So, here we are.  How do you like the place?  Kick your shoes off, we’re on the new server.  And, apparently, someone paid the bill!

I’ve got some questions in the mail bag that I’ll be writing up posts for over the weekend, but I wanted to extend the floor to you, the kind, gentle reader.  I am very excited about putting together video tutorials and more podcasts, and I’d love to hear your ideas on topics I should cover.

Because, then I can say things like “user generated content” and be taken seriously.  Actually, I’ll probably never be taken seriously.  There’s laws in most states, as I understand it.

Anyway, as I’m being carted away to the asylum for the evening, let me leave you with an open floor to pass along your suggestions.  Feel free to leave a comment on this thread or click “write in” above and e-mail.  If you’d like to write as an author and share what you know, I’d welcome that, too.

Thanks for your continued support and participation.

Horror movies are en vogue.  Beginning with the success of early hits like Cabin Fever, Hostel, and Saw, studios have taken a delicious descent into the sublime and scary.  Names like Lakeshore, Intrepid, Rogue, Twisted, Lionsgate, Screen Gems, Platinum Dunes, and others are now household names and calling cards among “in the know” horror fans.  Along with the revival of horror movies comes the ability for the music component of these films to take the same chances and have as much imagination as their celluloid counterparts.

When it comes to twisted imagery, it’s hard to rival the works of Clive Barker.  His 1984 short story, “Midnight Meat Train”, has been produced into a movie of the same name that will be on screens in limited releast starting today (August 1st).  The dark tone of the film lends itself well to a more expansive musical investment, and producers tapped Justin Lassen to create the soundtrack as a companion to the score.  Justin put a fresh (and delightfully dark) spin on the score by remixing it into an entire album.  What came out the other side is a thought-provoking collection of pieces that, while true to the tone and themes of the movie, create a sound scape all their own and tell an arresting story of their own.  And it leaves me hoping to hear Justin doing full scores sooner than later.  (I’m looking at you, Seraphim and Weinstein Company.  I know the Hellraiser remake is due next year.)

Justin has remixed for many of the greats.  His dark, evocative, brooding, and unique approach to the texture of music is exactly what I want to hear when I think of a photographer stalking a serial killer.  On a train.  With meat.  (Did I say that right?)

For this project, he used Adobe Audition extensively.  Each producer and musician uses his tools differently, so I sat down with Justin to pry into his skull and find out more about his use of Audition, the way he works as a musician, and what his experience working on a major motion picture could teach the rest of us about production in general.  He’s terrifically smart and nice, and I think you’ll genuinely enjoy hearing what he has to say about music, production, and technology.

Podcast Audio:

- Direct Link To Audio (or use the player)

 

 Justin Lassen Interview [11:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Links:

- Empire of Modern Thought - Justin’s official website.
- In The Mind of the Darkly Inclined - Justin’s blog.
- Midnight Meat Train Soundtrack - Official MySpace page.
- Midnight Meat Train OST - Buy from Amazon (or iTunes).
- Lakeshore Records
- Synaesthesia Series - One and three.
- Midnight Meat Train - Official site for the film.

If you use Audition for the same types of tasks each day, this tip may help to save you time.  In my case, I spent most of my time in Audition creating production for radio.  I like to have things laid out in a certain way, because it’s faster for me.  For example, I like to have three tracks (VO 1, VO 2, VO 3) that are sent to a bus called “VO Bus” which has my dynamics processing settings already loaded up.  Then, I usually start with four other tracks that feed straight into the master channel.  Finally, I have two effects on the master channel:  a slight tweak using Parametric EQ, and a little more presence using the L2 from Waves.

I timed myself today.  It took me about 25 or 30 seconds to set that up.  Lots of clicks all over both monitors.  Even if you work at superhuman speeds, that’s a waste of your time.  It’s much easier to set it up once, then tell Audition to use that session layout as the default.  It will remember tracks, how you have them bused, effects, EQ, and the works.

Did I mention it’s extremely easy to do?

Just set up your session the way you like it, minus any audio clips.  (If you want to make sure you have it sounding right by testing with audio clips, that’s fine, just get rid of them before you proceed to the next step.)

