Splitting long audio files into smaller tracks...

[sayatnova]

Hello Everyone,

I have just moved to another computer and am wading through various old program files to see what needs to be updated and what needs to be carried over.

I have a large set of cassette tape sides recorded in 1 whole file per side. I now need to go in and split the files into their respective song tracks. I used to use PEAK for this, and it was very easy: select all your individual songs as regions and then batch export the lot. Excellent. But PEAK died and I am wary of putting an old program back on my machine.

My question: what is the best way to do this on a mac? Can DP export a series of regions as individual track files? I looked in the manual but don't see anything that indicates it will...

Are there any 2-track editors that are worth looking at for this? (Besides DSP Quatro...).

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

~Shea

[bayswater]

If you use the cut/scissor tool to break up the soundbite in the long track into the original pieces, you can then do pretty much what you want with the resulting soundbites. Export them as audio files, drag them to other tracks, make a CD, etc. The earlier sections of Chapter 81 might help.

DSP-Q will do it too.

[sayatnova]

Hello Bayswater,

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I do know that I can split the file up into many soundbites in DP. I was just wondering about the ability to do a batch export once all the tracks were trimmed, while keeping their trimmed edges?

I ask because, if I cut between two tracks to create two soundbites, obviously I get two soundbites. But, if the new split between the two tracks gets edge-edited to create a gap between the two soundbites now, this will shorten the soundbite in the seq editor window.

However, DP seems to remember the original length of the soundbite and I can just drag back the edges to the original length and re-expose the original soundbite length again.

So, what I want to know is: are individual soundbite lengths fixed, or always changing in the soundbites window depending on how they are being edited at that moment? I.E.: do soundbites edited for length keep their smaller size in export without having to bounce the individual tracks first? And, if so, would using the export function in the soundbites window be the same as just dragging them to the desktop?

If the answer is yes, then perhaps this might be a good workflow for my project:

1) Load my long sound file
2) split my individual tracks to separate soundbites
3) tighten up my edge edits
4) Select all the trimmed soundbites and drag to the desktop/export via soundbites window.

I will try this tonight when I get back to my machine, just putting it out there in case anyone has any thoughts or ideas.

~Thank you for your help.

~Shea

[leigh]

I use DSP-Quattro for this. I put a marker at the start of each song and then pick "Export Marker List To Files". It names the files for the markers. There's also an "Export Regions To Files" which I've never used.

**Leigh

[Tim]

If you put fades on the edges (to get rid of clicks/pops/etc.), you'll need to Merge each soumdbite/region to itself to 'render' those fades... or Bounce them.

[bayswater]

Hello Bayswater,

Thank you for the reply. Yes, I do know that I can split the file up into many soundbites in DP. I was just wondering about the ability to do a batch export once all the tracks were trimmed, while keeping their trimmed edges?

I ask because, if I cut between two tracks to create two soundbites, obviously I get two soundbites. But, if the new split between the two tracks gets edge-edited to create a gap between the two soundbites now, this will shorten the soundbite in the seq editor window.

However, DP seems to remember the original length of the soundbite and I can just drag back the edges to the original length and re-expose the original soundbite length again.

So, what I want to know is: are individual soundbite lengths fixed, or always changing in the soundbites window depending on how they are being edited at that moment? I.E.: do soundbites edited for length keep their smaller size in export without having to bounce the individual tracks first? And, if so, would using the export function in the soundbites window be the same as just dragging them to the desktop?

If the answer is yes, then perhaps this might be a good workflow for my project:

1) Load my long sound file
2) split my individual tracks to separate soundbites
3) tighten up my edge edits
4) Select all the trimmed soundbites and drag to the desktop/export via soundbites window.

I will try this tonight when I get back to my machine, just putting it out there in case anyone has any thoughts or ideas.

~Thank you for your help.

~Shea

If you edge edit a soundbite in the SE window while watching the Soundbites window you can see the duration parameter change when you release the mouse. So, the Soundbite is changing as you change it in the SE. DP is redefining the region structure of the audio file on the fly. AFAIK, fades are not in the soundbite, but are treated as playback parameters, at least in recent versions of DP. Earlier versions computed an audio clip for the fade.

You will want to check out exactly what happens with the various methods of moving audio out of DP. Effects, etc will be included if they apply at the output selected for an export. If you just alt-drag and drop a soundbite that has fades to the desktop, or export to the desktop, and then open in an audio app, you'll see that the fades are gone. If you bounce or merge, the fades will be there along with the effects, although effects in a bounce will depend on the output channel selected for the bounce. So, its good to check it out first and make sure you have the signal path right.

[Shooshie]

Any time I come across a problem like that, I duplicate my project, audio and all, and experiment. Time permitting, of course. If I don't have the time — I'm mixing with the artist, for instance — I'll sometimes make a note of it and experiment later. After running through the parameters I'm looking for, and maybe a few that occur to me along the way, I'll be able to tell positively what the answer is.

If a question here in the forum intrigues me enough, I'll do the same for it. The point? Once you've done that, there is no speculation involved. You know for a fact what it will and won't do. Then you can even report it here. It's good practice to duplicate a project and just see where the wind takes you. That's how you learn more than you ever could reading manuals or this forum. Well, maybe not more than this forum!


Shooshie