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LAB FOUR USING AUDITION

COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT TWO


Instructions for completing Assignment 2 Processing using
Audition are given at the end of this Lab.

SIGNAL PROCESSING
IN AUDIO EDITORS
Most audio editors allow for digital signal processing as well as
editing of audio material. In Audition, for example, there is a
dedicated menu entitled Effects for this task.
In all cases, processing is accomplished by selecting material
in an open audio file by highlighting it, and then choosing an
available process from the menus.
The process will only be applied to the selected material. If nothing is
selected, the process will be applied to the entire audio file.

Because of the nature of audio editors, the process is nondestructive until you save your work. In other words, if you
process a file, listen to it immediately and dislike the result, you can
undo the process by selecting Undo (Alt Backspace, or Control Z)
from the Edit menu in Audition.

PROCESSING IN AUDITION
Once a soundfile is open, it can be processed. In Audition, some
processes allow you to work on the whole file without making a
selection; others require you to make an actual selection. In order to
avoid any confusion, if you do want to process an entire soundfile,
it is a good habit to select it by pressing control-A for Select Entire
Wave (select All).
Processes are contained in submenus, based upon their type.
Audition has adopted the Macintosh standard, and displays ellipses
() in its menu items after processes that require further user
input.

Lab Four using Audition

The Effects menu in Audition


Processes can be previewed before permanently altering the
file. Click Preview to audition the processing, during which the
parameters can be changed. When you have decided upon the
settings, click OK to make the alteration to the file.

A portion of a dialog window in Audition. The Preview button


is to the right

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Lab Four using Audition

TASK: REVERSAL
In Audition, the reversal process is accomplished via the
Effects menu, Reverse.

Reversing a soundfile in Audition.

TASK: PITCH SHIFT


In Audition, the process of Pitch Shift is called Pitch Bender.
This process allows for a pitch shift that changes during the course
of a file, which we are not interested in for this exercise. In order to
ensure a continuous pitch shift for these examples, follow these
steps:
1.

Click on Flat to return the pitch shift variable to zero.

2.

Change the range to 12 semitones (one octave)

3.

Drag the white breakpoints to the bottom of the screen

4.

Click OK to process the file.

A portion of the Pitch Bender dialog box in Audition. Drag


the breakpoints to -12 semitones to lower the pitch by one
octave.

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Lab Four using Audition

TIMBRAL PROCESSING VIA EXTERNAL PLUGINS IN AUDITION


Audition allows the use of VST and DirectX plugins. The Effects
menu contains a submenu entitled VST, which contains a submenu
that lists more effects.

The VST submenu in Audition. Your submenu will most likely


differ.

TASK: TIMBRAL PROCESSING


The Graphic Equalizer
With a soundfile open, and something selected within it,
choose the Graphic Equalizer plug-in in Audition (Effects > Filters
> Graphic Equalizer).

The Graphic Equalizer in Audition

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Lab Four using Audition

If the virtual sliders are not centered, as they are above, click
on Reset All to Zero. If 30 virtual sliders are not displayed, click on
the tab 30 Bands (1/3 octave).
Notice that the Graphic EQ allows us to change the frequency
content over the entire spectrum: the lowest slider will affect those
frequencies centered around 31 Hz, while the highest slider will
affect those frequencies around 25 kHz. Between those extremes,
each slider controls approximately one third of an octave, resulting
in three sliders every octave.
Notice the range of control offers by the process. To the left of
the sliders, this range is shown as +18 db (decibels)to -18 db.
Low Shelf & High Shelf
Audition does not have a Low Shelf, nor a High Shelf, EQ. This is of
little concern, since these equalizers are of little use to us and are
used here merely for pedagogical reasons.
Low Pass, High, and Band Pass
The Low and High Pass Filters can be found in Audition under
Effects > Filters > Scientific Filters; however, they are lack any
resonance feedback capabilities. Note that the order of the filter
translates into the steepness of its rolloff/slope. In the diagram
below, the delay, or phase distortion of the filter is displayed in red: a
slight ripple right at the cutoff frequency indicates that these
frequencies will be slightly delayed in the processed sound. Higher
order filters will result in more phrase distortion at the cutoff
frequency, and will become increasingly audible.

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Lab Four using Audition

Auditions scientific filters, which include Low, High, and


Band Pass.

VISUALIZING SOUND SPECTROGRAPHS IN AUDITION

With a soundfile open, and something selected, choose Show


Frequency Analysis from the Analyze menu.

