Experimental BBS Explossion 3/Experimental BBS Explossion III.iso/gus/gumntx.zip/WAVELITE.TXT

Text File | 1994-06-17 | 43KB | 1,121 lines

WaveLite

Wave Lite_ is a program for recording and editing waveform audio
in the Windows environment.

Wave Lite will allow you to fully harness the digital audio
capabilities of Windows 3.1 or the Multimedia PC.



Check your disks for a file named README.WRI. This file lists
any changes that we may have made to Wave Lite since we printed
this manual.

_

In order to use Wave Lite, you will need the following hardware
and software:

o    Windows 3.1 or greater, or Microsoft Windows 3.0 and the
Windows Multimedia Extensions

o    386SX or better AT class computer

o    A Windows-compatible sound device (like UltraSound)



Chapter 1 introduces the program and provides support and
upgrade information.

Chapter 2 covers installation (which is done automatically for
you).

Chapter 3 is an overview of Wave Lite's operation.

From there on, we suggest that you only open the manual as
needed for reference. Don't forget to make use of Windows'
on-line help!



Wave Lite is a slimmed-down version of Wave_, Turtle Beach's
professional sound editing system for Windows. While the tools
included in Wave Lite will probably be adequate for most of the
things you'll want to do with sound in the Windows environment,
Wave provides the extra functions needed to do "studio-quality"
digital recordings.

These features include:

o    Four-band parametric equalization

o    Three-dimensional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis

o    Mixing of part or all of up to three soundfiles

o    Crossfading, gain adjustment, and muting

o    Full digital effects (reverb, chorus, echo)

o    Time compression and expansion

o    Easy-to-use effects presets

o    Import and export to a wide variety of file formats

See the enclosed _upgrade form for information on purchasing
Wave_.



Advanced Gravis does not provide detailed _technical support for
Wave Lite. Support is available to registered users from Turtle
Beach  Systems, [phone]., 9 AM_6 PM Eastern Standard Time.

CIS ID:    75300,1374 or 75300,3270

BIX ID:    Turtle Beach

Installation;



Wave Lite was automatically installed to your Windows directory
during the UltraSound Installation. If you need to re-install
Wave Lite for any reason, refer to the `Windows Software
Installation' section of the UltraSound Quick Installation Guide.



Despite Wave Lite's complex features, it is easy to use. If
you've ever used a tape deck, you'll already be familiar with
many of the program's functions; however, Wave Lite has many
capabilities  that you'd never find in the best-equipped
conventional studios, so a complete description of its functions
is certainly in order. In this chapter, we'll do just that,
starting with the basic concepts of Wave Lite.



Up to four document windows may be open in Wave Lite at any
time. These are used for editing soundfiles, or digital
recordings.

Wave Lite's editing tools take many forms. At the simplest
level, you may cut and paste sections of sound, either within a
single soundfile or across files, or draw sound freehand using
the waveform pencil.



Unlike most other software, Wave Lite does not load a copy of
its data into memory when you open a sound file. Data on the
hard disk is edited directly. This is typical of the way digital
audio programs work, and for good reason.

Audio sampled and stored at high resolutions eats up a
tremendous amount of memory. CD-quality sound (two channels of
16-bit audio, sampled at 44.1 kHz) uses a stunning 10 Megabytes
per minute. Even with the low cost of RAM today, it is
impractical to expect a desktop computer to hold this amount of
data in RAM.

When editing an existing sound with Wave Lite, make a backup
copy before you start your editing session.

_

Virtually all of Wave Lite's  functions can be accessed from the
main window's menu bar.

The File menu contains options for managing disk files and for
exiting the program. This menu is discussed in Chapter 6.

The Edit menu  provides cut and paste functions and undo. Edit
options are discussed in Chapter 6.

The Windows menu is used to change the arrangement of the four
soundfile windows within Wave Lite's main window. The items in
this menu are discussed in Chapter 7.

The Options menu contains several options for setting parameters
for other parts of the program, as well as system check
functions and other items. The Options menu is discussed in
Chapter 7.

Toolbar and _Overview    ;

The area immediately beneath the menu bar is called the toolbar.
This area contains numeric displays and buttons which provide
quick access to many of the most commonly used functions.

