Steinberg WaveLab Essential 6 Operation Manual

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The Audio CD Montage
Undoing view and position changes
There is a separate “Undo history” for zoom, view and po-
sition changes in the Audio CD Montage. This allows you 
to undo one or several changes, in the following way:
To undo the latest change to the view, click the green 
left arrow to the left of the Track View ruler (or press [7] on 
the numeric keypad).
You can repeat this as long as there is any change to undo (as long as 
the green left arrow is lit). This Undo history includes changes to zoom, 
view and cursor position.
To redo an undone view change, click the yellow right 
arrow to the left of the Track View ruler (or press [8] on the 
numeric keypad).
Maximizing the width of the Audio CD 
Montage
If you click the double arrow icon at the top left corner of 
the Track View, the Montage window is enlarged horizon-
tally to fill the screen.
Playing back
Playback in the Audio CD Montage works in much the 
same way as in the Wave windows.
ÖAudio tracks are routed through the Master Section.
This allows you to add global effects to the Audio CD Montage or use 
the Render function to create a mixdown audio file (see “Mixing down – 
The Render function” on page 131).
Mute and solo
You can mute or solo tracks in the Montage by using the 
corresponding buttons in the Track Control area:
Note that a track is muted when the green button is 
dark.
Note that a track is soloed when the Solo button is blue 
(lit).
The Solo buttons are exclusive, that is, solo can only be 
activated for one track at a time.
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 cur-
rently playing back audio, and at what approximate level.
Solo Mute
The track activity indicator 
						

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About the track gain faders
The track gain faders are located to the left of the track ac-
tivity 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 en-
velope and the clip gain. 
The track gain can be lowered down to -48 dB, and in-
creased 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 faders, the current gain setting is shown.
In the audio chain, the track gain affects the level post 
any clip 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.
Playing back individual clips and selections
When editing and rearranging the Audio CD Montage, it 
can be useful to audition the individual clips and selec-
tions. 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).
The clip speed menu appears.
2.Select one of the “Play” items.
“Play clip” plays back the clip you clicked on. 
“Play (with Pre-roll)” plays back the clip you clicked on, starting slightly 
before the clip.
The clip speed menu
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 po-
sition.
Playback continues until you press Stop (or until the end of the Mon-
tage).
If you double click in the ruler and keep the mouse but-
ton pressed, playback 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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Rearranging clips
About the mouse zones (audio tracks only)
Basic rearranging of clips in the Audio CD 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.
The mouse zones have the following basic functionalities: 
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, certain items can be 
“magnetic”:
Activating Snap
In order to activate the Magnetic bounds option, you acti-
vate 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.
 A label is displayed, indicating what the clip snaps to.
To deactivate Snap, click the icon again or press [N].
Selecting clips
To select a clip (for copying, deletion, etc.), click in the 
bottom clip area.
Selected clips are normally displayed in a different color. You can edit 
this color, as described in the section “Defining custom colors” on page 
182.
You can select multiple clips by [Ctrl]-clicking.
This works in the same way as selecting multiple objects in other Win-
dows programs.
Mouse zone Description
Top clip area Copy clip by dragging (see “Duplicating clips” 
on page 115).
Upper, lower and 
bottom clip areaSelect clips and move clips by dragging (see 
“Selecting clips” on page 113 and “Moving 
clips” on page 114).
Upper and lower 
clip edgesResize clips by dragging the edges (see “Resiz-
ing clips” on page 115).
Item Description
Start of 
Audio CD MontageThe start of the Audio CD Montage.
Clip’s cue-point A position within a clip that you set using the 
clip speed menu (see “Using cue points” on 
page 116).
Clip’s head The start of a clip.
Clip’s tail The end of a clip.
Audio CD Montage 
markersMarkers in the Audio CD Montage window 
(see “Using markers in the Montage” on 
page 127).
Cursor The Montage cursor position.
Top clip area Upper clip area
Lower clip area Lower clip edgeUpper clip edge
Upper clip 
edge
Lower clip 
edge
Bottom clip area 
						

