Apple Soundtrack - 1.5 User Manual

Soundtrack

User Manual

Apple Computer, Inc.

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Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate. Apple Computer, Inc. is not responsible for printing or clerical errors.

Apple Computer, Inc. 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014-2084 408-996-1010 www.apple.com

Apple, the Apple logo, Final Cut, FireWire, iTunes, Logic, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, QuickTime, and Soundtrack are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

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Preface 7 An Introduction to Soundtrack

What Is Soundtrack?

Creating Music with Soundtrack

Resources for Learning About Soundtrack

Soundtrack Onscreen User Manual

Apple Websites

Chapter 1 13 Audio and Music Basics

Basic Audio Concepts

Basic Music Concepts

Chapter 2 21 Setting Up Your System

System Considerations

Connecting Audio Equipment

Example Hardware Setups

Chapter 3 31 The Soundtrack Interface

Project Window

Media and Effects Manager

Utility Window

Chapter 4 47 Getting Started with Soundtrack

Overview

Setting Up Your Workspace

Playing Projects

Locating and Adding Audio Files

Previewing Audio Files

Using Undo and Redo

Using Snap

Reconnecting Media Files

Setting Soundtrack Preferences

Chapter 5 77 Working with Projects

Creating and Opening Projects

Closing Projects

Setting Project Properties

Setting the Project Length

Saving Projects

Adding Audio Files to a Project

Viewing and Editing Clip Properties

Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

Chapter 6 89 Working in the Timeline

Moving Around in the Timeline

Working with Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

101

Editing Audio Clips

111

Working with Markers

Chapter 7 115 Working with Video in Soundtrack

11 5

Supported Video File Formats

11 6

Adding a Video to a Project

117

Playing the Video

11 9

Viewing Video Details

12 0

Working with a Video’s Audio

12 0

Using the Time Display and Time Ruler with Video

121

Using Markers with Video

12 4

Removing a Video from a Project

Chapter 8 125 Working with Audio Effects

12 6

Audio Effects Included with Soundtrack

13 4

Working with Effects

141

Working with Effect Presets

Chapter 9 143 Working with Automation

14 3

Working with Envelopes

151

Recording Automation Data

15 3

Working with Timeslices

Chapter 10 159 Recording Audio in Soundtrack

15 9

Getting Ready to Record

15 9

Recording Audio in the Timeline

163

Saving Recorded Clips

Contents

Chapter 11 165 Distributing Soundtrack Projects

166

Exporting a Project Mix

167

Exporting Selected Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

168

Exporting to QuickTime

168

Roundtrips Between Final Cut Express and Soundtrack

17 0

Exporting Audio to Final Cut Express

17 0

Distributing a Project and Its Media Files Together

Appendix A 173 Using Apple Loops Utility

17 3

What Is Apple Loops Utility?

174

The Apple Loops Utility Interface

17 9

Opening Files in Apple Loops Utility

18 0

Tagging Files in Apple Loops Utility

181

Working with Transients

183

Saving Changes to Files

18 4

Removing Files from the Assets Drawer

18 4

Apple Loops Utility Preferences

185

Apple Loops Utility Keyboard Shortcuts

Appendix B 189 Soundtrack Keyboard Shortcuts

18 9

General and File

18 9

Windows, Tabs, and Layouts

19 0

Project Playback and Setting the Playhead

191

General Editing

191

Editing Audio Clips in the Timeline

19 2

Adjusting Audio Clips in the Timeline

19 2

Navigating in the Timeline

19 3

Tracks and Markers Recording

19 4

Appendix C 195 Solutions to Common Problems and Customer Support

19 5

Solutions to Common Problems

19 7

Calling AppleCare Support

Index 19 9

Contents

An Introduction to Soundtrack

Soundtrack gives you the tools you need to create high-quality soundtracks for your video productions.

Music projects that until recently would have required an array of professional studio equipment can now be completed in a home or project studio, using a personal computer and readily available resources. A computer with a fast processor and enough RAM can serve as a workstation for recording, arranging, mixing, and producing complete music projects that can be played back on the computer, burned on a CD or DVD, or distributed over the Internet.

For digital video editors, this development allows unprecedented opportunities for increasing creative control over the music for video projects. Currently, most video projects either use stock music clips from music libraries or rely on outside music production houses to create original scores. Now, using digital music tools and applications, video editors, including those with no musical training or experience, can create high-quality soundtracks for their video projects with the same computer they used to assemble and edit their video.