The upper left corner of the toolbar contains several  time
displays that are related to the active soundfile window, as
well as sliders for changing the X (time) and Y (amplitude)
resolution of the display. The right side of the toolbar
contains icons for playing the recording, for selecting the
mouse editing modes, and for retrieving previous views of the
window.

Immediately below the toolbar is a display called "Overview"
that displays a time line overview of the entire recording. The
overview is used primarily to select the portion of the
recording that is displayed in the active soundfile window.



Wave Lite's main window is home to up to four child windows.
These windows may be minimized within the main window, in which
case they will appear as icons. Double-clicking on any icon will
maximize the window for that icon. When you start the program,
the first soundfile window will already be open, and the
remaining windows will be minimized.

Each of the four soundfile windows displays both channels of the
recording. The components of a soundfile window are shown below.

The topmost soundfile window is referred to as the active
soundfile window. The active window is connected to Wave Lite's
menus and toolbar; all recording, editing, and playback
operations deal with the sound data shown in the active window.
The soundfile windows are discussed in Chapter 5.





Wave Lite has many different options for playing back a
soundfile. All or part of a soundfile may be played back, or a
segment of a soundfile can be made to play repeatedly.



Most of the playback options are centered around the Play icon,
which is shown to the left.

If a section of the recording is selected, a single click with
the left mouse button on the Play icon will play the selected
area. If a selected area does not exist, left-clicking on the
Play icon will tell Wave Lite to play the material displayed in
the active soundfile window.

The entire soundfile may be played by double-clicking on the
Play icon. Double-clicking at any location in the overview
display will play the soundfile, beginning at that point.

The <space> bar performs the same function as a single click on
the Play icon: the selected area (if there is one) plays ,  or
the sound in the active soundfile window plays. <Shift-space>
plays the entire soundfile. The <space> bar also stops playback.



Wave Lite's recording functions are accessed by clicking on the
microphone-like Record icon located in the toolbar.

If you start recording in an empty soundfile window, a file
selection dialog will allow you to select an existing soundfile
in which to record, or to enter the name of a new soundfile.
After you specify a file name, or if you are recording into an
existing soundfile, the Record dialog will appear.

Record Dialog;

The Record dialog (Figure 4-1) contains a wide variety of
controls and displays that affect the recording process. Many of
its functions are identical to the analogous functions in an
analog tape deck, while others are unique to the digital
recording medium.

The Review, Record, Play, Stop, and Cue buttons are all similar
(but not identical) to the equivalent buttons on a tape deck.
Recording starts as soon as the Record button is pressed; there
is no need to press Play. Recording stops when the mouse button
is clicked, or the <space> bar is pressed. The <space> bar can
also be used to start playback.

The Cue and Review buttons  change the value in the time
counter.  Playback or recording starts at the time shown in this
counter when the Play or Record buttons are clicked.

You can also position the starting point for recording or
playback with the three buttons to the right of the counter.
These buttons allow you to instantly jump to the end of the
recording (GTE, or Go To End), the beginning (RTZ, for Return To
Zero), or the beginning of the selected area (SEL).

The Sampling Rate buttons are used to set the sound hardware's
sampling frequency. The Resolution buttons determine whether
individual samples will be stored in a single byte (8 bits) or
an entire word (16 bits) of memory. This dialog will only allow
you to select options that your sound card can handle, so for
example, Sound Blaster users will not be able to choose 44.1 kHz
recording.

Changing the sample rate and/or the resolution allows you to
balance fidelity and memory usage, depending on your needs.

The Channels button allows you to record in mono or stereo, if
your sound hardware has that capability. Note that these
settings cannot be changed once you begin recording into a new
soundfile, or if you are recording new material in an existing
soundfile.

The level meters on the right side of this dialog provide an
animated display of the audio input. While the level meter is
running, you can set your sound card record level either by
manually adjusting it or by using manufacturer-supplied Windows
tools to do so.

These bar graphs show the instantaneous and peak input levels
for each channel. This is an essential tool when you are
recording from an analog source. The level meters are switched
on by clicking on the Pause button. You can turn off the meters
by clicking Stop or if you are ready to record, click Record.



1)    Open a new window by double-clicking on an Untitled icon. If
all four windows are in use, use the New option in the File menu
to clear a window.

2)    Click on the Record icon.

3)    In the dialog that appears, type the name of the new
recording, then click OK.

