remove silence (its a gate AND a file size reducer)

[crosstudio]

man i love the remove silence feature in Sonar. did i mention that Sonar is my favorite piece of software in the world? even more than IBM's Visual Age for Java with the standalone Websphere App Server feature.

it's a gate and a sample size reducer all in one.

normally, i use it as a gate only, but today I used it as a file size reducer because i didn't feel like preparing a second RW-CD to archive my work. I've played around with the settings and have saved settings that seem to work best with different instruments. for instance, when doing remove silence on pads, i use long hold and release times.

HOWEVER

you only save file size if you have the split clips checkbox selected, which I don't often do.

 

[wfaraoni]

Im still experimenting with it myself. I though I could set a threshhold to get rid of the HVAC background and Computer fan noise but have not been succesful Yet. I get a sputtering filter or it grabs real music parts any ideas on setting sugggestions?
I really need a closet I guess


Bill

 

[Porter]

I must admit that I don't use the remove silence feature in Sonar... I manually delete the section... I just feel like I have a little more control over it... mind you, that may change down the track.

Porter

 

[Middleman]

Off axis response is the best way to reduce computer fan noise if you can't put it in another room.

 

[crosstudio]

for large gaps i do it manually too, but if I want to remove the silence between snare or kick hits, i'm not doing that by hand.

the thing about 'remove silence' is that you can try a threshold and if it doesn't work, undo it.

if you are trying to get rid of HVAC noise that you can hear when the instrument/vocalist is not playing, try setting the look ahead to 10ms, and the attack between 2-5ms. you'll still have to play around with the threshold to figure out how loud your AC unit is, but once you do you'll be able to ramp up from silence to the music sound without clipping the start of the sound.

then, set the release time such that when the release threshold is set, you don't cut off any tails. i use a release setting between 125 and 250ms depending on the temp of the song. if its a really fast song, i'll go lower than 125.

ps.
i drilled a hole in my wall to pass cables to my PC which is in an adjacent room closet, so I don't get any negligable noise in my room unless the AC is on. generally speaking i never have noise above -72db (after the gain stage) when I record, and I get a really good signal. if i use my mackie pre's instead of the RNP, I get even less noise, but the sound isn't as articulate.

 

[James Argo]

...generally speaking i never have noise above -72db (after the gain stage) when I record, and I get a really good signal. if i use my mackie pre's instead of the RNP, I get even less noise, but the sound isn't as articulate.

Oh boy, I'm jealous
Average noise floor is -60~-65dB down here And the strange thing is, my cheap Phonic 1202 mixer gave me slightly lower noise floor compared Mackie 1202

Phonic : -60~-65dB
Mackie : -55~-60dB

I dunno, it's the old 1202 anyway (not the VLZ Pro)

...and yeah, Remove silence is cool Why didn't you tell me about it earlier, eh ? It's tip of the week, I suppose


Jaymz

 

[moskus]

Oh boy, I'm jealous

You're not allowed to talk about SNR, James. You use a SB Live!


Anyway, thanks for the tip Crosstudio. I only thought it replaced the "silence" with "nothing", leaving the original "silence" on disk. Great tip!

 

[James Argo]

You're not allowed to talk about SNR, James. You use a SB Live!

Now you're jealous, right ?

Anyway, thanks for the tip Crosstudio. I only thought it replaced the "silence" with "nothing", leaving the original "silence" on disk. Great tip!

Yup, I never paid any attention about the file size, but sure it's good I mean, I did almost my wave editing (including "remove silence" thingee) in CoolEdit Pro.


Jaymz

 

[moskus]

Now you're jealous, right ?

I have a SB Live lying around somewhere... But I saved the world from another SB Live with a hammer!

Now, that's art!