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Advanced Drum Editing by Daniel Gonzalez

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  • Advanced DrumEditing

    by Daniel Gonzalez

  • Overview

    Part 1: Tools & Concepts Using Headpones Grouping Tab to Transeints Clip Editing Splitting Audio Clips Snapping SmartGrid(SONARSpecific) Quantize Metronome

    Part 2: Identifying & Splitting Clips Creating a Selection Group Splitting the Kick Drum Clips Splitting the High-Hat Clips Splitting the Snare Drum Clips

    Part 3: Cropping & Aligning Clips Cropping to make space Enabling Snap to Grid Quantizing "columns of clips" Vertical Grid Lines

    Part 4: Crossfading and Listening Auto-crossfade(SONARSpecific) Cropping columns of clips together

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  • Part 1Tools & Concepts

    In today’s world there is a huge need for all types of drum production. Everything from VST instruments to advanced drum replacement software has been growing in popularity. Records that require the live drum tracking always have some sort of drum editing ap-plied. Let me repeat that, always. This process is meticulous, long and can be frustrating if you have never done this type of editing before. Fear not, that’s why I wrote this eBook.

    Download these stems and import them. The tempo of this song is 94bpm.

    Before diving in, take a look at the following concepts for drum editing. These tools may bebasictosome,butaredefinitelytherightfeaturesandideasthatyouwillneedtoeditthis session.

    Always start with a great performanceEditing drums requires a ton of time and focus. Starting with a great performance is with-out a doubt the most important part of this process. The session that I have supplied is a pretty consistent performance, which is why it is a great learning tool. I would suggest that you always make sure that your drummer has the ability to play to a click. This will make your life much easier once you get to the editing process.

    Use Headphones Drum editing requires critical listening. I recommend using headphones for this lesson so that you can hear subtle pops and clicks. These erroneous edits are exposed in the over-heads, high-hat, and cymbal tracks. As you work through this session, make sure to solo these tracks while you are editing and aligning clips.

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    http://static.cakewalk.com.s3.amazonaws.com/cakewalk/inbound/Advanced%20Drum%20Editing%20Stems%2095BPM.zip

  • GroupingBy creating a Selection Group, you can select and edit an entire group of clips by mod-ifying any group member. This feature will make editing a multitracked drumset much easier. Grouping fucntionality is a must when it comes to drum editing so that your clips do not fall out of sync.

    Tab to TransientsTab to Transients places the cursor at the onset of a strong transient by using the [Tab] key. This feature works well with percussive transients and is much easier than manual-ly placing your cursor at the beginning of every transient that needs editing. Most DAWs have a form of transient detection.

    Clip EditingThe Smart Tool isacombinationofdifferenteditingtoolsinSONAR.Move,Crop,Selectand Fade should all be available in your DAW of choice. Get acquainted with your tools so that you can properly edit in this tutorial.

    Splitting Audio ClipsIn this eBook you will be using the shortcut [S] to split audio clips in SONAR. Splitting audioclipsisaprettybasicfunctionofanyDAW.Checkyourshortcutguidetofindyourprogram's Split functionality.

    A) Adjust fade in B) Adjust fade out C) Crop clip start D) Crop clip end E) Click to set Now-Time F) Select or Move Clip

    The Smart Tool in SONARA B

    C D

    E F

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    https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Arranging.22.htmlhttps://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Tools.04.html

  • SnappingFind the snapping mechansim in your DAW because this will be very im-portant when you're quantizing drums. Within SONAR there is a snap-ping mechanism for editing in the Track View. Use the Snap Module to activate this feature.

    Smart Grid (Specific to SONAR)You will see a menu item called Smart Grid if you click on the resolution menu in the Snap Module. With Smart Grid enabled, your snap reso-lution will change based on your zoom level. The idea here is that your zoom level dictates the resolution. You will use one resolution in this lesson, so inactivate Smart Grid.

    QuantizeQuantize moves selected audio and midi clips to a resolution that you specify. Use this feature to snap clips to their closest destination on the timeline of your application.