Preface

What Is Soundtrack?

Soundtrack is a music application built specifically for Mac OS X. Using Soundtrack, even non-musicians can create professional-sounding, royalty-free soundtracks for Final Cut Express video projects.

Soundtrack lets you build musical arrangements using prerecorded audio files called

loops.

Loops contain rhythmic patterns that you can extend to fill any amount of time. In a Soundtrack project, you can combine and arrange loops and non-looping audio files, add professional-quality effects, mix your music in stereo, and export the final mix to a standard audio file that can be played on any multimedia-equipped computer or imported into Final Cut Express.

Soundtrack includes the following features:

Work in real time:

You can work on Soundtrack projects in real time, adding and editing

audio while the project is playing, and hear the results of your changes immediately.

Use existing loop libraries:

Soundtrack includes a large collection of Apple Loops and is compatible with a wide variety of existing loop libraries, including those created for use with Sonic Foundry’s ACID.

Mix loops recorded at different tempos and keys:

Soundtrack automatically matches loops to the project tempo and key, allowing you to freely combine loops from different sources in a single project.

Locate and preview files easily:

The Media and Effects Manager, a part of the Soundtrack interface, provides powerful file browsing and search features, making it easy to locate loops and one-shots by instrument, genre, mood, or other search criteria.

Add professional-quality effects:

Soundtrack includes high-quality effects plug-ins that you can use in your projects. You can also install third-party effects in the Audio Units plug-in format.

Use Final Cut Express scoring markers:

When using Soundtrack to score a video that includes Final Cut Express scoring markers, Soundtrack recognizes and displays the scoring markers in the Timeline. You can also add time markers and use them as cue points to precisely synchronize the music to the action.

Edit nondestructively:

All of the edits you make in Soundtrack are nondestructive, allowing you to freely try out changes to audio files without altering the original file and to use the same file in multiple projects.

Record and edit automation:

You can record movements to sliders and other

onscreen controls, play back the automation, and edit it in the Timeline.

Audio recording capability:

You can record audio directly in tracks in the Soundtrack

Timeline, including recording multiple takes.

8 Preface

An Introduction to Soundtrack

Creating Music with Soundtrack

Making use of the advanced digital audio capabilities of Macintosh computers and Mac OS X, Soundtrack gives you a simple way to create music: After preparing the video in Final Cut Express, you add media (audio and video files) to tracks in the Soundtrack Timeline, edit and adjust your audio, and then add effects and automation to create a final mix that you can export and distribute.

To create your Soundtrack projects, you use prerecorded loops and other audio files. You can choose the style, tempo, and instrumentation of your music, and arrange musical events in time, even with no musical experience or training. In short, Soundtrack gives you greater creative control over the sound of your music than you would get using stock music libraries or relying on an outside music production facility.

The following steps outline a typical Soundtrack work session. You won’t always proceed in a strict linear order, and you may choose to overlap some steps. For example, you may add more audio after starting to build your arrangement in the Timeline, or you may make changes to the arrangement after you begin mixing.

Prepare

media

Locate and

preview media

Media Manager Project workspace

Creating Music with Soundtrack

Add

media

Build

arrangement

Mix Export

Import to

Final Cut Express

Step 1: Prepare the video

If you’re scoring a video, you’ll want to determine the length of the scenes to be scored, what mood and style of music are appropriate for the video, and how the music will be synchronized with the action at specific points. You can prepare the video in Final Cut Express by adding scoring markers, which appear when you import the video into Soundtrack.

Step 2: Add media

Once you’re ready, you begin by selecting the audio files you want to use in your project. You can preview audio files in the Media and Effects Manager, and then add them to the project Timeline. If you’re scoring a video, you import the video file into the project so that you can view it as you create your score, and synchronize the music with the video.

Preface

An Introduction to Soundtrack

Step 3: Build the arrangement

You build the arrangement by continuing to add audio clips to the Timeline, moving and resizing them to create rhythmic patterns and define sections, and editing them in a variety of ways. You can build drum and rhythm tracks to lay out the form and set the basic mood, and then layer additional parts over the rhythm tracks to fill out the arrangement. You can alter the mood and add interest to your music by changing the instrumentation, changing tempo and key, and adding lead parts or sound effects to create moments of tension and release.

