User manual

348
The Sample Editor
Working with hitpoints and slices
Using hitpoints has the advantage that the quality of the sound is not affected and no
artifacts are being introduced. The audio is cut up into slices that are then moved on
the timeline, making this method especially suited for drums, which contain silence
between the individual sounds. Furthermore, hitpoint detection is useful for multi-track
drum recordings, because the phase alignment is kept stable. Using hitpoints and
slices for continuous audio material is not recommended, as it is difficult to fill the
gaps caused by moving the slices.
Detecting and filtering hitpoints
Hitpoints are calculated when you activate the “Edit Hitpoints” option on the Hitpoints
tab. The audio event is analyzed and the hitpoints are shown as vertical lines.
Depending on the quality and type of the analyzed audio material, you may have to
fine-tune the hitpoint detection using the Threshold slider and the Beats pop-up
menu. Furthermore you can manually add, edit, or remove hitpoints.
• To filter out hitpoints based on their peaks in dB, use the Threshold slider. The
threshold is indicated by horizontal lines on the waveform.
This can be used to eliminate hitpoints in crosstalk signals, for example, by keeping
the louder bass drum hits and ignoring the quieter crosstalk signals of the snare
drum.
• To filter out hitpoints by their musical position, use the Beats pop-up menu. Only
hitpoints within a certain range of a defined beat value are allowed. The following
options are available:
Ö When hitpoints have been calculated, they are also visible in the Project window for
selected events (provided that the zoom factor is high enough). In the Sample Editor,
hitpoints are displayed in the waveform when the Hitpoints tab is open. When the
AudioWarp tab is open, hitpoint positions are indicated with small triangles at the top
of the waveform display and the Range Selection and Free Warp tools snap to them.
Auditioning and hitpoints
• You can audition the hitpoint slices, that is the area between two hitpoints, by
pointing and clicking in any slice area.
The pointer changes to a speaker icon and the corresponding slice is played back
from the beginning to the end.
Navigating between hitpoints
• You can navigate between the slices using the arrow keys or by pressing the [Tab]
key.
• You can select the next or previous hitpoint marker using the “Locate
Next/Previous Hitpoint” commands.
The default key commands for this are [Alt]/[Option]-[N] and [Alt]/[Option]-[B].
Option Description
All All hitpoints are shown taking the Threshold slider into account.
1/4, 1/8,
1/16, 1/32
Only hitpoints that are close to the selected note value positions within
the loop are shown.
A second ruler displaying the local definition of the audio file is shown
below the ordinary ruler.