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Holding down [Shift] and clicking allows you to select a 
range of consecutive clips (on the same track).
Again, this is similar to how you select ranges of objects in other Win-
dows programs.
Using the Select menu
The Edit view : Select menu holds several items for select-
ing clips:
About selected and focused clips
The program makes a distinction between selected and 
focused clips:
A selected clip is a clip you have selected using the any 
of the procedures described above.
Several clips can be selected at the same time.
The focused clip is the clip you selected (or clicked, or 
edited) last.
Only one clip can be focused at a time. By default, the focused clip is 
distinguished by a highlighted name label:
Clicking on the selected clip to the right makes it the focused clip.
Moving clips
To move a clip, proceed as follows:
1.If you want to move more than one clip, you need to se-
lect these clips first.
2.Position the pointer over the clip, in the lower clip area.
The pointer takes on the shape of a “four-way arrow”.
3.Click and drag the clip(s) in any direction.
The clip(s) will snap to any activated magnetic bounds, 
see “Magnetic bounds” on page 113.
If you move clips sideways, the auto-grouping settings 
are taken into account, as described below.
If you move the clip over another track, auto-grouping is temporarily dis-
abled until you release the mouse button.
If you click on a clip, keep the mouse button pressed 
and then press [Shift], movement is restricted to vertical.
This is useful if you want to move a clip to another track without acciden-
tally changing its horizontal position.
You cannot move mono clips to stereo tracks or vice 
versa.
Moving with auto-grouping
There are two options on the Edit view : Options menu 
that affect the result when you move clips horizontally: 
Track auto-grouping and Global auto-grouping. There are 
also separate icons for these options on the toolbar in Edit 
view mode:
 If Track auto-grouping is activated when you move a clip side-
ways, all clips to the right of it on the destination track will be 
moved by the same amount.
 If Global auto-grouping is activated when you move a clip 
sideways, all clips to the right of it in the whole Audio CD 
Montage will be moved accordingly.
Option Description
Select all clips Selects all clips in the Montage.
Select all clips at left of cursor 
(selected track)Selects all clips with the endpoint to the 
left of the Montage cursor, on the selected 
track.
Select all clips at right of 
cursor (selected track)Selects all clips that start to the right of the 
Montage cursor, on the selected track.
Deselect clips Deselects the currently selected clips.
Track auto-groupingGlobal auto-grouping 
						

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About overlapping clips
You can move clips so that they overlap each other on the 
same track. Please note:
The tracks in the Audio CD Montage are polyphonic, 
which means that each track can play back several over-
lapping clips at the same time. 
Overlapping clips will be transparent, allowing you to see the underlying 
clips and their waveforms.
To select an overlapped (underlying) clip, double click 
in the bottom clip area.
There is an automatic crossfading option that automati-
cally adjusts the volume envelope curves when you over-
lap clips.
This is described in the section “Using crossfades” on page 122.
Duplicating clips
To make a copy of a clip, proceed as follows:
1.If you want to copy more than one clip, you need to se-
lect these clips first.
2.Position the pointer over the clip, in the top clip area.
3.Click and drag the clip(s) in any direction.
While you are dragging the clip(s), a dotted line indicates where the first 
of the copied clips will end up.
4.Release the mouse button.
The clip(s) will snap to any activated magnetic bounds, 
see “Magnetic bounds” on page 113.
You cannot copy mono clips to stereo tracks or vice 
versa.
Duplicating with auto-grouping
If you are copying more than one clip at the same time, the 
auto-grouping settings in the Edit view affect the result 
(see “Moving with auto-grouping” on page 114):
If Track auto-grouping is activated when you duplicate 
clips, all clips on the destination track, to the right of the 
new copy, will be moved to the right, to “make room” for 
the new clips.If Global auto-grouping is activated when you duplicate 
clips, all clips to the right of the new copy in the whole Au-
dio CD Montage will be moved to the right in the same 
way.
Resizing clips
In this context, “resizing” means moving the start and end 
points of a clip, so that more or less of the original audio 
file is “revealed” with the audio source being “static”.
As with other clip operations, the mouse zones determine 
when this function is used, and the pointer changes shape 
accordingly.
The “Resize clips” pointer.
Resize clips
You move the clip’s start or end point to the left or to the 
right:
1.Point at the left or right edge of the clip.
It doesn’t matter whether you click in the upper or lower half of the edge.
2.Click and drag to the right or left.
You cannot drag the edge of a clip past the start or end 
point of the audio file it refers to.
The clip edges will snap to any activated magnetic 
bounds, as described in the section “Magnetic bounds” 
on page 113.
When you drag the right edge of a clip this way, the 
auto-grouping settings on the Edit view : Options menu 
are taken into account.
As when copying clips, this means that if Track auto-grouping is acti-
vated, all the following clips on the track will be moved when you resize 
the clip (so that the distance between the clip’s right edge and the next 
clip on the track remains the same).
If Global auto-grouping is activated, the same is true, but for clips on all 
tracks in the Audio CD Montage.
Resizing all selected clips
If you press [Alt] when resizing, all selected clips will be 
resized by the same amount. 
						

