Studio Vision Pro simultaneous audio multitrack recording

[gert79]

Slowly i am getting my little rig together, having installed a Studio 4 card and a M-audio Delta 44 (Still waiting to receive a power supply for the Delta 1010).

So i played around a lot with SVP, using version v4.2.3, but i couldn't figure out how to record several audio tracks at the same time.

I took it for granted that this is possible but also in the v4.5 reference manual i could not find how it is done.
I can mark several inputs in the monitoring window but on the track view i can only mark one R(ecording) track at a time.

Same issue with simultaneous midi multitrack recording.

[GaryN]

Good for you. You're on a good path!
I assume you mean you somehow have a Delta 1010 PCI card but no I/O box? (There is no external power supply)
So, this one's a freebie… by that I mean that there are probably a thousand questions you can ask about SVP - it can be simple or very complex.

So, it's definitely a RTFM.

I also note that it helps to have two computers or at least two screens because even though you can read the SVP manuals (there are two… one for MIDI and one for audio) as pdf files with Adobe reader, it's awkward to constantly switch windows back and forth and there's a lot to absorb.

Now, multitrack recording

1) You enable one track in the Sequence Window.
2) You enable multiple inputs (the number available determined by the interface) in the Record Monitor Window.
3) Those recorded streams are assigned to Audio Instruments. and you create & name a file for them.
4) They all get recorded and appear on that one track/line in the Sequence Window as a "multitrack".
5) You can then use Menu/Do/Separate Multitrack or "⌘U" and each recorded input/instrument will separate to a separate parallel tracks to access/edit them.

MIDI works the same way. If you have more than one MIDI simultaneous input you assign them to different channels (duh) and separate them afterward, although that doesn't happen much unless you have multiple people playing multiple keyboards or other MIDI controllers simultaneously.

You can combine or separate MIDI tracks at will as long as they're on different channels.
You can combine or separate audio tracks at will as long as they're assigned to different audio instruments.

I'll point out that under Setups/Commands you'll not you can assign almost any command you like to a key combination that you even get to choose yourself. That's just one of many ways you customize and smooth the operation of the app so you get a comfortable workflow to make using the app as painless as possible so you can concentrate on making music. It does take some time to get there however… there is a learning curve best navigated by RTFM.  This app - especially when combined with Galaxy +Editors - has seriously extensive capabilities. You will find multiple ways of doing almost everything in the manuals and no matter how long you've been at this stuff, you will learn a few things.

Trust me on this, I've been there, done that.

[gert79]

Thank you for the detailed reply.

I have the Delta 1010 with the 19" breakout box that requires 9VAC 3A, which is a bit hard to find in Europe (in the end banzaimusic had it).

Yes sure you could ask a lot and you can be sure that i tried at least two days before asking, while reading the manual.

Reading the manual alone does not get me far, i noticed it works best for me to figure things out and then to read up what i am missing,
also sometimes confirming that what i figured out is correct.

I figured there is a Midi and Audio reference manual, and the 467 pages Audio reference manual does not mention multitrack recording,
there is a description how to record stereo and have it displayed on a single track.
But especially recording multiple inputs and the "Do" menu function "separate multitrack" is never mentioned.

What i have learned is that every track needs to be a separate audio instrument, also to be able to listen to it while multitracking.

As for multiple midi inputs i am not sure yet how many inputs there will be, but i like to use external arpeggiators or also the Hotz midi translator for quantizing notes to various scales.

I am not yet at the point to learn keyboard commands or define my own as honestly said i don't necessarily want to work much on a computer keyboard.
But i thought of eventually relaying the most important commands to some midi pad controller.

I have not yet fully utilized galaxy but i have some old synths that would be interesting to edit remotely.

Yes there is a learning curve and some things are different but all is there.

I was very happy that notes inserted into piano roll can be played back when they are placed, this is not always implemented.
Or to rearrange tracks you just drag them up or down in the leftmost column.

[GaryN]

Wow… I actually took the rack screws out and looked behind the Delta box because I had totally forgotten it has an external PSU… Duh!

When Opcode released Vision, then Studio Vision, then Studio Vision DSP, and finally Pro, They were bleeding-edge apps that did stuff that amazed everybody… stuff that many DAW's still don't do or have only recently begun to. They expected you to read the instructions with a fresh mind, let's call it less "uncontaminated" by use of other products.

It may be helpful to remember that the SVP manuals were written long ago when many people sere still using or just coming up from 68k hardware and floppy disks. It was written to guide users thru a process to set up their system to best advantage step by step. From a 2024 viewpoint there may seen to be things not stressed hard enough, BUT it was also before people had an entire decade or two to experience recording with other advanced DAW's. The lack of direct reference to or even the use of the term "multitrack recording" was understandable. Audio interfaces like the Delta 1010 were rare and expensive. It was also more likely – and still is – for that to be less of a priority in personal DAWs. Personally, 95% of my recording is done one track at a time. Of course there are times when more than one is required and I even have a Tascam 688 8-track Portastudio I occasionally use for live recording and then dump the tracks - all 8 at once - into SVP. But hopefully, you see my point. Lastly, back then it was uncommon for anyone to "go back" to SVP after learning DAW operation and recording and MIDI in general from other apps and just try to hack their way thru everything as you like to do.

If you were to start from scratch,you would be guided down a path that would take you thru setting up your Delta or other interface and you would find your way to the "Audio Instruments and Routings" Window where you would see that, after/under the Instruments list, there are both "Inputs" and "Outputs" lines matching the Ins and Outs on your Delta with checkboxes to enable/disable, route and configure them. Afterwards, other stuff in other windows would begin to just fall into place. The MIDI operations, including stuff like naming devices rather than just "channel 1, 2" etc. sets up the same way when integrated with OMS – which sadly, I must report, also has its own manual.

The good news is that once you get all of it done, suddenly everything makes sense. Everything you do is labelled with your names, your preferences and the way you like to work. It works so damn well in fact, it's utterly amazing they not only thought of everything to begin with but also managed to implement it on the relatively primitive hardware that existed then. Opcode was an amazing operation years ahead of most everybody else. MOTU was constantly playing "catch up" with them. If not for Henry Jackass and Gibson, their future would have been unlimited.

My comment re: Command keys and such was mainly to illustrate how thorough and thought-out the app is. Again, set it up as you like and it will work as you want it to. You're in the SVP fun zone right now where every day you find some new little thing that makes you say "Damn, that's cool"…

Of course, it would be nice have the use of all the other little install setup books, tech support, updates and such that you get from a company that's actually in business, but hey, there's always PoorTools subscriptions…