Mastering

[Tangled Wires]

The song that I was preparing to master last night has about 3 seconds of slience at the start, which I did not want, so in mastering mode I forwarded the song to the point where the music starts and pressed record and the song was mastered. I played back the mastered song and it still had the silence at the start which puzzled me, as I had assumed that it would record the track from the point that I forwarded it to.

I realise that I could go back into the song and move everything back, but would be grateful for any advice on how mastering works in this respect.

[Greeny]

I had the same problem with a particular track, and couldn't work out how to fix it on the BR. I had to import the mp3 into a free pc progam I have called WavePad sound editor and trimmed it there. There must be a solution though. Somebody will know...

[Bluesberry]

This has happened to me various times, the other thing that happens is if you master to two V tracks that already has something recorded there, and the length of the old stuff is longer than the new stuff, the old stuff will become part of the new MP3.  One time I had an intro from another song go for 1 measure and the new song started up at measure 2.  It sounded kinda good so I left it that way (at the time I thought it was some kind of divine intervention-freaked me out a bit).  The reason this happens is that if you start to master from measure 2 it will start laying it down it at measure 2 of the destination tracks (not measure 1 as you would expect).  And if there is anything already recorded at the designation track you will hear the old stuff for one measure until the new stuff is recorded over starting at measure 2.  The only solution is to move the whole track or tracks back to the beginning of measure 1.  If you start your master on measure 5 it will leave 4 measures of silence on the mp3 before the music starts.  It took me a while to figure what the heck was going on.  You can use this for some interesting effects but it is more a pain in the butt than anything useful.

[Glenn Mitchell]

It might be a mistake to move the mastered channels to "0" as they will not sync with any other V tracks for any future additions or changes.
I agree that the best is to just export and cut it off with Audacity or other.

[AlchemyMN]

It might be a mistake to move the mastered channels to "0" as they will not sync with any other V tracks for any future additions or changes.
I agree that the best is to just export and cut it off with Audacity or other.

I agree, use Audacity to get clean starts and stops.  It also is alot easier to do fades than with the BR.  The amplify function allows you to quickly get the track up to normal 'radio volume' level, especially for acoustic recordings that always seem a touch on the quiet side.

Some claim that Audacity changes the tone, even when just doing a quick clip.  I have not found a significant difference.

[Tangled Wires]

Thanks for all your advice on this.

I have had a look at Audicity and have downloaded the non activated version which allows you to edit the song, however you cannot save the amended version without a recorded voice being heard every 10 seconds or so.
You can register for the full version for about £30-£45, and I assume that I will have to do this to use the programme properly.

[AlchemyMN]

I have used the free version and had no problems... it's freeware.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[The Reverend 48]

I had the same problem with a particular track, and couldn't work out how to fix it on the BR. I had to import the mp3 into a free pc progam I have called WavePad sound editor and trimmed it there. There must be a solution though. Somebody will know...

Well Done Greeny
 A great little tool for trimming begining and also gradually fading out...and its free

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Misc__Sound_Tools/Wavepad_Download.html

[Greeny]

I had the same problem with a particular track, and couldn't work out how to fix it on the BR. I had to import the mp3 into a free pc progam I have called WavePad sound editor and trimmed it there. There must be a solution though. Somebody will know...

Well Done Greeny
 A great little tool for trimming begining and also gradually fading out...and its free

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Misc__Sound_Tools/Wavepad_Download.html

It can also play stuff in reverse - I'm still trying to find a song where I can play the base guitar track backwards for a really psychedelic feel.