4)    Click Pause to start the level meters

5)    Start the source tape or CD and adjust the output level while
monitoring the level display. When the levels are set properly,
and re-cue your source tape or CD.

6)    Click on the Record button, then start the source tape.

7)    When the recording is complete, press <space> to stop
recording, then click Done to return to the editing window.



1)    Select the window containing the soundfile in which you wish
to record.

2)    Click on the Record icon.

3)    When the Record dialog appears, click on the GTE button to go
to the end of the recording.

4)    Follow steps 4 to 7 of `How to Create a New Recording,'
above, to complete the recording.





One of the most important benefits of the digital audio
revolution is the long-awaited ability to look at sound rather
than to simply listen to it. The wave nature of sound has been
well understood for centuries, but being able to look at a sound
and thereby get a new perspective on such things as clicks,
envelopes, noise, and other audio phenomena has been a great
help to musicians and audio engineers.

Like all good digital audio programs, Wave Lite not only lets
you see your music, it lets you visually edit your recordings as
well. In this chapter, we'll cover all aspects of visual editing
in Wave Lite.



The soundfile window, which was discussed briefly in Chapter 4,
is the heart of Wave Lite's visual editing system. It contains
two views of the recording, several time displays, resolution
sliders, and a variety of icons for editing and other functions.
These items are all described below.



The overview is a miniature representation of the soundfile in
the active (top) soundfile window. The overview is used to
select the portion of the soundfile that appears in this window.
The overview appears just below the toolbar.

The highlighted portion of the overview corresponds to the data
in the active soundfile window. Dragging the mouse across the
overview will highlight a new area and, consequently, put a new
section of sound in the window. If you drag with the left mouse
button down, the amount of sound displayed in the top window may
change, but if you drag with the right mouse button, you can
slide the view around without changing its size.

Note that if the length of the highlighted portion of the
overview is very long, Wave Lite may take an excessive amount of
time to redraw the window. If this happens, you can press the
<space> bar to cancel the calculation, and Wave Lite will only
plot that portion of the active soundfile window that it has
calculated.

How to View a New Section of Sound with the Overview

1)    Position the mouse cursor in the overview, at the beginning
of the section of sound you wish to view.

2)    Drag the mouse across the area you wish to view. The area you
specify will be highlighted.

3)    Release the mouse button, and the highlighted area will
appear in the active soundfile window.

Soundfile Window;

The topmost, or active, soundfile window is where most of the
action in Wave Lite takes place. This window is used to view a
chunk of your recording to any level of resolution (in both time
and amplitude) that you desire. It is also used for selecting
areas to edit, placing insertion points, and drawing waveforms.

The calibration units along the left and bottom edges of the
view, as well as the type of grid used in the soundfile windows,
are all set in the Display Setup dialog. The highlighted section
of sound in this screen shot is called the selected area, and is
discussed later in this chapter.

The maximum amount of soundfile that can be "grabbed" from the
overview is set by the Maximum Zoom parameter in the Display
Setup dialog.

The reason Wave Lite allows you to limit the size of the
soundfile window display has to do with the mechanics of hard
disk recording. When Wave Lite draws the soundfile plot, it
takes almost as long to get the data from disk as it would to
play the data. This means that, if you want to grab a ten minute
recording from the overview, redrawing the soundfile window
takes about ten minutes. This is not practical, so Maximum Zoom
lets you set limits.

If you attempt to make the soundfile window's display longer
than the Maximum Zoom time by dragging the mouse in the
overview, it will be limited to this value. Note that you can
still view larger sections using the time resolution slider,
since its operation is not limited by Maximum Zoom.

The portion of the recording displayed in the active soundfile
window can be positioned by ear by setting the Play Mode switch
to Tape.

In a stereo soundfile, the upper part of the display in each
soundfile window corresponds to the left channel of the
recording, and the lower part represents the right channel.

Time Displays;

The five displays in the upper left part of the toolbar show
time values that relate to the recording. These displays are
shown below.

The display in the upper left corner shows the length of the
soundfile. The display immediately below this shows the start
time of the sound displayed in the active soundfile window.

The two fields in the lower right part of this display show the
start time and duration of the selected area, if any. If there
is no selected area, then the upper display shows the location
of the insertion cursor, and the lower display shows the sample
value at the cursor position.

