Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

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Editing in the Wave window 6 – 101
Stereo/mono “conflicts”
Stereo/mono is handled as follows when you drag between files:
Sample rate conflicts
If you copy or move audio from one window to another, and the sample 
rates of the two files are not the same, the copied/moved sound will play 
back at the wrong pitch (speed). The program will warn you if this is about 
to happen.
While mixing sample rates can sometimes be used as an effect, it is most 
often not desired. There are two ways to get around this:
• Sample rate convert the source file to the same rate as the destination file before 
doing the editing.
You might go back later and undo this conversion if necessary.
• Sample rate convert the destination file to the same rate as the source file before 
adding the audio to it.
Please note that you are then partly “stuck” with this new sample rate, since rate converting 
back and forth too many times is not recommended, see “Convert sample rate” on page 210.
By using Copy and Paste
1.Make a selection.
2.Select Copy from the Edit menu, press [Ctrl]-[C] or drag the selection 
onto the Copy icon on the Standard Commands control bar.
3.If you want to insert the audio, click once at some position in the same file 
or in another file.
The wave cursor appears at that point.
4.If you would rather replace a section of audio, select it.
In this case, the position of the cursor is of no relevance.
Dragged section “Drop” wave Action
Stereo Stereo The dragged audio is always inserted into both 
channels.
Stereo Mono Only the left channel is inserted.
Mono Stereo What happens depends on the vertical position in 
the destination window at which the drop is made. 
This is indicated by the cursor shape (see “Select-
ing in stereo files” on page 91). The selection can 
be inserted into only one of the channels, or the 
same material can be inserted into both channels. 
						

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6 – 102 Editing in the Wave window
5.Select Paste from the Edit menu or press [Ctrl]-[V].
The material you copied is either inserted at the indicated point (no selection) or it replaces 
the current selection (if you have a selection).
Make a selection, and select Copy…
…click for an insertion point…
…and select Paste. The copied section is inserted at the cursor position.    
						

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Editing in the Wave window 6 – 103
Stereo/mono “conflicts”
Stereo/mono is handled as follows when you paste:
Moving audio
The following commands allow you to rearrange the “order” of the audio 
in a file.
By dragging
This is just like drag copying (see above). The only difference is that you 
hold down [Alt] and [Ctrl] while dragging to move audio. The material you 
dragged is removed from its original position and inserted where you drop 
it.
By using Cut and Paste
This is just like using Copy and Paste (you can for example drag the se-
lection to the Cut symbol on the Standard Commands control bar – see 
above). The only difference is that when you select Cut, the audio is re-
moved from the window. The material after the cut section will be moved 
to fill out the gap.
Please note that to completely undo a move between two files you must 
first undo the paste in the destination window and then undo the cut in the 
source window.
Copied section Paste wave Action
Stereo Stereo If the wave cursor extends across both channels of 
the destination file, the material will be inserted into 
both channels.
Stereo Stereo If the wave cursor is only in one channel, the Paste will 
only happen in that channel. Material from the left 
channel will be pasted in the left channel and vice 
versa.
Stereo Mono Only the left channel is pasted.
Mono Stereo What happens depends on whether the wave cursor 
is in one channel or both. The Paste can either happen 
in one of the channels, or the same material can be in-
serted into both channels. 
						

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6 – 104 Editing in the Wave window
By nudging
The Nudge left/right tools in the Toolbox (also known as “Kicker tools”) 
can be used to move the audio in small steps within a file.
1.Make a selection.
2.Click on the selection with one of the Nudge tools (depending on the di-
rection in which you want to move it).
The audio is moved one pixel (screen dot). Exactly how much this is depends on how far 
you are zoomed in. If for example the status bar says x1:256, the selection will be moved 
256 samples.
• The moved section “overwrites” the audio originally at that position. 
For example, when you nudge a selection to the right, silence will appear before the nudged 
section while audio to the right will be replaced by the nudged section. This is different from 
moving by dragging.
• If you nudge many times in a row and then undo, all the moves are undone 
in one go.
Repeating an audio selection
To repeat a section of audio, proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection, select Cut or Copy and place a new insertion point, just 
as when performing a normal Cut or Copy (see above).
2.Select “Multiple copies…” from the Paste Special submenu on the Edit 
menu.
3.In the dialog that appears, enter the number of copies you desire (up to 
1000), and click OK.
The Nudge tools  
						

