Advanced Drum

Editing
by Daniel Gonzalez
Overview
Part 1: Tools & Concepts
Using Headpones .......................................................................................................................02
Grouping .......................................................................................................................................03
Tab to Transeints ........................................................................................................................03
Clip Editing...................................................................................................................................03
Splitting Audio Clips..................................................................................................................03
Snapping .......................................................................................................................................04
Smart Grid (SONAR Specific).................................................................................................04
Quantize ........................................................................................................................................04
Metronome ...................................................................................................................................04

Part 2: Identifying & Splitting Clips

Creating a Selection Group......................................................................................................05
Splitting the Kick Drum Clips .................................................................................................06
Splitting the High-Hat Clips .............................................................................................07, 08
Splitting the Snare Drum Clips ........................................................................................07, 08

Part 3: Cropping & Aligning Clips

Cropping to make space ...........................................................................................................10
Enabling Snap to Grid ..............................................................................................................11
Quantizing "columns of clips" ................................................................................................11
Vertical Grid Lines .....................................................................................................................12

Part 4: Crossfading and Listening

Auto-crossfade (SONAR Specific) .........................................................................................13
Cropping columns of clips together ................................................................................14-17

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Part 1
Tools & Concepts

In todays world there is a huge need for all types of drum production. Everything from
VST instruments to advanced drum replacement software has been growing in popularity.
Records that require the live drum tracking always have some sort of drum editing ap-
plied. Let me repeat that, always. This process is meticulous, long and can be frustrating
if you have never done this type of editing before. Fear not, thats why I wrote this eBook.

Download these stems and import them. The tempo of this song is 94bpm.

Before diving in, take a look at the following concepts for drum editing. These tools may
be basic to some, but are definitely the right features and ideas that you will need to edit
this session.

Always start with a great performance

Editing drums requires a ton of time and focus. Starting with a great performance is with-
out a doubt the most important part of this process. The session that I have supplied is a
pretty consistent performance, which is why it is a great learning tool. I would suggest that
you always make sure that your drummer has the ability to play to a click. This will make
your life much easier once you get to the editing process.

Use Headphones
Drum editing requires critical listening. I recommend using headphones for this lesson so
that you can hear subtle pops and clicks. These erroneous edits are exposed in the over-
heads, high-hat, and cymbal tracks. As you work through this session, make sure to solo
these tracks while you are editing and aligning clips.

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Grouping
By creating a Selection Group, you can select and edit an entire group of clips by mod-
ifying any group member. This feature will make editing a multitracked drumset much
easier. Grouping fucntionality is a must when it comes to drum editing so that your clips
do not fall out of sync.

Tab to Transients
Tab to Transients places the cursor at the onset of a strong transient by using the [Tab]
key. This feature works well with percussive transients and is much easier than manual-
ly placing your cursor at the beginning of every transient that needs editing. Most DAWs
have a form of transient detection.

Clip Editing
The Smart Tool is a combination of different editing tools in SONAR. Move, Crop, Select
and Fade should all be available in your DAW of choice. Get acquainted with your tools so
that you can properly edit in this tutorial.
A The Smart Tool in SONAR B

C D

E F
A) Adjust fade in B) Adjust fade out C) Crop clip start D) Crop clip end
E) Click to set Now-Time F) Select or Move Clip
Splitting Audio Clips
In this eBook you will be using the shortcut [S] to split audio clips in SONAR. Splitting
audio clips is a pretty basic function of any DAW. Check your shortcut guide to find your
program's Split functionality.

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Snapping
Find the snapping mechansim in your DAW because this will be very im-
portant when you're quantizing drums. Within SONAR there is a snap-
ping mechanism for editing in the Track View. Use the Snap Module to
activate this feature.

Smart Grid (Specific to SONAR)

You will see a menu item called Smart Grid if you click on the resolution
menu in the Snap Module. With Smart Grid enabled, your snap reso-
lution will change based on your zoom level. The idea here is that your
zoom level dictates the resolution. You will use one resolution in this
lesson, so inactivate Smart Grid.

