- Effects basics
- Using the Effects Rack
- Effect categories
- Amplitude and Compression effects
- Delay and echo effects
- Filter and EQ effects
- Modulation effects
- Noise reduction/restoration
- Reverb effects
- Special effects
- Stereo imagery effects
- Time and Pitch effects
- Third-party effects (VST and AU)
- Using the Effects menu
- Presets and favorites
- Review questions
- Review answers
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Using the Effects menu
You can process any audio selected in the Waveform or Multitrack Editor by choosing the desired effect from the Effects menu. Unlike with the Effects Rack, you can apply only one effect at a time.
This section covers effects that are available exclusively from the Effects menu. Any effects you can also access from the Effects Rack work the same way when opened from the Effects menu, with three exceptions:
The Invert, Reverse, and Silence effects are applied to the audio as soon as you select them. You can use the Undo command to undo the effects.
Most effects chosen via the effects categories (Amplitude and Compression, Delay and Echo, and so on) have an Apply and Close button. Clicking Apply applies the effect to the selected audio.
Unlike in the Effects Rack, editing is destructive (although the changes aren’t made permanent until you save the file). However, you can still preview changes before applying them, because most effects applied via the Effects menu have Play
and Loop 
buttons in addition to a Power on/off button 
. Loop repeats the selected portion of the audio (or all of the audio if you haven’t made a selection) when you click Play.
Invert, Reverse, and Silence effects
Invert changes the signal’s polarity (commonly called phase) and produces no audible difference. Reverse flips an audio selection so that the beginning occurs at the end and the end at the beginning. Silence replaces the selected audio with silence.
Choose File > Open, navigate to the Lesson04 folder, and open the file NarrationNeedsHelp.wav.
Play the file to hear what it sounds like, and then select the part at the beginning that says, “Most importantly, you need to maintain good backups of your data.”
Choose Effects > Invert. Note that the positive and negative sections are flipped, so the positive peaks are now negative and vice versa. However, if you play this, you’ll hear no audible difference.
Choose Effects > Reverse. Play the selection, and you’ll hear reversed speech.
Choose Effects > Silence to convert the audio to silence.
Close the file without saving it.
)
)
Match Loudness effect
It’s often helpful to match levels among different pieces of music. This is particularly important for broadcasting, where some governments impose regulations defining maximum volume levels.
However, there are many ways to measure level. A signal’s peak is one indication of level, but so is a signal’s average level. A drum hit has a high peak level but a low average level because after the hit, the amount of energy decays rapidly. On the other hand, a sustained sound, such as a distorted guitar, has a high average level but low peak level.
As a result, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has developed standard measurement protocols—the most recent being LUFS (Loudness Units referenced to Full Scale). Loudness units are based on the human perception of amplitude.
One application of Audition is to match levels to the broadcasting standard of -23 LUFS.
Choose Effects > Match Loudness. The Match Loudness panel opens.
You may need to resize the panel to see all of the controls and information. If you are working on a smaller screen, consider undocking the panel by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) while you drag the panel name away from the group.
In Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS), browse to the Lesson04 folder. Drag the files ContinentalDrift.wav and DeepTechHouse.wav directly into the upper half of the Match Loudness panel. Audition analyzes the signal and displays readings that relate to different ways to measure loudness.
If the information is not displayed, click the Compute Loudness button
.Click the Match Loudness Settings button to display the fully editable settings. It’s unlikely you will ever change these settings, other than to choose a preset in the Match To menu.
Choose ITU-R BS.1770-3 Loudness if it is not already active.
For the Loudness parameter, the target is set to −23 LUFS. Leave the Look-Ahead Time and Release Time at their default values (12 ms and 200 ms, respectively).
Click Run. Audition adjusts both files to an ITU Loudness level of −23 dB. The other readings will change to reflect the changes in overall level.
NOTEYou can export the matched waveforms by selecting Export, then clicking Export Settings and selecting the desired options in the Export Settings dialog box prior to clicking Run. For more information on exporting files, refer to Chapter 17, “Mixing and Output.”
Click the Editor panel menu, and choose ContinentalDrift.wav. Listen to about a minute of it.
Click the Editor panel menu, select DeepTechHouse.wav, and again, listen to about a minute of it. Note how the subjective levels over time for the two files are very similar.
)
Additional Amplitude and Compression effects
Three items on the Effects > Amplitude and Compression submenu are not available in the Effects Rack:
Normalize: Allows you to automatically adjust the audio level to a peak amplitude you specify. You can apply the adjustment to a whole audio file or a selection, which makes it useful for leveling out sections of inconsistent level.
Fade Envelope: Reduces amplitude over time using precisely designed curves.
Gain Envelope: Allows you to boost or reduce amplitude over time with precisely designed curves.
Many of these adjustments can be achieved manually but applying the effect can save time by incorporating several changes into a single process.
Diagnostic, Noise Reduction, and Restoration effects
Diagnostic, Noise Reduction, and Restoration effects will be covered in Chapter 5 along with the real-time, non-destructive noise reduction and restoration tools. The effects selected from the Effects menu produce the same sonic results but are destructive, DSP-based processes. The Loudness Radar Meter in the Special menu is covered in Chapter 6, “Mastering.”
Doppler Shifter effect
The Doppler Shifter effect (found in the Special menu) is an unusual effect that changes pitch and amplitude to make signals sound “three dimensional” as they circle around you, whiz by from left to right, and do other effects that alter spatial placement.
Note that opening the Doppler Shifter effect automatically opens the Preview Editor so you can see the effect the Doppler Shifter has on the processed waveform.
Manual Pitch Correction effect
The Manual Pitch Correction effect is one of three effects that are available only from the Time and Pitch submenu of the Effects menu.
)
While viewing the effect settings, the HUD displays an additional control for pitch along with the standard volume control. Drag this control down to lower pitch; drag up to raise pitch.
)
Below the waveform display, the Spectral Pitch Display is enabled, allowing you to make adjustments while interacting with a real-time readout of pitch data.
Pitch Bender effect
The Pitch Bender can change a file’s pitch over time. This effect doesn’t stretch time to compensate for pitch changes, so it takes less time to play through sections with higher pitches and more time to play through sections with lower pitches. The Pitch Bender allows for drawing an envelope for smooth changes.
Stretch and Pitch effect
The Stretch and Pitch effect is the third effect in the Time And Pitch category that’s available only from the Effects menu. It offers high-quality time stretching and pitch adjustment.