The units used for the four displays discussed above are set in
the Display Setup dialog. This dialog is available through the
Options menu, or it may be brought up by clicking on the units
portion of any of these displays.

The display in the upper right is slightly different that the
other four. It always displays time in hours, minutes, seconds,
and frames, regardless of the units used by the other displays.
If Wave Lite is playing, it shows a running count of the play
time. If Wave Lite is stopped, then it shows the same value as
the Start display, that is, the location of the left edge of the
active soundfile window.

Amplitude Resolution Sliders;

The two sliders located between and beneath the time displays
are used to change the resolution of the active soundfile
window. The horizontal slider changes the time, or X, resolution
of the view, and the vertical slider controls the amplitude, or
Y, resolution. These controls are used to zoom in and out on the
soundfile.

When the time resolution slider is all the way to the left, up
to two minutes of the soundfile will be displayed, and when it
is all the way to the right, approximately 64 sample frames will
be displayed, depending on the type of video card you're using.
Clicking to the right or left of the slider handle will move the
handle by one "notch", which will change the resolution by a
factor of four.

Similarly, the entire height of the sound data in the active
soundfile window will be displayed when the amplitude resolution
slider is at the top; when it is at the bottom, only a very
small portion of the full range is displayed. Clicking above or
below the slider handle changes the resolution by a factor of
two.

_Scrolling the Soundfile

When either the time or amplitude resolution is set such that
only part of the full range is visible, the soundfile window's
scroll bars become active. These can be used to view different
areas of the soundfile. The size of each scroll bar's handle
shows the size of the viewed area in relation to the full range
(either time or amplitude). The screen shot below shows a
soundfile window in which the resolution sliders and scroll bars
have been used to zoom in on a small section of sound.

Typically, you would use the time resolution slider only when
you want to look at a very large section of the soundfile, since
this slider does not have the automatic limiting that occurs
when you drag the mouse in the overview. The amplitude
resolution slider, on the other hand, is a very convenient way
to zoom in on part of a waveform.

Centering the Amplitude Display

Because it is often necessary to center the zero amplitude line
in the active soundfile window, and because this can be
difficult to do using the vertical scroll bar, the Windows menu
contains a special command for this, called Center Y Resolution.
Clicking on this menu item, or pressing <Alt-C>, will center the
view around the zero line.

Canceling Long __Redraws

If you accidentally move the time resolution slider too far to
the left, you may find that Wave Lite takes a long time to
redraw the soundfile window. If you tire of waiting for this to
happen, you can Click the left mouse button or press the <space>
bar at any time to cancel the redraw. The right mouse button,
described in the next section, provides an alternate method for
changing Wave Lite's display resolution.

How to __Magnify a Small Time Slice

1)    Drag the mouse across the section of the overview that
corresponds to the section you wish to view. The left edge of
the highlight should be at the left edge of the desired segment.

2)    Slide the time resolution slider all the way to the right.

3)    If necessary, use the scroll arrows along the bottom edge of
the window to zero in on the desired segment.

Zooming;

The right mouse button may be used at any time to zoom in on a
particular section of the active soundfile window. This is
equivalent to adjusting the time and amplitude resolution
sliders, as well as the horizontal and vertical scroll bars, in
one fell swoop.

When the mouse cursor is inside the active soundfile window and
right mouse button is pressed, the cursor changes to a pointing
arrow. Dragging the mouse down and to the right across the
window will cause a rubber box to appear. When you release the
mouse button, the data enclosed in the box will expand to fill
the window.

Because it is often desirable to be able to zoom in on a
particular time segment in a soundfile without changing the
amplitude resolution, we have provided an option to prohibit
changes in Y resolution during zooms. If a check mark appears
beside "Lock Y Res in Zooms" in the Windows menu, the amplitude
resolution will not change when using the zoom mode. This switch
can also be toggled by the <L> key.



1)    Pull down the Windows menu and make sure that Lock Y Res in
Zooms is turned off.

2)    Position the mouse cursor above and to the left of the
section of sound you wish to view, then drag the mouse down and
across the desired section.

3)    Release the mouse button.



Most of Wave Lite's editing operations are designed to be used
on only  selected parts of the soundfile. The selected area is
the highlighted portion of the active soundfile window.

