Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

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Audio processing and functions
Statistics
The Statistics function on the Audio menu analyzes the 
selected audio (events, clips or range selections) and dis
-
plays a window with the following information:
ItemDescription
Min. Sample 
ValueThe lowest sample value in the selection, as a value be-tween -1 and 1 and in dB.
Max. Sample 
ValueThe highest sample value in the selection, as a value be-tween -1 and 1 and in dB.
Peak 
AmplitudeThe largest sample value (in absolute numbers) in the se-lection, in dB.
DC OffsetThe amount of DC Offset (see “Remove DC Offset” on page 271) in the selection, as a percentage and in dB.
Estimated 
ResolutionEven though an audio file is in 16 or 24 bits, it may have 
been converted from a lower resolution. The Estimated 
Resolution value makes an educated guess about the ac
-tual audio resolution, by computing the smallest level dif-ference between two samples.
Estimated 
PitchThe estimated pitch of the audio selection.
Sample RateThe sample rate of the audio selection.
Min. RMS 
PowerThe lowest loudness (RMS) measured in the selection.
Max. RMS 
PowerThe highest loudness (RMS) measured in the selection.
AverageThe average loudness over the whole selection. 
						

							20
The Sample Editor 
						

							283
The Sample Editor
Window overview
The Sample Editor allows you to view and manipulate audio 
by cutting and pasting, removing, or drawing audio data, 
and by processing or applying effects (see the chapter 
“Au-
dio processing and functions” on page 263). This editing is 
“non-destructive”: The actual file (if created or imported 
from outside the project) will remain untouched so that you 
can undo modifications or revert to the original settings at 
any time using the Offline Process History dialog (see 
“The 
Offline Process History dialog” on page 275).
The Sample Editor also contains most of the AudioWarp 
related functions, i.
 e. the realtime time stretching as well as 
the pitch-shifting functions in Nuendo. These can be used 
to match the tempo of audio loops to the project tempo 
(see 
“AudioWarp: Tempo matching audio” on page 293).
Another special feature of the Sample Editor is hitpoint 
detection. Hitpoints allow you to create “slices”, which 
can be useful in many situations, for example, if you want 
to change the tempo without affecting the pitch (see 
“Working with hitpoints and slices” on page 299).
The VariAudio features allow you to edit monophonic vocal 
recordings in pitch and time, as easily as editing MIDI in the 
Key Editor. In these realtime pitch modifications the transi
-
tions are kept so that the sound remains natural. The pitch 
detection and correction is “non-destructive”, i.
 e. you can 
always undo modifications or revert to the original versions, 
see 
“VariAudio” on page 302 for details.
ÖThe term “loop” is used throughout this chapter and in 
this context usually means an audio file with a musical time 
base. That means that the length of the loop represents a 
certain number of bars and beats at a certain tempo. Play
-
ing the loop back at the right tempo in a cycle set to the 
correct length will produce a continuous loop without gaps. 
						

