"Snap to Silence"...? Whatever it is in ProTools

[Malcolm Boyce]

What's with this thing that's being used on tracks that I'm getting from ProToolers that is essentially a noise gate on tracks? It's AWFUL!!! And they're printing tracks with this thing...

Leave it to the guy that's going to mix the thing please!

[macrae11]

Strip silence. It's a beautiful function. Marvelous for cleaning up dialog. Saves tons of time when you have to edit out a bunch of extraneous crap. It's not something you can track with it has to be done after the fact. Don't blame the hammer, blame the carpenter.

However you are correct that it shouldn't be used when someone else is going to be mixing a track as it is basically a complete noise gate once the track is flattened. Often time people will use it on toms or snare (The Worst!) when an expander would be a much more suitable tool.

I use it fairly heavily, but that's because I can always just drag the file back out to it's original length. Unfortunately once it gets to you it's past that point.

[Malcolm Boyce]

I guess we need to stop giving hammers to stupid people...

[Malcolm Boyce]

I guess what I'm saying is, if you're tracking vocals in ProTools, or any DAW for that matter, why would you use this as destructive editing to pass on to the mixer? Do we really need digital silence between words? Is this part of what's wrong with "popular music" these days?

Sorry. I'm just dealing with tracks coming from a less than mega experienced ProTooler...

[macrae11]

I think most inexperienced people would do this thinking they are doing a favor to the mixer, by "cleaning up the track". I doubt it's more of a creative decision and more of a housekeeping procedure. Like I said, I do it all the time on my own work, but I don't hand it off to other people to work on, lest they have a different vision than I do.

I think with the way the new industry is working we're going to be seeing a lot of this type of work for full time guys. And these musician/engineer's are going to need some education to be able to track something that won't turn out like crap. So maybe get a re-export, or just make a note for future reference.

Just for curiousity, what we're the demolished tracks? vocals? drums?

[Malcolm Boyce]

Vocals... and I wouldn't say "demolished". There were definitely some unfortunate "artifacts" of the process.

I agree it's a procedural thing that people are just falling into because they have it there as a tool. I just think they don't realize that most times you don't want or need it, and they don't realize that it's hard to undo some of the damage it causes.

Is this happening when it's being exported and there's still an unaffected file in there somewhere? I'd love to know how to avoid getting that on the next project I do.

It's funny how the receiver of the these project exports ends up having to troubleshoot the procedure more than the senders? I suppose only the person who is going to work on the tracks knows exactly what they want.

My favourite thing is when users ask me about other DAWs functions when exporting projects for me to work on. All I can tell them is what I need them to give to me. I'm not an expert on every DAWs language and commands. I do know that they will pretty much all do what we need them to do to get the job done, and you need to know your system. I am finding out, as someone who is mixing projects that I haven't tracked, that I do end up having to help folks getting their tracks to me to avoid problems down the road.

[macrae11]

Is this happening when it's being exported and there's still an unaffected file in there somewhere? I'd love to know how to avoid getting that on the next project I do.

There definitely should be unaffected files in the original project. It's doing the same thing as if you went into a track and deleted everything below a certain level. You could always take the sections that are left over and trim them back out to their original length.

[The Western Jaguar]

Hey guy's:

Yes I'm self taught, no Pro-Tools schools around when I was young and hungry, so I learned the guitar instead, bought a four track and started turning knobs

I've learned my own process in everything I do , get great advice from people(thanks Malcolm and so many others) I read a lot and apply what I read' no great science to it just a lot of heart.

I do believe I'm an experienced Pro-Tools user, over 5 years, made a million mistakes, the older sessions were the guinea pig years, but you've got to start somwhere.

So I don't what to have to defend my process again.

Wes

[Malcolm Boyce]

I don't think Wes understands the environment of the "online forum".

You're supposed to wait until we make fun of you, and then get defensive, not the other way around...

Keep in mind I could say something about Atlantica at this point, but I'm being a good boy and I'm not...