Question

I am in the middle of recording an album and in the middle of learning Studio One (came from Sonar) A couple of recurring issues happen and I am getting frustrated - hopefully there are simple answers.  I have searched Youtube and just can't find the right issues there. Looked into this Forum as well. People who have asked a similar question have no answers.

1) When i import a wav file and make edits (several splits) I get this "asterisk-ish" symbol in the bottom left hand corner of the event.  I can fade, crossfade ect.  If a hit "G" to merge it into a track then do another split it has that "infinity" sign in the left hand area of the track and I can no longer do anything i.e. it seems "Locked" The only way I can move ahead is to Bounce to get rid of the infinity mark. But even doing that I cannot crossfade.  Not sure what is going on or what the status is of the original wav file but I seem to have lost the non destructiveness of the file. This is a real pain when you are working with 12 drums tracks.   I just want to edit and be able to perform fade, crossfades etc.

2) Easiest way to extend a note?   If I have an audio sax note that I want to elongate a bit what is the best way to do that?

3) If you hide a track it seems you have to mute it also to not hear it - not sure why you would want ot hear a hidden track. Does this seem right?

4) Saving - this is very confusing and i did watch a Gregor vid on this but can't seem to follow.  If io have a new song and save and name - that saves the picture cache, wav files , bounces in one location?  If I resave and just change the date that is just a pointer to the files - right?  If I save as - does this create a completely new set of files requiring "double the storage space"  And once you are completed on a song what can you delete to save storage?

If there is a sensible beginner tutorial on any of these i would love it.  I have used Sonar for 20 years but find Studio One a bit challenging (realize has incredible potential) but terminology and approach is different.

Thanks and sorry for the long winded question

Answer 1

1.) That infinity sign is actually a "chain-link" sign. I don't know why it won't crossfade but my guess is that merging the tracks is different from bouncing in a sense that merging is non-destructive. Instead of merging, try selecting your events/clips and bounce them. That way you can still cross-fade. 

2.) Cut the part that you want to elongate. Open up the inspector (F4) and you can see which timestretch modes you want. I suggest to use Solo - Elastique Pro Monophonic Formant. Hold "Alt" key and drag the end of the event to stretch it. 

3.) When I'm hiding tracks, I disable them first. Right click on the track header and select "Disable Track" before hiding. 

4.) Save As does not create a copy of the directory. It just points to the same folder. If you want to create an entire copy of the folder, select Save to New Folder. Then one of the easiest ways to save space is by going to Song > Remove Unused Files. You can also clean up the cache but I don't recommend it. Studio One will just recache everything and you're going to have a slow session. To clean the cache up simply go to View > Performance Monitor then beside the "Cache" word you'll see a wrench icon. Click that and you'll see an option to clean the cache.