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The Sample Editor
Opening the Sample Editor
To open the Sample Editor, double-click an audio event in 
the Project window or the Audio Part Editor, or double-
click an audio clip in the Pool. You can have more than 
one Sample Editor window open at the same time.
ÖDouble-clicking an audio part in the Project window 
opens the Audio Part Editor, even if the part contains a sin
-
gle audio event only. The Audio Part Editor is described in a 
separate chapter, see 
“The Audio Part Editor” on page 314.
The toolbar
To the right of the tools, the estimated length of your audio 
file is displayed in bars and beats (PPQ) together with the 
estimated tempo and the time signature. If you want to use 
Musical Mode, always verify that the length in bars corre
-
sponds to the audio file you imported. If necessary, listen 
to your audio and enter the correct bar length. The Algo
-
rithm pop-up menu allows you to select an algorithm for 
the realtime time stretching (see 
“Selecting an algorithm 
for the flattening” on page 312).
You can customize the toolbar by right-clicking it and us-
ing the context menu to hide or show items. For further in-
formation about configuring the toolbar, see “Using the 
Setup options” on page 572.
The info line
The info line is displayed below the toolbar. It shows infor-
mation about the audio clip:
Initially, length and position values are displayed in the for-
mat specified in the Project Setup dialog. For information 
about configuring the info line, see 
“Using the Setup op-
tions” on page 572. 
•To show or hide the info line, click the “Set up Window 
Layout” button on the toolbar and activate or deactivate 
the Info Line option.
The Sample Editor Inspector
On the left in the Sample Editor, you will find the Sample 
Editor Inspector. It contains tools and functions for work
-
ing in the Sample Editor. 
For more information on the handling of the various In-
spector tabs, see the chapter “The Project window” on 
page 38.
Audition, Loop, and 
Volume controls
Set up Window 
LayoutSolo EditorAcoustic Pitch 
Feedback
Suspend Auto-
Scroll when editing Auto-ScrollShow Audio 
EventShow 
Regions
Snap on/off Snap to Zero 
CrossingMusical 
ModeTool buttons
Global Transpose status Audio format and length
Selected display format Number of edits made to the clip
Zoom factor
Realtime status
Original pitch and deviation
Pitch and deviation Current selection range 
						

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The Sample Editor
The Definition tab
The Definition tab helps you to adjust the audio grid and 
define the musical context of your audio. This is useful if 
you have an audio loop or audio file that you want to match 
to the project tempo, see 
“AudioWarp: Tempo matching 
audio” on page 293. If the Definition tab is open, a second 
ruler is displayed, showing the musical structure of your 
audio.
The AudioWarp tab
The AudioWarp tab lets you perform timing settings for 
your audio. This includes applying swing and manually 
changing the rhythm of the audio by dragging beats to 
time positions in the grid (see 
“Free Warp” on page 297).
•If you click the “Disable Warp Changes” button, any 
warp modifications you have made are disabled, allowing 
you to compare the modified sound with the original 
sound of your audio. 
However, the display does not change. The time stretch applied by the 
Musical Mode is not disabled by this. “Disable Warp Changes” is deac-
tivated when you reset your warp operations or when you close the Sam-
ple Editor. It will not be recalled when reopening the Sample Editor.
The VariAudio tab 
On this tab you can edit single notes of your audio file and 
change their pitch and/or timing, in a way that is similar to 
the editing of MIDI notes (see 
“Understanding the wave-
form display in VariAudio” on page 302). Furthermore, you 
can extract MIDI from your audio (see “Functions – Extract 
MIDI…” on page 311).
•If you click the “Disable Pitch Changes” button, any 
pitch modifications you have made are disabled, allowing 
you to compare the modified sound with the original 
sound of your audio. 
However, the display does not change. “Disable Pitch Changes” is deacti-vated when you reset your pitch or warp operations or when you close the 
Sample Editor. It will not be recalled when reopening the Sample Editor.
The Hitpoints tab
On this tab, the transients or hitpoints of the audio can be 
marked and edited (see 
“Working with hitpoints and 
slices” on page 299). Hitpoints allow you to slice your au-
dio, and to create groove quantize maps from your audio. 
You can also create markers, regions, and events based 
on hitpoints.
Disable Warp Changes
Disable Pitch Changes 
						