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Editing in the Wave window 6 – 105
Other Paste operations
On the Paste Special menu you will find some additional options:
Overwrite
This will overwrite data in the destination file, rather than moving data to 
make room for the inserted audio. The actual amount that will be overwrit-
ten depends on the selection in the destination file:
• If there is no selection in the destination file, a section with the same length as the 
pasted data will be overwritten.
If there is a selection, the pasted data will replace that selection, just as when making a reg-
ular paste.
Append
This will add the pasted audio after the end of the file, just as if you had 
placed the wave cursor there and selected Paste.
Prepend
This will add the pasted audio before the beginning of the file.
Mix
This will blend the two files into each other, starting at the selection (if you 
have one) or at the cursor position (if there is no selection).
•When you select the Paste Special – Mix option, a dialog appears, allow-
ing you to specify the desired gain for the audio on the clipboard and at 
the destination, respectively.
A setting of 0 dB means the level will be unaffected.
•All the data on the clipboard is always mixed in, regardless of the length of 
the selection.
It doesn’t matter whether or not you have a selection in the destination file when you paste.
Deleting selections
Delete
You can use the following methods to delete a selection of audio:
• Select Delete from the Edit menu.
• Click the Delete icon on the Standard Commands control bar.
• Press [Backspace] or [Delete].
• Drag the selection to the Delete icon on the Standard Commands control bar. 
						

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6 – 106 Editing in the Wave window
Trim
To remove all the audio except the current selection, select Trim from the 
Edit menu (or press [Ctrl]-[Backspace]).
Smooth Delete
This function is available from the Edit menu. It is similar to the standard 
“Delete” function, but in addition, a short crossfade is performed at the 
edges of the section to be deleted, allowing for a smoother audio transi-
tion. 
• The default length and shape of the crossfade is set in the Preferences–Wave 
edit tab. 
• If the range to cut out is smaller than the defined fade length, then standard “De-
lete” is performed. 
• Note that the crossfade is performed at the edges of the selection to delete. Thus 
if the region to remove is 1000 milliseconds and the defined crossfade is 20 mil-
liseconds, only 980 milliseconds of audio will be removed.
• If the region is the start of the file, only a fade-in is performed. If the region is the 
end of the file, only a fade-out is performed.
Silence
The Silence function offers several different methods for inserting silence, 
but there are two basic operational modes:
• You can “insert” silence into a section, i.e. to space two sections further apart.
• Or, you can select to “replace” a selection or time range with silence.   
						

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Editing in the Wave window 6 – 107
Replace selection
If you intend to replace a specific range with silence, proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection that encompasses the range you wish to replace with si-
lence.
2.Select Silence from the Edit menu or press [Ctrl]+[Shift]-[Space].
This will open the Silence dialog – see below for descriptions of the options in the dialog.
3.In the dialog, set the Length to “As selection”, and the Mode to “Replace 
selection”.
•From here, you can select whether to apply “True silence” or “Back-
ground noise”.
The “Background noise” option allows you to select an audio file containing ambient noise, 
and use this as the source for the silence operation. See “About the Ambience – Back-
ground noise option” on page 108.
Insert silence
If you intend to insert silence, proceed as follows:
1.Either make a selection that encompasses the range where you wish to 
insert the silence, or set the cursor where you want the inserted silence to 
begin.
2.Select Silence from the Edit menu or press [Ctrl]+[Shift]-[Space].
This will open the Silence dialog – see below for descriptions of the options in the dialog.
•In the dialog, set the Length to “As selection” if you have specified a se-
lection and want the silence to be inserted inside the range.
•Alternatively, uncheck “As selection” and set the desired silence Length 
in seconds.
3.Set the Mode to “Insert at cursor”.
4.From here, you can select whether to apply “True silence” or “Back-
ground noise”.
The “Background noise” option allows you to select an audio file containing ambient noise, 
and use this as the source for the silence operation. See “About the Ambience – Back-
ground noise option” on page 108. 
						