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Splitting a clip
You can split a clip in two, using the following method:
1.Set the Montage cursor to the position at which you 
want to split the clip.
2.Position the pointer over the cursor, in the top clip 
area.
The cursor takes on the shape of a pair of scissors.
3.Double click.
The clip is split in two. The two clips will have the same name and set-
tings. Envelopes and fades (see “The volume envelope” on page 117) 
are converted, so that the two clips play back as before.
If the options “Create default fades in new clips” is acti-
vated on the Edit view : Fade menu, a crossfade is auto-
matically created between the resulting left and right clip.
You can also split a clip by setting the Montage cursor 
and selecting “Split at Cursor” from the clip speed menu, 
or by pressing [S] on the computer keyboard.
Analyse and split at silences
You can use this function from the clip speed menu to 
split a clip into two or more separate clips. The clip will be 
analysed and split at its silent passages automatically. Af-
ter this a dialog will come up, allowing to adjust the pause 
times between the separate clips.
Deleting clips
There are two principal ways to delete a clip:
Right-click on the clip to bring up the clip speed menu, 
and select “Delete clip”.
Select it, and press [Backspace].
Instead of using [Backspace], you can press the [Delete] key or select 
“Delete” from the main Edit menu.
Using cue points
A cue point is a defined position marker that belongs to a 
clip. It may be positioned within or outside the clip. Cue 
points are displayed as dotted vertical lines.
A cue point
When you move a clip, its cue point will be magnetic to 
any edges, markers or other Magnetic bounds positions 
(see “Magnetic bounds” on page 113). There are several 
uses for this:
 Set the cue point at a “relevant” position in the audio and use 
it to align the clip with other clips, etc.
 Set the cue point before the start of a clip, allowing you to po-
sition clips in a row with pre-defined spaces (by magnetizing 
the cue point to the end of the previous clip).
 Set the cue point at the fade-in or fade-out point of a clip, 
making it easy to maintain defined fade lengths when cross-
fading (see “Using crossfades” on page 122).
To set the cue point for a clip, proceed as follows:
1.If you want to set the cue point at an arbitrary position, 
move the Montage cursor to that position.
This may be within the clip or outside it.
2.Right-click on the clip to bring up the clip speed menu.
3.Open the Cue point submenu.
4.Select one of the functions on the submenu:
Option Description
Set at cursor Sets the cue point at the current Montage cursor po-
sition.
Follows fade-in 
end pointSets the cue point at the clip’s fade-in junction point 
(the left purple handle in the volume envelope). The 
cue point will follow the handle if you move it. See 
“Editing fades” on page 121.
Follows fade-out 
start pointAs the previous option, but for the fade-out start 
point.
!Each clip can only have one cue point. This means 
that if you repeat the procedure above and select an-
other option on the submenu, the cue point will be 
moved to a new position. 
						

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Managing clips and source files
There are some functions to help you check and manage 
the relationship between the clips and their source audio 
files:
The Files view
The Files view shows the files and folders on your hard 
disk, and can be used for importing audio files via drag 
and drop into the Audio CD Montage (see “By dragging 
from the Files view” on page 108).
Editing source files
Editing the Montage may require that you process or edit 
the actual audio files referenced by the clips. This is done 
in the following way:
1.Double click in the Top Clip area (the mouse zone used 
for dragging/copying clips), or drag the clip from there 
onto the WaveLab Essential desktop.
A Wave window opens, showing the referenced source audio file with a 
selection corresponding to the clip.
2.Edit the file as desired, save it and return to the Audio 
CD Montage.
Please note the following:
ÖAny editing you perform this way will affect all clips 
that use the audio file (including clips in other Audio CD 
Montages).
ÖYou can undo/redo all changes in Wave windows, and 
these changes will be reflected immediately in all open 
Montages.
ÖIf you reduce the length of the source audio file, so 
that it ends before the clip end point, the end of the corre-
sponding clip(s) will be displayed in another color (inverse 
video), to alert you.ÖIf you use “Save as” to save the source audio file un-
der another name, the Montage will now refer to that new 
file instead.
This is true for all open Montages that refer to the file.
Renaming files and clips
You can rename source files and have all open Montages 
that reference the audio files automatically be updated. 
Just use the Rename dialog (see “Renaming files and doc-
uments (Rename)” on page 53).
You can also freely rename clips within a Montage simply 
by double clicking the clip’s name label (this will in fact 
take you to the CD view automatically, where you can re-
name the clip in the track list).
The volume envelope
It is possible to create independent volume envelope 
curves for the clips in the Audio CD Montage. These en-
velope curves are used to automate volume, to create 
fades and crossfades, and for muting sections of clips.
How the envelope is displayed 
All clips display a volume envelope curve. Actually, you 
should view the volume envelope as three separate enve-
lopes: the fade-in part, the “sustain part” and the fade-out 
part. The purple points to the left and right on the curve 
are the fade-in and fade-out junction points that separate 
the fade parts from the sustain part.
The default volume envelope, with zero fade-in and fade-out times. 
The fade-in and fade-out parts of the envelope are de-
scribed in the section “Using fades and crossfades in the 
Montage” on page 121. The following pages describe the 
“sustain part” of the envelope, that is, the section between 
the two fade junction points. 
						