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The Sample Editor
The Range tab
On this tab you will find functions for working with ranges 
and selections (see 
“Making selections” on page 289).
The Process tab
This tab regroups the most important audio editing com-
mands from the Audio and Edit menus. For further infor-
mation on the options contained in the Select Process 
and Select Plug-in pop-up menus, see the chapter 
“Audio 
processing and functions” on page 263.
The Overview line
The Overview line displays the whole clip. The section cur-
rently shown in the main waveform display of the Sample 
Editor (the viewing area) is indicated by a rectangle in the 
Overview line, and the current selection range is also 
shown. If the “Show Audio Event” button is activated on the 
toolbar, event start/end and snap point are shown in the 
Overview line.
•To view other sections of the clip, move the viewing 
area in the Overview line.
Click in the lower half of the viewing area and drag to the left or right to 
move it.
•To zoom in or out, horizontally, resize the viewing area 
by dragging its left or right edge.
•To define a new viewing area, click in the upper half of 
the Overview and drag a rectangle. 
The ruler
The Sample Editor ruler is located between the Overview 
line and the waveform display. The ruler is explained in de
-
tail in the section “The ruler” on page 47. When the Defi-
nition tab is open, an additional ruler displays the musical 
structure of the audio file.
The waveform display and the level scale
The waveform display shows the waveform image of the 
edited audio clip according to the wave image style set in 
the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page), see 
“Adjusting how parts and events are shown” on page 60. 
To the left of the waveform display a level scale is shown, 
indicating the amplitude of the audio.
Event Start Event End
Viewing areaSelection
Snap Point 
						

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The Sample Editor
•You can select whether the level is shown as a percent-
age or in dB.
This is done by opening the level scale pop-up menu at the top of the 
level scale and selecting an option. 
•Select the “Show Half Level Axis” option on the context 
menu of the waveform display, if you want the half level 
axes to be shown.
Operations
Zooming
Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the 
standard zoom procedures, with the following special 
notes to keep in mind:
•The vertical zoom slider changes the vertical scale rela-
tive to the height of the editor window, in a way similar to 
the waveform zooming in the Project window (see 
“Zoom 
and view options” on page 58).
The vertical zoom will also be affected if the “Zoom Tool Standard Mode: 
Horizontal Zooming Only” preference (Editing–Tools page) is deactivated 
and you drag a rectangle with the Zoom tool.
The following options relevant to the Sample Editor are 
available on the Zoom submenu of the Edit menu or the 
context menu:
•When the VariAudio tab is active (see “VariAudio” on 
page 302), you can also zoom by holding down [Alt]/[Op-
tion] while drawing a selection rectangle around the seg-
ments that you want to zoom in on. You can zoom out by 
holding down [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in an empty area 
of the waveform.
•The current zoom setting is shown in the info line, as a 
“samples per screen pixel” value.
ÖYou can zoom in horizontally to a scale of less than one 
sample per pixel! This is required for drawing with the Pen
-
cil tool (see “Drawing in the Sample Editor” on page 292).
•If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, 
the appearance of the samples depends on the 
“Interpolate Audio Images” option in the Preferences dia
-
log (Event Display–Audio page).
If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If 
the option is activated, they are interpolated to a “curve” form.
Half level axis
OptionDescription
Zoom InZooms in one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom OutZooms out one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom FullZooms out so that the whole clip is visible in the editor.
Zoom to 
SelectionZooms in so that the current selection fills the editor 
display.
Zoom to 
Selection (Horiz.)Zooms in horizontally so that the current selection fills 
the editor display.
Zoom to EventZooms in so that the editor shows the section of the 
clip corresponding to the edited audio event. This is 
not available if you have opened the Sample Editor 
from the Pool (in which case the whole clip is opened 
for editing, not an event).
Zoom In/Out 
VerticallyThis is the same as using the vertical zoom slider (see 
above).
Undo/Redo 
ZoomThese options allow you to undo/redo the last zoom 
operation.  
						

