Having a buffer of audio recorded in the back so when you actually record something you can drag the front out and have audio where nothing was recorded otherwise.
What problem(s) would this feature resolve?
Losing a spontanious upbeat or precious transients on recordings.
How does this feature fit in Bitwig as a product?
Bitwig provides multiple features geared toward the creation of unrepeatable sounds. This is great, except when you produce an unexpected sound you wish you had recorded. Also, this feature would appeal to producers who rely more heavily in audio recording.
Is there already an alternative way to achieve this on Bitwig?
Alternatively recording a bar before, or record always.
Could it be implemented using Bitwig components or APIs, without Bitwig team’s support?
No.
Could it be provided by a VST or something else reasonably integrated with Bitwig?
Yes, audio pre-record is much to be desired. It’s the add-on feature that makes loop recording of clips really smooth-as-silk for workflow because the “before the one” transients of the first recorded loop are not cut off and lost forever.
Here is #Cubase reference (as Cubase is one program that implements this feature):
Imagine this, in combination with automatic quantization, to “pull” transients to the “1” of the first bar. Would be a banger for beatboxing, you couldn’t (slightly) miss the beat any more in your life.
I included this in my personal feature request list, too, which i put on Youtube
It overlaps with midi prerecord. Both would be awesome, if accompanied with the right amount of smart options in the preferences!
Can you help me understand – how is this different from retrospective record? Or is also known as retrospective record? Ive already voted for retrospective.
This feature would make it so much easier for multiple reasons.
When i record drums for example, i often edit tracks to be in time on the grid but at each start of every take it cuts the hits of cymbals.
This would work so well with another feature where it would not remove the audio region if i move one region on another one but just disable it so that when moving audio regions around you would not lose what was there before. I can’t believe this is not in bitwig, it was in cubase 10 years ago and it was so useful.
This feature would be incredibly useful. Currently, when punching in edits, I need to start a bar before to make sure I get the initial transient, but this means I mute the recording for the bar before, I would like to hear this in the pre-roll, while still recording the new take.
Only work around I’ve found for this is to punch in on a separate track, then merge them manually later. Very time consuming.
@Ludvig_Rhodin are you sure this feature would solve your problem? As I understand it, “pre-record” is about having a “backup recording” of anything that makes a sound while you work with your DAW.
Yes, I’m sure a pre-record is what I need. I want to be able to extend an audio recording into the pre-roll count in to catch transients, instead of having to start the recording a bar back just to be able to come in at the right place.
I can use this workflow in Cubase with the pre-record there, works great.
I think the request I made (requested in the previous linked request) has the same underlying intent:
Record anything that occurs during the preroll (I wanted this for midi, but audio is the same)
Treat anything in that preroll as part of the clip, but allow it to play both during a preroll on playback, before the end of the loop when looping or both (one time intro, the loop is time shifted).
My main annoyances were two fold; first of all, it wasn’t trivial to record a note in the preroll, so I had to logically push everything back by 1 bar. Secondly that in MIDI, if you requested quantize with humanize and there was a note on the 1, it may be shifted forward on the timeline meaning it lies before the 1 and would not play.
What we both want is a way to record in the preroll, and to have whatever was recorded there be manipulatable and played back in a manner that’s intuitive and consistent.
