2. The Audition Environment

• A Waveform Editor that can perform highly detailed and sophisticated editing

• A Multitrack Editor for creating multitrack music productions

In addition, the two sections are interrelated in that audio can move freely between the two environments. Audio in the Multitrack Editor can be transferred to the Waveform Editor for detailed editing and then transferred back. Files brought into the Waveform Editor can be tweaked prior to making them the basis of a multitrack project.

Both editors have highly customizable workspaces that you can optimize for any of Audition’s uses—not just editing or multitrack productions, but also audio for video, sound library development, audio restoration, sound effects creation, and even forensics. This chapter concentrates on the Waveform Editor, but operations in the Multitrack Editor are similar, and in many cases identical.

Once windows are brought into a workspace, they are arranged as frames and panels.

1. With Audition open, navigate to the Lesson02 folder, and open the file WaveformWorkspace.aif.

2. Choose Window > Workspace > Classic.

3. To make sure the workspace uses the stored version, choose Window > Workspace > Reset “Classic.”

4. A dialog box asks if you want to reset Classic to its original layout. Click Yes.

5. Click on the waveform, which is within the waveform’s Editor panel. When you click in a panel, a yellow line outlines the panel.

6. If you want to see more of the waveform’s Editor panel, click the panel’s left yellow line, and drag to the left to widen the panel.

7. Increase the panel’s height by clicking the panel’s lower line and dragging down. However, this may cause the panels below the waveform to disappear or become narrow enough to be unusable. So, return the panel’s lower line to where it was, and then start to customize the workspace.

Every panel has a tab toward the top of it. The right part of the tab has a Close box, which closes the panel (you can always reopen a panel from the Window menu if you need it later).

8. The Selection/View panel toward the lower right probably isn’t needed right now, so click its Close box to free up some more space. Note how the Zoom panel expands to take up the space.

Every panel is housed in a frame. You can save space by grouping several panels into the same frame to create a collection of panels that has tabs across the top for bringing a particular panel to the “front” of the frame.

9. Hovering the cursor over a panel’s tab highlights the tab, which means you can click the tab and drag it to change the panel’s location. Click the Time panel’s tab and drag it to the right of the Zoom panel’s tab. A strip containing this tab turns blue to indicate it is a “drop zone” where a panel can be dropped.

10. Release the mouse button; the Time and Zoom panels are now within a tabbed frame.

11. Click the Transport panel’s gripper (the section where you can click and drag a panel to move it), and drag it into the blue drop zone strip that already has the Zoom and Time tabs. Now the Zoom, Transport, and Time panels are all within a tabbed frame.

12. Click the Zoom tab, then the Time tab, and then the Transport tab. Note that the original double rows of Transport buttons are now arranged as a single row, which allows more space for increasing the Editor panel’s height.

13. With the Transport tab showing, click in the Editor panel. Click its lower yellow line and drag down until the Transport panel is just high enough to show all the Transport buttons. Click the Time tab and then the Zoom tab, and note that they’ve also been resized to fit.

14. To create even more space, move the Levels panel to the left of the Audition Workspace. Click the Levels panel gripper, and drag it to the Audition Workspace’s left edge, to the left of the waveform’s Editor. Now you can drag the bottom of the Editor panel down even further.

1. Currently, the Files, Effects Rack, and Favorites panels are in a single frame. This would be a convenient frame for placing the Media Browser panel, so add it to the frame.

2. Click a panel in this frame, like Files.

3. Choose Window > Media Browser. The Media Browser tab is added to the frame.

4. Click the right side of the Media Browser panel, and drag left to make the frame narrower. At some point, all tabs will no longer be visible. However, when this happens, Audition adds a scroll bar just above the frame.

5. Click the scroll bar and drag left and right to reveal the various tabs. Click the Effects Rack tab. The frame now shows the Effects Rack panel.

If the panel drop zone is in the panel center, dropping a panel there is equivalent to dropping it into the bar with the tabs. However, if the panel drop zone shows a bar with beveled edges, the frame will land where the bar is and push the panel with the bar over to make room.

The frame with the Media Browser, Effects Rack, Favorites, and Files panels seems unnecessarily tall, and the space at the bottom isn’t really necessary. That might be a good place to drag the Time panel.

1. Click the Time panel tab, and drag it toward the Effects Rack. As it passes over the bottom of the Effects Rack panel, you’ll see a blue bar with beveled edges. Release the mouse button to reposition the Time panel.

You can also drag frames into drop zones; the frame gripper is in the frame’s upper-right corner and to the right of the Frame’s drop-down menu (described next). Suppose you decide you’d rather have the Time panel above the frame with the Media Browser, Effects Rack, and Files panels. You could drag the Time panel into the frame’s upper beveled bar, but there’s another way. Neither option is inherently superior, but you might prefer one workflow over the other.