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The Sample Editor
Auditioning
While you can use the regular play commands to play 
back audio when the Sample Editor is open, it is often 
useful to listen to the edited material only.
ÖWhen auditioning, audio is routed to the Control Room 
(if activated) or to the Main Mix (the default output bus). 
For information about routing, see 
“Routing” on page 168.
Clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar plays back the 
edited audio, according to the following rules:
• If you have made a selection, this selection will be played back.
• If there is no selection and “Show Event” is deactivated, play-
back will start at the cursor position.
• If the Audition Loop icon is activated, playback will continue 
repeatedly until you deactivate the Audition Loop icon. Other
-
wise, the section will be played back once.
ÖThere is a separate Play button for auditioning regions, 
see 
“Auditioning regions” on page 291.
Using the Speaker tool
If you click somewhere in the waveform display with the 
Speaker (“Play”) tool and keep the mouse button pressed, 
the clip is played back from the position where you click. 
Playback will continue until you release the mouse button.
Using Acoustic Feedback
If you activate the “Acoustic Pitch Feedback” button on 
the toolbar, the audio will be played back when you edit it 
vertically, i.
 e. when you change the pitch. This way you 
can easily audition your modifications. 
Using key commands
If you activate the “Playback Toggle triggers Local Pre-
view” option in the Preferences dialog (Transport page), 
you can start/stop auditioning by pressing [Space]. This is 
the same as clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar.
ÖThe Sample Editor also supports the “Preview start” 
and “Preview stop” key commands in the Media category 
of the Key Commands dialog. These key commands stop 
the current playback, whether you are in normal playback 
or in audition mode.
Scrubbing
The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio 
by playing back, forwards, or backwards, at any speed:
1.Select the Scrub tool.
2.Click in the waveform display and keep the mouse 
button pressed.
The project cursor is moved to the position where you clicked.
3.Drag to the left or right.
The audio is played back. The speed and pitch of the playback depend 
on how fast you drag.
Adjusting the snap point
The snap point is a marker within an audio event. It is used 
as a reference position when you move events with snap 
activated, so that the snap point is “magnetic” to whatever 
snap positions you have selected.
By default, the snap point is set at the beginning of the au-
dio event, but often it is useful to move the snap point to a 
“relevant” position in the event, such as a downbeat.
To adjust the snap point, proceed as follows:
1.Activate the “Show Audio Event” option on the tool-
bar, so that the event is displayed in the editor.
2.If needed, scroll until the event is visible, and locate 
the “S” flag in the event.
If you have not adjusted this previously, it is located at the beginning of 
the event. 
						

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The Sample Editor
3.Click on the “S” flag and drag it to the desired position.
You can also adjust the snap point by setting the project cursor at the de-
sired position, and selecting “Snap Point To Cursor” on the Audio menu.
The snap point will be set to the position of the cursor. 
This method can also be used in the Project window and 
the Audio Part Editor.
It is also possible to define a snap point for a clip (for 
which there is no event yet).
To open a clip in the Sample Editor, double-click it in the 
Pool. After having set the snap point you can insert the 
clip into the project from the Pool or the Sample Editor 
with the set snap point position.
Making selections
To select an audio section in the Sample Editor, click and 
drag with the Range Selection tool.
•If “Snap to Zero Crossing” is activated on the toolbar, 
the selection’s start and end are always at zero crossings.
•You can resize the selection by dragging its left and 
right edge or by [Shift]-clicking.
•The current selection is indicated in the corresponding 
fields on the Range tab of the Sample Editor Inspector.
You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values. Note that the 
values are relative to the start of the clip, rather than to the project timeline.
Using the Select menu
On the Select menu on the Range tab and in the Select 
submenu of the Edit menu you find the following options:
!When you set the grid start on the Definition tab, the 
snap point is moved to the grid start (see 
“Manual 
Adjust” on page 295).
!Events and clips can have different snap points. If 
you open a clip from the Pool you can edit the clip 
snap point. If you open a clip from within the project 
window, you can edit the event snap point. The clip 
snap point serves as a template for the event snap 
point. However, it is the event snap point that is 
taken into account when snapping.
OptionDescription
Select AllSelects the whole clip.
Select NoneSelects no audio (the selection length is set to “0”).
Select in LoopSelects all audio between the left and right locator.
Select EventSelects only the audio that is included in the edited event. 
This is grayed out if you have opened the Sample Editor 
from the Pool (in which case the whole clip is opened for 
editing, not an event).
 If the VariAudio tab is open and your audio file is split into 
separate segments (see “Segments mode” on page 304), all segments are selected. 
Locators to Selection 
(Range tab  only)
Sets the locators to encompass the current selection. 
This is available if you have selected one or several 
events or made a selection range.
Locate Selection 
(Range tab only)Moves the project cursor to the beginning or end of the 
current selection. For this to be available, you must have 
selected one or more events or parts, or made a selec
-tion range.
Loop Selection 
(Range tab only)This activates playback from the start of the current se-lection and keeps starting over again when reaching the 
selection end.
A selected range 
						

