overdubThe Take Lanes work great for me but obviously most of the/you disgruntled guys here have developed a work-flow-methodology with the predecessor to Take Lanes that I can only assume has progressed similarly for most of you...and now, Take Lanes, which is a big improvement [for me] but is behaving badly for you all.  You learned a way to use a somewhat inferior iteration ...kinda like I developed my own violin tuning and learned that way first.  Now, Take Lanes to you is like my learning how to tune a violin.  Interesting development.
...
Maybe you all have a different definition of what a 'Take" is?  Allow me to share an old-school understanding of what a Take is.  Hmm.
...
Hey, I don't want to come off like some kind of a preacher here, so, I go away now.  I'm just an older version of you, trying to help solve a problem.  Good luck!
Dub
 

 
Not sure about preachy, but your post comes across as rather dismissive, and patriarchal.  You may be on the older side of the age spectrum here, but I (and I assume many others) here have close to 20 years experience with recording and DAWs and are not just some kids in need of guidance as to what constitutes a "take."  You may want to reread this (and other) threads about issues with takes lanes, Overdub.  Retuning a violin is not an applicable analogy at all, and this is *not* just a matter of adjusting workflow.  There are some serious drawbacks to takes in their current form for which there may be workarounds, but only imperfect workflow-inhibiting ones.  I fully understand that for some types of tracks takes work great (e.g., a typical vocal track), but this does not mean that issues don't exist for other types of tracking and mixing.
 
Drums is one situation that comes up a lot, and for good reason.  Multimicing an instrument that typically has no clean breaks (so efficient nudging of notes and cross fading is a must for editing) within a song poses problems.  If you have developed an efficient workflow for how to work with a drum session from start to finish (i.e., multiple takes, comping, editing) using take lanes I am eager to hear what it is.  Otherwise you may want to consider that there is a genuine issue here, not just some folks who are stubbornly holding on to outdated workflows.  
 
 
 

neirbod
Drums is one situation that comes up a lot, and for good reason.  Multimicing an instrument that typically has no clean breaks (so efficient nudging of notes and cross fading is a must for editing) within a song poses problems.  If you have developed an efficient workflow for how to work with a drum session from start to finish (i.e., multiple takes, comping, editing) using take lanes I am eager to hear what it is.  Otherwise you may want to consider that there is a genuine issue here, not just some folks who are stubbornly holding on to outdated workflows.

+100000!!!

I have been saying this since X2!  Because of this exact scenerio X2 was not used at all.
I now use X1 to track, comp, etc. and X3 to mix.
X3 is simply a nightmare for me when it comes to comping real drums.

Every video I have seen is using Addictive Drums, Session Drummer, or something that has clean breaks and is 100% on the grid.  That is very unrealistic for me because I record live bands.
 
Doing this in X1 with Track Layers was easy as pie.  Consistent and somewhat predictable results every time.  I cannot overstate how quick it is for comping live instruments.
 
If anyone at all has any videos/screencasts/etc of a workflow for comping real drums in X3 please post a link.

I can understand your thought here but it's not quite appro po... I have a reasonable familiarity with Lanes now being forced to work with them... And I'm getting the hang of the comping tools as well... It's not a matter if knowing the changed behavior... It's that the behavior does not accommodate enough of everyone's needs...

I can dream up many things that if added (those who like it would not be forced to use it) would solve many of the issues that lanes and comping have introduced.... I will not get into that at the moment...

Though I learned guitar with "proper" tuning, I also later learned a number of alternate turnings....

X has been a generation of trying to change tools that simply needed fixing and introduced many negative elements that many of us must deal with... If they wanted to make it a different software I believe they should have started an additional product as they tried with Project5. Running side by side (expensive to develope) with updates and fixes to the pre-x versions would tell more of the balance of likes for each... We will never know.

I will reserve further ranting until after X3d is released... New things can be better... If they work for the individual... If not they can be thought of as nice idea, but.........

I'm glad there are some who like Lanes.... It's good for them, tho not me... Yet? I would be happy to finally say "Lanes work fine for me" if they can get to the core of it instead of trying to re-invent the wheel... They might find anti-gravity, but don't throw away the tires... Yet...

Keni

> I will reserve further ranting until after X3d is released...
 
Exactly, it will be quite refreshing to have something new to b*tch about next week, fingers crossed...

Question...I'm having a hard time digesting all the information here. Is the following summary of the opinions here correct:
 
1. Take Lanes are most problematic with MIDI tracks, less so with audio.
2. Some people have issues with Take Lane cosmetics (e.g., not sufficient variation in track heights)
3. For those using Take Lanes to do traditional-style comping (e.g., lead vocal, guitar part, etc.) it works fine.
4. For those using Take Lanes to do comping of multi-tracked sources (e.g., acoustic drum part with multiple mics, there are issues.
 
Is this correct? I've been using Take Lanes in the context of (3) and find the speed comping to be incredibly useful, but I haven't really worked with MIDI comping yet.

I'd like to state that I don't want to be frustrated and complaining.  I know that the guys/gals at Cakewalk have a tough job and probably irritates them that 1000 great things they've done for the software have been overshadowed by one feature that makes the product almost unusable (at least for me in recording).  I'd be frustrated if I were on the Cake team.

But, I paid for software two years in a row that has bugs/issues/unclear-workflow with a feature that is integral.  The true annoyance to me is that I liked track layers and was efficient with them, so this is all just a leap backward.

Anderton
1. Take Lanes are most problematic with MIDI tracks, less so with audio.
2. Some people have issues with Take Lane cosmetics (e.g., not sufficient variation in track heights)
3. For those using Take Lanes to do traditional-style comping (e.g., lead vocal, guitar part, etc.) it works fine.
4. For those using Take Lanes to do comping of multi-tracked sources (e.g., acoustic drum part with multiple mics, there are issues.

#4 is my main issue.  Comping multi-miced drums that are played by real people (not perfectly gridded).

summarising these kind of threads is a great idea

For my simple usage take lanes are working well. I do mostly audio recording, rarely do live drums and don't record in bits and pieces. For any vocal, bass or guitar take I record a complete take each time. The efficiency to slice and dice half a dozen or so full takes into a finished track is wonderful.
 
On the other hand, from above posts I can see that there's a need for improvement.
 
http://axiology.bandcamp.com

Anderton
Question...I'm having a hard time digesting all the information here.

I think various contributors need to start some independent threads dedicated to specific issues related to their personal workflows. There is at least one "oh wait a minute - user error" post, and several references to lanes not working as well as layers but with no clear description of what the specific issues are. I also noted various "issues" that I think are WAD, albeit a little unintuitive and maybe in need of change or added user-control/options. But there's just too much going on in this thread to try to address these individual items.