Then, from the”File” menu, expand “Default Session” (near the bottom).  The two options do exactly as promised.  If you’d like the set up you just created to be the default any time you open Audition or create a new session, select “Set Current Session As Default“.

If, in the future, you decide to abandon the whole thing, simple choose “Clear Default Session“, and you will be returned to the Adobe default: six tracks, no effect or bus presets loaded, and the master.

There is one thing to keep in mind when you’re choosing a default session.  The more complicated the layout, the longer it will take Audition to load and prepare it each time you create a new session.  We’re not talking minutes here, but if you have set up a bus or two and have effects here and there, it may take a few seconds before you’re ready to start producing…even if you’re on a screaming quad core with 8 gigs of RAM.  Still, it saves you time in the long run.  Plus, you’re free to start translating your ideas into audio without having to fuss with the hassle of preparation.

And, personally, it makes my work a little more consistent and easier to edit later.

As I mentioned in the previous post and podcast, if you’re digging around in the menus with any frequency, it’s time to step back and set some shortcut keys.

Almost any task or effect you can think of can be pulled up in record time by assigning it a shortcut key. And, thankfully, you’re not very limited when it comes to what keys you can use. You can even use a MIDI controller or keyboard if you like…something advanced editors will find saves even more time. If you have left Audition alone with the default set of shortcut keys, you’re missing out!

Let’s dig around a little, and maybe get a little dirty.

To see what’s available, click “Edit” and select “Keyboard Shortcuts and MIDI Triggers”. You will notice that it’s a simple dialog: a place to save presets, a way to browse the types of actions/effects, and the area for assigning a key or controller value. As with most settings in Audition, you’re able to save a “snapshot” of your keyboard shortcuts (technically called “sets”), and switch readily and easily between any that are available to you, including reverting to the old default set if you just need to start over.

Next to “Category” is where you’ll want to start by examining your options. By default, you get a list of EVERYTHING. If you want to work from this list, that’s fine, but you are likely to overlook something. So, let’s narrow it down a bit and start with something simple. Select “Effects” from the “Category” dropdown, then un-toggle “Multitrack” and “CD View” so that only “Edit View” is depressed and rendered in light gray (indicating that it’s active). In English, this means the list of available options will be relevant only to Effects in the Edit View. Makes sense, right?

Here’s a list of all the effects you’ve got. Any third party DirectX or VST plug-ins are prefaced with their respective names. Conceivably, you can access any effect with one keystroke. Let’s say, for example, that you want to invoke the “Envelope” effect (under Effects, Amplitude and Compression, if you were to navigate the menus…however in this menu, the “Effects” part is implied). In our scenario, it’s the fifth option down. You’ll see it as “Amplitude and Compression\Envelope (process)”. Simply click it to being editing. Second, click inside the white text box under “Press a new shortcut key” just to the right”. Then, simply press “E”. At the same time you see an “E” appear in the box, you will see the list on the left side of the dialog update with your key in the “Shortcut” column. That’s all there is to it.

Now, let’s suppose you want to assign the “A” key to the “Amplify/Fade” effect, the third option in our list. If you follow the same steps, substituting and “A” where we used “E” earlier, all may look well. But, if you divert your attention to the lower-right dialog box entitled “Conflicting Keys”, you may see that there are now two commands/actions competing for the “A” key, something Audition will not allow. (If you’re working from the default preset, “A” normally changes the cursor mode to the “scrub” tool.)

If you encounter a key conflict, you have two options. You could simple select another key that doesn’t raise a conflict. Or, if the other command/action is something you never use, you could simple remove the shortcut key from it. If, for example, I decide that I want “A” to invoke the “Amplitude/Fade” effect instead of the scrub tool, it’s simple to remove the latter association. First, we’ll navigate to the scrub tool by selecting “Edit/Insert” from the “Category” dropdown, and locating “Tool: Scrub”, which is just near the bottom of the list. Highlight it, and click the “Clear” button next to where you enter the desired shortcut key. You will notice that the “A” disappears from the scrub tool command, and Audition no longer complains about a key conflict with “A”.

