Reference Guide

590 AudioSnap (Producer and Studio only)
How does it work?
AudioSnap works by finding the transients in audio clips. Transients are the areas in an audio clip
where the level increases suddenly. These make good locations to shrink, stretch, or split a clip,
without changing its sound quality too drastically. SONAR contains a variety of high-quality
stretching algorithms for different kinds of material. You can choose a lower-quality algorithm for
real-time playback of your edits, and then choose a better algorithm for mixdown or bouncing to
track (see “Algorithms and rendering” on page 646).
SONAR lets you define the default online and offline algorithms via the AudioSnap palette, and you
can override the default algorithm(s) on a clip-by-clip basis.
The transients also make it possible for SONAR to calculate a clip’s tempo map (see “Editing a clip’s
tempo map” on page 613).
Figure 195. Audio clip.
Figure 196. Audio clip showing transient markers.
AudioSnap finds transients automatically, but the transient markers don’t always appear exactly
where you might want them for the kind of editing you want to do. You can edit the markers by
moving them to new locations, adding markers, filtering out markers, deleting markers, and
promoting markers (protecting them from being filtered). For information about editing transient
markers, see “Editing transient markers” on page 597.
Why would I use it?
Here are some common uses for AudioSnap:
• Aligning measure lines and tempo to audio or MIDI tracks that were recorded without a
metronome (see “Synchronizing audio and the project tempo” on page 610).
• Fixing timing errors (see “Fixing timing problems in audio clips” on page 617).
• Synchronizing the rhythms of out-of-sync tracks (see “Making multiple clips/tracks groove
together” on page 624).
Note: The online algorithm is for preview purposes only during playback. The final audio quality
will be greatly improved after the offline algorithm is applied during mixdown/export.