LAB TEN IN AUDITION
STEREO AND PANNING
TASK: MOVING A MONO SOURCE
WITHIN THE STEREO FIELD
Setting Up a Session
After creating the session and importing the files place Key
Jingle in the first track.
Switch to the Mixer window (Mixer, in the Window menu),
and begin playback.
While the track is playing, move the pan level by clicking on
the number box and dragging left or right.
The pan slider in the Audacitys Mix window.
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Lab Ten using Audition
Automating Panning
Audacity allows for the automation of the panning process.
Close the Mix Window, and return to Multitrack View.
In the View menu, make sure Show Pan Envelopes is
selected.
Showing panning automation within all tracks.
The track will now display panning automation in a similar
way to volume automation. However, while the volume envelope
defaults to the highest (100%) level, the panning envelope defaults
to the middle (0% to left or right).
A track displaying panning automation.
Using any of the tools, it is possible to create breakpoints.
Creating panning automation
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Lab Ten using Audition
Similar to volume envelope creation, when the cursor moves
close to the existing envelope, it changes to a pointing finger. Click
on the envelope to create a breakpoint, and drag it to a new position.
A breakpoint in the centre will place the audio equally in both left and
right channels. A breakpoint above the line will place it more in the
left channel, while a breakpoint below the line will place it more in the
right channel.
TASK: BOUNCE A PANNED TRACK
Continuing in the same session used for the previous task,
delete the existing panning automation, and replace Key
Jingle with Briefcase in the first track.
Create the following panning automation for the six events in
the clip:
Centre
Left
Right to left moving
Fifty per cent right
Fifty per cent left
Right/left
Briefcase, with the panning automation described above.
Select the clip, then select Mix Down to Empty Track 2
(Bounce) > Selected Audio Clips from the Edit menu.
A new file, called Mixdown, will appear in the Organizer
pane, and the clip will appear in track 2 as a stereo file.
Compare the new file to track one originals panning
automation.
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Lab Ten using Audition
A mono track with panning (top), and the resulting bounced
stereo clip
Notice that the first event appears equally in both tracks,
while the second sound event appears only in the left track. This is
logical because the panning automation for the first event placed it
equally in the left and right channels, while the second event was
panned to the left channel.
USING STEREO SOURCE FILES
Importing stereo source files is no different from importing a
bounce that resulted from a panned track.
Stereo versus Mono tracks
Audition allows for both mono and stereo files to exist within
the same track; as such, a track can be mono and stereo. This may
seem curious when one considers how panning automation affects
stereo files.
Stereo tracks in Audition can panned so that the two
independent files (the left and the right) are no longer separated.
Thus, panning a stereo clip 50% to the right will place 50% of the
left channel into the right. While this may initially appear
interesting, the effect is disappointing, as the stereo effect is
immediately lost.
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Lab Ten using Audition
Setting the Panning Correctly
If you combine mono and stereo clips within the same track,
remember to return the panning envelope to the middle when
placing a stereo clip in the track.
TASK: PANNING A MONO SOURCE
VS. STEREO RECORDING
This task explores the difference between using a stereo source
recording and a monophonic version of the same source and using
panning.
Setting Up the Session
You will need to create a mono file from a stereo file.
Create a new session and import track 32, City Ambience.
Place the clip into track one, and make a unique copy of it.
The stereo clip, and a copy of it
Select the copy, and enter Edit View.
From the Edit menu, select Convert Sample Type
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Lab Ten using Audition
Converting the file in Edit View
In the Convert Sample Type dialog, change the Channels to
Mono, and click OK.
Creating a mono file using Convert Sample Type
Return to Multitrack View.
Because you made the change to a unique copy of City
Ambience, the original will not have been affected.
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Lab Ten using Audition
A mono version, bottom, of the upper stereo clip
Compare the stereo version and the mono version by soloing
tracks one, then two.
Panning the Track
In track two (the mono version), set the panning to begin at
eighty per cent right, then from four seconds through ten
seconds, move the panning to eighty per cent left, leaving it
there for the remainder of the clip.
Panning a mono source to give a stereo quality.
Listen to the track.
Listening to the Stereo Image
Track One should still contain the original stereo file. Solo
track one to listen to it.
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Lab Ten using Audition
TASK: PROCESSING AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN SOUNDS
Setting Up a Session
After creating a new session and importing track 56
Audience and track 2 River from the Soundscapes and
Sound Materials CD, place Audience in track one and
River in track three.
Create unique copies of both clips, and place them in tracks
two and four.
Processing the Files
We will process the copies of both clips through the same setting.
Double click on the Audience copy to enter Edit View.
From the Effects menu, select the Graphic Equalizer from the
Filter submenu.
We want to boost the frequencies above 5 kHz, and cut the
frequencies below 1 kHz. Boost the highs by about 10 dB.
Doing two things at once: the Graphic Equalizer allows us to
boost the highs and cut the lows at the same time.
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Process the file.
Return to Multitrack View, select the original clip of River
(in track three) and enter Edit View.
Lab Ten using Audition
Select the Graphic Equalizer again. The settings should still
be the same since your last process. Process the file.
A Dynamic Relationship
The original Audience should be in track one at time 0:00 .
Using volume automation, create a five-second fade-in from
0 to 100% starting at time 0:00.
Create a ten-second fade-out, beginning at time :20.
Volume automation on Audience
The processed version of Audience should be in track two at
time 0:00. Make a copy (reference) immediately following the
clip in the same track.
Set the volume automation to begin at 0 %, then create another
breakpoint at time :10 at 0% (to keep the volume off until
then). Create a ten-second fade-in from :10 to :20.
Create a ten-second fade-out, from :30 to :40.
Volume automation in Audience and its processed copy,
Audience (2)
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Lab Ten using Audition
Switching Sounds
Move the processed version of River (which should still be
in track three) to :20 (where the original Audience begins its
fade-out. Place the original version of River at exactly the
same location in track six. Watch the Status Bar to place the
clips at the same location.
Data under cursor in the status bar remember it?
Select one of the River clips, and duplicate it five times (Clip
Duplicate from the Edit menu). Do the same for the other clip.
Fade in track threes River (processed version) from :25 to
:35a ten-second fade-in.
This fade will have to cross two clips; therefore, you will have
to guess as to where the first clips breakpoint level should be
placed, and the second clips breakpoint level should be
placed. I used 25% for both, and it seemed to visually line up.
Volume envelopes over two clips
Fade out processed River from :41 to :51.
Similarly, the fade will cross two clips, and you will have to
estimate what the crossing point will be.
In the final track, which contains the original version of
River, create a ten-second fade-in from about :35 until :45.
Then create a fade-out from :55 to the end of the clip.
Lastly, remove the first two River clips.
These clips were needed in the Clip Duplicate process, in
order to keep the original and processed versions of River in
phase (remember, they both started at exactly the same time).
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Lab Ten using Audition
Your session should look something like the one below:
The above task, with four tracks of volume automation
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