Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

WAVELAB
Analysis 25 – 621
General operations
Opening the “Global analysis” dialog
1.Make a selection in the wave file that you want to process.
This selection can be of any length and in one or both channels. If you want to analyse the 
entire file, hit [Ctrl]-[A]. If “Process whole file if no selection exists” is activated in the Pref-
erences - Wave edit tab, the whole file will be processed automatically if no selection has 
been made in 
2.Select “Global analysis…” from the Analysis menu.
Deciding...

WAVELAB
25 – 622 Analysis
Setting parameters and performing the analysis
1.Set up the parameters.
On most of the tabs, you will find settings determining exactly how the 
analysis should be performed. For example, on the Peaks tab there are 
two parameters:
• “Maximum number…” allows you to set an upper limit for the number of peaks re-
ported. For example, if you set this to “10”, the program will only report the ten 
highest peaks in the file.
• “Minimum time…” allows you to specify the minimum...

WAVELAB
Analysis 25 – 623
4.Click on the button that currently displays this value.
The value displayed is for the “hot point” with the highest/lowest value. In our example, you 
would click the button in the lower right corner.
5.Check the “Number of hot points” value at the bottom of the dialog. It dis-
plays how many positions in the file the analysis found.
In our example it shows how many positions with low amplitude in the right channel meet 
the criteria specified by the parameters in the dialog....

WAVELAB
25 – 624 Analysis
Creating markers
If you like you can add markers at the “hot points”:
1.Select a property and channel for which you want to add markers.
You will add markers for the same property as you are currently browsing, so this selection 
is done with the value buttons, as described above.
Since you are always browsing one channel at a time in a stereo file, mark-
ers can be added for only one channel at a time.
2.Click the “Create markers…” button.
Temporary markers (see “The various...

WAVELAB
Analysis 25 – 625
The Peaks tab
This is used to find peak values in the audio, that is, single samples with 
very high values.
Parameters
There are two report parameters:
• “Maximum number…” allows you to put restrictions on how many points will be 
reported. For example, setting this to “1” will make the program report only the 
highest peak (or one of the peaks with the highest value – if there are several with 
the same value).
• “Minimum time…” lets you set things up so that the points don’t...

WAVELAB
25 – 626 Analysis
The Loudness tab
This finds loud and weak sections in a more “intelligent” manner than the 
Peaks tab. The theory behind this is that there might be a single sample 
with a high or low value somewhere, but this may not necessarily mean 
that this section is perceived as loud/weak.
To find sections that the ear perceives as significant in volume, you must 
look at a longer section of audio. To do this you measure a consecutive 
section of samples and then average their value....

WAVELAB
Analysis 25 – 627
Result
The Result fields show you the following values:
The Pitch tab
The Pitch tab shows the values from WaveLab’s extremely accurate pitch 
detection algorithm. This can be used for pitch shifting, for example, to 
get one sound in tune with another.
There are no parameters to set. The display shows the pitch for each 
channel, both in Hertz (Hz) and as semitones and cents (hundredths of a 
semitone).
Since the display shows an overall value for the entire analysed section,...

WAVELAB
25 – 628 Analysis
Usage guidelines
• The result is an average value for the whole selection.
• The method only works on monophonic material (not on chords or harmonies).
• The algorithm assumes the analysed section has a reasonably stable pitch.
• The material must be relatively well isolated from other sounds.
• It is preferable to analyse the sustain portion of a sound, rather than the attack. 
The pitch is usually not “stable” during the attack.
• Some synthetic sounds may have a weak...

WAVELAB
Analysis 25 – 629
The Errors tab
This tab actually reports two totally separate things:
•Glitches
These are disruptions in the audio. Glitches may occur after problematic digital transfers, 
after careless editing, etc. They manifest themselves as “clicks” or “pops” in the audio.
•Clipping
A digital system has a finite number of levels that it can represent properly. When a sound 
has been recorded at too high a level or when digital processing has raised the level past 
what the system can...

WAVELAB
25 – 630 Analysis
Glitch parameters
• “Threshold” is a value for setting how drastic a change in level has to be reported 
as a glitch. The higher this value, the less sensitive the detection.
• “Sensitivity” is a length value. It represents the length of time that the waveform 
must exceed the threshold to be reported as a glitch. The higher this value, the 
less sensitive the detection.
It is not 100% certain that the points found by the algorithm are real glitches. 
Please zoom in and play...