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8. Advanced audio concepts

1 Waveform Free has some further great audio features that we can make use of in constructing our track. The first is called Retrospective Record and captures a record buffer even when you’re not recording. It is active by default but we can adjust the length available. Head to the Options menu – we’ve set it to two minutes.

2 For our next part we’re going to add some electric guitar but rather than do multiple takes over a small section as we did with the shaker, we’re going to jam along with the track and then when we do something we like, we’ll stop and use the retrospective record feature. So, select a fresh track and select the correct input.

3 We’re now jamming over the track. You can see quite clearly that although the guitar signal is showing on the input meter we do not have the track in Record mode. There’s no clip being created and no waveform being drawn.

4 However, we like what we played and can now stop the transport and grab that buffered audio. To do that, head to the Actions menu. Go to the Basic Actions list and Editing section and select Apply Retrospective Record. As if by magic we now have an audio recording to work with.

5 The performance we captured on the fly is a good part but quite rough around the edges. Rather than replay it we’re going to try and fix it. First thing to do is zoom in and use the clip handles to trim the clip length so we just have the part we need.

6 To edit the timing of the clip we’re going to use Warp Time. This is a clip specific effect that applies transient markers to the audio and then lets us timestretch and time compress the audio without affecting its pitch. To activate this option, right click on the clip and from the Add Clip Effect menu, select Warp Time.

7 You’ll see the clip now has lines marking the transients and we have zoomed right in so we can make accurate changes. To adjust the timing, create some warp points by clicking in the darker timeline section at the top. Create points on either side of the section you’re editing and then a point in the middle to adjust.

8 You can grab the warp points and easily perfect the timing, although large changes will inevitably create sonic artefacts. Here we’ve worked our way through the part and either lined up the transients with the timing grid or adjusted them so they sound right by ear.