Thanks. Now to sound like a newbie; what software for Mac? I'm assuming defining the track points will be self evident.
First, don't apologize for "sounding like a newbie", Not only did I expect follow-up questions, but they are sensible ones one would expect. Everybody has to start somewhere, right?
Second, I have to apologize in that I'm a Wintel guy and am not as familiar with Mac software as some. But from what I understand from others here who's opinions carry weight, you might want to look at WaveEditor for the Mac or Steinberg's WaveLab for Mac. Setting track markers for burning is a fairly common and typical feature among the better wave editors, and I'd imagine that both of those would include that capability. Someone else (like one of the mastering engineers here) will hopefully come along and either confirm or deny that for us.
and if I choose to keep separate files, how do I soften the attacks on the initial wave peaks?
By cutting their volume, mainly.
If your track breaks are in normal rest breaks in the music, then you probably don't have to worry about it at all. If, however, you're inserting your track breaks right in the middle of the music with no real music rests to help you in that regard, then you probably A) want to make sure you place the marker at the point of a zero crossing in the wave (where the line of the waveform is on or intersects the -infinity center line), and 2) *maybe* knock down the volume of the first couple of wave rests or so (top and bottom). I say maybe because it's not always necessary or appropriate, your ears have to tell you that.
You can knock down the volume in any number of different ways, depending upon your editor and the tools it has that you feel more comfortable working with. Examples would include:
- Fade in. Just set up a small region containiing only the first couple of large wav crests and select it for fade in.
- Volume/gain change. Similar to the fade in that you set up the small intro region, but instead of having the computer place a fade in there, you just select the volume or gain (the name varies by editor brand) and drop it a few dB to soften the blow.
- the Pencil tool. Most wave editors allow you to zoom in on the wave and actually re-draw parts of them yourself with a "pencil". if the opening peak(s) of the new track are giving you a bit of a pop or click, erase them and draw your own smaller, smoother curves that don't pop or click.
- Volume/gain automation. This is a bit more advanced than most newb newbs prefer, but if you know you way around setting up and drawing a gain automation curve, you can draw your own custom "fade".
There are probably other was as well, but those are the main ones available in most editors. Fir more details on how they work in your software, just look them up in the software's "help" function.
Again, this volume adjustment may not be necessary in all situations, just if you pot the track marker in the right place with good software and your still getting a pop or click.
HTH,
Edit: Oops, I see BoulderSG beat me to the punch on some of this. Sorry BSG, didn't mean to step on ya or ignore ya there.
G.