    In SONAR, select a clip, use the shortcut [Q] to open the menu and the [ENT] key to quan-tize a clip.

    MetronomeThe tempo for this track is 94bpm. Enter this information into your DAW and activate it. You will use this to check these drums as you edit.

    In SONAR, you can access the metronome in the Preferences.

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  • Part 2Identifying & Splitting Hits The purpose of this type of editing is to identify the strong transients of the drum beat, split them into tiny parts, and then crop and align those small parts. The placement of each split will depend on which drum falls on which downbeat.

    In the supplied stems, the kicks drums occur every 1/4 note, snare drums every 2nd and 4th beat, and high-hats on every 1/8th note. This happens for about 20 measures with variousfillshereandthereandthenswitchestoadifferentpattern.Thislessonwillgothrough one complete measure so that you can understand my process for editing drums.

    Step 1) Create a Selection Group before you start splitting anything• Use the shorcut [CTRL+A] and then right click on the selected regions • Click on Create Selection Group from selected clips• A number will appear in the top left side of each clip

    As discussed in the Part 1 of this eBook, the Selection Groups are going to make the editing process a bit easier as you move through the project. Rather than having to select 10 tracks every time, you will only need to select 1, and the whole group will become selected.

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  • Step 3) Make one split across all the clips• Click the clip header of the kick clip to select all clips• Make a Split with [S]

    Thanks to the Selection Group you created, this will make one split across every track. This includes tom tracks, the ride track and overhead tracks.

    Why Tab to the the kick drum transient first?Withinthedrumstems,thekickdrumisthefirsthitthatoccurs.Makingasplitherewillslice all the drums at the exact same place in your project.

    Step 2) Tab to the first kick transient• Deactivate Snap to Grid with the shortcut [N] • Click on the kick clip to focus your cursor on that track• Hit the [Tab] button on your computer keyboard until it steps all the way to the be-

    ginningoftheveryfirstkicktransient• Use the shortcut [CTRL]+[Right Arrow] to zoom into clip to see if it is placed correctly• If you miss a transient, go backwards with [Shift]+[Tab]

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  • Step 4) Tab to the first high-hat transient and split againThe next strong hit in the drum progression is a high-hat on measure 22:01:480.• Clickonthehigh-hatclipbeforethefirsthit(sameasStep2)• [Tab]tothefirststrongtransientatmeasure22:01:480• Select the header of the clip so that all clips are selected and then split [S] again

    Why Tab to the high-hat transient second?If you listen to the drum pattern, the high-hat is the next occurring drum hit in this project after the kick drum.

    Step 5) Tab to the next strong snare transientThe next hit in the drum progression is a snare transient on measure 22:02:000.• Clickonthesnareclipbeforethefirsthit• [Tab] to the snare transient

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  • Step 6) Split at the snare transient• Click the header of the snare clip to select all tracks• Split with [S]

    Why Tab to the third Snare hit?The snare is the next hit in the drum pattern. In most cases the snare hit will also take priority over anything else. This is the drum that everyone listens to and could be con-sidered the most important part of any drum beat.

    Step 7) Split at the next high-hat transient• Just like in Step 4, [Tab] to the next high-hat transient at measure 22:02:480• Click the header of the high-hat clip to select all clips• Split across all transients with [S]

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  • Step 8) RepeatRepeat Steps 2 – 7 until you reach the downbeat of measure 23. Afterwards, your project should start to look like this.

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  • Part 3Cropping & Aligning Clips In this part of the eBook you will learn how to crop and align the clips that you split in part two. The goal is to create some space between clips so that you can align them to their spot on the grid. That small amount of space keeps your clips from overlapping each other once their moved and aligned.

