Welcome back to LUNA Basics!
In this video we’ll cover everything you need to know to start recording audio in LUNA.
To get started, you’ll first need to open a session and create one or more tracks that you can record to.
For help creating or opening a session, see the previous video titled Navigating LUNA...
where this is covered in depth.
There are a few ways to create new audio tracks in LUNA.
if the tracks list is visible on the Focus Browser you can use the "plus" sign,
or you can use the New Tracks option in the Tracks menu,
or the shortcut "Shift" + "Command" + "N".
The Create New Tracks dialog will appear at the top of the Focus Browser on the left -
here you can choose the type of track you want to create,
the number of tracks, whether the track will be mono or stereo and the track name.
Once you’ve done that, click OK or press the "Enter" key and your track will be created.
The next step is to configure the track’s input by assigning the input on your Apollo that you want to record from.
You can do this in a few different ways -
from the Timeline view you can use the input field in the track display...
or the Input slot in the Focus Channel if the track is selected.
You can also assign input routing from the Mixer view using the Input slot in the top row.
Clicking in one of these places brings up the input assign menu in the Focus Browser,
where you can assign the Apollo input that you would like the track to record from.
You can navigate the input assign menu...
either by scrolling through the list and clicking on the input that you want to assign,
or by searching for the input by name and selecting it with the arrow keys or mouse.
Once you’ve assigned the correct input,
you can close the input assign menu by clicking the X in the top right corner or by pressing the "Escape" key.
Once your input is assigned,
record enable the track by clicking the record enable button to hear signal from the assigned input.
The input monitor button serves the same function without putting the track into a record-ready state,
which is useful for when you want to hear an input without recording it.
Once the track is set to input monitor or record enable, the input controls in the channel strip become active...
and can be used to adjust the input settings for the track, which vary based on the type of input selected.
In this case I have a bass guitar plugged into the input that I assigned,
so I only see the input settings corresponding to the Hi-Z input.
At this point you’ll be able to hear the assigned input via the record enabled track...
and you can start to dial in the sound using plug-ins.
There are a few different types of plug-in inserts in the channel strip where plug-ins can be loaded...
and each type of insert applies the plug-in processing in a different way.
The Unison insert and Record FX inserts in the Input section of the channel strip...
both commit the sound of UAD Plug-Ins,
meaning any effects loaded here will be baked into the audio that’s recorded...
and I won’t be able to change or remove the effects from the recorded audio down the line.
Conversely, the standard inserts in the Inserts section of the channel strip...
can be used to monitor audio through UAD and Audio Units effects in an impermanent way,
meaning the effect will not be printed to the track...
and can be changed or removed after I’m finished recording.
I like how the Ampeg SVTVR Classic sounds,
so I’m going to commit to it and load it in the Unison insert...
where it’ll permanently affect the audio I record through it,
just as if I were playing and recording through a real amp.
To load a plug-in, just click on one of the inserts and the plug-in browser will appear in the Focus Browser.
You can scroll through the list and click on the name of a plug-in to load it...
or you can simply start typing to search for plug-ins by name.
Once you find the plug-in you want, click the Preset field at the top of the focus browser...
or the preset button at the top of the plugin GUI to view and load available presets for that plug-in.
I’m also going to load an LA-2A for compression,
however I may want to change the amount of compression later so I’ll load it into a standard insert,
where I can monitor through it, but it won’t permanently effect my recorded audio.
We’re almost ready to start recording, but first I want to touch on one of the cornerstones of recording in LUNA.
Accelerated Realtime Monitoring. Also known as ARM,
this global mode in LUNA ensures the lowest possible latency when monitoring and recording through plug-ins.
ARM seamlessly manages Apollo’s Realtime UAD Processing features all from within LUNA,
eliminating the need to open Console.
ARM is enabled by default, and can be managed using the global control at the top...
or in the fader section of the Mixer view.
We’ll take a deeper look at this powerful feature in a future video.
Other key recording features in LUNA can be accessed using the Record Workflow.
