Audio scrub in the future?

[mobetternow]

Although I don't miss the hassle of editing analog tape, there is one function of it that I would find useful: audio scrub, or moving the cursor back and forth to find that magic sweet spot to cut.

Waveforms are great for sure, but I would enjoy an aural reference point. I see that MIDI Workshop has MIDI scrub, and just wondering if this might be a possiblity for a future version.

Thanks for the consideration.

[TotalSonic]

This has been hashed over for many years. Basically Bob decided a bit ago that audio scrubbing was of extremely limited use in comparison to being able to zoom to sample level and easily audition at the start point of your choice - and he essentially has previously stated that he sees no need in adding it. I pretty much agree with him - although there certainly other examples of people who have requested it to be added. Pretty much I think Bob's coding time would be better utilized adding other features though.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[AudioAstronomer]

I must still say Id prefer audio scrub. There are so many times where there is a small click or pop or buzz of noise that completely blends in to a complex waveform.

I struggled with one a few days ago with a nearly perfectly played guitar track that had an ever so minute jack buzz in it that annoyed both me and the guitarist to death. Tracking it down took a good 5-10 minutes. With audio scrub would have easily tracked it down (probably not "nailed" it) so much quicker and not have been a bummer on the session like it became. (you know the YES! I GOT IT! oh wait, there's something there, ok we can edit it. Ok, maybe we cant? *gets depressed* session is a bummer for the rest of the day and im dealin with a guitarist on an emotional roller coaster and a prodoosa with a bad chainsmoking habit).

yep.

[Ian Alexander]

I spent years editing with a grease pencil and a razor blade. Taking half-hour interviews with the client and a radio sales guy and making 6 or 8 radio spots out of it. I'll never forget it, because I have a scar on my left thumb from being in too much of a hurry... once.

With the visual waveforms in DAWs, I haven't missed scrubbing at all. In fact, it's gotten to the point that I often don't even play the track until after editing a VO pickup. I just look for the same visual pattern in the two takes.

Just saw RR's post, though, and I have to admit that there are times when little 'blems are not visible.

[UpTilDawn]

I'm really on the fence with this, leaning heavily towards "I don't care anymore".

I used to love that feature before I got a hold of Saw. From day one, that visual waveform became a best friend and I really haven't missed scrub for any reason....... other than an instance such as Robert mentions...
even that is quickly becoming a non-issue as I get better and better at deciphering the waveform. Oftentimes, vertically zooming the waveform helps locate just a gentle hint of where the problem lies. I haven't tried using soundfile view to locate a problem like this, but I'll bet it's easy to pinpoint the area there between the sample-level detail for pinpoint accuracy and using your ear to find where to mark the approximate beginning and end of the noise....
In fact, in SF view, it's possible to mark and adjust the marked boundaries on the fly..... all that while listening to the marked area in an endless loop...... Aside from the fact that the loop is playing at full speed, there's not much difference there from the audio scrub methods I've used in digital recorders....

To each his own though....... if it's an easy thing to implement and it doesn't get in the way, so be it.

I could see why someone might want scrub when reading a midi scroll, although my guess is that you probably get pretty good at knowing where things are from a visual perspective there after working in that environment long enough.

DanT

[mobetternow]

I've worked with SAW for only two weeks and obviously have a lot to learn, but you guys got me thinking. Maybe I can set Varispeed to a very slow setting in a region, mark a loop, and then zoom in to find unwanted pops or noises, etc.

[Bob L]

Most digital audio scrubbing becomes useless, especially for tough spots like Robert mentioned, because of latency... there is no real accuracy in the scrub timing as in the old days of scrubbing tape...

But regardless... small ticks become very hidden in the sludge sound of a slow scrub... scrubbing was best used for finding the start of a large transient... I have thousands of hours of scrubbing experience with tape and a razor blade... and I still say, I have never missed it for one day since the first SAW program... now over 12 years ago.

Bob L

[AudioAstronomer]

Most digital audio scrubbing becomes useless, especially for tough spots like Robert mentioned, because of latency... there is no real accuracy in the scrub timing as in the old days of scrubbing tape...

But regardless... small ticks become very hidden in the sludge sound of a slow scrub... scrubbing was best used for finding the start of a large transient... I have thousands of hours of scrubbing experience with tape and a razor blade... and I still say, I have never missed it for one day since the first SAW program... now over 12 years ago.

Bob L

It would be nice if there was at least a % speed playback feature for the entire project. from 70-80% with cursor moving would greatly speed up such searches.

like a portable varispeed of sorts

[Tree Leopard]

Following on from Robert The Astronomer - here's another example.

A few weeks ago I was archiving a truck load of wild FX & music mixes originally recorded on DATs. I had had to crawl through one transfer to locate artifacts and other mini-blips and micro-noises - all of which were visually very hard to identify. I used varispeed @ 50 % and then the [T] key back and forth between MT and SF views for cueing. In SF view I'd zoom right into the samples and either make a manual repair by redrawing the waveform or simply select the area and use the Virtos DeClicker to knock it out (back in MT).

It worked well, yes - but lets say if there was scrubbing function which was only available in SF view, then that could speed this cueing process up considerably, IMO. Or even if SF could temporarily lock to the varispeed setting of a region. (or have I missed a "secret" menu option here?)

For anyone interested, here's some more discussion on the subject:
http://www.sawstudiouser.net/forums/...read.php?t=380

Andre

[Shawn]

I was looking for several annoying lip smacks spread across 4 different tracks that needed to be edited out tonight, they were of course very small on the waveform and hard to see, but a quick shift+page up to magnify the waveform was all that was required to get right in there and see them no problem, I also like how when above a certain zoom level the cursor stays put, allowing you to reset and fine tune the playback start point to find the perfect spot to cut, the hot track solo was also in use there as well.

Job done in I dunno.. maybe 30 seconds.