    Step 9) Crop the right side of all the clips • Select all clips from measure 22 to 23 by clicking on the header of each clip and hold-

    ing [SHIFT].• Continue holding [SHIFT] and crop the right side of a clip• Create a decent amount of space between every clip

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  • Step 10) Turn on Snap to GridNow that you have made a decent amount of space between these clips, you can align these sections to the grid. The goal here is to individually align each section to its ideal position on the timeline to achieve near-perfect timing by setting the resolution to 1/8th. • Turn on Snap to Grid with shortcut [N]• Set the resolution to 1/8th • Make sure that Smart Grid is not checked

    Step 11) Select and Quantize the first column of clips• Selectthefirstcolumnofclipsbyclickingontheheaderofthekickclip• Press the shortcut [Q] to open the Quantize menu• Tick the box next to Audio Clip Start Times • Set the main Duration to 1/8• Hit the [ENT] key or click [OK]

    Step 12) Quantize the second column of clips• Move to the next column• Press the shortcut [Q] to open the Quantize menu• Hit the [ENT] key or click [OK]

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  • Vertical Grid LinesIf you want to see the beats that the clips are landing on, turn on Vertical Grid Lines. • Go to View > Display > Vertical Grid Lines > In Front of Clips

    Step 13) RepeatContinue to repeat this process for all columns of clips from measure 22 to 23 of this drum pattern. Go one by one until you get to measure 23:01:00 and stop.

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  • Part 4Crossfading & Listening

    Get your critical listening ears on, because this is where things get subtle. You are go-ing to learn how to make sure that your drum edits are clean and not full of pops. Previ-ously I mentioned that you would need to monitor the drums as you edit them. In order to make this possible, you need to mute the tom tracks and lower the volume for the kick and snare tracks. This exposes mostly high-hat, ride and overhead audio clips since erro-neous edits are most noticable in the cymbal microphones.

    Make sure to pan the overhead microphones signals hard left and right. This will help clarify the incoming audio so you can be sure you are hearing your edits inaccurately.

    Step 14) Turn on Auto Crossfade Now that the drum hits are separated and aligned, you’ll need to crop the clips back together. This requires the use of crossfades. Auto-crossfades allow you to crop one clip into another and automatically create a crossfade.• In the track view click on the Options > Auto Crossfade

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  • Step 15) Cropping measure 22:01:000Atmeasure22:01:000youwillseetwoclips:theoriginal(left)andthenewlyalignedclip(right).Thetrickhereistoconnectthesetwoclipstogetherwithoutexposingtheoriginalkick drum hit. Use this technique in every step.• Select the header of the clip at measure 22:01:000• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip

    This creates a crossfade automatically.

    Step 16) Listen to the editMakethisamandatorystepeverytimeyouconnecttwoaudiofilestogetherandcross-fade them. You must do this or else you will run the risk of creating clicks and pops and not correcting them. Listen intently to the overheads and cymbals because that is where a lot of these edits will be noticeable.

    Step 17) Edit measure 22:01:480• Move to the next beat and scroll down to the high-hat track • Select the header of the high-hat clip at 22:01:480• Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it touches the preceding clip and creates a crossfade• Listen

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  • Step 18) Edit measure 22:02:000Thisclipisabitdifferentbecauseyouwillhavetocroptheclipatmeasure22:02:000further to the left than the previous two edits.• Select the header of the clip at measure 22:02:000• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip• Listen

    Step 19) Edit measure 22:02:480• Select the header of the clip at measure 22:02:480• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip, and listen

    Make your crossfades as small as possible.Any dips in audio can become pretty noticeable if they happen consecutively.

    Step 20) Edit measure 22:03:000• Select the header of the clip at measure 22:03:000• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip• Listen

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  • Step 21) Edit measure 22:03:480• Select the header of the clip at measure 22:03:480• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip• Listen

    Step 22) Fix and edit measure 22:04:000• Select the header of the clip at measure 22:04:000• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip, and listen

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  • Step 23) Edit measure 23:01:000• Select the header of the clip at measure 23:01:000• Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue • Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left • Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip, and listen

    Repeat this process for the rest of the song Congrats!Yougotthroughyourfirstseriousdrumeditingproject.Followthismethodthroughout the song to properly split, crop, align, and crossfade drums. Make sure you listen to these hits as you edit them, and solo individual edits for clarity.

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