Artifacts associated with automation of PShift II

Question

Level 1

4 points

Artifacts associated with automation of PShift II

Hi all, I've done quite a bit of searching but am unable to find my answer here thus far. I'm wondering if someone can help me with an issue I'm having.

I am automating the PShift II plugin, to bend some guitars, by 50cents in and out. Every time, the automation gets back to 0 cents from 50, it makes a ticking noise. This noise is also present when I bounce the track down. Sometimes it goes away for a little bit when I adjust where the node is sitting, but it usually comes back.

Has anyone here ever experienced this, and/or can anyone offer a solution? I can remember having this problem years ago in PC land, but I just chalked it up to a crappy computer...

TIA.

Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.1), 4GB ram

Posted on Oct 27, 2009 7:08 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 28, 2009 12:41 AM in response to jnny_jawknee

Yes, I know this problem. The new "bounce in place" function in Logic 9 is a good solution for it or you have to mute the channelstrips or automate their volume for a short moment when the automation goes back to 0.

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Answer 2

jnny_jawknee Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 28, 2009 4:13 AM in response to Sampleconstruct

Hmmm. I just tried the bounce in place function, but the ticking noise from the automation is present in the bounced file 😟

Settings selected in the Bounce Regions in Place window are the defaults.
*Destination: New Track*
*Source: Mute* (I also set automation to off instead of read and disabled the plugin in original track)'
- Include Audio Tail in File (checked)
- Include Volume/Pan Automation (checked)
Normalize: Overload protection only

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Answer 3

bill borez

Level 4

1,210 points

Oct 28, 2009 4:23 AM in response to jnny_jawknee

It's called zipper noise, and it's a fact of life with some stepped midi shifts I'm afraid.

Two things you can do:

Go into settings/record and uncheck *'midi data reduction'* and then record the bend again.

Or, you can cut out the section of guitar you want to bend, throw it in the EXS24 and use pitch bend to do the job.

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Answer 4

jnny_jawknee Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 28, 2009 5:33 AM in response to bill borez

I'm not sure how the settings/record > midi data reduction is going to help. the guitar recording is clean, and the automation is applied within the arrange... ie no recording is going on. Am I misunderstanding what you're saying?

I've never heard of pulling a previously recorded file into the EXS24, perhaps I'll look into this.

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Answer 5

bill borez

Level 4

1,210 points

Oct 28, 2009 5:45 AM in response to jnny_jawknee

Ahh OK. I was presuming that you where using a controller to input the data.

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Answer 6

jnny_jawknee Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 28, 2009 11:35 AM in response to bill borez

So I took your advice and created an exs24 instrument for my guitar bit. I am able to successfully pitch bend it now with the 'fine' setting. now the instrument comes in as it should and bends appropriately, however it eventually goes out of sync with the rest of the song. Is there an adjustment that I can make that will have it just trigger the sample as is?

Thanks for the idea, it's a bit of a workaround, but it's smoother sounding that the PShiftII option.

Message was edited by: jnny_jawknee

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Answer 7

Oct 28, 2009 11:27 AM in response to jnny_jawknee

EXS doesn't have a timestretch/tmecompress function so the sync problem can't be fixed in that ancient piece of software. Have you tried Melodyne?

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Answer 8

jnny_jawknee Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 28, 2009 11:32 AM in response to Sampleconstruct

argh. 😟 this is way more trouble than it's worth maybe. :/ i might be better off bouncing it down, finding the ticks and crossfading them out.

this makes me sad.

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Answer 9

bill borez

Level 4

1,210 points

Oct 28, 2009 11:47 AM in response to jnny_jawknee

No, unfortunately not, I mean a real time pitch bend would be nice, but it doesn't exist ( yet )

I should have explained it a bit better before, but what you'll need to do is slice the guitar up into parts before you send it to the sampler. I'm presuming you're using logic 9 here, and if so you can do this directly from the arrange page.

So. Select your part ( providing it's not too long ) turn on *flex time* ( use rhythmic or slicing mode ) and slice the waveform , select the waveform, right click and choose *'slice at transient markers'* You should end up with something like this:

then select all of the sliced parts, right click again and choose *'convert to new sampler track'* in the dialogue box choose regions.

This will create a new midi track that can be bent at will, and it will stay in time with the track.

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Answer 10

jseet

Level 1

5 points

Oct 28, 2009 12:12 PM in response to jnny_jawknee

This is just silly. How about setting up 2 separate PShiftII inserts and automating one for the positive part of the bend and one for the negative? Mute accordingly.

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