Non-Destructive, Pointer-Based Editing; Pointer-Based Editing - Roland VS-2480 Owner's Manual

6—Understanding the Hard Disk Recorder

Non-Destructive, Pointer-Based Editing

Pointer-Based Editing

When you edit audio on the VS-2480, what you're actually doing is editing a phrase, the
set of pointers that instruct the VS-2480 how to play the audio. You're not actually
changing the take stored on your hard disk at all—you're only editing its pointers. This
type of editing is called "non-destructive editing" because it does no harm to the take
itself. It doesn't alter the take at all.
A few editing operations change audio by copying it and altering the copy—even so,
the original take remains unaffected, and the pointers simply point to the copied audio.
This illustration shows how erasing unwanted audio from a recording affects its
pointers. The dark portion of the take is the part that you hear during playback.
1. Name of take
All you've really done is changed the positions of Pointers 1 and 2.
Though we're creating pointers and pointer names here for demonstration purposes,
the VS-2480 takes care of all this in its internal programming language.
Because random access playback is so fast, the VS-2480 jumps from one location within
the take to another so quickly it sounds as if it's playing one continuous recording.
In fact, the VS-2480 can instantaneously jump from one take to another during
playback. In the illustration below, a phrase on one V-Track contains a great vocal
performance except for the third verse. A phrase on a second V-Track has a great Verse
3. Here's what happens if you copy Verse 3 from the second V-Track to the first:
2. Play
1. Take
The VS-2480 creates and places all of the pointers it needs behind the scenes—all you
experience is that the first phrase now contains a completely great vocal performance.
You can also move or copy entire phrases to new locations on the same V-Track or from
one V-Track to another—and much more—as described in Chapter 19.
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Before editing:
2. Start playback
Throat-clearing Singing
0 minutes 1 minute 2 minutes
Vocal 1
First V-Track's phrase
(great) (great) (great)
Verse 1 Verse 2 Chorus 1 Verse 3
Vocal 1
Best parts of both, now in the first V-Track's phrase
2. Play
1. Take
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3. Stop playback
Talking
3 minutes 4 minutes
1. Name of take
3. Stop 2. Play
(fair) (great)
Chorus 2
1. Take
5. Play
3. Stop
(great) (great) (great)
Verse 1 Verse 2 Chorus 1
Vocal 1 Vocal 2
4. Take
After editing:
2. Start playback
Throat-clearing
0 minutes 1 minute 2 minutes
Vocal 1
Second V-Track's phrase
(fair) (fair) (fair)
Verse 1 Verse 2 Chorus 1
Vocal 2
6. Stop
8. Play 9. Stop
(great) (great)
Verse 3 Chorus 2
Vocal 1
7. Take
Roland VS-2480 Owner's Manual
3. Stop playback
Singing Talking
3 minutes 4 minutes
3. Stop
(great) (fair)
Verse 3 Chorus 2