Step 4: Mix

Once the arrangement is complete, you mix the project. Mixing involves shaping the overall sound, balancing different parts of the music, and bringing focus to the key moments in your project. You can further shape the sound of the project by adding effects (such as EQ, reverb, delay, chorus, and distortion) and using automation to create dynamic changes. When you finish mixing, you have one or more final mixes that you can export and distribute.

Step 5: Export and distribute

When your project is complete, you export the final mix as a stereo audio file, which can be played back on any multimedia-equipped computer. You can also export individual tracks as audio files. Your exported audio files can be imported into Final Cut Express or into another audio application such as Logic, burned on a CD or DVD, and distributed in a variety of ways. You can also export a project containing a video file as a QuickTime movie file.

Resources for Learning About Soundtrack

This manual describes the Soundtrack interface, commands, and menus, and gives stepby-step instructions for creating Soundtrack projects and for accomplishing specific tasks. It also includes information on setting up your system and on audio basics. It is designed to provide the information you need to get up to speed quickly so you can take full advantage of the intuitive interface and powerful features of Soundtrack.

If you want to start by learning how to set up audio hardware to use with Soundtrack, read Chapter 2, “Setting Up Your System,” on page 21. If you want to learn about the features and controls in the Soundtrack interface, read Chapter 3, “The Soundtrack

Interface,” on page 31. If you want to jump right in and start using the application, skip

ahead to Chapter 4, “Getting Started with Soundtrack,” on page 47.

In addition to this manual, Soundtrack provides other sources of support.

10 Preface An Introduction to Soundtrack

Soundtrack Onscreen User Manual

The Soundtrack onscreen user manual allows you to access information directly onscreen while you’re working in Soundtrack. To view this information, choose Help > Soundtrack User Manual. The Soundtrack onscreen user manual is a fully hyperlinked version of the Soundtrack User Manual, enhanced with many features that make locating information quick and easy.

Â The homepage provides quick access to various features, including Late-Breaking

News, the index, and the Soundtrack website.

Â A comprehensive bookmark list allows you to quickly choose what you want to see

and takes you there as soon as you click the link.

In addition to these navigational tools, the Soundtrack onscreen user manual gives you other means to locate information quickly:

Â All cross-references in the text are linked. You can click any cross-reference and jump

immediately to that location. Then, you can use the Preview Back button to return to where you were before you clicked the cross-reference.

Â The table of contents and index are also linked. If you click an entry in either of these

sections, you jump directly to that section of the user manual.

Â You can also use the Find dialog to search the text for specific words or a phrase.

Apple Websites

There are a variety of Apple websites that you can visit to find additional information.

Soundtrack Website

For general information and updates, as well as the latest news on Soundtrack, go to:

Â http://www.apple.com/finalcutexpress/soundtrack.html

Apple Service and Support Website

For software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, including Soundtrack, go to:

Â http://www.apple.com/support/soundtrack

You’ll also have access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles.

Preface An Introduction to Soundtrack 11

Other Apple Websites

Start at the Apple homepage to find the latest and greatest information about Apple products:

http://www.apple.com

QuickTime is industry-standard technology for handling video, sound, animation, graphics, text, music, and 360-degree virtual reality (VR) scenes. QuickTime provides a high level of performance, compatibility, and quality for delivering digital video. Go to the QuickTime website for information on the types of media supported, a tour of the QuickTime interface, specifications, and more:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime

FireWire is one of the fastest peripheral standards ever developed, which makes it great for use with multimedia peripherals, such as video camcorders and the latest highspeed hard disk drives. Visit this website for information about FireWire technology and available third-party FireWire products:

http://www.apple.com/firewire

For information about seminars, events, and third-party tools used in web publishing, design and print, music and audio, desktop movies, digital imaging, and the media arts, go to:

http://www.apple.com/pro

For resources, stories, and information about projects developed by users in education using Apple software, including Soundtrack, go to:

http://www.apple.com/education

Go to the Apple Store to buy software, hardware, and accessories direct from Apple and to find special promotions and deals that include third-party hardware and software products:

http://www.apple.com/store

12 Preface

An Introduction to Soundtrack

Audio and Music Basics

You can create professional-sounding music projects in Soundtrack without any background or training in music. This chapter describes the basic audio and music concepts you need to know to get started.