To open this menu, click the record enable icon in the Workflow section of the Control Bar.
The Record Workflow is one of four Workflows in LUNA that give you quick access to features and settings...
related to different aspects of the music making process.
The Click To Cue button in the Record Workflow opens the click routing window,
where you can control the level of the metronome click in your Monitor and Cue mixes...
and enable or disable the click independently for each mix.
The Cue Outputs button opens the Cue Outputs window in the Monitor section,
where you can manage your Cues and headphone routing.
The Pre Roll and Post Roll buttons allow you to enable and set pre and post roll amounts...
when recording overdubs, which we’ll get into later in this video.
Finally, there’s a global ARM control and a display that shows the number of available ARM routes.
Now we’re ready to record some audio.
My audio track is already record enabled, and I’m going to turn on the click...
by clicking the metronome icon in the Control Bar or by using the "7" key from the number keypad.
Now I can start recording by clicking the record and play transport buttons...
or by using the shortcut "Command" + "Spacebar".
Great - I’ve recorded a short bass line to my audio track...
and the recorded audio is shown as a clip in the timeline.
Now I can play the track back and it’ll sound just as it did when I recorded it.
Hearing the recorded track, I think there’s a little too much compression so I’m going to dial that back.
Remember, since I loaded the LA-2A plug-in into a standard insert it didn’t permanently affect the audio that was recorded,
so I’m able to make changes like this after the fact.
Now, let’s say I’m not entirely happy with this take and I think I can record it better,
but I want to keep this first take just in case.
To do this without having to duplicate the track or recreate my settings,
I can simply create a new version on the same track...
by clicking the icon in the top right above the track controls to expose the Versions menu...
and then clicking the plus sign or using the shortcut "Control" + "Backslash" to create a new version.
The track is cleared out in the timeline so I can record a new take to the same track with the exact same settings...
and I can recall the previous take at any time by selecting it from the Versions list.
In some DAWs, this functionality is referred to as “playlists”.
On the other hand, let’s say I’m mostly happy with the take that I recorded,
but I want to punch in an overdub to fix a mistake.
If I select a range in the timeline where I want to overdub,
LUNA will start recording at the beginning of my selection and stop at the end of my selection.
However, in most cases you’ll want to hear a little bit of the previous recording before or after LUNA starts recording -
that’s where the Pre Roll and Post Roll settings in the Record Workflow come in.
Pre Roll is the number of bars that will be heard before the selection,
and Post Roll is the number of bars that will be heard after the selection.
The easiest way to set this up is to first select an area in the timeline that you want to record to,
then hold down the "Option" key and click before or after the selection in the bars and beats ruler...
to automatically enable pre or post roll and set the amount.
You can also toggle pre and post roll and set the amounts manually in the Record Workflow.
Once the pre and post roll amounts are set and you start recording,
playback of the previously recorded audio will be heard starting from the Pre Roll position...
and ending at the Post Roll position,
however new input will only be recorded to the track during the selected area.
Once you’re finished, use the shortcut "Command" + "K" to quickly toggle pre and post roll back off.
The last way to record that we’ll cover in this video is Loop Recording,
which is enabled or disabled using the Loop button in the Control Bar.
When enabled, LUNA will loop the current selection, like this.
If Loop is enabled while recording,
LUNA will loop the current selection and automatically create a new version for each loop.
This can be useful for recording a few takes in a row, so you can choose the best one after the fact.
I’m going to select an area in the timeline and then record a couple takes of my bass line -
as the recording loops each time, you’ll notice that a new version is created in the Versions menu...
o the left of the timeline.
Now I can recall any of the takes that I just recorded using the Versions list in order to find the best one.
Once I’ve found the take that I want to keep,
I can quickly delete the others by clicking the trash can icon in the Versions menu and selecting “All Others”...
or I can leave them in place in case I want to reference them later.
That covers the essentials that you’ll need to know to start recording your own audio into LUNA.
Once you’re finished recording,
check out the next video in this series to learn about LUNA’s powerful audio editing features.