Craig Anderton:
Fixing the “Remove Silence” Function The Remove Silence DSP feature should be useful for eliminating spurious mic preamp hiss between phrases, slicing narration into individual Clips to change phrasing or timing, creating “faux” REX files, and more. What makes Remove Silence different from a standard noise gate is that if you check “Split Clips,” SONAR will delete the silent section, leaving you only with Clips that contain audio. However the ability to edit the Attack and Decay parameters with Remove Silence is currently broken, which reduces the function’s effectiveness. So until it’s fixed, here’s a workaround. First we’ll add attack and decay with the Sonitus Gate, and then use the Remove Function DSP to actually remove the silence.
1. Insert the Sonitus Gate in the track’s FX Rack, and adjust its parameters (including Attack, Hold, and Release) as desired. I also recommend a few milliseconds of Lookahead. If possible, set the Depth all the way down so that when the gate is closed, it’s slammed shut and there’s no level at all.
2. Now select the Clips you want processed by the Gate, and choose Process > Apply Effect > Audio Effects. You might as well check “Delete the effects from the track FX Rack” because the Gate will have served its purpose of adding an attack and/or release time.
3. Select the Clips you want processed by Remove Silence, and choose Process > Apply Effect > Remove Silence. You’ll also want to check Split Clips. Set the Open Level and Close Level to as Page | 123 low a value as possible that’s just above the residual level leftover by using the Gate. After you click OK, you’ll see the silent sections removed, as in the screen shot. However, note that removing silence is not a panacea in all situations; for some sounds, like trimming toms or vocals, the only way to get really good results is to do manual trimming. Yes, it does take time, but the finesse with which you can trim will produce the most natural results.