Steinberg Wavelab Elements 8 Manual
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Offline Processing Time Stretching 151 Time Stretching Time stretching is an operation that allows you to change the length of a recording without affecting its pitch. With time stretching you can make audio material longer or shorter. This function is most often used to make a section of audio fit in with some other material. You select the material to be stretched and use the options in the Time stretching dialog to find a stretch factor. This is done by specifying a length or a tempo, according to what the situation requires. Time Stretching Dialog In this dialog, you can change the duration of an audio selection, usually without changing its pitch. You can stretch a selection to a specified duration (in minutes, seconds, and milliseconds), tempo (in bpm), or stretch factor (as percentage). In the Audio Files workspace, select Process > Time stretching. Source (Audio Selection) Duration - Edit tempo If this option is activated, you can change the tempo of the audio source. The number of bars and beats and the stretch factor is updated automatically. Duration - Edit bars If this option is activated, you can set the number of bars and beats and the signature for the audio source. The source tempo and according the stretch factor is automatically updated.
Offline Processing Time Stretching 152 Result Target duration If this option is activated, the audio source changes its duration. Target tempo If this option is activated, the audio changes its tempo. For this to work, you must specify the original tempo or the number of bars and beats. Target stretch factor Lets you see how much the audio duration changes. This parameter is automatically updated when you edit the other parameters, but you can also activate this option to edit it manually. Reset Resets the stretch factor to 100 % (no stretch). Method Preserve pitch If this option is activated, the pitch of the audio material is not affected when you apply time stretch. If this option is deactivated, the pitch changes proportionally with the time stretch ratio. Quality pop-up menu Select whether you want to use the Standard quality or the Quick process. Time Stretching Limitations Time stretch is a complicated Digital Signal Processing (DSP) operation, that always affects the sound quality to some extent. •For speech, stretch factors within a ±30 % limit provide good results. • For composite music, try to limit the range to ±10 %. • For sensitive material, like solo piano, try to limit the range to ±3 %.
Offline Processing Pitch Shift 153 About the DIRAC Time Stretching Processor The DIRAC engine is a high quality time stretcher. It produces the best quality results possible, but takes longer to process. Pitch Shift Pitch shift allows you to detect and to change the pitch of a sound, with or without affecting its length. This is useful for fixing an off-key vocal note in a live recording, or tuning the pitch of a kick drum sample to fit a particular song, for example. Pitch Shift Dialog In this dialog, you can change the pitch of a sound. In the Audio Files workspace, select Process > Pitch shifting. Amount of Shift - Semitones Specifies the amount of pitch change in semitones. Amount of Shift - Cents Specifies the amount of pitch change in cents. Find current pitch of audio selection Analyzes the pitch of the selected audio and displays it below. According to the current pitch, compute the required shift to match the key hereafter Click to adjust Amount of Pitch parameters automatically, based on the currently detected pitch and the pitch specified in the value field below this button.
Offline Processing Resample 154 Pitch field Specifies the resulting pitch. Length preservation Specifies how the length of the selection is affected by the operation: • A setting of 100 means that the length of the audio remains unchanged. • A setting of 0 means that the program behaves like a tape recorder, when the speed of its tape is changed. For example, if you raise the pitch by one octave, the audio is half as long. • Intermediate values give results in between these two extremes. For large transposition values, the lower this setting, the better the quality of the effect. Quality pop-up menu Select whether you want to use the Standard quality or the Quick process. Correct formants If this option is activated, changing the pitch of vocal material gives a more realistic result. When processing non-vocal material you should leave this option deactivated, since it uses a slightly slower processing algorithm. NOTE This Algorithm might cause a noticeable increase in signal level. Resample You can change the sample rate of a recording. This is useful if the file that you want to use in a certain audio system was recorded at a sample rate that this system does not support. Note the following: • Sample rate conversion from a low frequency upwards does not improve the sound quality. The high frequencies that were lost cannot be restored by a conversion.
