Quick Q on deleting silence on MT track

[canipus]

Just synthesized a short waveform of audio in Sound Forge and then introduced 4 small sections of volume at around -50db on the main waveform - saved the file and then opened it on track 1 of the MT in SAW.
I wanted to try the strip silence mode (both manual and automatic). This worked brilliantly both times. SAW immediately detected the -50dB sections and marked them for deletion.
What is the threshold at which the detector works? In this case my experiment had the silence at -50db against the main audio level. -50dB is not digital zero so that left me wondering at what level the detector decides this section is music/signal, this section isn't.

Thanks

and regards again

[Bob L]

The settings used are the defaults listed in the menu option just below the Remove Silence command, unless the Gate on that channel is active... then the Gate settings are used.

The Gate Attack setting is used in a special manner for the Remove Silence command... if the Attack is zero... then the first mark is placed at the exact point where the signal rises above the threshold setting... if the Attack is a value, then the mark is placed that many ms in front of the threshold crossing to help get the actual rising waveform that did not yet cross the threshold... very powerful.

The Gate Release will determine how far after the threshold crossing the second mark is placed, thereby leaving a bit of signal decay before chopping it off.

You can also set your own defaults by simply adjusting the Gate settings of the Hot Channel and then using the command option under the Remove Silence options.

All details are in the Helpfile or Manual Menu Reference section.

Tip: When using this command in a large session, select the track or tracks (by clicking in the track number to turn it black) before activating the option... this will perform the action only on the selected tracks and speed up the scan operation because it will not be loading and processing the other tracks at the same time... don't forget to de-select the tracks afterward by right-clicking in any of the track numbers to clear them.

Bob L

[canipus]

Thanks Bob that's perfectly clear. This is an incredible labor saving device. I have previously gone into tracks and edited the inter track space by hand in other DAWs and its taken forever just to delete inter channel mic spill and other background noise from singers cuing themselves up waiting for their part to come up.

Am I correct that by deleting these blank areas then the PC is doing no processing in the blanks and that saves resources?

[Bob L]

Yes, cutting out dead sections of audio can definitely improve cpu efficiency.

Tip: Another great idea is to go back and select all the resulting entries after the Remove Silence function is finished in Select Mode (Select the first one and then press the End Key)... then use the entry properties popup menu (Alt-Right-Click on an entry) and set a 30ms or so softedge on both boundaries... this will then softedge all selcted regions in one operation, effectively smoothing out every boundary attack and decay.

Bob L