Adding Tracks within the Graphic Editor Window

Let's record a MIDI bass part to go along with the drum track. We'll stay within the Graphic Editor window to perform the bulk of the new track operations.

First, let's add a track within the Graphic Editor window:

  1. Choose Graphic Editor from the Windows menu, or press Command-J.

  2. Click the Add Track icon (the '+' symbol in the upper left corner of the Graphic Editor window) to add a new track into the Graphic Editor display. This displays track 2 (in Notes display mode) below track 1's Drum Grid display.

  3. Disable record loop mode and reconfigure Metro's Record/Play dialog to tun off Overdub mode:

a) Choose Record/Play from the Setup menu.

b) Click the Replace button to change your Record mode setup back to Metro's default setting. Overdub mode was only required for the loop-based recording from the previous example.

c) Open the Transport window (Command-B) and deselect the Rec checkbox in theLooping section. This disables record looping.

  1. In the Graphic Editor window, click the R button in track 2's titlebar to enable the track for MIDI recording.

  2. In the middle of track 2’s titlebar, click and drag the Output popup to select channel 2 of your General MIDI sound module. Be sure the Automatic MIDI Thru is enabled under the Switches menu.

  3. Click the Program popup in the upper right part of the Graphic Editor windowto select a bass program for channel 2 of your General MIDI sound module. Remember, you can select programs by name.

  4. Press Option-R to begin recording.

  5. Play a 4 bar bass line after the 4 beat countoff.

    note02.gif

  1. Press the spacebar once you've finished recording.

  2. In the titlebar of track 2, just to the right of the S button, click to selectthe Loop icon, and type in 4 bars as the track length in the field just to theright of the Loop icon.

Now you have a drum and bass vamp that you can use in your final arrangement. Choose Save from the File menu to save the new tracks in the current session.

Notice that the Graphic Editor window displays your bass line underneath theDrum Grid (you may need to use the vertical scroll bars to locate the bassnotes). The Graphic Editor window allows up to 16 tracks from the current Sectionto be viewed simultaneously.

The next step in this tutorial is Plugging In and Testing a Microphone. If your computer won't handle audio recording, skip to Arranging with Subsections.
Adding Tracks within the Graphic Editor Window