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EDIT SAMPLE
Page 146 CD3000XL OperatorÕs Manual
You can see that the length in both of these examples changes quite drastically but the
envelope remains pretty much the same, thereby ensuring the integrity of the sound. The
timestretch on the CD3000XL works by making a copy of the original. It is necessary to make a
copy for two reasons - firstly, the CD3000XL needs the original data to get the data to insert.
Secondly, in the event of a stretch going wrong, you still have the original to revert to.
Unfortunately, however, perfect results using timestretch are sometimes difficult to achieve. It
is not a limitation of software or hardware but due to the fact that, although the processor is
clever, it is not
that
clever and can sometimes make mistakes in deciding which sample to insert
or remove. The end result of this is that, on occasions, especially with stretch factors
exceeding 10% or so, you may get an echo or ‘flam’ effect on some transients because the
processor has inserted a transient. When shrinking a recording, you may find a transient
softened because the processor has decided to remove it. You will find this to be the case
more or less on all devices that feature some form of time compression or expansion.
A lot of these problems depend on the nature of the audio material being processed and
settings that process the spoken word perfectly could make a right mess of a percussive dance
track. The converse is also true. The biggest problem is in material that has a healthy balance of
low and high frequencies because different timestretch parameters are required to process
different frequency ranges - in audio material that has a wide frequency composition there is
much adjustment to be done to obtain the correct compromise so that both frequency ranges
are adversely affected as little as possible. Please be aware that, on occasions, you may never
get absolutely perfect results and there may be occasional side effects, especially with extreme
settings of stretch - of course, these side effects can be put to good use for the creation of
special effects!! Over smaller ranges, however, you will find the timestretch on the CD3000XL
yields excellent results and will become an invaluable tool in your work, whatever application
you are working in.
You could use timestretch to alter the length of a drumloop or breakbeat without altering the
pitch in order for it to fit in with the rest of the track or you could use it to speed up or slow down
a track to change the ‘groove’ or feel. You could even use the timestretch to overcome timing
discrepancies of a ‘live’ band or use it to create gradual tempo changes, etc.. It can be used to
change the length of, say, a backing vocal part or guitar solo so that it can be played back at a
different pitch and so accommodate key changes. You could use it to maintain the same vibrato
speed for a number of ‘multi-samples’ created from one original sample. There are many
possibilities which you will no doubt discover for yourself.
Let us now examine how to operate the Timestretch function on the CD3000XL. Pressing
will give this screen:
This enables you to lengthen or shorten a sample or a selected part of a sample from 25% of its
original length to 2000% (twenty times) without changing its pitch.
Two modes are available for stretching: CYCLIC, in which a fixed interpolation rate is maintained
throughout the whole of the sample (suitable for individual instrument samples), and INTELL,
in which the CD3000XL “intelligently” varies the interpolation rate according to the sample
content (suitable for speech and music).