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

You can set the threshold at which the Remove silence function works on.

From memory I think it's at -48dB

If this is too high, set it lower.

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.

Well, you can magnify it and select/copy the pieces you want and paste them into a new clip on a dummy track.

Also, you could clone the original clip to a dummy track and do all of the destructive things you want to it there.

Would either of these do it for you?

Bob Bone

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.

I just do this manually. It doesn't take that long, and I find the task kind of therapeutic... And I get to know the wave clip a bit more intimately, which doesn't do any harm.
 

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.

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

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.

Yeah I like to automate mine.

Seeing as I'll be putting on a volume envelope anyway, it's not much extra effort to drag the "silent" part down.

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.

Just food for thought.