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Graphic display of envelope curves
The envelope curve indicates at a glance if points, fade-
ins or fade-outs have been defined. In addition to the 
curve, changes in the volume envelope are also reflected 
in the waveform itself.
A defined volume envelope curve with the waveform reflecting the en-
velope changes.
The volume envelope mouse zone
The default envelope curve contains no volume envelope 
points. In this condition you can still use the curve to 
change the overall volume for a clip. Proceed as follows:
1.Place the mouse pointer on the curve.
The mouse pointer takes on the shape of a circle with two arrows point-
ing up and down, indicating the envelope mouse zone. A label also ap-
pears displaying the current clip volume in dB. 
The volume envelope mouse zone
2.Click and drag the curve up or down to change the 
clip volume and release the mouse button.
A label appears displaying the new clip volume in dB.
Editing envelopes
About using key commands
On the envelope speed menu, you will find that most func-
tions have key commands. These will affect the envelope 
curve with the focus.ÖThe focused envelope curve is displayed with yellow 
handles for the envelope points.
To set the focus to an envelope curve, click on it.
Adding volume envelope points
The volume envelope points allow you to “draw” volume 
curves in the clip. To add a point, double click on the en-
velope curve (or select “New point” from the envelope 
speed menu). You may add as many points as you like.
Selecting envelope points
Clicking on an envelope point selects it (it becomes red). 
You can also select several envelope points. The following 
rules apply:
[Shift]-click (on a point) to select all points between a 
previously selected point and the current point.
[Ctrl]-click (on a point) to select non-contiguous points 
in the envelope curve.
[Alt]-click (anywhere in the clip) and draw a selection 
rectangle.
All points inside the rectangle become selected.
Deselecting points
You can deselect all selected points by clicking on a se-
lected point or by selecting “Deselect all points” from the 
envelope speed menu. To deselect a single point 
(amongst other selected points), [Ctrl]-click the point you 
want to deselect.
!The envelope mouse zone is always linked to an en-
velope curve.
!The following sections apply to both volume and 
fade envelope points. In other words, you can select, 
deselect and move both sustain and fade envelope 
points.
The focused 
envelope curve. 
						

