Deleting sections of wav files

[Menchi]

I have several large wave files ( 2 hrs long ) that I am working on in DC6
They have been sourced from recordings made of a schoolroom lecture, and contain many long passages of silence, that I wanted to remove.

I used the "Find and Mark Silent Passages" to detect them, after the file has been restored. ( so far, so good )

However, I was unsure of the proper method to remove that section of file.
As I couldn't find any specific command, I used edit, and cut to remove the silent section

This gave me two problems ...

1. Each "Cut" took a long time - around 25 seconds.
I continued with cutting the silence out of the file, however, when I had finished ....

2. When I attempted to save the source file, what was saved was last section of silence I had cut out !!

Could anyone please advise me the correct way to do this?
( and hopefully a faster way... ? )

Thanks ...

[Dan McDonald]

Do "chop file into pieces" and it will cut the file into tracks at the markers.

Then you can just get rid of the tracks that are silent.

[Menchi]

I tried your suggestion, but I doesn't seem to work ..

You only get one marker, in the middle of any detected silent section.
The section of the wave file between, say, marker 1 and 2 consists of:

1. A section of silence after the first marker, followed by
2. An audio section, followed by
3. Another section of silence up to marker 2

All the tracks after the first marker would be the same pattern.
I can't delete any of them, as I would lose the audit content in the middle.

Also as there are many of this silence sections, I wind up with far too many tracks !! ( 40 plus )
When I carve up the file, I don't want any more than 8 tracks total.

[Craig Maier]

There are three parameters that need to be adjusted appropriately for your file which are:

1. Threshold (the sound loudness level at which the system detects silence)

2. Minimum Interval (Min Time Intereval)

3. Minimum Time Between Markers

If these parameters are not adjusted appropriately for your file, you will get the kind of results that you describe. If you can not find settings that accurately places the markers where you want them to be automatically, you can drag each marker to the place where you want them. Also, you can manually drop markers wherever you want with the "M" key.

After the markers are in the proper place, you can automatically create seperate wavefiles using Dans technique or you can do it manually. To do this manually, point your mouse at the area between two markers in which the silence exists and double click. The silent area will become highlighted. Next, goto the edit menu and click on "Cut" and that section will be eliminated. This is best done in Fast Edit mode, else the system will need to re-write the entire file each time this action is performed. In fast edit mode, the file is only rendered at the end of the editing session, thus saving time.

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Another method to do what you want to do is to put the system in fast edit mode (preferences menu). Then, highlight and cut each sector (with silence) that you want to get rid of and "Cut" them without the use of the markers. This action will be performed instantly. When all cuts are complete at the end, then the system will incorportate the changes into the source wavefile.

[Dan McDonald]

Yes - Craig's detailed response is much better. I'm sorry about that - I misread your post and thought you had already figured out the part about getting the markers to work the way you wanted them.

[Menchi]

Thank you both ... It looks like fast edit mode, plus some manual adjusting and inserting of markers, will do exactly what I need.

I wonder if it would be a possible improvement for Version 7 ... ?

When using the detect silence function, an option to place markers at both the beginning and the end of a detected silence, making it very easy to highlight the silence and remove it.

[Craig Maier]

We will consider that. Thanks.