Mastering a live concert

[John Link]

I posted this on the Roxio board but given how dead that place is I'll be surprised if I get any responses at all, so I'm posting it here as well:

I'd like to make a CD from a recording of a live concert in which the beginning of a song might start during the applause of the previous song, even though it didn't happen that way in the concert. Each of the songs is in a separate file, and each of those files includes the applause that follows the song. I understand how to drag a song backwards in time so that it begins during the applause of the previous song, but then Jam considers the end of the first song to be the same as the start of the file of the following song. Instead I would like to be able to specify that the first song ends when the music stops so that the applause is not considered part of the song.
I'm afraid that this problem may be beyond the ability of Jam, since when I try use a pause it says it will destroy crossfade information. Should I have just spent some more money and gotten Masterlist?

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions,
John Link

[studiojimi]

Should I have just spent some more money and gotten Masterlist?

if you have HD ...NO unless you purchased a floppy usb drive for $52 to get the authorizer on it. since G4s don't come with floppy drives

spend some/make some
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suggestion: drop some of the best applause in there to make it work when you need it..nothing wrong with using what you have to get what you need.

[Jeff Schmidt]

I do this all the time and what I do is actually produce it as a "show" in PT.

Import all your files into a PT session and build the show with all the fades of applause etc -

bounce it down to a stereo file (add procesing like dynamics control if nec)

make note of what time each song starts.

You then create a CD with multiple tracks from this 1 large file by entering start times for each song in the PQ Sub Code.

This is more time consuming, but it produces the most professional result.

[John Link]

Jeff, I've come to the same idea as what you describe. It seems the best way to create the illusion of a perfect show (no time wasted tuning up or telling the band what's next).

What program do you use to enter the start times? I'm using Jam, and I think with that program I'll have to separate my show tracks into regions and then export the regions so that Jam knows where to start the songs.

John Link

[Jeff Schmidt]

John,

I use Master List. Again, it takes time to enter in start times for each track but it works flawlessly when using 1 large audio file and it plays back on EVERYTHING!

If JAM complies with Red Book Standard (I think it does) it should offer a way to create multiple tracks (not index points) from a single audio file. It's a simple, albeit time consuming PQ Subcode edit.

Check the help files and boards over at Roxio for "Creating Multiple Tracks from a Single Audio File"

Good luck - hope this helps!

[John Link]

Jam claims to create CDs in compliance with the Red Book, but it seems that Jam has no way to create multiple tracks from a single audio file. So after I've brought the show file into a new PT session I'll have to divide the songs into regions and then export the regions. I then bring the regions into Jam, set the pauses to 0, and the regions will play seamlessly. But what a nuisance to have to duplicate the audio that is already there!

John Link

[John Link]

Contrary to what I suggested in my previous post, Jam is supposed to recognize SDII region definitions, which would be great except that it doesn't work! See http://boar ds.support.roxio.com/messages/message_view-topic.asp?name=toast&id=zzxpu

John Link

[Disco_Doctor]

Have you guys ever tried Waveburner Pro from eMagic?

It's *so* simple to do this with Waveburner. You drag regions around like in Pro Tools, move little volume automation lines up and down for fades - very simple - the way it ought to be. Probably the most intuitive piece of software eMagic ever created. Check it out.

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[digz]

Hey John, I have been using Jam for awhile and I use the same technique you are trying. Make sure you are doing the following though, and in this order.
1. Load all individual songs together in a protools session laid out to sound like your CD should.
2. Bounce this session to disk as SDII Split Stereo.
3. Import that bounce back into a PT session. It can be the same session as long as bit depth/SampleRate is the same.
4. Now you have got this long Split Stereo file of your CD in your session. Seperate this long file into regions that represent each song.
5. Now highlight the whole file including all regions. Once highlighted, go to the Audio File Bin Menu and select "Export Region Definitions. Say yes to the following popup window, and Save and close your session, and Quit ProTools.
6 .Start Jam and open a new blank document. Choose Add Track.
7. Now in this window, find your Split Stereo bounce file and highlight its left side in its window on the left. Over to the right, you must tell it to open "Regions", not files. You should now see your list of regions to select. They will all have .L after their names. This is alright however, because Jam will still recognize it as Stereo, and your CD will be Stereo L/R just how it should be.
In Jam make sure all pauses are set to zero. Otherwise this will mess up some of your hard previous work.
That is exactly how I have done it a million times and never fails.
You should know that this wont work with AIFF, or WAV's, and not with interleaved Stereo files.If I am restating the obvious, I apologize, I hope this helps. Maybe you have just been missing one of these Items. Later, Dan.

[John Link]

Dan, I followed your directions as closely as I can and I think that you must have a version of Jam earlier than 5, which is what I have, since what happens for me when I do step 7 does not quite agree with your description. Anyway, Roxio has acknowledged a bug in Jam 5's ability to recognize SDII regions:

http://boards.sup port.roxio.com/messages/message_view.asp?name=toast&id=zzurt

John Link