live templates. Once a template opens, save it as a Tracks Live

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session.

—Or—

Recent Template displays the ten most recent templates. Open a template and save it as a session.

Templates are created from existing sessions. Choose Save as Template from the File menu in the active session. These les carry the
extension *.template, and can be placed in any folder. There are no factory templates.

To open an existing Tracks Live session:

Open Saved Session. This takes you to a browser. Open the desired session le.

—Or—

Open a Recent Session. The ten most recent sessions are listed in the window.

The System Settings button opens the Tracks Preferences page.

Audio System Settings Page

To Set Track Preferences

1

Select I/O interface.

2

Set sample rate and buer size

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Select output mode:

Stereo or Multi

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Congure inputs

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Congure outputs

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Click OK to return to the

Settings window.

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2

conguration of input channels is
determined by the I/O device.

Input ports. The number and

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4

Input ports On/O selector

Recorder input tracks can be

named and moved here.
Track names will appear in the

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Main window.

Output ports. Number of output
channels is determined by I/O
device.

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Use the Tracks Preferences page to select an interface, set sample rate and bit depth, congure I/Os and tracks, and choose an
operation mode. The number of I/O ports determines how many input and output tracks are available. Complete your assignment
and click OK. This returns you to the Session Setup window.

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Click New Session.

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Name the session. This creates a new session and opens the Main window.

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You are now ready to record.

RECORDING

In this section you will nd an overview of the recording process. For more information, refer to the Controls and Menus section.

Tracks

Tracks Live can provide up to 256 stereo tracks, 256 mono tracks, or a combination thereof. When you rst open a session, the
number of tracks is equal to the number of active input ports shown in the Audio System Settings window. Input channels that
have been turned o will not appear in the track sequence.

To select a track, click anywhere on its track header.

■

Ctrl (CMD) + Click selects multiple tracks

■

Shift + Click selects a range of tracks.

■

Drag a selected track to re-sequence the track order.
When you move a track, its input and output ports are reassigned.

Track Number

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Track Na mes

Name a track by double-clicking on the track’s name cell.
Tab to move from one name cell to the next.
You cannot rename a track that is Record Enabled.

Track Color

Track Name

Track Meter

Adding Tracks

Use the Tracks menu to add or remove tracks. A new track is created directly beneath
a selected track.

Master Bus

When a session is in the Stereo Out mode, a Master Bus appears at the bottom of the tracks section. This bus is the stereo output of
the mixer, and is used to send the monitor mix to another destination. The Master Bus is not used in Multi Out mode.

Track Controls

Solo, Mute, Record Enable, and Input Monitoring can be selected on any track.

Record Enable

Input Monitoring

Solo

Mute

■

Global Solo clears the solos on all tracks.

To set the status of all tracks, use the
Global Tracks commands.

Global Tracks Drop-Down Menu

Marker MIDI Input Port Selector/Activity Indicator

Marker MIDI Output Port Selector/Activity Indicator

Global Skip Enable/Disable

Clear Solo

Global Record Enable/Disable Indicator/Button

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In Multi Out mode, the Global Mute button selects/deselects mutes on all tracks. Click twice to clear all mutes when only certain
tracks are muted.

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To make a track Solo Safe, Crtl/CMD + click on the track’s Solo button.

■

To make a track Record Safe, Crtl/CMD + click on the track’s Record Ready button. The button will turn grey.

Track Meters

Each track has an input meter, to the right of the Solo/Mute section.