The mouse may be used to select an area any time the Select icon
is active. To select a section of a soundfile, drag the mouse
across the area you wish to select. The boundaries of the
selected area may be changed by holding down a <Shift> key and
either clicking at the place you want the selected area to begin
or end, or dragging the boundary. This technique is especially
useful if you wish to fine tune the edges of the selected area.

If a selected area is not defined, an insertion cursor will
appear somewhere in the soundfile. The insertion cursor is a
vertical blinking line, which is used to tell Wave Lite where to
insert new material when pasting. The insertion cursor is placed
simply by clicking once in the active soundfile window.



If a selected area or insertion cursor is not visible in the
soundfile window (probably due to scrolling), the location of
the selected area or insertion cursor is shown in the time
displays.

The display that shows the length of the selected area will be
blank if an insertion cursor is in use. To display the selected
area or insertion cursor in the window, press the <=> key. Use
the F9 and F10 keys to jump to the beginning or end of the
selected area; this is especially handy if the size of the
active soundfile window is much smaller than the selected area.



1)    Zoom in on the location that you want to be the beginning of
the selected area, using the time resolution slider and the
horizontal scroll bar.

2)    Click on the Select icon.

3)    Place the mouse cursor at the desired location and drag the
mouse a short distance to the left.

4)    Use the horizontal scroll bar to locate the other desired
endpoint for the selected area.

5)    Hold down either <Shift> key, and drag to the desired
endpoint.

Edit Icons;

The two icons shown at the left are called the Edit icons,
because they determine what editing function the mouse will
perform in the active soundfile window. These two buttons are
radio buttons, of which only one may be active at any time. The
Edit icons are the Draw icon and the Select icon.



When the Select icon is active, the mouse may be used either to
define a selected area or to place the insertion cursor. The
mouse cursor changes to an "I" beam shape when it is inside the
active soundfile window in this mode. Dragging the mouse selects
an area, or clicking the mouse places an insert cursor.



When this icon is active, the mouse can be used as a pencil, to
draw new sound data. This is primarily useful for removing
clicks, pops, and similar glitches in a recording.

When waveform drawing is enabled, the mouse cursor takes the
form of a pencil when it is inside the active soundfile window.
Dragging the mouse across the window draws in new sound data.
When the mouse button is released, Wave Lite will clean up the
display, so don't be dismayed if your drawing seems a bit sloppy
at first.

The Draw icon is only available when the time resolution is
sufficiently high to make drawing practical. (The sound data is
displayed as a set of lines, rather than as a solid curve, when
this is so.)

How to Remove a __Click in a Soundfile

1)    Drag the mouse across the section of the overview that
contains the click to view that part of the soundfile.

2)    Use the right mouse button to zoom in on the click. If
necessary, click once somewhere on the screen to place the
insertion cursor, then press the <space> bar to play the
contents of the active soundfile window in order to confirm your
selection.

3)    Click on the Draw icon.

4)    Place the mouse cursor at the left edge of what seems to be
the base of the click, and then draw a line from that point to
what seems to be the trailing edge of the click.

5)    Note that some clicks may be too wide to be deleted with this
method. If the click does not sound better when the soundfile is
played, select Undo Last Edit from the Edit menu to replace the
click.



The Previous View icon is used to step through the last eight
views of the soundfile. Clicking on this icon will bring up the
last view of the current soundfile window. In this sense, a
"view" includes the settings of both resolution sliders and the
scroll bars. Selecting a previous view does not change the
status of the selected area or insertion cursor. If the stack of
previous views is empty when you click on this icon, you will
hear a beep.

The <backspace> key performs the same function as this icon.

_

An important part of visual editing in any digital audio program
is cut and paste editing. These functions are handled in Wave
Lite through the Cut, Copy, Delete, and various Paste items in
the Edit menu.

Most of these functions make use of a temporary storage area
called the cut buffer. This buffer is actually a file on the
hard disk. If there is not enough room on the hard disk to
create a cut buffer when the need arises, Wave Lite will issue
an error message. When you quit Wave Lite, the contents of the
cut buffer are lost.



This item removes the material in the selected area and places
it in the cut buffer. Pressing <Shift-Del> performs the same
function.



This item is similar to Cut except that the selected area is not
deleted from the soundfile; it is simply copied to the cut
buffer. Pressing <Ctrl-Ins> performs the same function.



