Adobe Audition

Type: Audio editing and recording Difficulty: Beginner - Intermediate Operating system: Windows and Mac Availability: Creative Media Facilities, Managed Desktop (via Software Centre), and can be purchased with a student subscription from Adobe.com. Can be used for: • Recording audio directly into a computer • Editing audio • Adding simple effects to audio • Creating and mixing multilayer audio projects

Introduction to the workspace When Adobe Audition is first opened the application can appear very complicated and overwhelming. Don’t panic. The workspace is broken into easily accessible areas. See Below:

Files This is where any files and multitrack sessions associated with your project are referenced.

Media Browser This is the navigation pane. From here you can browse any connected device and drag any wanted files into ‘Files’ window.

Audio Waveform / Multitrack Display This is main display. Single track or Multitrack waveforms will be displayed here ready for direct editing.

Warning! If you import an audio file and work on it in the Waveform view this is a destructive process. Any file edits and alterations will overwrite the original file when saved. If you begin a Multitrack session and import your audio file into this then edits to the Multitrack audio channels does not overwrite the original audio file.

Editing Tools Basic Waveform editing tools allowing you to ‘Cut’, ‘Delete’, ‘Move’ and ‘Join’ audio clips in either Waveform or Multitrack sessions.

How to Select and move clips Do any of the following:

• To select an individual clip, click it in the Editor panel.

• To select all clips in selected tracks, choose Edit > Select > All Clips In Selected Track.

• To select all clips in a session, choose Edit >Select > Select All.

To move selected clips, select the Move tool in the toolbar, and then drag the clips. Or choose Clip > Nudge Right or Nudge Left to move clips one pixel at a time. (If you zoom in to see individual samples, nudging moves clips one sample at a time.) How to remove a selected range from clips

In the toolbar, click the Time Selection tool . Drag across one or more clips to select them and a range. Do one of the following:

• To remove the range from clips and leave a gap in the timeline, choose Edit > Delete.

• To remove the range and collapse the gap in the timeline, choose Edit > Ripple Delete, and select one of the following options:

Selected Clips Removes selected clips, shifting remaining clips on the same tracks. Time Selection in Selected Clips Removes the range from selected clips, splitting them if necessary. Time Selection in All Tracks Removes the range from all clips in the session. Time Selection in Selected Track removes the range only from the currently highlighted track in the Editor panel.

How to shift the contents of a trimmed or looped clip You can slip edit a trimmed or looped clip to shift its contents within clip edges.

Shift clip contents within clip edges

In the toolbar, click the Slip tool . Drag across the clip. How to Split clips Split audio clips to break them into separate clips that you can independently move or edit. Split clips with the Razor tool

In the toolbar, hold down the Razor tool , and choose one of the following from the pop-up menu: Razor Selected Clips Splits only clips you click. Razor All Clips Splits all clips at the time point you click. Tip: To switch between these modes in the Editor panel, press Shift. In the Editor panel, click where you want the split to occur.

History This contains a history of your changes to the current file you are working on, clicking on previous changes will allow you to undo actions you have applied to the audio clips up to that change.

Audio Meter This allows you to monitor the playing audio tracks, it this monitor becomes red then the audio is peaking (too loud) and will distort when played back through speakers and headphones.

Getting Started Once Audition is opened select Multitrack on the upper left hand on the workspace and name your session. Once you have set up this session select ‘File’ and ‘Save as’ to save your work. Use the Media Browser or Select ‘File’ and ‘Import’ to select the audio tracks you wish to import into the program. Alternatively drag the audio tracks into the file window to import them into the program. Once the file has imported into Audition into the Files list you can drag the file into the multitrack display. Here you will see the track as a waveform. You can import the audio file any number of times on different audio tracks. From the editing window you can use the editing tools on the audio track and play back the track using the controls at the bottom of this window. You can adjust the overall volume of the track using the track controls.  

Other Useful Functions  Fade a clip: Every clip placed in the multitrack view when selected will have a small box at the beginning and end of the clip:  

   If you click and drag this box a line will appear. This is the fade.  

   Position the box to the place you wish your fade to finish (or if at the end of the track where you wish it to begin) Creating silence. This is useful for inserting pauses and removing nonessential noise from an audio file. Adobe Audition provides two ways to create silence: To mute existing audio in the Waveform Editor, select the desired content, and choose Effects > Silence. Unlike deleting or cutting a selection, which splices the surrounding material together, muting leaves the duration of the selection intact. To add silence in the Waveform or Multitrack Editor, either position the current-time

indicator or select existing audio. Then choose Edit > Insert >Silence, and enter the number of seconds. Any audio to the right is pushed out in time, lengthening duration. Multitrack clips are split if necessary.

