Steinberg WaveLab 3 Operation Manual

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The Audio Montage 19 – 401
The track activity indicator
The track activity indicator is located on the right side of the Track Control 
area. This shows the volume level for audio tracks. It is not intended to 
give exact level readings but rather to provide an overview of which tracks 
are currently playing back audio, and at what approximate level.
About the track gain faders
The track gain faders are located to the left of the track activity indicator in 
the Track Control area. They provide a simple way of adjusting the level 
for all clips on an audio track. 
•The track gain is independent from both the volume envelope and the clip 
gain. 
•The track gain can be lowered down to -48 dB, and increased up to 6 dB.
If you change the level by dragging the faders, the fader handles change from grey to red/
blue to indicate that the level is offset from the default 0 dB setting. If you point at the fad-
ers, the current gain setting is shown.
•In the audio chain, the track gain affects the level post any track effects 
and before the Master Section.
•The track activity meter does not reflect the track gain setting, nor is track 
gain reflected in the waveform.
•Press [Shift] and drag a fader handle to change the level for the left or 
right side of a stereo track separately. 
Press [Ctrl] and click on the fader to reset the level to 0 dB.
The track activity indicator   
						

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19 – 402 The Audio Montage
Playing back individual clips and selections
When editing and rearranging the Audio Montage, it can be useful to au-
dition the individual clips and selections. This is done using the clip speed 
menu:
1.Right-click on the clip you want to play back (make sure you don’t click on 
the envelope curve, as this will open another speed menu – see “Hiding/
Showing volume envelope curves” on page 447).
The clip speed menu appears.
The clip speed menu  
						

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2.Select one of the “Play” items.
“Play clip” plays back the clip you clicked on. 
“Play clip selection” plays back the current selection range only (this is only available if you 
have made a selection in the clip – see “Selection ranges” on page 413). 
“Play (with Pre-roll)” plays back the clip you clicked on, starting slightly before the clip. The 
Pre-roll time is set with the “Playback pre-roll time” parameter in the Preferences–CD Burn-
ing tab.
Playing all tracks within the current selection range
If you have made a selection range (see “Selection ranges” on page 413), 
you have the possibility to play back this range only. This is a quick way to 
listen to a short section of an Audio Montage:
1.Drag with the mouse to create the selection range, either in a clip or in an 
empty section of a track.
2.Right-click in the ruler.
The ruler pop-up menu appears.
3.Select “Play selection” from the pop-up menu, or press [F6].
All unmuted audio within the selection range is played back.
When you use this playback method, the loop settings on the Transport bar 
are disregarded. To play back the selection in a loop, press [Shift]-[F6].  
						

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19 – 404 The Audio Montage
Using the Shuttle function
As described in the section “Using the Jog/Shuttle function” on page 143, 
the Shuttle function can be viewed as playing back with a continuous con-
trol for tape speed and direction. This works in the same way in the Audio 
Montage as in the Wave windows:
1.Activate the Jog/Shuttle button on the Transport bar (or press [F10]).
A vertical line is displayed in the middle of the Audio Montage window and the pointer takes 
on the shape of a speaker.
2.Click and hold the mouse button to the left or right of the vertical line.
Clicking to the left of the line will play back the audio backwards and clicking to the right will 
play the audio forwards. The playback speed is determined by the distance from the line to the 
pointer, so that the further away from the line you move the pointer, the faster the playback.
• The playback speed is indicated in the info line.
“1.00” is normal playback speed. Negative values indicate reverse playback.
3.Release the mouse button to stop playback.
Remember to deactivate the Jog/Shuttle button on the Transport bar when 
finished (by clicking the button, pressing [F10] or using Stop).
•You can also control Shuttle via a MIDI pitch bend wheel.
See “Using a MIDI pitch bend wheel to control Shuttle” on page 144.
Using the Jog function
As described in the section “Using the Jog/Shuttle function” on page 143, 
the Jog function can be viewed as dragging the audio past a “playback 
point”, much like dragging a reel-to-reel tape past the playback head. This 
is done in a different way than in the Wave window:
1.Click the Jog/Shuttle button on the Transport bar or press [F10].
A vertical line appears in the middle of the Audio Montage window. This is the “playback 
point”. Furthermore, the area above the ruler turns purple.
2.Point in the purple area above the ruler.  
						

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3.Click and drag to the left or right to drag the audio past the playback point.
The audio is played back, forwards (if you drag the audio to the left) or backwards (if you 
drag to the right), at the speed with which you drag.
Remember to deactivate the Jog/Shuttle button on the Transport bar when 
finished (by clicking the button, pressing [F10] or using Stop).
Playing back from the ruler
You can use the ruler to quickly locate to a position and start playback 
from there:
•Double clicking in the ruler starts playback from that position.
Playback continues until you press Stop (or until the end of the Montage).
•If you double click in the ruler and keep the mouse button pressed, play-
back will start from that position and stop when you release the mouse 
button.
After stopping, the Montage cursor will return to the position where you clicked. This is a 
handy way to quickly locate and audition positions in the Montage.
•If you single click in the ruler during playback, playback will immediately 
jump to that position.
This even allows you to “jump” between different document windows. 
						

