Why does stretching an audio clip cause clicking?

[T Boog]

Cheers guys.  Often times when I stretch an audio clip then play it back, I get clicking/popping sounds. This also frequently happens when I add effects to a clip. 

A few minutes ago, I stretched an audio clip and it started clicking. But this time I tried something new....   I undid the stretched edit, then I bounced the clip to itself first. Then I stretched the clip and it worked perfectly with no clicking.

I realized that I mostly have this clicking problem on my lead vocal track. And my lead vocal tracks are usually chopped up into dozens & dozens of clips. I'm probably answering my own question but is this the likely cause of the clicking problem (The fact that there's SO many clips on the track)?  And if so, can someone briefly explain to me why bouncing the clip back to itself helps correct this problem?  Thanks! 

[Bristol_Jonesey]

As you've found out, rendering a clip by bouncing utilises a different algorithm - offline vs online.

This makes a world of difference.

[jhonmu]

Yes, the clicking is likely caused by having many chopped clips on your vocal track—each clip boundary can introduce tiny gaps or inconsistencies that become noticeable when stretching. Bouncing the clips to a single audio file smooths out those edges and eliminates potential artifacts, which is why stretching works better afterward.

[Will.]

5 hours ago, T Boog said:

Cheers guys.  Often times when I stretch an audio clip then play it back, I get clicking/popping sounds. This also frequently happens when I add effects to a clip. 

A few minutes ago, I stretched an audio clip and it started clicking. But this time I tried something new....   I undid the stretched edit, then I bounced the clip to itself first. Then I stretched the clip and it worked perfectly with no clicking.

I realized that I mostly have this clicking problem on my lead vocal track. And my lead vocal tracks are usually chopped up into dozens & dozens of clips. I'm probably answering my own question but is this the likely cause of the clicking problem (The fact that there's SO many clips on the track)?  And if so, can someone briefly explain to me why bouncing the clip back to itself helps correct this problem?  Thanks! 

Thats mainly because the clip wasn't cut at a zero-crossing point within the sound wave - so there’s an abrupt change that is happening on the clip. Cakewalk still see the clip as a whole clip, but just in a cropped version. When you bounce the region, the DAW basically isolates that part and knows where to focus the algorithm on entirely for a smoother operation. 

What you want to do is make a cut, do a small fade until you can't hear the clipping anymore. Depending on the creativity you're introducing, most times it won't be necessary to bounce the clip once it has a fade on where the cuts were made. Try to aim your cuts on that zero-crossing point in the waveform though. You might never use a crossfade anymore. 

Edited Monday at 05:06 PM by Will.

[T Boog]

24 minutes ago, Will. said:

Cakewalk still see the clip as a whole clip, but just in a cropped version. When you bounce the region, the DAW basically isolates that part and knows where to focus the algorithm on entirely for a smoother operation. 

Wow Will!  Sometimes I forget about that. Yeah, a lot of those little clips are actually big clips just cropped down. And I bet the clips that I've applied Melodyne to are the ones that don't give me any problems because they've already been rendered to small clips. Thanks for that man!

[T Boog]

2 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said:

offline vs online.

Thanks Jonesey. Fwiw, before I posted this, I looked online to find an answer and it mentioned the offline vs online thing. But I had no idea what that meant 😄.  I'm gonna have to research that some more.  Thanks man

[Will.]

5 minutes ago, T Boog said:

Thanks for that man!

My pleasure.