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Fundamentals
Waveforms
2 channels
= stereo
volume
time
2 channels = stereo
Waveforms
By looking at the above picture, you can identify this sound as stereo because there
are two channels. You can also identify that each channel is different. These are
called the left and right channels.
A mono sound only has one channel and will play the exact same sound from both
speakers (left and right channels).
A mono sound is half as much information for a computer to process.
1 track = mono
Clipping
Doing this to a sound file is destructive editing.
One of the most important things to avoid in audio editing is clipping. Clipping
occurs when the volume is increased beyond the normal waveform range. When
clipping occurs, the sound quality is irreversibly damaged.
before clipping
after clipping
If a sound is clipped you can reduce the volume, but the damage is done.
decay
Attack is the time it takes a sound to go from silence to full volume.
Decay is the time it takes a sound to go from full volume to silence.
decay
This waveform has a longer attack than decay but both are gradual. Attacks and
decays can be very short or long.
Normalize
Effect of amplifying the sound to a
maximum level without clipping.
Normalize
Normalizing your sound files is very
important. This is one of the steps
you should use when developing
audio for any audience.
Some sounds are supposed to be
quiet, some loud. Normalize makes
sound volumes relative to each
other in a standard way.
original waveform
Normalize
normalized waveform
The waveform is normalized but
not clipped.
This is non-destructive editing.
Normalize standards are how
audio CDs and DVD movies have
a volume levels with relative
consistency.
Which sound would be louder?
Sounds can be faded-in and/or fadedout with most audio editing software.
Fade-in is also called the attack. Fade
out is also called the decay.
Pan
To pan sound is to move it between channels.
Have you ever heard sounds pan between channels?
Mix
Mix is having two or more separate sounds and combining them into one sound.
Audio editing often has many separate sound files, maybe just a couple, maybe
hundreds.
mixed