SuperCollider

Automation

How to use Automation to order programs and automate controls

Automation Tab

Automation is a way of recording the changing values of a controls over the period of a composition. Almost all controls in LNX_Studio can be automated, from Filter Cutoffs to Volume adjustments or from Tempo Changes to Program Changes. All you need to do is turn Auto Record on and press play, as the song plays any changes you make will be recorded into the Automation. These automations will be played back the next time you play the song. You can find the Automation Tab at the bottom right hand side of the instrument view as below...

  1. Auto Playback - turns the play back of automation events on or off.
  2. Auto Record - turns the recording of automation events on or off. When you stop a song playing, the Auto Record turns off.

The Automation Tab contains all the tools to view and edit the events you record.

Automation is also a good way of launching progam changes. All you need is Auto Record on and to then launch the programs when you want them to happen. Below we can see a graph called "LNX_Studio (Program)" which shows program changes happening as the composition progresses.

  1. Graph - This is the graph of the select control you are viewing. The x axis is time in bars and the y is a scale appropriate for the control. For example cutoff will be in Hz and amplitude will be in dbs.
  2. Selection tool - When [Select] is on you can highlight a specific time or a range of time with the mouse.
  3. Song position - A marker to show the current postion of the song.
  4. Controls - A list of controls with automation recorded. Select the control you wish to edit here.
  5. [|<] - Moves the song position to the same place as the selection tool.
  6. Select - Allows you to select a position or a range on the graph using the mouse.
  7. Erase - Allows you to remove events from the graph using the mouse.
  8. Write - Allows you to draw freehand the values on the graph using the mouse.
  9. Value - Allows you to draw specific values on the graph using the mouse. Enter the value you wish to draw into the adjacent number box.
  10. Quantise - Quantises the Selection Tool or the values you enter over time. This is useful for setting a single value over a whole bar. For example if its set to 16 you can only enter values every 16 steps in the graph.
  11. Bar (steps) - Allow you to set the length of a bar on the x axis in number of steps.
  12. Edit Menu - is a menu for common editing tasks. In it are...
    • Insert Bar Will insert a bar of steps into the automation at the point the Selection Tool is located.
    • Insert Bar into All Will insert a bar of steps into all automations at the point the Selection Tool is located.
    • Remove Selection Will remove and shorten the automation over the range the Selection Tool has highlighted.
    • Remove Selection from All Will remove and shorten all the automations over the range the Selection Tool has highlighted.
    • Delete this Automation Will delete just the current automation.
    • Delete all Automation Will delete all automations.