Make volume of audio clip zero, or total silence at beginning and end.

Dear forum people,

As part of an audio wave, as recorded, there is,  apx., 1 second. of silence in the beginning, and so it is to be at the end also. Typical of a song, so play does not start, nor end abruptly.

I want to make those to periods of time totally zero volume, or inaudible. But it is normal that there is some noise there like from moving the mouse, or some physical movement I do to start playing.

In audacity, I just highlight a segment and do "amplify" to -50 and it takes care of it.

In Sonar, so far I can do 3db quieter or louder. But I repeat the 3db quieter a few times and does not seem to totally get rid of the noise.

I have tried, also, Cut the clip and Not Remove the Hole.

At the beginning that works OK, but at the end, even though I opt Not Remove Hole, the wave actually loses that gap, meaning the ending is abrupt, and not as I want: One or so second of pure silence at the end of the wave.

So, what to do?

Thanks for your replies.

bitflipper


Use slip edits.

Thanks bitflipper,

I got it with your help..

But just a little info: I searched my Sonar LE for "slip editing" but my Sonar LE, does not seem to have the Action-Tab described in that Help file. (The help file says "Select the Action tab", and I only have Tabs: "In Track", "Groove-Clips", and "Audio Files").

"In Track" has the []Clip Mute option that worked, though.

OK, while we are on this, for other possible uses, how can I Lower or Up the volume of a clip by specifying percentage or db's?

So far I am familiar only with Audio 3db-louder or Audio-3db quieter, which I do use a lot and like, but would like to know if I want to go 5 db up or down,  or another specific value of change?

Thanks again!

how can I Lower or Up the volume of a clip by specifying percentage or db's?

Read up on volume automation, as suggested by Bristol_Jonesey. That is the meat & potatoes of mixing.

I use audacity and wavepad to do my editing.....

I always zoom in on the beginning of the wave form...I click it and select TRIM START which removes everything before my split and I get as close to the start of the wave as is possible (within a few milliseconds).... then I click ADD SILENCE and add 500ms of dead silence to all my tracks

I will use TRIM END to remove dead air at the end of a tune.

bitflipper

how can I Lower or Up the volume of a clip by specifying percentage or db's?

Read up on volume automation, as suggested by Bristol_Jonesey. That is the meat & potatoes of mixing.

On a good day, 2 veg as well!!

WAVEPAD.... it's a free version....

I use it as my main MP3/wave editor and converter from wav to mp3.  It has a trial period where it is a fully functional version..... after the trial it stops working.... but ... no problem.... simply open ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS and click it to remove it.... a window pops up and then  it asks if you want to run the FREE version...... choose YES and you have a sweet little editor.