How To Use The Audio Trimmer in Soundtrap

Being able to trim and edit audio is one of the most fundamental skills you need to master when you start making music. It’s essential you get the basics down, so that you can quickly edit your audio and not get in the way of your creative ideas. This article dives into the variety of different ways you can edit audio in Soundtrap to achieve the sound you want. 

What is Audio Trimming?

Audio trimming is the process of editing audio files so they are different in length, arrangement and structure. It’s a really key part of the audio editing process, and it’s used in all forms of audio production including Music, Podcasts and Audiobooks. 

You’d want to trim your audio for many reasons. Maybe there is an unwanted note from a vocalist at the end of a great performance, and you don’t want to leave it in. In a podcasting context, you might want to trim audio so that certain silences are removed. For audiobooks, narrators might misspeak or get something wrong, and start reading again. Ultimately, it’s a creative editing action that is an essential part of the audio production process. 

Platforms like Soundtrap are specifically designed for audio production and creative editing of audio. They have powerful editing capabilities that are far more useful for audio engineers than more basic platforms. Below we’ll break down some of the basic techniques used in the audio editing process in Soundtrap, and how you can use them efficiently through shortcuts.  

Techniques

Trimming and Cutting Audio

Trimming: Hover over the edge of an audio clip and drag it inward to remove unwanted sections.

Cutting: Position the playhead where you want to cut, right-click the audio clip, and select “Split Region.” This divides the clip, enabling more precise edits. You can also use the keyboard shortcut associated, which is Ctrl + E (Windows) or Cmd ⌘ + E (Mac). 

Moving and Arranging Clips

Drag and Drop: Click and drag clips to reposition them on the timeline.

Snap-to-Grid: This feature helps align clips with the project’s tempo, by snapping the playhead to the nearest beat or subdivision. You can toggle it on/off using the magnet icon.

Copying and Pasting Clips

Copy: To copy a region, click it to mark it, and then press Ctrl + C (Windows) or Cmd ⌘ + C (Mac). 

Pasting: Make sure you move the playhead to where you’d like to paste your region. Then once it’s in the right place, press Ctrl + V (Windows) or Cmd ⌘ + V (Mac).

Adjusting Loops

Loops are audio files that are repeated continuously, and they are great for genres like Hip-Hop and Dance. Here’s how you can adjust the length of loops in your productions:

1. Hover over the top right corner of the looped region to show the loop handle (circular arrow).

2. Drag loop handle to the left to make the loop shorter. Dragging to the right will extend the loop and create more shadow (duplicate) regions.

To adjust the length of the base region:

1. Use the handle in the lower right corner of the region.

2. Click and drag to the left to make it shorter, or drag to the right to extend the loop up to its full length.

You might want to zoom in, change the grid size, or turn off snap to grid mode in order to make finer adjustments. When you're happy with the length, you can use the loop handle again and drag it to the right to loop the region.

Pro tip: You can jump straight to the region handle of your base segment and drag to the left while the total number of loops/repetitions will stay the same!

What other kinds of audio editing can you do?

There’s a whole host of other audio editing capabilities that Soundtrap has, that makes it both powerful and accessible for beginners. 

1. Importing and Exporting Files: You can load (import) different types of audio files into the software and save (export) them after editing in various formats like MP3, WAV, or others.

2. Recording New Audio: Soundtrap lets you record sounds directly from a microphone or other input devices, including from your phone!

3. Creating Fades: Add smooth transitions by fading sounds in or out. For example, you can gradually reduce volume at the end of a song or blend two clips together using crossfades.

4. Mixing Multiple Tracks: Combine different sound layers, adjust their volumes, and move sounds from left to right (panning) across the stereo field to create a balanced output.

5. Adding Effects and Filters: Enhance or modify sounds with effects like:

   1. Amplification (making audio louder),

   2. Compression (controlling volume variations),

   3. Reverb & Delay (adding an echo effect),

   4. Modulation (changing properties of a sound over a select period of time, such as a Phaser), and more.

6. Playback and Output Control: After mixing, you can listen to the final result through speakers or headphones, or send it to another device or recording medium.

7. Converting File Formats and Quality: Change audio files from one format to another (e.g., MP3 to WAV) or adjust the sound quality level to suit your needs.

8. Non-Linear Editing: You can move, cut, and adjust audio clips freely on the timeline without affecting the original files.

Things to consider

• Does it help the song?: Don’t just add audio effects and make audio editing decisions for the sake of it. One of the main things you have to do is make sure your editing is serving the overall theme of your track, otherwise your music will be convoluted and sound a bit strange.

• Learn your shortcuts!: Top tier advice here- learn your shortcuts. It will save you so much time, and make your experience so much easier and intuitive. You have to remember that while your brain is buzzing with ideas, your hands still have to catch up to implement them. Making sure you can easily get your ideas out is crucial. 

• Make it silly, then get serious: This is a way of editing that I always recommend to anyone starting out. If you’re not sure how much to trim, or how much reverb to add, just edit until it sounds ridiculous or you feel like you’ve gone too far. Then reverse/undo your editing until it sounds right again, and that’s how you’ll know you’ve hit the sweet spot.  

Conclusion

Audio trimming in Soundtrap is incredibly easy, and it’s part of a wider range of audio editing processes that are designed to make music and podcast production efficient and seamless. Learn your shortcuts, learn how to serve the song, and learn how to push things too far, and you’ll be well on your way to being a professional audio editor!

About the author

Max McLellan is a composer, songwriter, and audio engineer with credits ranging across film, TV and radio. He provides composition, mixing, and mastering services through his company MKM Audio.