Reference Guide

561
Basic Audio Processing
Editing Audio
Many of the dialog boxes associated with SONAR’s audio processing and effects commands have
two important features: Audition and Presets.
The Audition button is used to audition the processed audio data. When you click Audition,
SONAR processes the first few seconds of your data, then plays it repeatedly until you click Stop.
This helps you to get an idea of whether the settings in the dialog box are producing the desired
effect.
The audition duration is three seconds by default. You can change this value by choosing Options >
Global, selecting the General tab and changing Audition Commands for ( ) Seconds.
Presets are a way to store dialog settings so that you can apply the exact same processing or effect
again in the future. The following table tells you how to use presets in the effects dialog boxes.
Many audio processing and effects presets are supplied with SONAR.
See:
Using the Normalize and Gain Commands
Reversing Audio Data
Using the Normalize and Gain Commands
SONAR provides several commands to boost or cut the volume of audio data. The Process >
Audio > Normalize command, and the Process > Audio > Gain commands are used to control the
volume of selected audio data, in decibels. For more information about the decibel scale, see “The
Decibel Scale” on page 551. The Normalize command “normalizes” the audio data: it boosts the
volume until the maximum amplitude is reached somewhere in the data. By normalizing the data,
you achieve the maximum possible volume without distortion or clipping. The Gain command lets
you edit the volume, phase, and stereo interleave of selected audio data. You can also use this
command to remove center material from a clip (good for removing vocals).
Like all the audio processing commands, these commands work by modifying the waveform data.
You can achieve volume changes non-destructively using automation. For more information, see the
online help topic “Automation.”
When increasing or decreasing the volume of audio clips, you should consider the following points:
• Normalize raises the noise floor; that is, while it increases the volume of the signal, it also boosts
the noise it contains. (This is true when you raise the volume by other means, too.)
To do this Do this
Save the current settings as a preset
Enter a preset name and click the Save button
Use a preset Select the preset from the drop-down list
Delete a preset
Select the preset, then click the Delete button
Table 117.