Mackie - T2 - User's Guide

Chapter 5: Audio Clips

5.1 Working with the clip tools

When a clip is selected, the title-bar at the top of the clip displays a collection of tools for working with the clip (Fig. 5.1.1). These tools, common to both audio and MIDI clips, are how you define the size of the clip, and the region of the source audio file that the clip is displaying. To move the clip, rather than the contents, just drag anywhere on the title-bar other than on the tool icons.

A and B: The two squares located in the centre of the title-bar are used to slide the clip or its contents around. Dragging on the hollow square icon (labelled A) allows you to move the clip forwards or backwards along the time-line without moving the contents of the clip. The solid square icon (labelled B) is the inverse of the first function in that the clip stays still, but the contents are moved. Note that you cannot shift the clip beyond the boundaries of the source material. Once either edge of the source material has been reached, these options will cease to function.

C: Audio clips have built in support for volume fades that can be set by dragging the two envelope icons (labelled C) to the desired envelope break points. The left-most envelope icon allows you to set a fade in period, whilst the right-most allows you to set a fade out period. The shape of the fade is controlled by an option in the clip properties.

D and E: The size of the clip can be adjusted by dragging on either of the two arrow icons to each side of the title-bar. The hollow arrow icon (labelled D) simply resizes the clip, leaving the position of the contents fixed in relation to the edit. The solid icon (labelled E) also resizes the clip, but in this case, the clip contents will be fixed in relation to the side of the clip being adjusted. Note that you cannot resize the clip beyond the boundaries of the source material. Once either edge of the source material has been reached, these options will cease to function. Holding down the ALT (CTRL for Mac users) key whilst resizing the clip with these controls causes them to switch to stretch mode. In this case, the visible area of the clip contents stays fixed, but is stretched to match the new clip size.

5.2 The audio clip properties

When an audio clip is selected, the following properties are shown in the properties-panel:

Tip: You can easily selected (or lasso) a number clips at once. With the mouse in the arrange area, hold down the ALT key (CTRL for Mac users), and the mouse pointer changes to a cross-hair. Now simply click and drag a rectangle across all of the clips you wish to select.

Name: The name is shown at the bottom of the clip in the arrange area.

Start/end: These are the points on the time-line at which this clip begins and ends. You can adjust these fields manually.

Offset: View/edit the relationship between the start of the audio and the start of the clip.

Speed: This controls the rate (pitch/speed) at which the audio is played back. A value of one is the normal speed. Higher values result in the audio being pitched (or sped) up, and lower values correspondingly result in the audio being pitched (or slowed) down.

Change pitch/speed: This option displays a menu with standard semitone/octave pre-sets for the “speed” setting.

Stretch: Select the time-stretching mode to use. Normally when changing the speed of an audio clip, both the length and pitch of the clip will change together. Time-stretching allows an adjustment of length without affecting pitch, or vice-versa.

Gain: Use this control to boost or cut the level of this clip.Pan: Use this control to adjust the stereo panning of this clip.

Loop this clip: This button allows you enable or disable looping mode. When a clip is in looped mode, the source audio file appears to repeat endlessly. When enabling loop mode, you are presented with a menu from which you can select a default length for the looped clip.

Colour: You can assign a colour to the clip, which can help to visually differentiate between instruments.

Active channels: You can use these two toggle buttons to disable the left or right channels. This allows you to quickly convert a stereo audio file to mono.

View source info: Clicking this button shows information about the source item.

Fade in/out: View or edit the fade envelope breakpoints (tool “C” in Fig. 5.1.1) for this clip.

Fade slope: Choose the slope type for the fade in/out envelopes from these icons.

Auto crossfade: If this clip overlaps another audio clip, this button adjusts the fade in and out envelopes of the two clips, to automatically to create a cross-fade across the overlapping region.

Add/remove markers: These options allow you to place and remove markers on an audio clip. Markers can be used to point out regions of interest for later attention.

Change source file: Click this button to change the audio file that this clip references.

Select clips: Clicking this button displays a menu that provides handy shortcuts for selecting groups of clips.

Auto tempo: Use this to set the tempo of the edit to match the clip. This can be useful if you have a rhythm or melody in mind, and you are unsure of the tempo. If you record yourself playing a small snatch of the song, you can then use the recorded clip to determine the correct tempo.

Clicking this button displays a menu with two options (Fig. 5.2.2):

Set the edit’s tempo based on this clip’s length: Use this option to calculate the tempo for the edit from the length of the clip. When this option is chosen, a further menu is shown from which you can select how many beats this clip contains.
Set the edit’s tempo based on the marked region: Use this option to calculate the tempo for the edit from the distance between the loop-markers. When this option is chosen, a further menu is shown from which you can select how many beats the loop region contains. This option is broadly similar to the previous option, but it allows you to quickly use the loop markers to region out a tightly played phrase from which to determine the tempo.