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19 – 406 The Audio Montage
Recording
If you have an audio card with multiple inputs and an ASIO driver you can 
record up to 8 channels simultaneously. For a description on how to set up 
and record multiple channels, see “Multichannel recording” on page 521.
It is possible to record audio and have it appear directly as a clip in the 
Audio Montage. There are several ways to do this:
By using the track pop-up menu
1.Move the Montage cursor to the position where you want the recorded 
clip to appear. 
2.Select Record at cursor from the track pop-up menu for the desired track.
The Record dialog appears. The option “Add to selected track of Montage” is automatically 
activated, and stereo or mono is automatically selected depending on the selected track.
3.Proceed as when recording into a Wave window.
When you finish recording, a clip is created at the cursor position.
By using the track pop-up menu during playback
1.Start playback.
2.Select Record at cursor from the track pop-up menu for the desired track.
The Record dialog appears as in the previous example.
3.Make settings as when recording into a Wave window.
4.Activate recording.
The clip will be inserted at the position where the Montage cursor was the moment you ac-
tivated recording. If you first go into Pause mode and then activate recording, you will get a 
“pre-roll” time according to the Pause buffer, allowing you to capture the audio just before 
you start recording. 
						

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By using the Record button
1.Select a track by clicking in its Track Control area.
2.If you like, activate playback.
3.Click the Record button on the Transport bar or press [*] on the numeric 
keypad.
The Record dialog appears.
4.Make sure the checkbox “Add to selected track of Montage” is activated.
5.Proceed as when recording into a Wave window.
When you finish recording, a clip is created at the cursor position, or if playback was acti-
vated, at the position where the Montage cursor was the moment you activated recording.
Things to note
• Make sure you select a stereo track if you want to do a stereo recording and 
vice versa.
• If “Temporary File” is selected when you record, the clip will refer to an un-
titled, unsaved “invisible” file. 
If you try to save a Montage with references to temporary files, WaveLab will ask you to 
save these files (since the program needs to know the file names, for proper reference).
About playing back during recording
When you record in a multi-track environment, it is often desirable to have 
the existing tracks play back during recording, performing an “overdub”. 
For this to be possible in the Montage, the following requirements must 
be met:
• Your audio card must support Full Duplex operation (MME/WMA drivers only).
This means that the card must allow simultaneous recording and playback. Consult the 
documentation for the audio card if you are uncertain. ASIO drivers always allow simulta-
neous recording and playback.
• The option “Stop playback when metering or recording” must be deactivated in 
the Record Settings dialog.
If it is activated, you will be asked whether you want WaveLab to turn it off for you before 
starting recording. 
						

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About monitoring the recorded signal
WaveLab in itself does not handle monitoring (routing the input signal 
back to the output) during recording. If you want to hear the signal you are 
recording, there are two ways to achieve this:
• Use an external mixer.
Normally, you connect your audio input sources (and the audio card’s outputs) to the 
mixer’s inputs, connect the mixer’s main outs to the monitoring equipment and use a send 
or bus to send the desired channels to the audio card’s inputs for recording. This is neces-
sary to avoid including background tracks in the recorded signal.
• Use the audio card’s mixer application.
Many audio cards allow you to route the input signal back to the outputs. Consult the doc-
umentation of the audio card for details.
Rearranging clips
About the mouse zones (audio tracks only)
Basic rearranging of clips in the Audio Montage is done by clicking and 
dragging with the mouse. However, the results of dragging with the mouse 
depend on where in the clip you click. The different areas in a clip are called 
mouse zones.
By default, the mouse zones have the following basic functionalities: 
Mouse zone Description
Top clip area Copy clip by dragging (see “Duplicating clips” on page 419).
Upper clip area Make a selection range (see “Selection ranges” on page 413).
Lower clip area and
Bottom clip areaSelect clips and move clips by dragging (see “Selecting clips” on 
page 411 and “Moving clips” on page 415).
Upper and lower 
clip edgesResize clips by dragging the edges (keeping the audio source “static” 
– see “Resizing clips” on page 422).
Top clip area Upper clip area
Lower clip area Bottom clip areaUpper clip edge
Lower clip edgeUpper clip edge
Lower clip edge  
						

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As you see, some mouse zones have the same default functionality. You 
can change this if you like, using the Mouse zones submenu on the Edit 
view : Options menu.
• When you move the pointer over a mouse zone, the info line indicates the 
corresponding action(s).
As described in the section “Info line symbols” on page 376, this also indicates whether 
you can perform additional functions by holding down modifier keys.
Magnetic bounds
When you move and edit clips, it is often useful to have them snap to other 
clips as well as to significant positions in the Montage. To facilitate this, you 
can specify that certain positions should be “magnetic”. 
This is done using the Magnetic bounds submenu on the Edit view : Op-
tions menu.   
						

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19 – 410 The Audio Montage
Activating Snap
Having set up the desired Magnetic bounds options, you activate the 
Snap function by clicking the “Enable snapping” icon in the Edit view (or 
by pressing [N] on the computer keyboard).
Now, when you move or resize a clip and its edges (or its cue point) get 
close to one of the Magnetic positions, two things happen:
• The clip snaps to the magnetic position.
Option Description
Start of Audio Montage The start of the Audio Montage.
Clip’s cue-point A position within a clip that you set using the clip speed menu 
(see “Using cue points” on page 428).
Clip’s head The start of a clip.
Clip’s tail The end of a clip.
Time units The time units displayed in the ruler (the same as the positions of 
the grid lines when the time grid is activated). The coarseness of 
these units is determined by horizontal magnification. For details 
about the ruler and the grid, see “The ruler” on page 377.
Audio Montage markers Markers in the Audio Montage window (see “Using markers in 
the Montage” on page 492).
Markers in audio source Markers in the clips’ original audio files (see “Using markers in 
the Montage” on page 492).
Selection Edges The start and end of a selected range in the Audio Montage.
Cursor The Montage cursor position.