Delete is like Cut , but does not save the selected area from
the soundfile in the cut buffer. This is handy if you wish to
delete something without disturbing the contents of the cut
buffer. The keyboard command for Delete is <Ctrl-Del>.

_

Paste Insert is used to place the contents of the cut buffer
back in the soundfile. It is only available if something has
been placed in the cut buffer; otherwise, this item is disabled.

The exact function of the Paste Insert command depends on
whether a selected area or insertion cursor is present. If a
selected area exists, Wave Lite first deletes the selected area,
then inserts the contents of the paste buffer; in other words,
the contents of the cut buffer replace the selected area. If an
insertion cursor exists, the new material is inserted at that
point, and nothing is deleted from the soundfile.

Paste Insert can also be used to create a new soundfile. If you
open an untitled soundfile window and then click on Paste
Insert, Wave Lite will present a file selector where you can
enter the name of the new soundfile. The data in the cut buffer
will then be pasted into the new soundfile.

The keyboard command for Paste Insert is <Shift-Ins>.

_

This option is similar to Paste Insert, except that it always
replaces data in the soundfile, regardless of the existence of a
selected area. The length of the replaced data is identical to
the length of the cut buffer. The keyboard command for Paste
Over is <Shift-O>.

_

This function will repeatedly copy data from the cut buffer to
the selected area, replacing any existing data. This is
primarily useful for dialog editing, when you'd like to replace
an extraneous sound with some ambient background noise. Simply
copy a few seconds of background noise (or "room tone") to the
cut buffer, then select the area you want to replace and select
Paste Fill. The keyboard command for Paste Fill is <Shift-F>.

_

Audition Cut Buffer plays back the sound stored in the cut
buffer. This is useful if you forget exactly what is stored
there. Playback can be stopped by pressing the <Space> bar or
clicking the mouse. Pressing the <A> key performs the same
function.

__

Cut and paste editing is fairly unrestricted in Wave Lite. You
may paste material at any point in a soundfile, or from one
soundfile to another. The only limitation is that the format
(mono or stereo) of the destination soundfile must match that
from which the material in the cut buffer was taken. If you try
to paste the cut buffer into a soundfile with a different
format, Wave Lite will issue an error message.

You can paste data from a soundfile with a different sample rate
into a soundfile. When this happens, the pasted data will be
played back at the sample rate of the destination soundfile.

Silence from the Beginning of a Soundfile;

1)    Position the window at the beginning of the soundfile.

2)    Make sure the Select icon is active, then drag the mouse
across the silent area.

3)    Zoom in on the beginning of the sound by pressing the right
mouse button and dragging the mouse diagonally across that part
of the soundfile.

4)    Click on the Select icon, then fine tune the end of the
selected area by holding down the <Shift> key and clicking just
before the beginning of the sound.

5)    Pull down the Edit menu and click on Delete.

Copy Material Between Soundfiles;

1)    Make sure that the two soundfiles you wish to use as the
source and destination are each open in their own windows.

2)    Top the window containing the source soundfile.

3)    Select the area you wish to copy, then pull down the Edit
menu and click on Copy.

4)    Top the window containing the destination soundfile.

5)    Place the insertion cursor in the destination soundfile by
clicking at the location where the copied material is to be
inserted.

6)    Pull down the Edit menu and click on Paste Insert.



The _Mute option, in the Edit menu, can be used to erase a
portion of either or both channels. Clicking here, or pressing
<Ctrl-M>, will set the data in the selected area to zero, which
is the computer's way of erasing audio.



The _Undo Last Edit option can be used to undo the effects of
any destructive editing operations, such as Cut, Delete, or
Paste.

Undo Last Edit is only available when a check mark appears to
the left of the Undo Enabled switch. Clicking on Undo Enabled
will toggle the undo feature. If undo is disabled, the words No
Undo will also appear in Wave Lite's menu bar.

When Wave Lite performs an editing operation, it first makes a
copy of the section of the soundfile that will be edited. This
copy is placed in a special file called the undo buffer. If you
decide to undo an edit, Wave Lite simply swaps the edited
section of the soundfile with the undo buffer. Since creating
the undo buffer can be quite time-consuming, and may also
involve a lot of hard disk space, we have given you the option
of disabling the Undo Last Edit option.

