[audacity4blind] Re: Refining a Track Alignment
- From: Robert Hänggi <aarjay.robert@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: audacity4blind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 5 Jan 2014 14:36:35 +0100
2014/1/4, Rich De Steno <ironrock@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
> If I record a guitar track, for example, and want a second track to come
> in at a certain point, I do the following:
> I select the second track. I press P for pause at the point of the
> guitar track where I want the second track to begin. I then press left
> square bracket and the space bar. I then press alt-t followed by a and
> c to activate the align track at the cursor option from the track menu.
> My question is what is the best way to refine the point of entry by
> small movements so that it sounds perfect?
>
> --
> Rich De Steno
Hi Rich
The previous answers seem to overlook one of the most crucial aspects,
namely the efficient controlling of the right alignement.
Here's my procedure to align two tracks precisely. But first, We will
assign some keys to make it all easier. Search in
preferences-->keyboard for the listed command and assign either the
letter in brackets or your own combination.
1. Play Region Lock; Key Combination: [Q]
2. Play Region Unlock; Key Combination: [Shift+Q]
3. Align Tracks Start to Cursor/Selection Start; Key Combination: [T]
4. Move forward from toolbars to tracks; Key Combination: [F6]
(this would by default be Ctrl F6)
The other shortcuts are standard.
Now, for the procedure itself:
1. Select a track, preferably the one that starts earlier.
2. Play [Space] until a suitable point for comparison (both,
background and guitar onset are audible)
3. Press either [Left Bracket and Space] or [Shift A] to set the
cursor and stop the playback. Those commands are essentially equal.
4. Press Q to lock the playback start at this position.
5. [J] moves to the start of the selected track.
6. (Ctrl-) F6 brings us to the Spin boxes.
7. [Shift Tab] until we reach "Selection Start"
8. Increasing one of the numbers (seconds, ms or samples) moves the
audio cursor to the right. Decreasing does the opposite.
9. [T] aligns the track start with the new cursor position.
10. Press [Space] to control the alignment.
11. We repeat steps 7 to 9 until we are happy with the result.
11. [Shift Q] unlocks the play position and two times [(Ctrl-) F6]
brings us back to the track view.
I use the lock commands because my instrument seldom starts at the
very beginning of the two tracks and I don't want to listen each time
for 20 s to judge about the alignment.
The Spin box gives you the greatest freedom with regard to the accuracy.
You may want to change the Time-format in order to get a higher
resolution with ms or samples at the end. Choose it from within the
Spin box by opening the context menu.
You can of course also use the arrow keys (in the track view) to move
the cursor. However, this is less precise since the step width is
dependant on the current zoom factor.
You can increase the precision by zooming in [Ctrl 1]. [Ctrl 3] zooms
out again and [Ctrl 2] resets the zoom.
Finally, there's a bundle of 4 simple plug-ins available to shift the
track by exactly 1 or 10 ms. I've written those in order to have more
control and to know immediately how big the shift width is.
http://forum.audacityteam.org/download/file.php?id=8975
After extraction, placing in the plug-in folder and re-start of
Audacity, they will appear in the effect menu:
"1 ms Shift Left" (proposed key combination: Ctrl-Alt Left)
"1 ms Shift Right" (proposed key combination: Ctrl-Alt Right)
"10 ms Shift Left" (proposed key combination: Ctrl Left)
"10 ms Shift Right" (proposed key combination: Ctrl Right)
The procedure from the very beginning will greatly be simplified:
1. Set listening point with [Space] [Shift A] [Q].
2. Jump to the track start and select all or at least a few seconds,
e.g. [J] [Shift K]
3. Shift the track with one of the plug-ins (via the shortcuts)
4. listen with [Space]
5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until you're satisfied.
6. Unlock the playback start with [Shift Q]
Sorry, that's quite a longish mail. You may want to read it a few times.
Please ask if some points need clarification or editing.
Regards
Robert
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