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