We suggest that when you are preparing to make massive changes
to an entire soundfile, you first make the change to a small
section of the file with undo enabled. Once you are confident of
the results you'll be getting, turn the undo feature off, and
then edit the entire file.

The status of the Undo Enabled switch is saved in Wave Lite's
configuration file.

The <Alt-Backspace> key combination also performs the Undo Last
Edit function. The <U> key can be used to toggle the Undo
Enabled switch.



Wave Lite's File menu contains several options for managing
soundfiles. This chapter discusses the contents of the File
menu, as well as some considerations for hard disk management.

_File Menu;

This menu contains several options for managing soundfiles. Its
contents are described below.



This option removes the soundfile from the top window and sets
the window's name to "Untitled". Because the soundfile is
contained entirely in disk files, no data is lost when New is
selected.



This opens a soundfile and places it in the top window. A file
select dialog will present you with a list of the available
soundfiles.



This option is used to make a copy of the soundfile in the
active window. A file select dialog will allow you to enter the
name to save the soundfile under.



This item can be used to delete any file from the disk. The
extension defaults to .WAV, but you can change this to any
extension you wish, and delete any file type.



This terminates Wave Lite. Because audio data is stored on the
hard disk at all times, there is no need to save your soundfiles
before quitting the program.

You may also quit Wave Lite by pressing <Alt-F4>.



The .i.Soundfile Info..._;Soundfile Info... option in the Edit
menu brings up a dialog which allows you to view important
information about the soundfile and add comments.

The Sample Rate, Resolution, and Channels fields show the
obvious information. These values are determined when the
soundfile is recorded, and cannot be changed from this dialog.
Block Align and Format Tag are two data fields found in every
Windows-compatible .WAV file, and are provided here solely for
the interest of the tech-heads out there. (You know who you are.)

The SMPTE Offset field allows you to enter an offset time, in
SMPTE units, that will be added to the time display.





Windows Menu;

The Windows menu contains items that affect the arrangement of
the windows on the screen, as well as some switches for altering
the operation of zooming in the active soundfile window.

_Lock Y Res in Zooms disables zooming in the Y direction. If
this option is checked, then the amplitude resolution will not
change when using the zoom mode.

_Center Y Resolution is used to center the soundfile's zero line
in the middle of the window. This is especially useful when you
wish to zoom in on a zero crossing point, as it can be difficult
to center the display vertically with the scroll bar.

The next four items in the Windows menu change the arrangement
of the windows on the screen. Cascade Windows overlaps the open
soundfile windows diagonally. Tile Windows places each open
window in a corner of the screen. Strip Windows puts the windows
in horizontal strips, one above the other. Arrange Icons simply
arranges the icons for any minimized soundfile windows at  the
bottom of the main window.

The names of the soundfiles in each window appear at the end of
the Windows menu. Selecting any of these will bring the
corresponding window to the top.

Options Menu;

The Options menu contains several different items for adjusting
Wave Lite's display and operational parameters, for performing
system checkout functions, and other miscellaneous functions.
These items are described in this chapter.

_

This menu item brings up the following dialog, which is used to
set many of Wave Lite's global operating parameters; that is,
settings that affect the operation of the entire program. You
shouldn't need to spend much time here; the usual procedure is
to set these parameters once, then forget that this dialog even
exists.



Insertion Cursor Blink Speed sets the rate at which the
insertion cursor blinks.

_

The combo box labeled Set Colors Of and the buttons labeled
Colors are used to change the colors used in the soundfile
windows. The Set Color Of list determines what part of the
display will be changed by the Colors buttons. You may set a
different waveform plot and highlight color for each soundfile
window; all of the other color settings affect every soundfile
window.

_

This setting tells Wave Lite where to look for and store
soundfiles. Remember that you can always override this in the
file selection dialogs.

_

This switch displays or hides the Wave Lite logo that appears in
the toolbar.

_Record Mode;

These buttons tell Wave Lite where it should position the
beginning of the active soundfile window when playback or
recording is finished. If Hard Disk is selected, the position of
the window will not change when playback or recording is
finished. This is the mode you'll want to use most often. If
Tape is specified, the window will be positioned at the point
where playback or recording stopped. This is handy if you want
to locate a section of sound by ear.