2. Click the frame’s gripper, and drag it into the Time panel’s lower bar.

• Undock Panel

• Undock Frame

• Close Panel (same as clicking a tab’s Close box)

• Close Frame

• Maximize Frame

There may also be options that relate to specific panels. For example, the Media Browser panel drop-down menu has options for Enable Auto-Play, Enable Loop Preview, and Show Preview Transport. This is handy because even if the Preview Transport isn’t visible, it’s still possible to enable its Auto-Play and Loop Preview functions.

Undocking allows you to “float” a panel or frame outside of the main window. Here’s how it works.

1. Click the drop-down menu for the frame containing the Media Browser, Files, Favorites, and Effects Rack panels.

2. Choose Undock Frame.

The frame becomes a separate window that can be moved independently of the Audition Workspace and resized.

3. Click the Media Browser panel.

4. Click the drop-down menu of the frame containing the Media Browser panel.

5. Choose Undock Panel. Now there are three separate windows—the Audition Workspace, the frame with the Files, Favorites, and Effects Rack panels, and the Media Browser panel.

1. The Tools panel defaults to being a toolbar—a thin strip of buttons along the top of the Audition Workspace—and has no drop-down menu. Undock it by clicking the gripper in the upper-left corner, which undocks the Tools panel automatically (you don’t need to drag it outside the Audition Workspace).

When undocked, the toolbar takes on the characteristics of a panel: It’s housed within a frame, can be combined with other panels within the frame, and contains a frame drop-down menu. It also includes two extra fields: a drop-down menu for choosing a workspace that duplicates the Window > Workspace path, and a search box.

2. Re-dock the toolbar along the top of the Audition Workspace before proceeding.

1. Choose Window > Workspace > Reset “Classic” to start fresh.

2. Click the Favorites tab to show the current list of Favorites in the Favorites panel.

3. Suppose a common operation your client needs on a regular basis is lowering a file’s level by 3dB and adding a fade-in over the first second, so you want to create a Favorite that does both actions with one click. To start recording a favorite, click the Record button in the Favorites panel’s upper left. If a dialog box appears that describes what a Favorite is, click OK to dismiss it.

4. Click the knob in the HUD (heads-up display) toward the middle of the waveform, and set it to -3dB. When you release the mouse button, the gain is reduced, the waveform is highlighted to show that it’s selected, and the HUD control reverts to 0dB.

5. Click the Fade In button and drag it toward the right, up to around the 1.0 second mark.

6. Click the Stop button (this was the Record button in step 3).

7. A dialog box appears prompting you to name the favorite. Enter -3dB+Fade In, and then click OK. This adds the Favorite to the list of Favorites in the Favorites panel.

8. Now revert the waveform to how it was prior to adding your edits. Press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z) once to undo the fade-in, and then press Ctrl+Z (Command+Z) again to undo the gain change.

9. In the list of Favorites, click -3dB+Fade In to select it, and then click the Play button (to the right of the Record button). The waveform will now be 3dB softer and have a fade-in over the first second.

10. You can also reorder the list of Favorites to place your most-used Favorites near the top of the list. Click the Adjust Order button to the right of the Trash button, and then reorder your Favorites by dragging and dropping them within the list.

11. Right-click on the -3dB +Fade In Favorite to display a context menu. The menu items let you run, delete, and record Favorites, and also see the steps in the Favorite. To see these steps, click Show Actions. Note that the Favorite consists of Amplify and Fade Audio.

12. Right-click (Control-click) the Amplify action to display a context menu with advanced editing options, such as edit the selected action, capture a particular time, and so on. Describing these in detail is beyond the scope of this book, but this gives you an idea of the power of Favorites. Choose Help > Adobe Audition Help for more information about editing Favorites.

13. Now suppose you decide that the -3dB+Fade In operation doesn’t really need to be a favorite. Click it to select it, and then click the Trash button (to the right of the Play button). When asked if you’re sure you want to remove the selected favorite, click Yes.

1. Arrange the workspace exactly as desired. Or for now, for the sake of practicing, arrange the workspace arbitrarily.

2. Choose Window > Workspace > New Workspace.

3. Name the workspace by typing a name into the New Workspace dialog box, and then click OK. Your new workspace now joins the list of current workspaces.

4. To delete this workspace, choose Window > Workspace and select a workspace other than the one you want to delete.

5. Choose Window > Workspace > Delete Workspace.

6. When the Delete Workspace dialog box appears, choose the workspace you want to delete from the drop-down menu, and then click OK.

7. Close Audition without saving anything in preparation for the next lesson.

• Navigating to desired files and projects so you can open them, typically using Audition’s Media Browser

• Navigation related to playing back and recording audio within the Waveform Editor and Multitrack Editor

• Navigating visually within the Waveform Editor and Multitrack Editor (zooming in and out to specific parts of the file)

1. Open Audition, navigate to the Lesson02 folder, and open the file WaveformWorkspace.aif. Or as a shortcut, choose File > Open Recent > WaveformWorkspace.aif.