Zoom audio in the Editor panel

To zoom into a specific time range, right-click and drag. A. Zoom navigator B. Timeline ruler Zoom into a specific time range In either the zoom navigator or the timeline ruler, right-click and drag. The magnifying glass

icon creates a selection showing the range that will fill the Editor panel. Gradually zoom in or out

In the lower right of the Editor panel, click the Zoom In or Zoom Out button.  

Exporting  Once you have finished editing your audio file you need to ‘Mix Down’ the multitrack session to a single finished audio file. To do this select FILE > EXPORT > MULTITRACK MIXDOWN > ENTIRE SESSION

   Once this has been selected you will need to name your track and specify where it will be saved.  

   Click OK when settings are selected and your finished track will save.  

Advanced Music Ducking The first question many people ask is, What is Music Ducking? Music Ducking is the process of automatically adjusting the level of a music track over narration so that the speaker is clearly heard. Adobe Audition has tools that allow this. GET STARTED

Here’s a simple project with narration on the top track, music on the second track.

Select the music track then, in the Effects Rack, apply Amplification and Compression > Dynamics Processing.

In the Effects Rack, double-click the name “Dynamics Processing” to display the interface. NOTE: Don’t click the green square, that power switch turns the effect off (dark) or on (green).

This effect is not the most intuitive because key controls are buried. So, here’s how you set this. Grab the white dot in the top right corner and drag it down to around -20 dB. For lighter gain reduction, set this to -15 dB. For heavier gain reduction, set this to – 35 dB. Experiment to get the amount of level reduction you want for your music.

NOTE: If you move the right-hand dot to a different level than -20, adjust both white dots at the ends of this line to be level.

At the top of the Dynamics Processing window, click the square with arrows pointing into it to match the format of the track that holds your narration: Mono, Stereo, or 5.1 Surround. In our example, the voice-over track is Mono.

To make the audio differences more obvious for this example, I’ve changed the position of the two white dots to tell this effect that: “Whenever you hear audio coming in the mono side-chain, lower the level of the music on this track by 25 dB. When you don’t hear audio coming in the side-chain, raise the music back to its normal level.” This sets the effect, now we need to change the routing. USE THE MIXER FOR ROUTING We need to create a new audio route – called a Send – that “sends” the voice-over into the side-chain of the Dynamics Processing effect.

In the mixer, select the track with the narration. if necessary, twirl down the right-pointing arrow on the channel strip labeled “S1.” Change the pop-up menu from “None” to Side-Chain > Dynamic Processor.

NOTE: Make sure the volume for the send is set to 0; it’s next to the rotary “wheel.” The default setting is negative infinity (that means “off”) and is a good choice in general for this effect. TESTING THE EFFECT

Select the music track and turn off, by clicking the green button in the Effects Rack, the Dynamics Processing effect. Play the project and notice that the levels of the music don’t change. (Indicated here by the fact the top and bottom level bars are the same length.) You can also hear that the music levels don’t change.

Now, turn the effect back on and play the project again. Notice that the music ducks whenever the narrator speaks. If your mixing needs are simple and this is all you need for your project, you are done! EXTRA CREDIT Because this filter responds instantly to side-chain input, the music may seem to “pump,” get louder and softer between syllables. This can be reduced in two ways:

Make the dB reduction smaller. In our example, we set this to -25 dB. Changing this to -20 dB would reduce pumping by making the music louder.

A better option is to adjust how quickly the filter resets after the voice is done.

o Select the music track o Double-click the name of the Dynamics Processing filter in the Effects Rack to

open the interface o Click the Settings tab at the top o Change the Level Detector > Release Time to 400 ms o Change the Gain Processor > Release Time to 600 ms

Play the project again. There will always be some variation in the level of the music, but these numbers should make the pumping go away. Automatic Music Ducking Images and process: https://larryjordan.com/articles/adobe-audition-automatic-music-ducking/

Noise Reduction effect (Waveform Editor only) The Noise Reduction/Restoration > Noise Reduction effect dramatically reduces background and broadband noise with a minimal reduction in signal quality. This effect can remove a combination of noise, including tape hiss, microphone background noise, power-line hum, or any noise that is constant throughout a waveform. The proper amount of noise reduction depends upon the type of background noise and the acceptable loss in quality for the remaining signal. Apply the Noise Reduction effect In the Waveform Editor, select a range that contains only noise and is at least half a second long. Choose Effects > Noise Reduction/Restoration > Capture Noise Print. In the Editor panel, select the range from which you want to remove noise. (Highlight the area that you want to apply the noise reduction to using the select tool) Choose Effects > Noise Reduction/Restoration > Noise Reduction. Set the desired options.

 You can play back the track using the controls at the bottom left of the Noise reduction window and adjust the settings to give you the best results. Once you are satisfied with the level of Noise reduction click Apply.