Replacing audio elements during the course of a recording session is a fairly common scenario. In music production it is often done in order to replace or augment an element that lacks punch. In film or video post-production it is typically done to improve or vary a specific sound cue or effect.
In the past, engineers and producers had to rely on sampling audio delay lines or MIDI triggered audio samplers—methods that had distinct disadvantages. Delay lines, for example, support only a single replacement sample, and while they can track the amplitude of the source events, the replacement sample itself remains the same at different amplitude levels.
The result is static and unnatural. In addition to these drawbacks, sample triggers are notoriously difficult to set up for accurate timing.
Similarly, with MIDI triggered samplers, MIDI timing and event triggering are inconsistent, resulting in problems with phase and frequency response when the original audio is mixed with the triggered replacement sounds.
SoundReplacer solves these timing problems by matching the original timing and dynamics of the source audio while providing three separate amplitude zones per audio event. This lets you trigger different replacement samples according to performance dynamics.
Each replacement sample is assigned its own adjustable amplitude zone. Variations in amplitude within the performance determine which sample is triggered at a specific time. For example, you could assign a soft snare hit to a low trigger threshold, a standard snare to a medium trigger threshold, and a rim shot snare to trigger only at the highest trigger threshold.
Replacement samples that are triggered in rapid succession or in close proximity to each other will overlap naturally—avoiding the abrupt sound truncation that occurs on many samplers.
In addition to its usefulness in music projects, SoundReplacer is also an extremely powerful tool for sound design and post production. Morphing gun shots, changing door slams, or adding a Doppler effect can now be accomplished in seconds rather than minutes—with sample-level precision.
Replacement audio events can be written to a new audio track, or mixed and re-written to the source audio track. Sample thresholds can be amplitude-switched between the replacement samples, or amplitude crossfaded for seamless transitions.