2. Choose File > Open Append > To Current.

3. Navigate to the Lesson02 folder, choose String_Harp.wav, and in the dialog box, click Open.

4. The file you selected is appended to the end of the current waveform in the Waveform Editor.

5. Choose File > Open Append > To New.

6. Navigate to the Lesson02 folder, choose String_Harp.wav, and then click Open.

7. The file you selected opens in a new Waveform Editor view. It does not replace the previously loaded file, and you can select either one using the Editor panel’s drop-down menu.

8. Choose File > Close All, and then select No to All from the dialog box that appears, but leave Audition open in preparation for the next lesson.

Once you locate a file, you can drag it into the Waveform Editor or Multitrack Editor window.

1. Choose Window > Workspace > Default.

2. Choose Window > Workspace > Reset “Default.” Click OK when the confirmation dialog box appears.

3. Click the Media Browser panel’s tab or gripper, and drag the panel outside of the workspace to float it. This isn’t strictly necessary but makes it easy to extend the size to see all the available options in the Media Browser. Drag the window to the right to extend it.

4. The left Media Browser column shows all the drives mounted to your computer. Clicking any of these drives displays its contents in the right column. You can also click a drive’s disclosure triangle to reveal its contents.

5. In the left column, navigate to the Lesson02 folder. Click its disclosure triangle to expand it, and then click the Moebius_120BPM_F# folder.

The folder’s audio files are shown in the right column. Note how additional subcolumns show file attributes, such as duration, sample rate, channels, and more.

6. You can change subcolumn widths. Click the divider line between two subcolumns, and drag left or right to change the width.

7. You can rearrange the order of subcolumns. Click a column name, like Media Type. Drag it left or right to position it. This feature is helpful because you can drag the columns containing the information you need the most to the left side, so the data is visible even if the window isn’t fully extended to the right.

8. For providing single-click access to specific folders, the Media Browser offers a “virtual drive” along with the other computer drives in the left column that contains shortcuts for often-used folders. To create a shortcut for the Moebius_120BPM_F# folder, click it in the left column.

9. In the right column, click the + symbol and choose Add Shortcut for “Moebius_120BPM_F#.”

10. In the left column, close the Drives disclosure triangle. Under Drives, click the Shortcuts disclosure triangle to reveal your shortcut, which now provides one-click access to the designated folder.

11. Another Media Browser advantage is that you can listen to the files as you browse, thanks to the Preview Transport. If it’s not visible, choose Show Preview Transport from the drop-down menu in the Media Browser window’s upper-right corner. Click the Auto-Play button with the speaker icon; you’ll then be able to hear a file play when you click it.

12. Close the project without saving anything.

1. Navigate to the Lesson02 folder, and open the file WaveformWorkspace.aif.

2. Choose Window > Workspace > Default.

3. Choose Window > Workspace > Default > Reset “Default,” and then click OK.

4. Click the Editor window’s gripper in the upper-right corner, and drag it outside of the workspace to float the window.

5. Click the workspace’s lower-left corner and drag diagonally down toward the left until you can see all the Transport and Zoom buttons. Then click about a third of the way into the waveform and drag to about two-thirds of the way through the waveform to create a selection. The orange icon at the beginning of the selection is called the current time indicator (CTI), or playhead in previous versions of Audition. For the benefit of those who are used to the previous terminology, we’ll use playhead throughout the rest of the book.

6. Click anywhere in the waveform to deselect the selection.

1. The Zoom toolbar consists of eight buttons that control zooming. Click twice on the leftmost Zoom In (Amplitude) button. Zooming in on amplitude lets you see low-level signals more easily.

2. Click twice on the next button to the right, the Zoom Out (Amplitude) button, to return to the previous amplitude zoom level.

3. Click eight times on the next button to the right, the Zoom In (Time) button, to see very short sections of time on the waveform.

4. Click twice on the next button to the right, the Zoom Out (Time) button, to zoom back out.

5. Click once on the next button to the right, the Zoom Out Full (All Axes) button. This “shortcut” button zooms out the time and amplitude axes to their maximum size so you can see the complete waveform.

6. Make a selection: As in the previous lesson, click about a third of the way from the beginning, and then drag to about a third of the way from the end. Click the next button to the right, the Zoom In at In Point button, to place the selection start (In point) in the middle of the waveform.

7. Click the next button to the right, the Zoom In at Out Point button, to place the selection end (Out point) in the middle of the waveform.

8. Click the rightmost button, the Zoom to Selection button, to make the selection fill the window. Click anywhere in the waveform to deselect the selection.

9. Click the Zoom Out Full button (the fifth button from the left in the Zoom toolbar) to return both axes to zoomed out full.