Quantize
Quantize moves selected audio and midi clips to a resolution that you specify. Use this
feature to snap clips to their closest destination on the timeline of your application.

In SONAR, select a clip, use the shortcut [Q] to open the menu and the [ENT] key to quan-
tize a clip.

Metronome
The tempo for this track is 94bpm. Enter this information into your DAW and activate it.
You will use this to check these drums as you edit.

In SONAR, you can access the metronome in the Preferences.

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Part 2
Identifying &
Splitting Hits
The purpose of this type of editing is to identify the strong transients of the drum
beat, split them into tiny parts, and then crop and align those small parts. The placement
of each split will depend on which drum falls on which downbeat.

In the supplied stems, the kicks drums occur every 1/4 note, snare drums every 2nd and
4th beat, and high-hats on every 1/8th note. This happens for about 20 measures with
various fills here and there and then switches to a different pattern. This lesson will go
through one complete measure so that you can understand my process for editing drums.

Step 1) Create a Selection Group before you start splitting anything

Use the shorcut [CTRL+A] and then right click on the selected regions
Click on Create Selection Group from selected clips
A number will appear in the top left side of each clip

As discussed in the Part 1 of this eBook, the Selection Groups are going to make the editing
process a bit easier as you move through the project. Rather than having to select 10 tracks
every time, you will only need to select 1, and the whole group will become selected.

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Step 2) Tab to the first kick transient
Deactivate Snap to Grid with the shortcut [N]
Click on the kick clip to focus your cursor on that track
Hit the [Tab] button on your computer keyboard until it steps all the way to the be-
ginning of the very first kick transient
Use the shortcut [CTRL]+[Right Arrow] to zoom into clip to see if it is placed correctly
If you miss a transient, go backwards with [Shift]+[Tab]

Why Tab to the the kick drum transient first?

Within the drum stems, the kick drum is the first hit that occurs. Making a split here will
slice all the drums at the exact same place in your project.

Step 3) Make one split across all the clips

Click the clip header of the kick clip to select all clips
Make a Split with [S]

Thanks to the Selection Group you created, this will make one split across every track.
This includes tom tracks, the ride track and overhead tracks.

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Step 4) Tab to the first high-hat transient and split again
The next strong hit in the drum progression is a high-hat on measure 22:01:480.
Click on the high-hat clip before the first hit (same as Step 2)
[Tab] to the first strong transient at measure 22:01:480
Select the header of the clip so that all clips are selected and then split [S] again

Why Tab to the high-hat transient second?

If you listen to the drum pattern, the high-hat is the next occurring drum hit in this project
after the kick drum.

Step 5) Tab to the next strong snare transient

The next hit in the drum progression is a snare transient on measure 22:02:000.
Click on the snare clip before the first hit
[Tab] to the snare transient

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Step 6) Split at the snare transient
Click the header of the snare clip to select all tracks
Split with [S]

Why Tab to the third Snare hit?

The snare is the next hit in the drum pattern. In most cases the snare hit will also take
priority over anything else. This is the drum that everyone listens to and could be con-
sidered the most important part of any drum beat.

Step 7) Split at the next high-hat transient

Just like in Step 4, [Tab] to the next high-hat transient at measure 22:02:480
Click the header of the high-hat clip to select all clips
Split across all transients with [S]

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Step 8) Repeat
Repeat Steps 2 7 until you reach the downbeat of measure 23. Afterwards, your project
should start to look like this.

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Part 3
Cropping &
Aligning Clips
In this part of the eBook you will learn how to crop and align the clips that you split
in part two. The goal is to create some space between clips so that you can align them to
their spot on the grid. That small amount of space keeps your clips from overlapping each
other once their moved and aligned.

