Moving/editing audio clips

S

Stephen Jones

New member
Hey everyone.
I'm wondering what the best method is for moving a portion of an audio clip (ie-from a wav). Like if you've got a snare track and one hit is a little off and you'd like to move it forward a bit. What's the best way to do this with minimal pops and awkward dropouts.

(At first glance Cubase seems to be more symapthetic to this, in that you can extend portions of audio clips after you've moved parts of them, so you can futz around until the smoothest transition is reached. Can you do this on Cakewalk?)
Thanks alot,
steve
 
I don't know Cubase but here's what I do in Sonar. Because there's lots of room before and after a snare hit I will select a small section before and after the hit and delete them making a small independant clip. Then grab hold of the clip and shift it in time. I've done lots of out-of-time snare and kick hits that way.
 
When you say shift it in time, what exactly do you mean?
And by creating blank spaces before and after your selected snare hit, doesn't that just create extra opportunities for popping/ sound dropouts? (assuming it isn't being masked by the other instruments) Is this what everyone does?
Thanks,
steve
 
If the drum track is combined into a stereo pair, then editing is a bit dicey due to the blend of all the various instruments (cymbals, etc.). 99 times out of 100 I use punch-in to correct errors when this is the case.

I tend to record my drums & cymbals split to separate stereo tracks... makes editing drums a bit easier. In this manner I can isolate a drum hit, select it in it's entirety, then move it or cut/paste accordingly.

If I'm editing cymbals or other long-duration tones, I'll move the initial hit and it's decay to the new spot, but many times will require that I fill in the gaps with copies of similar data. Also this sometimes requires blending or tapering of waveforms to fit. Other times I'll just slice out the event, then overlay a dub on a separate track.
 
"Also this sometimes requires blending or tapering of waveforms
to fit."

What exatly does this mean?
Also:

"Other times I'll just slice out the event, then overlay a dub on a separate track."

Do you mean that you delete that section, overdub that part on another track and then edit the ends of both until you have what seems like one track?
Sorry if this seems a bit precise, but I'm currently working on a project where edits such as these are required and I want to make sure I know the best way to do this.
Specifically, I'm trying to move a snare hit over, and since the kick track bled a lot I'm trying to move both tracks over together - you're right, it is tricky. I've tried to do it while holding down the CTRL button so that it "leaves itself" at the end (no deleted space) but then there seem to be a lot of pops. Probably because the chances that both ends of the section will cut through the wav at 0 (and on both tracks) is pretty slim.
Anyone else have any advice? It would be very much appreciated.
steve
 
I guess it's kind of hard to put this all in words. I've taken recently to recording snare and kick parts independantly so I can shift off-time hits (I am a guitarest really). I doubt most people use the technique I described. Punch-in, like heinz said, makes the most sense.

"When you say shift it in time, what exactly do you mean?"

Usually when my snare hit is off it's a late hit. So I drag it a little ahead in time until it's right.

"And by creating blank spaces before and after your selected snare hit, doesn't that just create extra opportunities for popping/ sound dropouts?"

If your tracks are just a stereo track my method won't work and like heinz said if you have also have the snare in a overhead mike track this won't work either. I guess punch-in is the best way. I take care of pops by zooming in where the waveform starts and drag the window so the wave line starts at zero.
 
"I take care of pops by zooming in where the waveform starts and drag the window so the wave line starts at zero."

That's exactly what I mean. How do you do this in PA9?
Thanks,
steve
 
I don't think you can slide audio windows open and close in PA 9. I would expand the clip and highlight and delete it up to the point where it crosses 0. But, I'm no expert in audio editing. Maybe also try other CW message boards.
 
It's been a while, but... place the cursor close to the point you want. Click the Snap to Zero Crossing button to enable that option. Right-click and choose Split from the pop-up menu. The audio clip is broken into two clips at the zero value closest to where you placed the cursor.

You know... all this is in the manual and the help system, quite easily found... in fact, I just looked it up because I couldn't remember (I've been using SONAR since the spring).
 
Actually what we're talking about here is zero crossing at the beginning and ends of clips when you're moving them in 2 or more tracks simultaneously. SBax, your idea of going in and just snipping off the ends if the "zero crossing" feature doesn't pick it up on both tracks sounds reasonable - thanks.
So I might actually pick up the upgrade to SONAR based on the stuff you guys are telling me. Let me make sure I've got it straight:
In SONAR you can expand and detract the ends of the clip windows in order to make sure your edits are all slient. Correct? Is the expansion destructive? or can you move it back after reloading the song? (I know this is the case in Cubase).
For example - snipping the end off a clip and deleting it like I'm going to have to do in PA9 will obviously be a destructive edit. Hope this makes sense.
Thanks,
steve
 
The slip editing functionality (their name for the expanding/contracting ends of clips you describe) in SONAR is non-destructive. The audio data is all still there if you want to hear it again.
 
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