MOTU Issue: Waveform Editor Tips & Tricks

Here are some tricks I have found useful in my experience with the Waveform Editor in Digital Performer. I hope they help.

If I am looking for a particular spot in a waveform, I can use the arrow keys (up, down, etc.) to scroll the view to where you want to be. Modify the arrow keys with the Command key, and the arrow keys now control Zooming, both horizontal and vertical. If I’m looking for a click, I’ll know about where it is in the file. I’ll start playing from various points of the Soundbite by locating the Insert cursor with the I-Beam Tool, then hitting Command- Space to play from the cursor location. Command- Space also works to play your current selection. As I get closer to what I’m looking for, I zoom in. Once I see the click, I option drag around it to zoom in more, and grab the pencil tool to eliminate the click. Another method I sometimes use to select and zoom to the area of a click is to hold down the Shift key while scrubbing. This will select the area as I scrub. Once I hear the click, I stop scrubbing and zoom to selection by hitting Command- Option- S. I can then also Option drag around the click if I want to zoom in even more.

Anot her common operation I find myself performing is to take a long audiofile, and chop it up into several Soundbites for use in a project. I’ll have a drummer just come in and let the drive roll (or spin) while I record him. I’ll do a mix after he leaves, and bounce that to a stereo file. I then chop up the resulting mix into different phrases I can use as loops in my project. To open the mix in the Waveform Editor, Command Double-click on the Soundbite of the mix. I’ll Zoom in a little by using the Command- Right Arrow method I described above, and select a region to audition some pieces. If you have the Audition mode button on, your selection will automatically audition when you make a selection. Once I find a pattern I like, be it 4-bar, 32-bar, etc, I’ll start to zoom in to get the start and end points tight. I usually start with the beginning. Option- Drag around the start of my selection zooms me in to the start, where I can Shift- Drag the selection start point to my liking. After I move the selection start, I can play the selection with Command- Space. If I only want to hear the Start, I can hit Command- Option- 6. That will play the first second of so of my selection. You can customize the legnth of this preview in the “Set Audition Time” option in the Audition menu. I can quickly jump to my selection end by hitting Command- Option- J. If I hit it again, I’ll jump back to the selection start. Once I’ve trimmed the start and end, I hit Command- Option- N to make my selection a new Soundbit

I’ve created a list below of some shortcuts I use in the Waveform Editor.

Command- Return to cycle through the Cursor Modes

Transport:

Command- Space – Play Selection/ Play from Insert Point
Command- Option- 4 – Play up to Selection Start/ Insert Point
Command- Option- 6 – Play from Selection Start/ Insert Point
Command- Option- Shift- 4 – Play to End of Selection/ Insert Point
Command- Option- Shift- 6- Play from End of Selection/ Insert Point

Zoom:

Grab the beginning or End of Lens in the Overview
Option- Drag in the Ruler to Zoom Horizontally
Option- Drag in Soundbite
Command- Left Arrow – Zoom out Horizontally
Command- Right Arrow – Zoom in Horizontally
Command- Down Arrow – Zoom out Vertically
Command- Up Arrow – Zoom in Vertically
Command- Option- S – Zoom to Selection
Command- Option- Z – Zoom to Soundbite

Scroll:

Grab middle of Lens in the Overview
Left Arrow – Scroll Left
Right Arrow – Scroll Right
Down Arrow – Scroll Down
Up Arrow – Scroll Up
Page Down – Scroll Down
Page Up – Scroll Up
Home – Scroll all the way Up
End – Scroll all the way Down
Command- Option- J – Jump to Selection Start/End

Moving Insert Point or Selection range:

Shift- Drag to change y the beginning or end of a selection.

Shift- Left/Right Arrow – Move the Right Edge of your selection
Control- Shift- Left/Right Arrow – Move the Right Edge of your selection

Using the Option key to modify the above methods moves selection a smaller number of samples

Tab – Move Insert Point to next Soundbite/Loop border
Option- Tab- Move Insert Point to previous Soundbite/Loop border
Shift- Tab – Move Insert Point/ Selection End to next
Soundbite/Loop border
Option- Shift- Tab- Move Insert Point/ Selection End to previous Soundbite/Loop border
Control- Shift- Tab – Move Insert Point/ Selection Start to next Soundbite/Loop border
Option- Control- Shift- Tab- Move Insert Point/ Selection Start to previous Soundbite/Loop

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