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The Sample Editor
Editing selection ranges
Selections in the Sample Editor can be processed in sev-
eral ways. 
If you attempt to edit an event that is a shared copy (i. e. 
the event refers to a clip that is used by other events in the 
project), you are asked whether you want to create a new 
version of the clip.
•Select “New Version” if you want the editing to affect 
the selected event only. Select “Continue” if you want the 
editing to affect all shared copies.
ÖIf you activate the “Please, don’t ask again” option in 
the dialog, any further editing will conform to the selected 
method (“Continue” or “New Version”). You can change 
this setting at any time with the “On Processing Shared 
Clips” pop-up menu in the Preferences dialog (Editing–
Audio page).
•Any changes to the clip are shown in the Offline Pro-
cess History, making it possible to undo them later (see 
“The Offline Process History dialog” on page 275).
Cut, Copy, and Paste
The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands (on the Edit menu, 
on the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in 
the main Edit menu) work according to the following rules:
•Selecting Copy copies the selection to the clipboard.
•Selecting Cut removes the selection from the clip and 
moves it to the clipboard.
The section to the right of the selection is moved to the left to fill the gap.
•Selecting Paste copies the data from the clipboard into 
the clip.
If there is a selection in the editor, this is replaced by the pasted data. If 
there is no selection, the pasted data is inserted starting at the project 
cursor. The section to the right of the line is moved to make room for the 
pasted material.
Delete
Selecting Delete (on the Edit menu, on the Process tab of 
the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the main Edit menu) re
-
moves the selection from the clip. The section to the right 
of the selection is moved to the left to fill the gap.
Insert Silence
Selecting “Insert Silence” (on the Edit menu, on the Pro-
cess tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the Range 
submenu of the main Edit menu) inserts a silent section 
with the same length as the current selection, at the selec
-
tion start.
•The selection is not replaced, but moved to the right to 
make room. 
If you want to replace the selection, use the “Silence” function instead 
(see 
“Silence” on page 272).
Processing
The Processing features (on the Select Process menu, on 
the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the 
Process submenu of the Audio menu) can be applied to 
selections in the Sample Editor, as well as the effects (on 
the Select Plug-in menu on the Process tab of the Sample 
Editor Inspector or in the Plug-ins submenu of the Audio 
menu). For more information, see the chapter 
“Audio pro-
cessing and functions” on page 263. 
Creating a new event from the selection using 
drag
 & drop
To create a new event that plays only the selected range, 
proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Drag the selection range to an audio track in the 
Project window.
From Start 
to Cursor (Edit 
menu only)Selects all audio between the clip start and the project 
cursor.
From Cursor 
to End (Edit 
menu only)Selects all audio between the project cursor and the 
end of the clip. For this to work, the project cursor must 
be within the clip boundaries.
Equal Pitch -  all Octaves/
same OctaveThis function requires that the audio event has been an-alyzed using the VariAudio features and that one or sev-eral notes are selected. These options select all notes of 
this event that have the same pitch as the currently se-lected note(s) (in any octave or in the current octave).
Left Selection 
Side to Cursor 
(Edit menu only)Moves the left side of the current selection range to the 
project cursor position. For this to work, the cursor must 
be within the clip boundaries. This function is not avail
-able for VariAudio segments.
Right Selection 
Side to Cursor 
(Edit menu only)Moves the right side of the current selection range to 
the project cursor position (or the end of the clip, if the 
cursor is to the right of the clip). This function is not 
available for VariAudio segments.
Option Description