The .i.Display Setup_;Display Setup dialog is used to set
several options pertaining to the soundfile windows. This dialog
can be brought up either by selecting Display Setup..., or by
clicking on the units in any of the time displays in a soundfile
window.

_

The X Axis Calibration Units setting determines how time is
displayed in the overview, soundfile windows, and time displays.
If set to SF Time, time is displayed in hours, minutes, seconds,
and hundredths of seconds. Time Code is similar, except that the
hundredths of seconds display is replaced by SMPTE frames using
either decimal or hexadecimal notation. Film displays times in
terms of film feet and frames, at rates of 1.5 feet per second
and 24 frames per second, and Beat causes times to be displayed
in terms of beats.

_

Y Axis Calibration Units set the calibration used for amplitude
in the soundfile windows. If set to % Amplitude, the units on
the Y axis will range from -100 to 100. If set to Decimal
Samples, the Y axis is calibrated in individual sample levels,
from -32767 to 32768. Hex Samples is similar to Decimal Samples,
except that a twos complement hexadecimal numbering system is
used.

_

X Calibration Lines and Y Calibration Lines affect the grid
lines that are drawn in the soundfile windows. The X axis
(horizontal) lines can be turned on or off. For the vertical (Y
axis) calibration lines, you have three choices: no lines at all
(Off), short lines at the bottom of the display (Baseline), or
full-height lines (Full Height).

_

The Maximum Zoom field determines the maximum size of the
soundfile window when grabbing it from the overview.

Note that you can still view longer sections of the soundfile by
using the time resolution slider.

_

The two system check functions described below are used to
provide information about things you normally should not need to
worry about. If, however, you ever experience problems using
Wave Lite, this is the place to start. Its a good idea to keep
track of the information that appears in each check, in case you
run into system difficulties.

_

This option allows you to select from different wave audio
devices that may be loaded in your system. This is useful for
authoring sounds that must be played back on a variety of sound
cards.

_

This item displays important information about your computer.
The dialog that appears after you select this option shows the
amount of free memory available to Windows, the resolution of
your video system, and the capabilities of your sound card.

_

This menu option looks at the drive specified in the Soundfile
Path field in the Preferences dialog and displays the amount of
free space on that drive, along with the drive's total capacity.



Sampling Techniques;

This chapter will take you through several procedures that you
will commonly use in order to acquaint you with the program and
its interface.

__

The input circuitry on many sound boards is designed for
sampling directly from a microphone. This is convenient if a
microphone is the only piece of audio gear you own, but for a
variety of reasons, it is much easier to get a good sample if
you first record your voice on a tape deck, and then sample the
sound from the tape, as described in the next section.

When recording from a microphone, it is important to obtain the
highest possible level without overdriving the sound hardware's
analog to digital converter. Monitoring the level meters in the
Record dialog is the best way to ensure this. As you speak into
the mike, the indicator in the meter should just barely touch
the top of the meter at its highest point. Don't let it slam
against the top of the meter for any length of time, as this
will result in some truly nasty digital distortion. It may
require a few "takes" to get this right, but with practice it
will get easier.

__

Sampling from a CD or tape is much easier than sampling from a
microphone, because the signal is consistent: It will always be
at the same level each time you play it, which makes it much
easier to get a good recording. It is also easier to get a good
vocal "take" when recording on tape than it is when sampling
from a mike, because you don't have to deal with the computer
and the talent simultaneously.

Depending on which sound board you use, there may be some signal
level matching problems when recording from such a source. CD
players and tape decks output something called a line level
signal, which is much "louder", electrically speaking, than the
signal from a microphone. While many sound boards can accept
either line level or mike signals, some (including the original
Sound Blaster) are designed to accept only microphone level
signals. Sampling directly from a CD with such a board will
result in serious distortion.

The solution is to use a special "attenuator plug", which
reduces the output level of the CD player to match that of a
microphone. Radio Shack carries attenuator plugs (part number
274-300). Connect this between one channel of your CD player or
tape deck and the sound board's microphone input.

If you're sampling from a stereo sound source like a CD or taped
music, there's another problem: many sound boards can only
handle mono signals. In this case, you'll need to put an audio
mixer between the source and the mono line input in order to mix
the two stereo channels to one.

The diagram below illustrates this arrangement.