(The shortcuts dialog box you’re in organizes commands and actions just like the menu tree does, so it should be easy to find the analog. You switch to the scrub tool in the “Edit” menu, so that’s where it is inside this dialog box, too. Simple, right?)

This procedure is the same if you’re using a MIDI controller. Follow the same instructions, but where you’d normally enter a key on the QWERTY keyboard, simply do what you’d normally do on your MIDI controller (i.e. press a key on a digital piano). If you don’t get the desired result, you may either have the wrong device selected (”MIDI In”), or your device may not be sending the commands on the right channel (”Channel”).

If you’ve been following along, you will probably notice that next to “Set”, we’ve now got something called “[Custom]”, which means we’ve modified an earlier “snapshot” of shortcut keys. This is a nice sanity check to keep you from accidentally over-writing other sets. Once you’ve dug around a bit (remember to use the dropdown box in conjunction with the three toggle buttons), set the keys you like, and verified that there are no conflicts, you’ll want to save your new set. Next to the “Set” dropdown box, simply click “Save As…”, and give your set a new name. Once you’ve done this, it will become selected by default, and will go into effect when you click “OK” at the lower right of the dialog box.

Now What?

- Weaning yourself away from digging in the menus all the time can be a weird mental adjustment. But, give yourself a few days to get used to your shortcut keys, then make any adjustments as you go along. A week from now, you’ll think that digging in the menus is nuts, and that shortcut keys are the only way to go, trust me.

- Try and assign shortcut keys that are easily accessible by your secondary hand. That is, the hand that’s not on the mouse most of the time. I’m right handed, so making “F12″ a shortcut key seems like a lot of movement for my left hand. This is a personal thing, of course, but most of my shortcuts are concentrated and biased towards keys that my left hand can reach effortlessly. You may find that something else works better for you. If it’s faster, go with it! There aren’t any rules here. It’s about setting yourself up so that you can WORK as quickly as you THINK.

- Switching between sets is as easy as returning to this dialog box, selecting a different set from the “Set” dropdown box, and clicking “OK”. (Thinking recursively, if you’re switching back and forth a lot, then you can even set your own shortcut key to bring up this dialog box! The default, though, is Alt and “K”, though I’ve never changed it personally.)

- You’ll want to do a back-up of all your presets, including your shortcut key sets, on a regular basis. I have written an easy-to-understand tutorial on how to do this. There is nothing worse than getting used to settings over a period of months, then losing them and having to re-create them. Plus, you may want to take them with you if you’re using multiple computers for editing (desktop, laptop, etc). This is easily accomplished and explained fully in the tutorial.

What are your hands doing when you’re producing? Here is some audio riffing about the philosophy of your hand movement, shortcut keys, and presets.

Related Posts:

-  Assigning Shortcut Keys and Sets

The Audio:

Direct Link To Audio (Or use player below.)

 

 Podcast: The Philosophy of Your Hands [6:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

While I’m sure you save your projects with the uncompressed versions of all its constituent waveforms, when it comes time to send out a file to a client or upload a piece to your site, you’re most likely going to encode as MP3. In Audition, this is very easy, and most of us are comfortable doing it. But, it’s worth explaining exactly what’s going on “under the hood”, and what some of the more obscure options do.

First, a word on MP3 in general. This is a fantastic technology that’s not only made it easy to take high quality audio with you, but it’s revolutionized many industries as well. Whereas it used to be a hassle to deliver commercials and programs to radio stations (think FedEx and CD’s in a best case scenario), we now just e-mail each other MP3’s. As a radio production guy, I also incorporate MP3’s into my production, so I’ve probably got about 16 open right now. But please. PLEASE! Never save your projects with those MP3 files as they are. Hard drive space is cheap, so please always make sure you’re saving your sessions and projects with the full, uncompressed audio so that you’ve got a perfect copy to work from every time.

Never discard your original files. Never save any part of a final project as MP3.

Please only use MP3 to exchange audio casually. E-mailing a spot to a client? Yes. Posting samples of your work for people to stream/download online? Yes. Submitting a master to a record label? No. Saving loops for later use? No.

I have posted (right) a capture of the MP3 options dialog. If yours looks smaller when saving, click the “Advanced” button to show all the options.