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The Audio CD Montage
Dragging volume envelope points
To move a point, click on it and drag it in any direction.
The junction points (the points separating the Fade parts and the sustain 
part) will only move horizontally this way. To move a junction part verti-
cally, press [Ctrl] and drag.
To move several selected points, click any selected 
point and drag in any direction.
All selected points will be moved.
Clicking on a curve segment (i.e. the part of an envelope 
curve between two selected points) allows all currently 
selected points to be moved vertically. 
You are constrained to vertical movement using this method.
Clicking on a curve segment (i.e. the part of an envelope 
curve between two selected points) and then pressing 
[Shift] allows all selected points to be moved horizontally. 
You are constrained to horizontal movement using this method.
[Ctrl]-clicking on the envelope curve and dragging it up 
or down will select (and move) the two nearest points to 
the right and left respectively.
You are constrained to vertical movement using this method. This 
method is useful as a shortcut for quickly adjusting the level of a curve 
segment.
[Shift]-clicking on the envelope curve and dragging it 
left or right will select (and move) the two nearest points to 
the right and left respectively.
You are constrained to horizontal movement using this method. This 
method is useful when working with “Duck according to other track” (see 
“Duck according to other track” on page 119) since it allows you to 
quickly adjust the position of duck regions.
Clicking and dragging the envelope curve up or down 
selects (and moves) all points.
You are constrained to vertical movement using this method. Note that 
points set to the minimum value are not affected.
Holding down [Alt] and dragging the envelope curve up 
or down adjusts the corresponding envelopes in all se-
lected clips.
This is a quick way to adjust the level or pan of several clips at the same 
time.
Deleting volume envelope points
There are three ways you can delete points:
 By double-clicking on a point. By right-clicking on the point and selecting “Delete point” 
from the envelope speed menu.
 By selecting points and selecting “Delete selected point(s)” 
from the envelope speed menu.
Resetting points and envelopes
There are various ways to reset the envelope:
To reset a point to 0dB, right-click on the point and se-
lect “Reset point” from the envelope speed menu.
To reset the whole envelope curve to default, right-click 
the envelope curve and select “Reset all” from the speed 
menu.
To reset the sustain part of the volume envelope only, 
select “Reset sustain to 0dB” on the envelope speed 
menu.
All volume envelope points will be removed, but any defined fades will be 
left untouched.
Duck according to other track
This feature allows you to create ducking effects between 
clips on two adjacent tracks. Normally, ducking is when 
the signal level on one track or channel is automatically 
lowered by the presence of another signal on another 
track or channel. With “Duck according to other track” it is 
not the presence of another signal that causes ducking to 
take place, but the presence of another clip on an adja-
cent track.
The most obvious application of this feature is when mix-
ing background music with a voice-over. When the voice-
over starts, the level of the music is automatically lowered 
and when the voice-over stops, the level of the music is 
restored to the original level. This is done by automatically 
creating volume envelope curves. In the following example 
we have chosen to use “music” on the track to which 
ducking will be applied and a “voice-over” on an adjacent 
track that will cause ducking to take place.
!The junction points between the sustain and fade 
parts of the envelope cannot be deleted.
!The clips that cause ducking must be located com-
pletely inside the time range of the clip to which 
ducking is applied. 
						

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Proceed as follows:
1.Place the clips containing the music and the voice-
over on separate adjacent tracks.
Make sure the voice-over clips are located inside the time range of the 
music clip.
The three voice-over clips on the upper track are placed inside the time 
range of the music bed on the track below.
2.Open the envelope speed menu for the clip containing 
the music, and select “Duck according to other track…”.
The Ducking options dialog opens.
The Ducking options dialog
3.Click the appropriate “Previous track” or “Next track” 
radio button in the “Clips to follow” section (according to 
whether the voice-over track is above or below the music 
track in the Montage).
For now, we will use the default settings for the other dialog options.
4.Click “OK”.
The level of the music is automatically lowered by the voice-over clips, as 
shown in the illustration below.
After applying “Duck according to other track”
The following parameters can be set in the Ducking op-
tions dialog:
!If the clip(s) that cause ducking contain silent pas-
sages, ducking will not work properly. These clips 
have to be edited so that each phrase is a separate 
clip without any silence. This is because it is not the 
signal level that activates the ducking, but the clip it-
self.
!When “Duck according to other track” is performed 
it is applied to one clip at a time. If the music (in our 
example) consists of several clips that have been 
spliced together, only one of the clips will be ducked 
by the voice-over. One solution is to repeat the func-
tion for each clip, another is to use the “Render” 
function (see “Mixing down – The Render function” 
on page 131) in the Master Section to create a spe-
cific (single) file from the separate clips, and re-im-
port this as a new clip in the Montage.
Parameter Description
Fall Duration The time it takes for the level to fall when ducking 
starts.
Rise Duration The time it takes for the level to rise to the original 
level after ducking ends.
Gap before Clip
(Fall)The time between the end of the Fall region and 
the start of the voice clip.
Gap before Clip
(Rise)The time between the end of the voice clip and the 
start of the Rise region.
Balance clip 
fade-inIf this is ticked, any Duration or Gap settings in the 
Fall region will be ignored. Instead the ducking en-
velope will lower the volume according to the time 
of the voice clip’s fade-in curve.
Balance clip 
fade-outIf this is ticked, any Duration or Gap settings in the 
Rise region will be ignored. Instead the ducking 
envelope will raise the volume according to the 
time of the voice clip’s fade-out curve.
Damp factor This sets the amount of ducking, i.e. the level of at-
tenuation applied to the affected clip.
Clips to follow This determines whether the track that will cause 
ducking to take place is positioned before or after 
the track that will be ducked. If “Only selected 
clips” is ticked only the selected clips on the spec-
ified track will cause ducking.