Splitting audio clips in X1

Hi,

I have a vocal take recorded as a single clip in X1.  There is a lot of space between phrases, so I would like to split the clip up and only keep those bits with singing on them.

I can do this manually, which is time consuming.

I can do it by clicking on the clip and then Process -> Apply Effect -> Remove Silence.  However, that doesn't just split the clip up, it actually gets rid of the signal where it has decided there is silence.  That means you can't go back and play with boundaries / fade ins on the clips.

So, my question:  is there a tool in X1 that will split clips up where there is a silence but not in the destructive way that Remove Silence does it.

Many thanks,

Mike T

Hi,

Thanks for your post.  Yes, you can play around with the settings of the Remove Silence function but it is still destructive.  The sections it decides to get rid of are completely silenced and there's no going back!

I would like a non-destructive way of splitting up a clip.

Bye for now,

Mike T.

Hi,

Thanks for your post.  Yes, I could do it manually but that's time consuming.

Perhaps I should phrase the question differently.  In the old days of hardware samplers, there were programs that could take a drum loop and split it on the beats to produce lots of wave files.  That's pretty much exactly what I want to do, albeit with a vocal sample rather than a drum loop.

I'm sure there is a way of doing this in Sonar.

Bye for now,

Mike T.

Use the edit filter to select Audiosnap transients and then use the split at beat function of  audio snap. IIRC that will leave the silent clips in place but I am working from memory here.

Bristol_Jonesey


The burning question which I'd like Mike to answer is - why do you want to split your one long vocal clip up?

It's just another way of removing any little stray noises in between the actual vocal passages. I do the same. I know you can add automation to mute sections, I just prefer to do it this way and visually it makes sense to me.

I do this manually for every snare hit rather than using a gate. You wanna talk about time consuming.

Bristol_Jonesey


Another thing - sometimes with vocals, having them descend down into digital silence removes something from the overall ambience, in effect, you're removing the room from the recording which can sound a bit unnatural. 

Absolutely Jonesey. It kind of depends on the song for me. If the vocals are surrounded with tons of other things, then that ambience is kind of lost, and in that situation I prefer silence. And some of the vocalists I've recorded are not pro singers and do not manage their breathing too well, and that sometimes comes over to much in the mix, so, again, I'll silence those over loud sharp intakes and what have you.

The reason I want to split up the one vocal take into clips is so that each bit of vocal can have a fade in and out.  That way, you can:

1) Eliminate unwanted noise ilke my friend tapping his bloody foot between phrases, spill from the headphones, and my kids running round downstairs
2) Control how prominent the breaths and other noises I might want to keep are
3) Keep the CPU usage of my reasonably-specked-but-not-mega PC down as much as possible by using plugins such as noise gates only when I need to

Usually, I manually split up files.  As, er, Synkrotron says, this can be therapeutic and you get to know the take really well.  However, I have limited time with the day job and family so anything to stuff up is welcome.

Thanks to Karl for reminding me of Audio Snap - I will give this a go.

Bye for now,

Mike T

Here's an old studio trick that we all use out this way on the East Coast, for getting rid of unwanted noise, like your friend tapping his foot during recording sessions:

Duct tape him to the wall - making sure no extremities have more room to move than a 100mm throw fader.  Instantly gets rid of noise - AND by making eye contact with the vocalists and head motioning to your duct taped friend, they will instinctively know that they could be next, and will be extra motivated to do well in the session.

Duct tape - it really is a miracle.

Bob bone