(Note to Audition team: the “Help” button and “F1″ don’t do anything in this dialog. Actually, that’s not true. Sometimes it just brings up Windows Explorer. This may be a bug.)

In my example, I’ll be saving at 224Kbps, stereo, a 44.1 kHz sample rate, and a constant bitrate. I have no custom options selected. Pretty easy to understand. Now, let’s break it all down.

CBR or VBR?

Constant bit rate or variable bit rate? Generally speaking, at comparable quality, VBR will yield lower file sizes. It works by altering the encoding bit rate depending on the audio coming into the encoder. If, perceptually, there isn’t much audio content, the bit rate will momentarily be low, thus saving file space. However, because each file is different, it’s tough to predict the exact resulting file size. (You can usually “ballpark” it once you’ve done it a few times, though.)

When encoding in VBR, you are given a choice of ranges of bit rates, rather than one specific number. The lower number will indicate the lowest possible bit rate, and the higher number the opposite. For example, if you’re encoding VBR using the “Highest Quality” (150-240 Kbps) preset, you know that the bit rate will never go below 150 and will never exceed 240. For average audio, then, its average file size is comparable to 192Kbps audio encoded as CBR, but with the advantage of perhaps using higher bit rates when needed.

In contrast, constant bit rate will yield a predictable file size by using the same bit rate through the entire file. You will also be able to see the exact ratio of compression, too, when encoding in this method. In the example in the screen capture, you see the ratio of “6.3:1″. In English…this file, versus its uncompressed counterpart, will be 6.3 times smaller. If your source audio is 100 megabytes uncompressed, the resulting MP3 will be just under 16 megabytes.

Personally, I never bother with VBR, simply as a matter of habit. Any player out there today can play either, but I’m not short on hard drive space, and I’m very much married to my presets. Variable bit rate files, however, are increasingly popular. Play around and see what you like.

MP3 or mp3PRO?

mp3PRO is an extension of the MP3 codec that allows for “CD quality” at around 64Kbps. Unless you have a specific use for this, and you know the audience will be able to play back mp3PRO files, I would stick with MP3. It’s a wonderful technology (especially for podcasting, Internet radio, etc), but player support is often sub-par, presumably because of licensing problems. Your options in mp3PRO are roughly analogous to the standard MP3. Just remember that, on average, you can halve the bit rates you’d normally use in MP3 to achieve the same effect in mp3PRO.

Bitrate

That’s the dropdown dialog box you see below the options we just discussed. In my case, I’ve selected 224Kbps. (You can also specify this manually below.) The higher the number, the better quality the audio. Unless you’ve got ears of gold, anything above 256Kbps will be overkill. (Indeed, the original specification for MPEG 1 Layer 3 audio stops just above that at 320.)  In fact, most people won’t be able to detect the difference between 128Kbps and 192Kbps.  You’ve probably found a good system that works for you.

But, if you’re new to this world and aren’t sure what to select, here is a quick guide based on the material (we’re assuming you’re saving in stereo unless otherwise noted):

Podcasting:
- 32Kbps - A great option “B” to provide for the bandwidth impaired.
- 64Kbps - Great for longer programs. If it’s mostly chatter, however, consider converting to mono (see below). TWiT (This Week In Tech), one of the most popular podcasts/netcasts online, delivers the MP3 encoded at 64Kbps in mono, for example.
- 128Kbps - Great short programs, or if you’re featuring music or other quality-demanding content.

Music:
- 64Kbps - Good for posting a low quality preview for fast streaming.
- 128Kbps - Acceptable Quality
- 192Kbps - Good Quality
- 256Kbps - Great Quality

Production:
- 128Kbps - Good for showcasing, airchecks, and demo reels.
- 224Kbps - Good for sharing workparts and finished material.
- 320Kbps - A great way to archive old material and workparts. You burn the original session files to a backup, then keep the MP3 files around so you always have them at least available to listen to.

Just Voice:
- 128Kbps - Great with “convert to mono” option selected, see below. (Most “voice guys” I deal with in the radio industry send out their work in this manner.)