Offline Processing Resample 155 • When you resample to a lower frequency, high frequency material is lost. Therefore, converting down and then up again leads to a degradation in sound quality. NOTE Using the Crystal Resampler in the quality mode High to change the sample rate results in the same quality as when using Process > Resample in the Audio Files workspace. However, that is only the case if the sample rate in the Sample rate dialog exists in the values of the Crystal Resampler Sample rate menu. If you choose a custom sample rate, another algorithm is used, which results in a lower quality of what the Crystal Sampler can achieve. Converting a Sample Rate NOTE Sample rate conversion is always applied to the entire file. PROCEDURE 1. In the Audio Files workspace, select Process > Resample. 2. In the Sample Rate dialog, select a sample rate from the pop-up menu. 3. Click OK.
156 Audio Montage The audio montage is a multitrack non-destructive editing environment, which allows you to arrange, edit, play back, and record audio clips on multiple tracks. Non-destructive means that when you delete or change a part of an audio file, the audio is not deleted or permanently changed. Instead, a set of pointers keeps track of all the edits, so these can be readily reversed. WaveLab Elements provides comprehensive facilities for non-destructive editing. Features include both track- and clip-based effects, volume and pan automation, and wide-ranging fade and crossfade functions. The audio montage is a great tool for Audio CD creation, mastering, multimedia work, radio spot production, etc. Basic Terminology Audio montages can contain up to 3 stereo or mono audio tracks. You can use them to structure the work graphically, but do not see them as virtual tape tracks. On an audio track, you can place any number of clips. These are containers for the audio, and include a number of settings and functions such as volume and pan curves, fades, etc. A clip contains a reference to a source audio file on your hard disk, as well as start and end positions in the file (allowing clips to play back smaller sections of their source audio files). Any number of clips can reference the same source file.
Audio Montage Montage Window 157 Montage Window The montage window in the Audio Montage workspace is where you assemble your audio montage. This is where you view, play back, and edit audio montages. The montage window gives you a graphical representation of the tracks and clips. Track Control Area The track control area offers several options regarding the track. Fold/Unfold Folds/unfolds the track. Mute Mutes the track. Solo Solos the track. FX Opens the Effects menu in which you can select effects for the track. A blue icon indicates that a track has track effects. Track menu Opens the track menu that contains track-related options.
Audio Montage Montage Window 158 Track name Opens the Track name dialog where you can enter a name for the track. Track Menu This menu contains all track-related options. In the Audio Montage workspace, open the Track menu, or click the number button of a track. Add stereo track Adds a stereo track below the active track. Add mono track Adds a mono track below the active track. Move track up Moves the track one position up in the track list. Move track down Moves the track one position down in the track list. Remove track Deletes the active track. Mute Mutes the active track. Solo Solos the active track. Route to Master Section Routes the audio signal of the active track to the Master Section input.
Audio Montage Signal Flow in the Audio Montage 159 Route to Master Section and upper track Routes the audio signal of the active track to the Master Section input and to the modulation input of the Ducker plug-in. Route to upper track only Routes the audio signal of the active track to the modulation input of the Ducker plug-in. Lock If this option is activated, you cannot edit the track. Zoom Shows the active track in the full available height. Color Opens a submenu where you can select a color for the active track. Signal Flow in the Audio Montage The audio signal flow goes through the various sections of WaveLab Elements in a certain way. •Read audio clip samples • Clip envelope • Clip effects • Clip pan • Clip individual gain (CD window) • Clips are mixed into the track slot (for example, overlapping clips) • Track effects • Track leveling • Each track is mixed into a stereo bus • This stereo channel is processed through the plug-ins of the master output • This stereo bus is then sent to the Master Section input Master Section: • Channels/sample rate might change at each plug-in slot • Master Section meters
Audio Montage Creating a New Audio Montage 160 • Master Section Dithering slot • Independent meters • Playback or file format rendering Creating a New Audio Montage You can add tracks and clips to your new audio montage. PROCEDURE 1.In the Audio Montage workspace, select File > New. 2. In the Audio montage properties dialog, select a Sample rate. 3. Click OK. Audio Montage Properties Dialog In this dialog, you can set the sample rate of the audio montage. This dialog open when you create a new audio montage. To change the settings for the currently opened audio montage, select Edit > Audio montage properties. Alternative Ways of Creating a New Audio Montage There are several ways to create a new audio montage. •Import audio CD tracks to an audio montage • Convert wave files to an audio montage • File > Clone • Press [Ctrl]/[Option], and drag a montage tab on the tab bar • Double-click an empty section of the tab bar