Recording in chunks

  1. Break the song up into shorter phrases. Breaks either occur at long rests or at the end of a verse. Mark these in your score.

  2. Concentrate on learning the first chunk well. Focus on pitches, rhythm, and pronunciation for just that smaller bit.

  3. Record the first chunk as if you were recording normally. When you reach the end of the first chunk, click the stop button.

  4. Replay the chunk you've just recorded; if it's good, move go to the next step. If it's not, x it out and re-record. Since it's a short chunk, it shouldn't take too long to get a satisfying recording. You may notice your recording is out of synch with the click track; if so, use the Time Shift tool (1) to click and drag the waveform (2) until it lines up with the click track's (use the playback button (3) to judge by ear that it's properly synched).

  5. Now, you can forget the first chunk and concentrate on learning the second one well. Focus on pitches, rhythm, and pronunciation for just that smaller bit.

  6. Using the I cursor (1), click on the waveform of the first chunk (2) a few seconds before it ends. The cursor turns into a leftwards pointing hand, and a vertical black line shows where playback/recording will begin (3). This is so you'll have a bit of lead in for when you record the next chunk.

  7. Record the second chunk similar to how you recorded the first: hit the record button, listen to the lead in, and come in when the second chunk starts. Sing through to the end of the second chunk, then hit the stop button.

  8. Replay the chunk you've just recorded; if it's good, go back to step 5 and keep recording. If it's not, x it out and re-record. Adjust the recording with the Time Shift tool if it is out of synch. And so on until the song is finished.

  9. Once you've recorded the whole song, however many tracks it took, set the Sample Format of each track to 16-bit, x out the click track, Save Project As..., zip the file up, upload to the FTP site, and send me an email to let me know you're done. Return to Recording How-To for detailed instructions on these steps (step