Marking tracks

[Ringmaster]

I am working on an LP, "The Four Freshmen, Live at Butler University", with Stan Kenton and his Orchestra. It is a continuous recording with many "breaks" in the dialog and between the "tracks". Due to thisI can't use the automatic markers for silent passages.

If I manually place the markers at the beginning and end of each "track", can I use the "Quantize for CD Audio", and automatically insert the 2 second spacing between the "tracks" for CD searching?

Ringmaster

[Craig Maier]

Hi,

On a record like that (live recording) consider placing the markers manually in the applause portions between songs. Then, quantize for CD Audio. Then, burn it using Disc At Once rather than Track At Once.

That way, there will be no artificial pause created inbetween the songs when you play it on a CD player. It will play just like the record.

Craig

[Dan McDonald]

Yes, I do this all the time. I usually set the markers just a half second or so before the music starts so that if you do move ahead, you move right to the song/piece you want. I usually let the vocals between songs stay at the end of the piece before simply because it's nicer if you want to skip to particular songs. If you think you want to listen to the talking separately, then just put additional markers at the end of the songs so that the talking portions have their own tracks.
Anyway, it works great. Sometimes you may need to 'renumber' the markers just before you quantize and chop. I check it all out by double clicking in between each marker first, to make sure the track is starting exactly where I want it to.

Dan

[Ringmaster]

Craig,

Right now, I am doing some fade-outs on the clapping; then, usually there is a slight pause (it may be less than 1 second; it may be 4 seconds). My manual states that the default is 2 seconds. will the software adjust all of these places to 2 seconds where I have markers, when I Quantize and Chop? So far, I have not experienced any problems with the 2 second spacing when searching the tracks. I am glad you referenced "Disk at Once" and "Track at Once", I would not have thought about this!

Dan, I like your idea regarding additional markers, to make the commentaries separate; however, I can't do that on this particular album because some of the commentaries are still going, when the Band is leading into the next track. Sometimes I can do some "fade-ins" & "fade-outs" when there is a small break between the tracks.

[Dan McDonald]

Hi Ringmaster -
The default is 2 seconds between tracks on a cd if you do tracks at once. But if you have put in the spaces yourself before you do the chopping, you are going to end up with longer silence because the software will cut where you ask it to, so it will include the silence you make and then, if it does tracks at once, will add two seconds to that. If you do disc at once, then you will only be using the silences you have created yourself.

Dan

[Ringmaster]

Dan, I did not chop the file, but I did place markers at the places where I wanted the 2 second silence, and I did "Track at Once". Under "preferences" I clicked on "Burn Disk", and I received an error, I think it said something about insert disk, or no disk; however, I could not get the wave file to burn. The system did recognize the correct disk player.

In the past, I have always switched to another program to insert my silence points, and burn the discs. This time the new Diamond Cut program looked simple enough to just use it for Inserting Silence, and burning the disc, but I can't seem to get it to work properly, do you have any suggestions, as to what I am doing wrong?

Thanks

[Dan McDonald]

Hi Ringmaster -
I think you can just placer the markers where you want them, click 'quantize for cd,' and then click 'chop file into pieces. I think it asks whether to keep the original file (I always tell it yes) and asks where to put the chopped files (I always make a new folder for them so that the tracks are all in one place). It also lets you name the tracks, for example, "Live at Butler U - " and then will number them for you. Just to be safe, before you chop, you may want to renumber the tracks. Sometimes you can fool around and get the markers out of order (at least I can). After they are chopped, Diamond Cut or any CD burner should be able to burn them to cd, with or without the 2-second space, as you prefer.

[Craig Maier]

Hi,

Ringmaster - I believe that Dan has it right. One thing to add is that you can set a preference for the gap length if you decide to use Track At Once mode - - - the default value is 2 seconds.

Craig

[Ringmaster]

I'm okay, 2 seconds is what I usually use. Will try Dan's suggestion later... going out to the pool...

[Ringmaster]

Well, Summer is coming to a close, and I am back to my restoration.

I am still having a problem with uneven spacing between the Markers and the Tracks. I insert the marker between the Tracks, and use the default 2 sec. spacing when I Concatenate the file. When I play back the tracks, I get uneven spacing at the beginning or the end of the Track.

What I want is 1 sec. of silence before the track, and 1 sec. of silence at the end of the track. Should I be using a 1 sec., instead of 2 sec. when I Concatentate the file?

[Dan McDonald]

Hi Ringmaster -
I don't understand - concatenating the files doesn't add spaces. It simply adds files together. Do you mean you use the spacing when you burn to CD? That is when spacing usually comes into play.

[Ringmaster]

Now, I read the manual under Concatenating; you are correct. My problem is when I burn to CD, I like 1 sec. before marker, and 1 sec. after the marker; is there a way to do this?

Sorry for the confusion....

[Craig Maier]

Hi,

Cut the space between files to half second each. Then, use the Place Markers feature under the CD Prep menu. Then, break the file into pieces using that feature under the CD prep menu. Lastly, bring up the CD burner and set it for minimal time between tracks and you will then get your one second between tracks.

Hope that makes sense.

Craig

[Ringmaster]

I think I figured out how the spacing works. When I "Quantitize for CD" the system moves the marker to the beginning of the Tracks, and the automatic 2 seconds is inserted in front of the marker. This is okay for me. I've been doing this using other software; and, it works a little differently, I think this is what has been causing confusion for me.

[Craig Maier]

Hi -

The quantize for CD feature is important if you want to assure that no "glitches" occur between tracks in the situation that you are working with. I do not think that all softwares have this feature, but it is important.

Craig