Convert To Mono

If all you’re sending out is a voice over, or you need a “lo fi” version of an MP3 quick, this option is for you. It saves you the step of having to do the conversion on the audio itself…the MP3 encoder will take care of it transparently. Be aware, however, that the highest bit rate available in mono is 128Kbps. (This options is not available for VBR files.)

Maximum Bandwidth

If you read back to my post about digital audio basics, you’ll recall that the highest frequency a file can represent is denoted by halving the sample rate. Accordingly, Audition will set this value to be zen with your sample rate. Trust me when I tell you, leave this alone in 99.99% of cases.

CBR Bitrate

If you’re encoding CBR, this is a chance to specify an exact bit rate. The standard is to use increments of 16, but it’s technically possible to encode anywhere from 20Kbps to 320Kbps. So, yes, you could encode at 312Kbps if you so desired. You won’t have this option, obviously, if you switch to VBR encoding mode.

Sample Rate

Regardless of the sample rate of your source material, you can encode the MP3 with a different sample rate. I would strongly discourage delegating the job of re-sampling to the encoder. This is something I would do inside Audition (use “F11″ or your shortcut key) prior to generating the MP3 file. There are two reasons to avoid this. First, not all bit rate and sample rate combinations are valid. You could, in theory, encode a file nobody could play. Second, I’m not sure if the audio would be correctly low pass filtered, which could be a quality control problem.

This is just me, but I stick to sending out MP3’s at 44.1 kHz unless there is a very specific reason to do otherwise. It’s universal, and it works. (But yes, still save your projects with the uncompressed files at the original sample rates.)

Codec

You can read more about this in the Audition help file. The only thing I have to say about this is…leave it at “Current - Best Quality” unless you’re an audiophile who’s also a glutton for punishment.

Allow “X”

(Editor’s note: I usually leave these UN-checked. These are expert or legacy options that have specific uses that you won’t usually need to worry about.)

…Mid-Side Joint Stereo: If you’ve created a specific stereo image, this affords you an opportunity to preserve it during the encode. However, technically speaking, your file won’t truly be stereo. Rather, it’s stored as a combination/difference between the channels.

…Intensity Joint Stereo: This will obliterate the stereo image by saving some frequencies in mono and others in stereo. It will reduce your file size a bit, but at a great cost to the quality of your resulting file. This is very much a legacy option. Almost a faux mono. Never use this on stereo material like music.

…Narrowing of Stereo Image: With this setting, the encoder will try to increase the “big picture” quality of the file by quashing the stereo image where it’s deemed perceptually pointless.

Set “X” Bit

These are meta-data bits in the file that denote specific properties. Think of it as additional tagging for your files. Almost a “for your reference” bit.

Padding

This is one option specific to the decoder that will be used. Padding in MP3 files is so boring to explain that it’s likely to put you into a coma. Suffice to say, unless you have specific knowledge that you need to encode with “no padding” or “always padding”, just leave it at “ISO Padding”.

If you’re wondering why, in some cases, there is a tiny amount of silence at the beginning and end of your MP3 file, this is where it’s coming from…but it’s the decoder, not Audition. This is a technical limitation in the way MP3 files are structured. It’s best to accept and ignore it and know to never to save anything that you would need to “loop perfectly” later on as an MP3. (There are codecs out there nowadays to do “gapless” encoding, but guess how frustrating they are to use…)

Set all decoding to 32-bit

If you’re in my school of thought of “always work in 32-bit”, then check this box any time you save an MP3. It’s an Audition-specific command that will cause the file to be up-converted to 32-bit automatically when you open it. Saves you the trouble of having to mash the F11 key. Your iPod or Winamp will just ignore this instruction when playing back audio, don’t worry.

Encode Stereo as Dual Channel

If you’re a quality snob, hit the check box. This will give you a true stereo MP3 file, since the left and right “streams” will be saved and encoded distinct from one another. In reality, though, this option is actually only useful if what’s going on in the left channel has nothing to do with the right channel. This would be a good option, for example, if you’re providing a click track on the left channel and a guide track on the right. In that case, you’d want each to be completely separate from one another. However, in everyday use, this is usually unnecessary.