The Analyze menu in Audition


A spectrograph of the selected portion of the sound will be
displayed, with controls for changing how it is displayed.
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Lab Four using Audition

The Frequency Analysis (spectrograph) window in Audition


Make sure Linear is turned off in the top left corner.
The FFT Size is how many samples to analyze at once.
Without getting into detail, this translates into how accurate the
analysis will be higher values generally result in more accurate
analysis. There is a trade-off, however; if the sound is changing
quickly, either in its frequency or timbre, a smaller size will result
in more accuracy for a specific instant.
Different windows are selectable in this case, a Hanning
window was used. Subtle differences can result from choosing
different types of windows for the analysis.
You can move the mouse over the graph and click to
determine what the frequency peaks are. In the example above, the
mouse is over the first peak, and the window displays this
frequency as 193 Hz.

COMPLETING ASSIGNMENT TWO


ANALYZING THE FILES
Follow the instructions, above, to create a spectrograph of the files.
Use a size of at least 2048, as this will give a more detailed analysis.
Note that the spectrograph is done over the current audio
selection - if nothing is selected, it will attempt to analyze the entire
file.
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Lab Four using Audition

Try selecting different portions of the soundfile, and different


location types (beginning of selection, end of selection, etc.).
Note that this spectrograph is a 2D spectrum, and does not
take into account changes over time. Instead, it is displaying either
a given instant in time, or an average.
Finding the dominant energy
Where is most of the spectral energy in the sound (at the point in
time that the analysis is taken)? In the two examples below, they
fall in different places, but are recognizable they are the areas that
are the highest in the analysis.

The dominant energy of this particular sound, at this point in


time

The dominant energy of a different sound

GENERATING A SINE WAVE


You can generate a waveform in the same file that your current
audio is in. Click at the end of the open file to generate the
waveform after the current file.

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Lab Four using Audition

Select Tonesfrom the Generate menu:

Getting ready to generate a waveform


In the subsequent window, enter the following:
1. frequency (in Hz)
2. waveform content (only one sinewave)
3. volume (less than full. -6dB is half volume)
4. duration (2 seconds)
Its also a good idea to enter an amplitude of less than 100%,
since a test tone at maximum volume is quite loud.

Setting frequency, duration, volume, and waveform parameters

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Lab Four using Audition

GENERATING A SONOGRAM
In Audition, a sound can be viewed as a waveform (the usual way),
or as a sonogram.
From the View menu, select Spectral View:

Getting ready to generate a sonogram


The file will now be displayed as a sonogram:

Sonogram display in Audition.


Unlike the spectrograph, a sonogram takes time into account the analysis will display changes in frequency content over time.
Remember, frequency is displayed vertically (higher frequencies
near the top of the track), and amplitude is displayed through
colour (lighter colours indicate higher amplitudes).

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Lab Four using Audition

PROCESSING THE FILES


Note: do not save after any process. Apply the process, answer
the questions, then undo the process (control-Z, or via the Edit
menu).
Remember to select the region in a track before selecting a
process.
Reversing the file
This is done via the Effects menu. Select Reverse:

Lowering the frequency by one octave


This is done via the Effects menu. Select Pitch Bender.. from
the Time/Pitch menu:

Getting ready to lower the frequency

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Lab Four using Audition

In the subsequent window, change the Range to 12 semitones


(which is one octave), then drag the two breakpoints down to -12.

Playing back the file one octave lower


Click the Preview button to hear your result without changing
the file itself.
Removing the dominant energy
This is done via the Effects menu. Select FFT Filter from the
Filters menu:

Getting ready to filter the dominant energy


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Lab Four using Audition

In the subsequent window, clear the filter by clicking on the


Flat button (1.). Next, drag the breakpoints to the top of the filter
(2.). Then click and drag on the line to create new breakpoints, and
drag them down to the bottom (3.). Watch the frequency display
(4.) to see what the breakpoint frequencies are.

Filtering out the frequency band of the dominant spectral


energy. This is a band-reject filter.
Click the Preview button to hear your result without changing
the file itself.
Removing everything except the dominant energy
Follow the same procedure as above, but keep only those
dominant frequencies.

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Lab Four using Audition

Filtering out everything except for the frequency band of the


dominant spectral energy. This is a bandpass filter.
Click the Preview button to hear your result without changing
the file itself.

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