Re: Sound Questions

[Marc Hoffman]

At 04:25 PM 6/30/98 -0700, you wrote:

>How do you loop a .wav file without having it pause at the end? I can't get

>it to loop right.

>

>Also would anyone know of a good site to get some really good wav files that

>can be looped and not sound like they are being looped?

>

>Thanks

>

>Jester


Hi Jester,

I produce digital audio as a profession.  Good loops require halfway decent

software.  I use tripleDAT ($1700 US.)  In a pinch, however, something like

CoolEdit 96 (shareware from Syntrillium.com) will work.


Sound waves (as displayed in such a program) represent amplitude (volume)

over time.  In a digital audio editing program, the wave crosses a

horizontal line (zero amplitude) at regular intervals.  A good loop begins

and ends at one of these zero-crossing points.  Otherwise you'll hear a

click or pop each time the loop repeats.  Most likely you have too much

silence at the start or end of your loop, which makes it seem to pause.

You probably need to get rid of  that silence with a sound editor.  I don't

think Flash can do that, at least not with enough precision to maintain the

rhythm of the loop.


Start with a sound file that contains a segment you think will loop well.

It should have a very steady rhythm and the volume should be pretty even.

Open it in  CoolEdit.  Watch the cursor move as the file plays.  Find the

places you think the loop should start and end.  Stop the playback.  Drag

the cursor to highlight the section you want.  Select Loop Play from

Options.  Hit play (spacebar) and it will start looping.  You can drag the

start and end points of the selection and hear the results while it's

looping.  Listen for: 1) lack of pops; 2) steady rhythm from one repeat to

the next.


This will probably teach you a lot about making clean splices in digital

audio!  In CoolEdit, hit [ctrl]-T to remove all but the selection, and save

the file.  You can also convert the sampling rate to, say, 11- or 22-k, and

the bit rate to 8 or 16, and the format to mono.  Experiment to compare

file size and sound quality.


About finding good loops on the web, IMHO most of them sound very technoid

and boring, because the start and end of the loop are musically obvious.  I

make my own loops, with rhythms that overlap to mask the looping nature of

the sound.  Perhaps you have a musician friend who can help with this.  I

know there are some MIDI programs for composing looping drum patterns; I'm

sure others on this list can steer you there.  MIDI makes it easy to find

the beginning of each beat.  But again, it sounds synthetic (because it is).


Hope this helps.  Good luck!


-Marc Hoffman


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