Write CRC Checksums

For the unfamiliar, CRC and technologies like it, allow for a checksum to be embedded into the file. The checksum, sometimes called a “hash” or “fingerprint”, allows the integrity of the file to be known before it’s played back. I usually leave this checked by default, since it’s a good sanity check. It will only cost you a few bytes in storage, something you’ll never notice.

Don’t give up on me yet!  Apologies from the editor/author of this blog.  Last week, I got a concussion, then sustained a second, less severe head injury this week.  I am just now back in full swing, so keep coming back.  Will be posting over the weekend.

Which, by the way, I hope you have a great one.

If you live mostly indoors away from sunlight in a dark room (like I do), you might want to “dim” the brightness of the Audition user interface to be easier on your eyes. Maybe you have vision problems and need the colors to be of higher contrast.  Or, maybe you just want the program to be more blue. This is easily accomplished.

From the “Edit” menu, select “Preferences“. Then click on the “Color” tab.

Here, you are presented with a list of each “skin-able” element on the left, along with an example of your work on the right. You may want to take a minute to thumb through the presets provided, as well, since there are some interesting combinations you can use as starting points to customize.

When it comes to the user interface itself (the windows, modules, etc), you can control that from the bottom portion of this dialog. Dragging the “UI Brightness” slider will darken/lighten Audition in real time, so you can tweak it to your liking quickly. For further customization, click the “Tint” button to give some color to the program. I’ve got mine tinted slightly to blue, for example.

Once you’ve got a look you like, save your preset by clicking “Save As” near the upper right boundary of the dialog box.  That way, you can recover it if you move computers or have to restore a backup.

Hint: If the background color in the multi-track mixer has become too dark or bright to read the text associated with the EQ, pan, send, and volume controls, you can remedy this by changing the color of the “Hot Text” item in the list described above.

Bit depth. Bit rate. Dynamic range. These are all considerations you should become used to pondering when you undertake a multi-track project or a simple edit. I’m not going to get terribly scientific, but I am going to give you a general look at what’s under the hood when you are working with digital audio files.

Sample Rate

Explained in its simplest form, sample rate refers to how many snapshots of audio are taken per second. It’s expressed as hertz. Audio on CD, for example, has a sample rate of 44,100 hertz. These rates are sometimes simplified to kilohertz: 44.1 kHz in our CD audio example. (It’s important to note that, strictly speaking, sample rate does not mean the same thing as “bit rate”, which is explained below.)

In addition to describing the number of samples captured per second, the sample rate also determines the frequency range of the given material. Halving the sample rate will yield the maximum frequency you could theoretically represent in that file. Using our CD example, 44,100 Hz divided by 2 yields 22,050 Hz. Conveniently, 22,050 Hz is just above the accepted range of human hearing (around 20 kHz).

While 44.1 kHz is most common in everyday applications, others are used frequently. 48 kHz is used for audio on standard definition DVD’s, digital television, and even DAT. Blu-Ray (and old HD-DVD) discs use 96 kHz audio.

Generally speaking, the sample rate you choose for a project or recording should hinge upon the ultimate use for it. If you’re producing audio for DVD, you’d want to choose 48 kHz. And, unless you have a special application for which a specific bit rate is desired, 44.1 kHz is a good default.

Converting between sample rates is easy in Audition, but the result will differ depending on the “direction” of the conversion. For example, if you down convert from 48 kHz to 44.1 kHz, you will lose some bits of audio data. While it may not be audible or apparent, it’s still technically a generational loss of quality. Conversely, if you up convert audio that was sampled at 11,025 Hz to 44,100 Hz, audio bits will be added to the file to fill in the gaps, but the quality of the signal will not improve to that of material that was originally recorded at 44.1 kHz. A great reason to record at the right sample rate the first time around.

Of course, the higher the sample rate, the larger the resulting file will be.

Channels

Stereo or mono? This one requires little explanation beyond a few key points. First, if you are recording vocals from a single microphone, you can save hard drive space (and later processing time) by recording in mono. The same applies to certain instruments like basses. It won’t hurt to record in stereo, however. In fact, I recommend always recording in stereo. It’s good habit to always have the cleanest copy of anything you record available for latest processing. If you recording something in mono, then realize you needed it in stereo, you’re up a creek. Short of recording it again, you have to dip into theatrics to ‘fake’ the stereo image.

