Editing question - SONAR

[Merle]

Well, you pros, tis me again with another silly question! I recorded a flamenco song called a zapateado, and it is very complex and difficult to play. I recorded maybe 5 or 6 takes until I finally came out with just the way I wanted it to sound, EXCEPT, one note, one friggen note!!

Now, since flamenco rhythems are structured much different than a regular 3/4 or 4/4, I do have the option of "cutting" this note out and still maintain the songs integrity!

With SONAR I can use markers to set the beginning of the sound and the end of the sound that I want to take out, but I don't know how to cut it out of the .wav file!

Does anyone know how to do this? Or, are there any other suggestions on how I can correct this "one dumb note" other ways?

I really don't want to have to record this song all over again and spend hours trying to get it to the point of sounding like I have it now!

I know what your thinking; 'Well, Merle, if you had more talent you would not find yourself asking these stupid questions'!! ;>0

But, if I can edit out that one little sound, the strict flamenco structure of the song will not change.

Merle

P.S. I thought about just leaving that note in there, and it's been in there for weeks now, but, everytime I listen to the song and that moment arrives, it really bothers me!

[AlChuck]

Guess you didn't bother with the digital editing tutorial, eh?



It's pretty simple. First make the audio track in question nice and tall so you can see the waveform clearly. You can also zoom in closely if you need to be more precise.

Now, if the note is the last note of a digital audio clip, you can just drag the right side of the clip over until the last note is no longer there.

If it's somewhere in the middle of the clip, move your cursor to an appropriate location to the left of the bad note (you will probably need to turn Snap To Grid off). Select Split from the edit menu, and a vertical line is drawn at the cursor position. (Note -- this split is not the same as setting a marker.) Now move to the right of the bad note and do the same thing. You have now split the original clip into three, one with the stuff before the bad note, one containing the bad note, and one with the stuff after the bad note. Select the middle clip, and select Delete from the Edit menu.

Note that SONAR's editing is not destructive -- the note data is actually still there until you select Apply Trimming from the Edit menu -- but it will be inaudible.

If the bad note is clearly isolated, you can probably change its pitch if it's off by a whole-step or so without it sounding fake or odd. (By "clearly isolated," I mean it's not too slurred with another pitch at the beginning or end, and it's not one note in a double-stop or part of a simultaneous diad or triad or chord -- unless the whole group of notes is off by the same amount!) Select the clip with the bad note alone and apply the Cakewalk-FX Time/Pitch Stretch (from the Audio effects). Read the Help system to understand what the various properties are that you can modify in this dialog box.

[Lopp]

Originally posted by AlChuck
If the bad note is clearly isolated... (By "clearly isolated," I mean it's not too slurred with another pitch at the beginning or end, and it's not one note in a double-stop or part of a simultaneous diad or triad or chord)

That's the whole challenge and why it can be difficult to edit audio pieces. The problem exists in the fact that other notes may be ringing while the trouble note is played. If the trouble note is eliminated, the track will sound audibly chopped. One way to make the track sound less edited is to find two locations surrounding the note where the guitar rests or pauses with no playing. Rerecord just that section on another track and then replace the original section with the new section.

[Evildick]

Instead of trying to get rid of the offending note by cutting it out, you could redo just that portion of the song.

1.Arm the track where the mistake is for Recording.

2.Got to Transport>Record Options and select Auto-Punch, then for the Punch-in Time, type the measure/beat/tick where you want to start recording. Do the same for Punch-out time where you want SONAR to stop recording.

3.Set the now time to an place in the track before the Punch-in time. You should give yourself enough time to get "into" the song so the groove is the same as the original recording.

4.Hit record and started playing along with the song. You can stop playing after the Punch-out time since SONAR will no longer be recording at that point.

5.Now listen to the new recording to see if you like how it turned out. If it sucks, Undo the recording and start over again.

The help file explains this a little better.

Dick

[AlChuck]

Good ideas, Lopp and Evildick, you are exactly right.

[Merle]

Thanks all you good people, for the advice and suggestions! I will experiment and see what I can do...and if push comes to shove, I'll just record the song again, and this time DO IT RIGHT!

Hell, I probably need the practice anyway!! ;>)

Merle

[Lopp]

AlChuck: Thanks.

Merle: Good luck.