Step 9) Crop the right side of all the clips

Select all clips from measure 22 to 23 by clicking on the header of each clip and hold-
ing [SHIFT].
Continue holding [SHIFT] and crop the right side of a clip
Create a decent amount of space between every clip

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Step 10) Turn on Snap to Grid
Now that you have made a decent amount of space between these clips, you can align
these sections to the grid. The goal here is to individually align each section to its ideal
position on the timeline to achieve near-perfect timing by setting the resolution to 1/8th.
Turn on Snap to Grid with shortcut [N]
Set the resolution to 1/8th
Make sure that Smart Grid is not checked

Step 11) Select and Quantize the first column of clips

Select the first column of clips by clicking on the header of the kick clip
Press the shortcut [Q] to open the Quantize menu
Tick the box next to Audio Clip Start Times
Set the main Duration to 1/8
Hit the [ENT] key or click [OK]

Step 12) Quantize the second column of clips

Move to the next column
Press the shortcut [Q] to open the Quantize menu
Hit the [ENT] key or click [OK]

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Vertical Grid Lines
If you want to see the beats that the clips are landing on, turn on Vertical Grid Lines.
Go to View > Display > Vertical Grid Lines > In Front of Clips

Step 13) Repeat

Continue to repeat this process for all columns of clips from measure 22 to 23 of this
drum pattern. Go one by one until you get to measure 23:01:00 and stop.

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Part 4
Crossfading &
Listening

Get your critical listening ears on, because this is where things get subtle. You are go-
ing to learn how to make sure that your drum edits are clean and not full of pops. Previ-
ously I mentioned that you would need to monitor the drums as you edit them. In order
to make this possible, you need to mute the tom tracks and lower the volume for the kick
and snare tracks. This exposes mostly high-hat, ride and overhead audio clips since erro-
neous edits are most noticable in the cymbal microphones.

Make sure to pan the overhead microphones signals hard left and right. This will help
clarify the incoming audio so you can be sure you are hearing your edits inaccurately.

Step 14) Turn on Auto Crossfade

Now that the drum hits are separated and aligned, youll need to crop the clips back
together. This requires the use of crossfades. Auto-crossfades allow you to crop one clip
into another and automatically create a crossfade.
In the track view click on the Options > Auto Crossfade

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Step 15) Cropping measure 22:01:000
At measure 22:01:000 you will see two clips: the original (left) and the newly aligned clip
(right). The trick here is to connect these two clips together without exposing the original
kick drum hit. Use this technique in every step.
Select the header of the clip at measure 22:01:000
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip

This creates a crossfade automatically.

Step 16) Listen to the edit

Make this a mandatory step every time you connect two audio files together and cross-
fade them. You must do this or else you will run the risk of creating clicks and pops and
not correcting them. Listen intently to the overheads and cymbals because that is where
a lot of these edits will be noticeable.

Step 17) Edit measure 22:01:480

Move to the next beat and scroll down to the high-hat track
Select the header of the high-hat clip at 22:01:480
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it touches the preceding clip and creates a crossfade
Listen

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Step 18) Edit measure 22:02:000
This clip is a bit different because you will have to crop the clip at measure 22:02:000
further to the left than the previous two edits.
Select the header of the clip at measure 22:02:000
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip
Listen

Step 19) Edit measure 22:02:480

Select the header of the clip at measure 22:02:480
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip, and listen

Make your crossfades as small as possible.

Any dips in audio can become pretty noticeable if they happen consecutively.

Step 20) Edit measure 22:03:000

Select the header of the clip at measure 22:03:000
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip
Listen
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Step 21) Edit measure 22:03:480
Select the header of the clip at measure 22:03:480
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip
Listen

Step 22) Fix and edit measure 22:04:000

Select the header of the clip at measure 22:04:000
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip, and listen

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Step 23) Edit measure 23:01:000
Select the header of the clip at measure 23:01:000
Hover your cursor over the left edge of the clip until it turns blue
Click and drag the edge of the clip to the left
Drag it until it just touches the preceding clip, and listen

Repeat this process for the rest of the song

Congrats! You got through your first serious drum editing project. Follow this method
throughout the song to properly split, crop, align, and crossfade drums. Make sure you
listen to these hits as you edit them, and solo individual edits for clarity.

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