Editing Audio Tracks

The Edit Button shows/hides the track's editor. The Editor shows a graphical representation of the audio signal. A part of it can be selected using the mouse (press left button and drag).

Audio Track (mono) with Editor

The two channels of a stereo Track will be displayed separately. Editing just one channel of a stereo Track is not possible.

At the bottom of the editor the common editor buttons appear (see Common Editor Features).

Understanding Audio Editing

Audio editing is always non-destructive. This means that the file containing the original recording remains unaffected. When an audio file is being edited for the first time a .lst file will be created. This file contains a reference to the original audio file. It can contain references to one or more edit files as well. An edit files replaces a part of the original file. Edit files are named trackname_edit123456.edit, where 123456 is a unique sequence of random characters.
Example: Guitar.gjm is being edited. Guitar.lst will be created. A file called Guitar_edit123456.edit will be created (this file contains audio data). Guitar.lst contains information on what files to play (Guitar.gjm and Guitar_edit123456.edit) and when to play the edit files (Guitar_edit123456.edit).

The files referenced by a .lst file can be viewed in a Track's Properties window. In this window you can optionally remove edits, which will make the corresponding part of the original audio file audible again.

Note: Do not delete .edit files manually in order to avoid losing edits or punch-in recordings. Use the Find Unused Files tool instead.

Audio edits are written to disk immediately.

Crossfades are applied automatically in order to avoid clicks. The crossfades behave just like traditional tape splices.

Audio Edit Control

The Audio Edit Control, invoked by clicking the Edit button, can be used to manipulate the selected part in various ways.

Audio Edit Control window

Audio Edit Controls have the following features:

• Volume Fader: Changes the volume of the selected part. Note: In most cases it is better to use an Automated Fader to change volume levels of certain parts of a track, as this leaves the audio file untouched.
• Fade In: Performs a fade in on the selected part.
• Fade Out: Performs a fade out on the selected part.
• Normalize: Makes the selected part as loud as possible.
• Effect Slots: The Effect Slots can contain effects such as EQ or reverb.

Note: Normalizing a file introduces rounding errors and thus compromises sound quality, especially with 16 bit files. Both normalizing individual tracks and normalizing the final mix are bad habits. The Master Limiter effect should be used to make the final mix as loud as possible.

Dragging Audio by a small amount

For best results the Ctrl key can be pressed while dragging audio by a small amount. This is best explained using an example:
Consider a word in a vocal track that's a bit too early. You can select the word (including some surrounding "studio silence") and drag it to the right. Now a piece of silence will appear on the left side of the selected part. This happens because the original word is removed. Better result may be obtained using the Ctrl key (to copy the piece instead of move it), so the original word will stay in place. The result is that the background noise that appears just before the word is repeated once. This usually is less objectionable than plain silence.

Deleting Audio

A part of an audio track can be deleted using the track editor's Delete button. However, it can be more convenient to take advantage of the Tweakable Edit feature. After selecting the part you want to delete click the Edit button and drag the Volume Fader all the way left and click Apply. Now the part is deleted, and you can fine-tune the edit by dragging and/or resizing the selected part. In critical cases, where the Delete function results in noticeable silence, you can consider pasting a recording of "studio silence" instead of using the Delete function.

The Delete button cannot be used to truncate a file (ie. delete the right hand part and make the file shorter) because the unwanted part will be replaced with silence. You can rightclick an audio track's editor and choose "Truncate File" to truncate the file at the mouse position.

Scrubbing

The editor has a built-in "scrubber", meaning that you can actually hear the part being selected. This can help in finding the desired location, in addition to the visual clues given by the editor. With tape recorders this was done by moving the reels manually ("reel rocking"), now it can be done by moving the mouse. The scrubber is active while moving the needle, while selecting a new part, and while resizing an existing selection.

The speed and pitch of the scrubbing sound are determined by the mouse movements. Spectral filtering is applied to avoid damage to loudspeakers or ears by excessive high or sub-low frequency content.

This feature can be turned on/off in the Preferences window.