TheAudioMasterclassMusicProductionandSoundEngineeringCourse

MODULE06AUDIOEXAMPLES

Theseaudioexamplesdemonstrateseveraloftheimportantfunctionsofrecordingsoftware.

NOTE:Someofthescreenshotsareatdifferentmagnifications.Thescreenshotsweretakenduringthe
editingprocess,whichrequiredzoomingtovariouslevelsofmagnification.Ignoreanydifferencesinscale.

Fadesandcrossfades

Itisimportantthatarecordinghasacleanstartandacleanend.

Ifthestartissudden,asitoftenis,thenacleanstartcanbeachievedbyeditingveryclosetothefirst
sound,withinacoupleoftensofmilliseconds,cuttingawayanyprecedingnoise.

Attheend,itislikelythatafterthesoundsourcefinishestherewillbesomebackgroundnoiseaudible.If
thisiscutdead,thenthediscontinuitywillbenoticeable.Soafadeisusedtotakeawaythebackground
noiseunobtrusively.

Fadingcanofcoursealsobeusedtohastentheendofarecording,ifitistoolongfortherequiredpurpose
forinstance.

Hereisanexampleofatrackthathasbeencutdead...

Examplefile:fadenone.wav

Screenshot...

Inthisexample,althoughtheendpointhasbeenwellchosen,theendingisstillabrupt.Subsequent
materialaftertheedithassimplybeendiscarded.

Thereareseveralwaysinwhichfadescanbeachieved.

Module06AudioExamplesNotes
Firstlythereisan'equalgain'fade...

Examplefile:fadeequalgain.wav

Screenshot...

Next,thereisan'equalpower'fade...

Examplefile:fadeequalpower.wav

Screenshot...

Asyoucanhear,thetwofadesaresubtlydifferent.Youmaydevelopapreference,butyouwouldalways
chooseafadeprofileaccordingtowhatbestsuitedthematerial.

Module06AudioExamplesNotes
Inbothoftheseexampleshowever,theveryendisstillalittleabrupt.Thiscanbecuredbyusingan'S'
profile.

Examplefile:fadescurve.wav

Screenshot...

Crossfades

Acrossfadeiswhereonerecordingisblendedintoanother.Thefirstrecordingisfadedoutwhilethe
secondrecordingissimultaneouslyfadedin.Acrossfadecanalsobeusedwhenmaterialisremovedfroma
tracktoshortenit.

Hereisaexamplewhereatrackisshortenedusingeditingandcrossfading.Butfirst,theentiretrack...

Examplefile:crossfadeentiretrack.wav

Hereistheshortenedtrack,usingasimplewellplacededit...

Examplefile:crossfadenone.wave

Screenshot...

Module06AudioExamplesNotes


Theresultisgood,butwithacrossfadeitcanbealittlebetter.

Examplefile:crossfade.wav

Screenshot...

Editing

Whenmultitrackrecordingsweremadeonanalogtape,itwaspossibletoeditbycuttingandsplicingthe
tape.Soifatakehadbeenrecordedthatwasgoodallthewaythroughapartfromonesection,thenthat
sectioncouldbereplacedbyeditingfromanothertake.

Althoughitwaspossibletoeditmultitrackrecordings,allofthetrackshadtobeeditedatthesametime.
Henceitwasimpossiblebysimplecutandspliceeditingto,forexample,replaceasectionofbassguitar,
althoughthiscouldbedonebyothermeansthatweretimeconsuming.

Recordingontodiskviasoftwareistotallydifferent.Anypartofamultitrackrecordingcanbeedited.Edits
canbeveryfinelydetailedandaccurate,whichwasdifficultontape.

Module06AudioExamplesNotes
Thefirstsetofexamplesdemonstrateseditingusingamixedstereomusicrecording.Theobjectwastocut
asectionoutofthemusictracktoshortenit.

Tomakeaneditusingyourrecordingsoftware,placethecursorexactlywhereyouwanttocutaparticular
recording,thenselectthemenuoptionthatdividesthatrecordingintotwosections.Operationdiffers
slightlyindifferentsoftwares,buttheprocessisbasicallythesame.