10. At the top of the window is an additional Zoom tool that shows a global overview of your audio file. Drag the left or right side of the yellow grabber to zoom in or out of an area. The area between the two yellow grabbers is what you’ll see in the Editor. Note that you can click the grabber in the middle of the two yellow bars to move the zoom area left or right.

11. Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and out horizontally, centered around the grabber inside the two yellow grabber tools in the overview. This is the default. Now press and hold the Ctrl (Command) key while using the mouse scroll wheel; zooming centers around the current playhead position. You can reverse these default settings by choosing Edit > Preferences > General > Mouse Wheel Zoom.

12. To reset the zoom to see the entire audio waveform again, click the Zoom Out Full button in the Zoom toolbar or the equivalent button to the right of the upper overview. Keep Audition open in preparation for the next lesson.

Audition even lets you create your own keyboard shortcuts for the various commands. Choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, or press Alt+K (Option+K), and then follow the onscreen directions to add and remove shortcuts.

Here are some common keyboard shortcuts for navigation.

1. In the upper overview Zoom tool, click the right yellow grabber, and drag left until the lower waveform shows about 2.0 seconds of audio.

2. Press the Page Up key on your keyboard, and then press the Page Down key. The playhead alternates between the left and right sides of the waveform Editor, respectively.

3. Press the Page Up and Page Down keys repeatedly. Note how the zoomed-in area in the overview moves left and right, respectively. Also note that the playhead tracks these changes: Whenever you press Page Up, the playhead will always “stick” to the left side of the waveform Editor, and when you press Page Down, the playhead will always “stick” to the right side.

4. Hold down the Ctrl (Command) key, and press the Page Up and Page Down keys repeatedly. The zoomed-in area moves as in the previous step, but the playhead remains in its current position.

5. Press the plus (+) key (either on the numeric keypad or the main keyboard section; don’t press Shift) to zoom in, and press the minus (–) key to zoom out. Pressing and holding these keys zooms repeatedly.

6. Close the project file without saving anything in preparation for the next lesson.

1. Navigate to the Lesson02 folder, and open the file WaveformWorkspace.aif.

2. Choose Window > Workspace > Default.

3. Choose Window > Workspace > Reset “Default.” Click OK to confirm.

4. Choose Window > Markers to open the Marker panel.

5. Click in the waveform toward the beginning, around 1.0 second.

6. Press M to add a marker at the playhead location and add the marker to the list of markers in the marker window.

7. Now click in the waveform at around 3.0 seconds. As an alternate way to add a marker, click the Add Cue Marker button in the Markers panel.

8. You can also mark a selection. Click around 5.0 and continue to drag right to 6.0 to create a selection. Press M to mark the selection. Note that the Markers panel shows a different symbol to indicate that this Range marker is marking a selection.

9. You can also convert the Range markers to an individual marker at the selection start. Right-click (Control-click) on either the start or end of the Range marker, and then choose Convert to Point. You will then see a single marker around 5.0.

10. There are several ways to navigate among markers. Double-click any marker in the Markers panel list, and the playhead will jump to that marker. With Range markers, the playhead will jump to the marker at the range’s beginning.

11. Another method for marker navigation involves the Transport. We’ll cover that next. Leave this project open in preparation for the next lesson.

1. Click the Move Playhead to Previous button. The playhead moves to Marker 2.

2. Click the Move Playhead to Previous button again. The playhead moves to Marker 1. Click the Move Playhead to Previous button once more, and the playhead moves to the beginning of the file.

3. Click the Move Playhead to Next button (the button to the left of the Record button with the red dot) four times. The playhead steps to each marker until it reaches the end of the file.

4. To move the playhead backward in the file without dragging the playhead or using markers, click and hold the Rewind button until the playhead is in the desired location. You’ll hear audio during the scrolling process. Rewind back to the beginning.

5. Click the Play button (the second Transport button from the left with the right arrow). Playback begins.

6. As soon as the playhead passes the first marker, click the Move Playhead To Next button. The playhead jumps to the second marker. Click the Move Playhead To Next button again, and the playhead jumps to the third marker.

7. Right-click (Control-click) the Transport Play button and choose Return Playhead to Start Position on Stop. With this option selected, clicking Stop will return the playhead to where it started. With this option deselected, the playhead will stop at the position it had when you clicked the Stop button.

2. What is a drop zone?

3. What is a “floated” window?

4. In addition to locating files, name two major advantages of using the Media Browser.

5. What is the purpose of a marker?

2. A drop zone indicates where a panel or frame will dock when it’s dragged to that zone.

3. A floated window exists outside of an Audition Workspace and can be dragged anywhere on your screen.

4. You can listen to the files you locate as well as see their attributes.

5. A marker indicates a place in a file or Session that the playhead can jump to immediately, thus speeding up navigation.