Annoying TAP / CLICK

[guitbuddy]

Hello,

I'm mixing, and there is an annoying tap, or hard click in my mix. I've muted each track
to test, and it still clicks at that spot.

Help!

[Mark Bliss]

Many, many, perhaps hundred of times......
Its nearly always an edit, splice, etc.

If you mute all the tracks and its gone, it is of course on a track (or tracks).
You probably missed it in your search. Happens to me on an initial search all the time!

First tip, loop the offending section and watch the track meters for spikes. I have gotten pretty fast at locating the cause this way.
Secondly, instead of muting one track at a time, solo each track one at a time.

Depending on how people work, I have found duplicated tracks or clips that all have the same flaw. This is why I hyper scrutinize each track before moving from production to mixing. I hate tracking these down later. It totally distracts me from the mixing "flow"

[guitbuddy]

thanks Mark!

I will continue to drill down to find the problem.

[Tana Edwards]

Yes that happens to me a lot too.
If you are faced with lots of tracks to solo you could narrow your search a little by checking out the audio first as that's where it will be. I don't usually get the same problem with midi.
When I find the culprit I zoom right in and pull the automation point down at the beginning (or end if that's the case)of the clip creating a very short /fast fade. This technique works but seems a bit clunky. Do you have another way Mark?
I've tried merging the clips but with limited success.

[bigaquarium]

.

[Mark Bliss]

I zoom right in and pull the automation point down at the beginning (or end if that's the case)of the clip creating a very short /fast fade. This technique works but seems a bit clunky. Do you have another way Mark?

Hi Tana,
Yeah, thats one common solution. Mixcraft lacks any sophisticated micro-fade tool or function, but then I kind of prefer the precise manual control of doing it the "hard" way. It would be very helpful iMO if A: you could zoom in further than Mixcraft currently supports and B: there were a zoom toggle function that allowed one to zoom way in and back quickly with shortcut keys.
But I see a lot of projects where users just simply didnt take the time for careful edits, and either chopped off the end of some audio abruptly in an edit, or vice-versa with the beginning of some audio left behind in an edit that causes a "pop"
I also sometimes see where people use loops and edit for timing to get the loop to work as desired, which leaves an awkward audio edit. This can be a little trickier to fix in some cases because it sometimes requires time stretching (or shrinking) instead of just level fading. And you sometimes have to slice out a small portion of the loop, stretch or shrink it slightly, then merge it back together.
Theres others, but these are the most common things I see.

Editing is an artful skill. It can be very tedious and time consuming.
IMO properly and carefully done it is critical to getting better end results, and that it is best done early in the production. Basic early track prep that fits neatly between the recording and mixing stages.

Luckily I have a really good assistant who does this stuff before mixing. His name is Mark. I dont pay him anything more than coffee in the morning, maybe a wine or cocktail at dinner time. He does like the a/c set pretty cool though....