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6 – 108 Editing in the Wave window
Silence dialog options
The Silence dialog contains the following options:
About the Ambience – Background noise option
In certain situations, completely muting the sound (True silence) will pro-
duce an undesirable result. This particularly applies to spoken word and 
field recordings, where a natural background ambience is often present. 
Inserting “True” silence can introduce a marked difference to the pas-
sages with voice dialog as opposed to the silenced passages, thus limit-
ing the use of the Silence function (unless this is what you want). Using 
the Background noise feature you can insert ambience instead of silence 
which in such circumstances will produce a far more natural result. Here’s 
how its done:
1.Select “Background noise” in the Ambience section.
2.Click the folder icon to open a standard file dialog where you can navigate 
to the source file for the Background noise. 
The file you specify must have the same properties (stereo/mono, sample 
rate, etc.) as the file to be silenced. The file can be any length – if the si-
lence region is longer than the file it will be looped.
Item Description
Length If set to “As selection”, the silence range will be the same as the se-
lection. If this is unchecked, you can specify a silence length in the 
field below the checkbox.
Fade in/out If this is checked, a crossfade will be performed at the start and end 
of the silence region for a smoother transition. You can specify the 
crossfade time.
Ambience – 
True silenceIf this is selected, the result will be “digital silence”, i.e. completely 
muted sound.
Ambience – 
Background noiseThis option allows you to select an audio file containing ambient 
noise, and use this as the source for the silence operation. See be-
low.
Gain This allows you to lower or raise the gain of the Background noise 
source file.
Mode The sets whether to Replace the selection or to Insert the silence at 
the cursor position.
Apply Applies the operation. 
						

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Editing in the Wave window 6 – 109
Replacing a section with silence – Fast mute
This is similar to Silence, but always replaces the selection and always 
applies “True” silence. There are four ways to replace a section of audio 
with silence:
• Select it and select Fast mute from the Edit menu.
• Select it and click the Fast mute icon on the Standard Commands control bar.
• Select it and press [Ctrl]-[Space].
• Select it and drag the selection to the Fast mute icon on the Standard Com-
mands control bar.
Turning selections into new documents
If you want to turn a section of wave into a new document, proceed as fol-
lows.
By dragging
1.Make a selection.
2.Drag the selection out of the window and onto an empty section of the 
WaveLab application window.
The cursor turns into a “new document” icon.
3.Release the mouse button.
The selection appears in a new window. You can also use this function to create stereo 
waves out of mono waves, see below.
By using “Copy to new window”
1.Make a selection.
2.Select “As is” from the “Copy to new window” submenu on the Edit 
menu.
The selection appears in a new window.
Converting from mono to stereo
You may convert a mono file into a stereo file that contains the same mate-
rial in both channels, for example for further processing into “real” stereo.
This can be done in two ways, by using menus or by dragging to a new 
file, as described below. 
						

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By dragging
1.Make a selection.
2.Drag the selection out to the WaveLab “desktop”.
3.When the pointer is outside the window, hold down [Ctrl] and release the 
mouse button.
By using menus
1.Make a mono selection.
2.Select “Convert to Stereo” from the “Copy to new window” menu on the 
Edit menu.
The selection appears in a new stereo window.
Converting from stereo to mono
You may mix the two channels in a stereo file into a mono document.
This can be done in three ways. Which method to use mainly depends on 
whether you want to convert the entire file or just a selection:
By dragging
1.Make a stereo selection.
2.Drag the selection out to the WaveLab “desktop”.
3.When the pointer is outside the window, hold down [Ctrl] and release the 
mouse button.
By using menus (converting a selection)
1.Make a stereo selection.
2.Select “Convert to Mono (Mix)” from the “Copy to new window” menu on 
the Edit menu.
The selection appears in a new window, mixed down to mono.
• The option “Convert to Mono (subtract right channel from left channel)” will 
also convert stereo audio to mono – but in this case one channel is sub-
tracted from the other.
The resulting mono wave will contain the difference between the channels. For example, 
this allows you to verify that a wave file really is a true stereo file (rather than a mono file 
converted to stereo format).