Itisnecessarytofindpointsthatcorrespondwitheachotherasthe'out'and'in'points.Musicisoften
composedinfouroreightbarphrases.Soifthe'out'cutismadeexactlyatthestartofthesectiontobe
removed,andthe'in'cutismadeexactlyatthestartofthenextphrase,thenthephrasetoberemoved
canbedeletedandthetworemainingregionsbuttedtogether.

Thefirstexample(editslack.wav)demonstrateswhathappenswhenthecursorisnotplacedatexactlythe
rightpoint.

Examplefile:editslack.wav

Andthescreenshot.Thelinetotheleftofcenteristheeditpoint.Ignorethefadeattheend...

Clearly,betterprecisionisrequired.Thisisdemonstratedinthenextexample...

Examplefile:editlessslack.wav

Screenshot...

Module06AudioExamplesNotes


Thisisgood,butitisnotperfect.Peoplewhoarelearningaudiosometimesfeelthatitisinevitablethat
editswillbenoticeable,andsettleforthisstandard.However,itissimplynotgoodenough.

Hereisanexampleofaneditthatworkswell...

Examplefile:edittight.wav

Screenshot.Noticethepositionoftheeditpoint.Itcomesexactlybeforeanimpulseinthemusic(theview
iszoomedin)...

Thejoinisundetectable.Thisisthestandardtoaimfor.

Successfuleditingrequiresalotofpracticeandskill.Don'tworryifitdoesn'tcomestraightaway.Workas
hardasyouneedtotomakeyourfirstundetectableedits.Withpractice,youwillfinditmucheasier.

Anotherexampledemonstrateseditingbetweentwodifferenttracks.Thisisacommontask.

Onceagain,itcanbedonebadly...

Examplefile:edit2bad.wav

Screenshot...

Module06AudioExamplesNotes


Oritcanbedonetoaprofessionalstandard...

Examplefile:edit2good.wav

Screenshot...

Orthereisanevenhigherstandardtobereachedwiththeaidofacrossfadeattheeditpoint...

Examplefile:edit2better.wav

Screenshot...

Module06AudioExamplesNotes


Theprofessionalstandardandthe'enhancedversion'arebothabsolutelyachievable,evenwithbasic
software.Thereisnoreasontosettleforanythingless.

Editingcanbeusedtolengthenatrack.

Hereisanexampleofatrackthatlastsjusttwentyoneandahalfsecondsinitsentirety...

Examplefile:lengthentrackoriginal.wav

Screenshot...

Andherethetrackhasbeenextendedbycopyingandrepeatingsections...

Examplefile:lengthentracklonger.wav

Screenshot...

Module06AudioExamplesNotes


Intheabovetwoexamples,thescreenshotsareincorrectrelativeproportions.

Automation

Allprofessionalrecordingsoftwareallowslevel,panandotherparameterstobevariedautomatically.The
operatorspecifieslevelsandlevelchanges,forinstance,usingthefadersoragraphicalinterface.The
systemwillthenautomaticallyperformthoselevelchanges.

Hereisatrackwithoutanyautomation...

Examplefile:automationnone.wav

Andhereisthesametrackwithautomationoflevelandpan.Thisexampleisperhapsnotartisticallyuseful,
butitservestodemonstratethecapabilitiesofautomation.

Examplefile:automation.wav

Screenshot...

Module06AudioExamplesNotes


Inthescreenshot,theblacklinerepresentslevelchanges,thered(midgray)lineisleftchannelpan,the
greenline(lightgray)lineisrightchannelpan.

Retiming

Onecommonuseoftheeditingfacilitiesofrecordingsoftwareistoretimeaperformance.Forinstance,the
guitaristmighthaveplayedacertainnotealittlelate.Itisasimplemattertocutoutthatnoteandmoveit
earlierintime.

Herewehaveanexampleofdrums,wherethedrumsaregenerallywellplayed,butthetimingisnotspot
onaccurate.

Examplefile:drumsuneven.wav

Screenshot...

Tomakethismuchmoreaccurate,eachindividualbeathasbeeneditedoutandalignedtoagridinthe

Module06AudioExamplesNotes
appropriatetempo.Itlookslikethis...

Yesitisrathercomplex.Butifthisiswhatthemusicdemands,itiscertainlynottoomuchtrouble.Thisis
whatitsoundslike...

Examplefile:drumseven.wav

Endofaudioexamplesnotes.

Module06AudioExamplesNotes