Question about selecting Process>Apply Effect etc.

[Muzician 0]

When you Process>Apply Effect>Audio Effects does that apply everything - both plugins and settings in the rack - EQ, Compression, etc. - to the track?

[John Vere 1,450]

It's actually not a very good way to work with effects. It's known as destructive editing. But I don't think it applies Pro channel. Just the selected effect. Make sure you have an original copy of the audio before you do this. 

[Muzician 0]

Just now, John Vere said:

It's actually not a very good way to work with effects. It's known as destructive editing. But I don't think it applies Pro channel. Just the selected effect. Make sure you have an original copy of the audio before you do this. 

Thanks. If I want to end up with a track that has everything active applied to it what's the best way to do this?

[John Vere 1,450]

You just leave it alone. Add the effects you want to the bin or Pro Channel and leave them alone. There's no reason these days to "print" effects to a track. This allows for future fine tuning as you move along. 

[Muzician 0]

3 minutes ago, John Vere said:

You just leave it alone. Add the effects you want to the bin or Pro Channel and leave them alone. There's no reason these days to "print" effects to a track. This allows for future fine tuning as you move along. 

In this case eventually what I need to do is export chunks of the track to separate .mp3's. It's a record album that I'm tweaking. I envisioned cutting the track up as individual songs and pasting each to a separate track and after final cleaning up - trimming/fading the ends etc. exporting each to a separate .mp3. 

Is there a better/quicker way to do this and still retain whatever tweaking I've done on the track?

[scook 4,227]

2 hours ago, Muzician said:

When you Process>Apply Effect>Audio Effects does that apply everything - both plugins and settings in the rack - EQ, Compression, etc. - to the track?

This is a good exercise. Try it an see. When experimenting, work on a copy of the project. Please, report back your findings.

 

Non-destructive alternatives to Process>Apply Effect>Audio Effects are

• freeze and
• bounce to tracks and archiving the original tracks.

Both have options to apply effects while rendering audio.

[John Vere 1,450]

Seems you are attempting to master an album in a abnormal way. 
 

that is fine but there is still no real need to print effects to the “ songs”. 
 

normal mastering involves adding whatever processes are needed and exporting the track. The processing will be applied to the exported  track. Then  if this required changes you simply Edit them and then re export. Your method would seem to have no way to undo the damage. 
 

you might want to look at using a wave editor for mastering. They are designed for this task and the work flow is easier than using a daw 

Edited October 9, 2020 by John Vere

[Muzician 0]

14 hours ago, John Vere said:

Seems you are attempting to master an album in a abnormal way. 
 

that is fine but there is still no real need to print effects to the “ songs”. 
 

normal mastering involves adding whatever processes are needed and exporting the track. The processing will be applied to the exported  track. Then  if this required changes you simply Edit them and then re export. Your method would seem to have no way to undo the damage. 
 

you might want to look at using a wave editor for mastering. They are designed for this task and the work flow is easier than using a daw 

Since originally posting I found you can split the tracks up into clips and export them individually, no need to send them to individual tracks.  Yes I now see that they get exported with whatever whatever rack tools, trimming, fades and FX etc. applied.

My previous experience with Cakewalk was with a Pre-Sonar version - CW8 I believe - that didn't do real-time auditioning or real-time add/remove processes and FX - I can see this is a whole different animal.  Lots to learn. 

I appreciate your input.  

Edited October 9, 2020 by Muzician