In my opinion, you should work on all projects in stereo. Even if you’re recording a podcast that you know will be a low bit-rate MP3 in mono, still work on it in as high quality as possible (and in stereo). Don’t make the sacrifice of quality until the last possible moment.

Bit Depth

This is a more tricky nuance of digital audio to wrap your head around. Admittedly, it’s complicated. I even find myself having to reference specifications all the time. If you find this confusing, you’re not alone. The math is tricky. So, we won’t worry about it. Let’s talk about what bit depth means to you and how to choose.

How many distinct levels of loudness can your audio project/file represent? That’s bit depth. If you don’t ask any questions, it’s really that simple.

At 8 bits, there are only 256 levels of amplitude (loudness) that can be recorded. At 16 bits, you’ve got just over 65,000. Much better! At 24 bits, you’re up to almost 17 million. Pushing the upper limit at 32 bits, you’re afforded just over 4 billion. If you’re vaguely reminded of images and the settings for your graphics card, pat yourself on the back. The same principle applies: an 8 bit image can only represent 256 colors (crappy). An 8 bit audio file can represent 256 separate amplitude levels (also crappy). Typically, if you record below 16 bits, you’re doing something wrong.

I recommend that, when working in Audition, you always work in 32 bit. Yes, the files are bigger. Yes, there’s a slightly higher demand on your CPU. However, if you’re a plug-in or filter lover, you’re not going to have to worry about the “decay” of quality that takes place from this process. There’s so much more information (bits) to work with, that you can rack up hundreds of plug-ins before the audio quality even begins to suffer theoretically. Not to mention it’s virtually impossible to clip audio in 32 bits. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep good levels.

(Technical note: the latest bit depth that’s “realistic” is 24. When you’re using 32 bits in Audition, you’re using 24 bits plus an exponent. This is called floating point and has to do with a mantissa and an the aforementioned exponent. In addition to being extremely boring and hard to explain, it’s something most users can ignore.)

Dynamic Range

What’s the difference between the quietest and loudest bit of audio that your digital audio can represent? That’s dynamic range, and it’s directly related to bit depth. As I explained, a higher bit depth equals more possible amplitude values. There you go. Dynamic range is normally expressed as decibels (dB). The normal range of human hearing is around 96 dB (the dynamic range of a 16 bit file). A 32 bit file, for example, has a theoretical dynamic range of 192 dB. But your ears begin to hurt extremely bad at 120 dB. So why the need for such a high dynamic range?

You want that extra data, trust me, even if you’re never going to push out 192 dB (that would kill you, for what it’s worth). Not to sound like a broken record, but there are more bits to work with. It’s more precise. I’m back to my philosophy of “always work with the highest quality you can”.

Bit Rate

This is a data rate derived from the first three topics I covered in this blog. Want to calculate how big a file is going to be?

Bit Rate (in bits per second) = Number of Channels * Sample Rate * Bit Depth

A typical audio CD:

2 * 44100 * 16
= 1,411,200 bits per second

However, your computer represents file size in units of “bytes”. The conversion is simple: divide by 8. Then it’s just a matter of unit conversion.

1,411,200 bits per second = 172.266 kilobytes per second
1,411,200 bits per second = 10.094 megabytes per minute
1,411,200 bits per second = 605.621 megabytes per hour

A slightly larger example, using stereo 32 bit audio sampled at 96 kHz:

2 * 96000 * 32
= 6,144,000 bits per second
= 43.945 megabytes per minute

Hint: plug your conversion into Google literally. For example, type in “1,411,200 bits per second to megabytes per hour” to get the result.

There’s nothing worse than the aftermath of a computer crash, where you’re left to re-install and re-configure all your programs, presets, workspaces, and such. I can’t save you the install, but I can show you how to preserve all your presets, workspaces, and keyboard shortcuts in Audition. (This is also useful if you use Audition in multiple places and just like to have things synchronized between locations.  A lot of us do this with Audition on our desktop and our laptop for field recording.) I have seen software on the Internet sell for upwards of $50 to do what I’m about to explain to you. This won’t take you more than a minute or two, and it won’t cost you a thing.

