Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Discussion of Digital Performer use, optimization, tips and techniques on MacOS.

Moderator: James Steele

Forum rules
This forum is for most discussion related to the use and optimization of Digital Performer [MacOS] and plug-ins as well as tips and techniques. It is NOT for troubleshooting technical issues, complaints, feature requests, or "Comparative DAW 101."
Post Reply
shunarjuna

Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by shunarjuna »

I have recorded a series of short piano works and want to take the best parts of each take and join them together to make one good take. When I try to cut and paste and join soundbites together I get popping or clicking sound. Does anyone have any tip for how to get rid of the pops and clicks or to do the editing without getting them in the first place? I have tried quickly lowering the volume the taking it back up but the doesn't seem to work.

Thanks,

P.S. I'm using DP7
User avatar
HCMarkus
Posts: 9712
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:01 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Rancho Bohemia, California
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by HCMarkus »

So much easier to show than explain… in a nutshell, move edits points/move tracks relative to each other, look for zero crossings, adjust relative levels and/or crossfade.

Keep futzing until you get a click-free, inaudible edit, but remember, sometimes you just have to try another spot. Especially editing piano, where slightly different tempo, pedaling and/or dynamics can really mess you up.
shunarjuna

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by shunarjuna »

HCMarkus wrote:So much easier to show than explain… in a nutshell, move edits points/move tracks relative to each other, look for zero crossings, adjust relative levels and/or crossfade.

Keep futzing until you get a click-free, inaudible edit, but remember, sometimes you just have to try another spot. Especially editing piano, where slightly different tempo, pedaling and/or dynamics can really mess you up.
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give it another try and see if they help.
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15133
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by mikehalloran »

HCMarkus wrote:So much easier to show than explain… in a nutshell, move edits points/move tracks relative to each other, look for zero crossings, adjust relative levels and/or crossfade.

Keep futzing until you get a click-free, inaudible edit, but remember, sometimes you just have to try another spot. Especially editing piano, where slightly different tempo, pedaling and/or dynamics can really mess you up.
In the beginning, I got really good at using cross fades to smooth my edits—it's a basic digital technique that we all need to learn.

Once I discovered how to use edge edits to find the zero crossing point, it changed the way I worked.

I agree, it's much easier to show than to tell. Expand your horizontal view till you actually see the the wave forms. Using the edge edit tool, find the place where the level matches on the adjacent wave forms. Your edit will not click or pop. Of course, you still have to find the right place where it sounds musical.

One thing that helps me is to set the Nudge amount to the minimum. It defaults to .005 seconds, too coarse for me. I don't remember where that setting is in DP 8/9. It has changed through the versions and I always have to search the manual to find it.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
User avatar
stubbsonic
Posts: 4600
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:56 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by stubbsonic »

Here are a few tips:

1. Get good at zooming in and out. Learn some short-cuts for this, or program your mouse (if possible) so you can use the wheel plus some modifier key to zoom in and out.

2. When looking for transitions between one take and another, choose the beginning of a note or chord if possible. As you look at the transition between the the end of the earlier (good) soundbite, and the later (new) soundbite take, you can use edge edit to make sure you are transitioning at the point you want to.

3. You don't need to go all the way down to the sample level of zoom to get a good edit. It really depends on the situation. I usually use a little cross-fade to remove a click. But the crossfade will only work if there is some material in the soundbite beyond the edge (with which to crossfade). In my experience the equal-power crossfade is a good general purpose x-fade. I say use a fairly short x-fade if it works. But sometimes you need a longer one, depending on the material.

As you hover over the crossfade, get the cursor to look like a crossfade "X". You can double-click or click to select and then press CONTROL-f. Choose the Equal Power in the top center row of buttons. And for type, click the left-most "single-curve" type.

DP will remember this fade type the next time you do a crossfade.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
User avatar
Shooshie
Posts: 19820
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Dallas
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by Shooshie »

The Roll and Slip tools are handy for this kind of work, in addition to crossfades. You can use the Roll tool to drag the joint between two soundbites until you find a place where their intensity or wave forms match. If it's ok to move a soundbite a little, use the Slip Tool to slide the soundbite within its frame to accomplish the same thing.

Crossfades finish the job, but honestly sometimes I get so close with Roll or Slip that I don't actually need a crossfade.

Shooshie
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
User avatar
stubbsonic
Posts: 4600
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:56 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by stubbsonic »

I'd just caution that if you don't hear any click at a soundbite juncture, it might be that some playback systems highlight a resulting click more than others. I'd say crossfade to be on the safe side, unless you are really down to the sample level zoom and doing zero crossings.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15133
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by mikehalloran »

stubbsonic wrote:...unless you are really down to the sample level zoom and doing zero crossings.
Once you get the knack, it's pretty easy to do. A large monitor helps.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
User avatar
HCMarkus
Posts: 9712
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:01 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Rancho Bohemia, California
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by HCMarkus »

Does DP automatically places a crossfade (as set in "waveform editor" preference) at each soundbite junction, or is it only when editing within the waveform editor?

Inquiring minds and all...
User avatar
Shooshie
Posts: 19820
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Dallas
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by Shooshie »

HCMarkus wrote:Does DP automatically places a crossfade (as set in "waveform editor" preference) at each soundbite junction, or is it only when editing within the waveform editor?

Inquiring minds and all...
I don't think it's automatic in the Sequence Editor. I get too many clicks for that to be happening. I think MOTU decided to rely on good crossfades. But... I don't really know.

Shooshie
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
User avatar
stubbsonic
Posts: 4600
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2006 12:56 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Contact:

Re: Cutting, pasting, and joining soundbites help.

Post by stubbsonic »

I don't think so.

I do want to offer one little time saving tip (but only to be used responsibly).

If you are under the gun, and you have a bunch of soundbites butted up against each other; you can select them all and DP WILL let you crossfade them all at once. However, make sure you are zoomed in enough to see that you are doing a short x-fade. Also set your x-fade type before you do this, also, you should go through and check each one when you are done.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
Post Reply