track problems

[so-fye]

when i record a track in pro tools it only let me record on odd number tracks. lets say i recorded on track one. if i tried to record on track 2 it won't let me. i have to record on track three,5,7,9. stuff like that. but the beat can be on track 2 and 4 and stuff.

[coney123]

What interface are you using?

Is your I/O set up correctly?

What do you mean by 'but the beat can be on track 2 and 4 and stuff'?

Please try and be a bit more specific.

[so-fye]

im using a fast track usb by m -audio. ok when i try to record a song on pro tools it only records on un even tracks, like, 1,3,5 and so on... i cant record my vocals on the next track. like in order 1,2,3,4,5,. it always have 2 skip a track before i could record a vocal each time.

[coney123]

Originally Posted by so-fye

im using a fast track usb by m -audio. ok when i try to record a song on pro tools it only records on un even tracks, like, 1,3,5 and so on... i cant record my vocals on the next track. like in order 1,2,3,4,5,. it always have 2 skip a track before i could record a vocal each time.

What do you mean by won't let you? Have you checked your input assignmets?

[shackman]

Don't know pro tools or the hardware, BUT it sounds to me like your recordings are going in as stereo and being paired like this 1 (+2) . 3 (+4) making the even number tracks unavailable. I had that problem in an ancient version of Cubase. It came down to routing, or recording MONO tracks - which I do as a matter of preference.

Don't know if that's ANYHTING to do with it, but it's a thought.

[so-fye]

thats actually what im talking bout man. like cubase. how did u fix it on cubase. it mite work the same way.

[coney123]

Originally Posted by so-fye

thats actually what im talking bout man. like cubase. how did u fix it on cubase. it mite work the same way.

I asked, first post, is your I/O setup correctly?

Go to your I/O options and set to default, if you don't know where to find it RTM.

Can you change the channel input on the 'even' channels to 'odd' inputs and record that way?

[so-fye]

thanks u guys i got it. would one of u guys explain what do a expander do and a gate if u have the time?

[coney123]

Originally Posted by so-fye

thanks u guys i got it. would one of u guys explain what do a expander do and a gate if u have the time?

An expander is basically a gate (a 10:1 expander ratio means it's a gate in practice).

Using a gate, you set a threshold and the sound below it gets eliminated or reduced, an expander is basically the same, it reduces the level of a signal below a certain threshold, to give more dynamic range (the opposite of a compresor). Different to a gate, the expander has a ratio setting, as in a compressor.