In this tutorial, as always, you can click any thumbnail image for a larger version.

For reasons that aren’t clear to me, Audition stores your keyboard shortcut preferences in the Windows Registry. That means we have to go two places to make copies of critical files. A minor hassle. Here is how to retrieve a copy of those:

1. Keyboard Shortcuts

You’ll want to initiate the registry editor by clicking “Start”, then “Run”, typing “regedit”, and hitting enter. You can also use the Windows Key and “R” to bring up the run dialog much faster. If you’re unfamiliar with this program, this is the part where I caution you to be very careful and follow my instructions exactly. The folders you see on the left side of the program are roughly analogous to Windows Explorer. You will want to expand the folders (by clicking the “+” button next to each) in this sequence:

1. KEY_CURRENT_USER
2. Software
3. Adobe
4. Audition
5. 3.0

At this point, simple highlight the folder called “Prefs”. (It’s not necessary to expand it.) Right click, then select “Export” (image at left). You will be prompted with the usual “Save” dialog you’re used to from other Windows programs. Decide on a location to store your backups. I would suggest creating a new directory on a drive other than your primary operating system drive. Give the file a name such as “Adobe Audition Keyboard Shortcuts”, then click “Save” (image at right).

You’ve saved your keyboard shortcuts! (Yes, it saves all the keyboard shortcut profiles, including the Adobe Default.)

2. Workspaces, Effects Presets, Program Settings

Thankfully, Adobe has made this part of the backup process easy. You’re basically just going to copy a folder from one place to another. Open Windows Explorer (Windows Key and “E”), and browse to directories in this order (from your main operating system hard drive):

1. Documents and Settings
2. [Your User Name] (Mine is “BT” in the example. Yours may be your name, your nickname, or maybe even Administrator.)
3. Application Data
4. Adobe
5. Audition

Highlight the folder called “3.0″. Right click, then select “Copy” (see left). Go back to where you saved your keyboard presets from above. Once there, right click inside the file area, and select “Paste” (see right). These aren’t large files, so this should happen in the blink of an eye.

Once this is done, so are you! You’ve backed it all up! If you want a sanity check, your “backup” folder should look something like this:

3. Restoring or Moving Those Settings

Now, any time you need to quickly restore or move your presets, it’s easy. (If you’re moving them to another physical computer, put the contents of your backup folder on a flash drive or copy it across the network to the desktop of your target computer. Then, proceed with this description.)

First, just double click the file we called “Adobe Audition Keyboard Shortcuts”. Windows will ask, as a precaution, if you want to import this information into the registry. You will confirm that you do. You will need to be at least a local administrator on the target computer to do this. Additionally, your anti-virus software may fuss and ask for confirmation. I assure you this is safe, so green light the process.

Next, just move the “3.0″ folder to the same location on this computer you copied it from originally. (Or, the same computer if you’re recovering from a crash.) As a reminder, that’s:

c:\Documents and Settings\[Your User Name]\Application Data\Adobe\Audition

There will already be a “3.0″ folder in that location (likely the default Audition settings). Be aware that when you “restore” the backup, you’re going to also systematically wipe out effect presets and workspaces on the target machine. So, if you’re just trying to put your effect presets on a buddy’s machine so he can emulate your daft stylings, be prepared for a nasty surprise when he loses all of his presets. (He should read this blog and learn how to back them up!) Anyway, we’re assuming you know this and are proceeding. Windows will ask if you wish to over-write it, and you will say that you do. Again, the copy should be lightning fast.

Once you have completed those two steps successfully, your settings are fully restored. Yup! You’re done! Just fire up Audition, and be glad you did the back up in the first place. (No reboot of Windows is required, even!)

That was easy (enough), right? If it makes you feel any better, I’m working on a simple Windows program that will perform this backup procedure for you automatically. More to come on that later.

This tutorial is intended for Adobe Audition 3.0. The steps, however, are very similar for Audition 2.0. I’m betting you can figure it out.