Split clips: This option splits the selected clip(s) into two parts. Clicking this button displays a menu with three options (Fig. 5.2.3):

Split clips at cursor position: Any selected clip(s) that straddle the current play-head cursor position will be split into two parts. Keyboard shortcut: /.
Split clips at mark-in point: Any selected clip(s) that straddle the loop-begin marker will be split into two parts.
Split clips at mark-out point: Any selected clip(s) that straddle the loop-end marker will be split into two parts.

Copy marked section: This option takes the section of the clip between the loop markers and copies it to the clipboard.

Move clip: This option provides tools for moving the clip(s). Clicking this button displays a pop-up menu (Fig. 5.2.4) with four options:

Move the selected clips earlier to meet the end of the previous clip: The selected clip is pushed up against the end of the preceding clip in its track.
Move the selected clips later to meet the start of the next clip: The selected clip is pushed up against the start of the next clip in its track.
Move the start of the selected clips to the cursor position: The selected clip will be moved to the current play-head cursor position. Keyboard shortcut: J.
Move the end of the selected clips to the cursor position: This option causes the clip to be located before the current play-head cursor position, with its end located at the cursor position. Keyboard shortcut: K.

Delete region: Clicking this button displays a menu with five options for deleting regions from clips. All of these options are non-destructive.

Clear marked region of selected clips: This option replaces the marked region of any selected clips with silence. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + K (CMD + K for Mac users).
Delete marked region of selected clips and move up any selected clips: This option removes the marked region on selected clips and moves any selected clips back to close the gap. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + L (CMD + L for Mac users).
Delete marked region of selected clips and move up all subsequent clips in the same tracks: When this option is selected, the marked region on all selected clips is removed and the gap closed. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + J (CMD + J for Mac users).
Delete any parts of clips which overlap the selected clips: This option causes any clips overlapping the current clip to be trimmed accordingly.
Delete parts of the selected clips which overlap other clips: This option causes any parts of this clip that overlaps any others to be trimmed accordingly.

Delete: Clicking this button displays a pop-up menu (Fig 5.2.6) with two options for deleting clips:

Just remove clip from the edit: This option removes the clip from the edit, leaving the source audio unaffected. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.
Remove the clip and also delete its source audio file: This option removes both the clip and the source audio file. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + M (CMD + M for Mac users).
Note: This option is destructive.

5.3 The right-click options

When you right-click on an audio clip, you are presented with a pop-up menu (Fig. 5.3.1) displaying the following options:

Cut: Select this to perform a standard “cut” operation. The selected clip(s) are removed and added to the clipboard. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + X (CMD + X for Mac users).

Copy: Select this to perform a standard “copy” operation. The selected clip(s) are copied to the clipboard. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + C (CMD + C for Mac users).

Copy marked section: Select this to copy any part(s) of the selected clip(s) that is located between the loop-begin and loop-end markers.Paste: Select this to perform a standard “paste” operation. The contents of the clipboard are pasted after the current clip. If this option is performed a number of times, each new paste is placed after the one preceding it. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + V (CMD + V for Mac users).

Paste (after selected): Select this option to paste the contents of the clipboard at the end of the selected clip.

Paste (inserting at cursor position): Select this option to paste the contents of the clipboard at the play-head cursor position. If the cursor is located over this, or another clip on this track, the clip will be split to make room for the pasted material. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + I (CMD + I for Mac users).

Delete: Select this to remove the clip from the edit. Keyboard shortcut: DELETE or BACKSPACE.

Delete (+ delete source files): When this option is selected, the clip and its source material are deleted. Using this function will affect any other clips that reference the source file, so use this with caution. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + M (CMD + M for Mac users).

Bring obscured clips to front: If this clip is placed over another clip, you can use this option to bring the hidden clip forward. Keyboard shortcut: B.

Edit using ...: If you have selected a default wave editor application, this option opens this clip’s source audio file in it. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + W (CMD + W for Mac users).

Set start time to original start time of source BWAV: If an audio file has an original start-time stored in a BWAV header, selecting this option moves the clip to that location. This is very handy when importing audio files into Tracktion projects, as they will correctly line up with their original location. All recordings made from input devices are set to create WAV files and contain a BWAV start-time. For further information on configuring the audio input devices, see Chapter 2.3.

Show clipboard contents: This option displays the contents of the clipboard in the properties-panel. Keyboard shortcut: CTRL + ALT + M (CMD + CTRL + M for Mac users).