Editing Audio
Pro Tools lets you edit audio on tracks by
trimming, separating, cutting or copying and
pasting, moving, re-arranging, and more.
Trimming Audio Clips
The following example shows you how to do a
simple edit to change where a song starts. In this
example, the drummer is heard "counting off"
the tempo ("1...2...1.2.3...") before the song
starts (let's assume this stereo track recorded
the overhead mics on the drum kit). Here's what
the audio looks like in Pro Tools.
countoff song start
The stereo waveforms let you visualize the dif-
ferent sections of the song. You can take advan-
tage of this "what you see is what you hear" as-
pect of Pro Tools to be able to quickly silence the
countoff by "trimming" the beginning of the
song.
To trim an audio clip:
1
Click to select the Trim tool (located in the
Edit window Toolbar).
Trim tool
16
Introduction to Pro Tools Express
waveforms
(left and right
channels)
song start
2
Click in the track after the countoff and before
the start of the song (you'll see the cursor dis-
play the Trim icon). Drag right to trim the begin-
ning of the clip in, or drag left to trim the
beginning of the clip out.
You can "untrim" the clip by clicking and drag-
ging back to the left with the Trim tool. You'll
see that the previous audio (the countoff) is still
there. This is an example of how Pro Tools lets
you edit non-destructively.
Copying and Pasting Clips
The following example shows you how to copy
and paste an audio clip on a track to different
timeline and track locations in a session. This
example uses an imported a rhythmic audio
loop.
To copy and paste a clip:
1
Import a rhythmic audio loop into a Pro Tools
session (see "Importing Audio" on page 13).
2
Click to select the Grabber tool or the Selector
tool (located in the Edit window Toolbar).
Selector tool
Grabber tool
Edit Tools
Smart Tool