What is "preroll" and how do I set it up?

What is it?

Preroll is an element of Punch and Roll. It's actually the "roll". One of the goals of PnR is for your punch-in to sound natural and transparent to the listener. Preroll is the amount of audio played back for you before recording actually begins. It gives you, the narrator, the opportunity to prepare to record and to reference your performance at the point where you're punching in.

How do I set it up?

At the bottom of the Song page interface in Studio One, you'll find the teeny tiny Metronome group of icons. The top center icon is a wrench. Click on it to open the Metronome Setup dialog.

You'll want to focus on two elements of the Metronome Setup as indicated in the graphic below. First, ensure that the Preroll box is checked (and, therefore, preroll is active). Second, you'll set the value in the Bars text box. This indicates how many seconds of audio ahead of the punch point will be played before recording begins. For most folks, 2-3 seconds is sufficient. Make adjustments according to your own preference. Once these two items are set, you can close the dialog. Your changes will be saved automatically.

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