Basic Audio Concepts

In order to understand how you can work with audio files and use the controls, effects, and envelopes included in Soundtrack, it’s helpful to know some basic terms and concepts about audio.

Sound Waves

What we hear as sounds are vibrations traveling through the air as waves move through the air like ripples in a pond, radiating outward from the sound’s source in a regular pattern of compression and rarefaction.

sound waves.

Sound

Amplitude

Frequency and Amplitude

The rate at which a sound wave repeats (the time between two peaks of the wave) is called its a sound’s frequency as being relatively high (like a flute, a child’s voice, or a train whistle) or low (like a bass guitar, a man’s voice, or the rumble of a train on the tracks). The range of frequencies audible to human beings is roughly 20 Hz–20 kilohertz (kHz).

frequency.

Frequency

Frequency is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz). We hear

Time

The depth or intensity of a sound is called its amplitude, and is expressed in decibels (dB). We hear amplitude as the volume or loudness of a sound. The range of audible loudness is roughly 0–130 dB. Higher decibel levels are painful to human hearing.

Musical Sounds

Musical sounds typically have a regular frequency, which we hear as the sound’s pitch. Pitch is expressed using musical notes, such as C, Eb, and F#. What we hear as the pitch is only the lowest, strongest part of the sound wave, called the fundamental. Every musical sound also has higher, softer parts called overtones or harmonics, which occur at regular multiples of the fundamental frequency. We don’t hear the harmonics as distinct pitches, but rather as the tone color (also called the timbre) of the sound, which lets us distinguish one instrument or voice from another, even when both are playing the same pitch. When you turn up the treble on your stereo, or adjust an EQ effect, you raise the volume of some of the harmonics in the music, but don’t change the fundamental frequencies.

Time

Fundamental

First harmonic

Second harmonic

Time

14 Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics

Envelopes

Another aspect of sound that helps us to distinguish between instruments and voices playing the same pitch is a sound’s envelope. Every note played on a musical instrument has a distinct curve of rising and falling volume over time. Sounds produced by some instruments, particularly drums and other percussion, start at a high volume level but quickly decrease to a much lower level, and die away to silence quickly. Sounds produced by other instruments, for example, a violin or a trumpet, can be sustained at the same volume level, and can be raised or lowered in volume while being sustained. This volume curve is called the sound’s envelope, and acts like a signature to help our ears recognize what instrument is producing the sound.

Sustained envelopePercussive envelope

Phase Relationships

When two instruments or voices are playing the same pitch, the sound waves may have the exact same frequency and amplitude, but the peaks and troughs of the wave reach our ears, or a microphone recording the sound, at slightly different times. This is referred to as a difference in the phase of the sound waves. When two sound waves are completely in phase, the volume of the sound is doubled. When two sound waves are completely out of phase, they cancel each other out and we hear silence. Certain effects, such as phase shifters, make use of these properties of phase relationships to alter the sound of an audio signal.

Time

Recording Sound

When a sound is recorded, the sound waves traveling through the air are converted to an electrical signal, using a device called a transducer. Sound can be recorded using either analog or digital recording technology.

Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics 15

Analog Recording

When a sound is recorded using analog technology, the sound waves are recorded as a continuous electrical signal. Typically, the vibrations in the air contact the diaphragm of a microphone, setting the diaphragm in motion. A transducer in the microphone converts the diaphragm’s motion into an electric signal. The compressed parts of the sound wave are recorded as positive electrical voltages, and the rarefied parts of the wave are recorded as negative voltages. The voltage of the recorded signal is an analog of the wave’s frequencies and their relative amplitudes at any point in time.

Time

Analog recording technology was originally developed using mechanical means to etch the sound signal directly onto wax cylinders or lacquer disks. Its simplicity, and the rapid development of electronics during the twentieth century, led to its widespread use for recording music and for adding sound to motion pictures.

However, analog audio recording is subject to several problems in achieving high-fidelity reproduction of sound. These include noise, distortion, and loss of quality each time the audio signal is copied or reproduced.

Digital Recording

When a sound is digitally recorded, the sound waves are recorded as a series of samples onto a hard disk or other digital storage medium. A sample stores the voltages corresponding to the wave’s frequencies and their relative amplitudes as a series of binary numbers, or bits. Each sample is like a snapshot of the sound at a particular instant in time.

Time

16 Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics

Digital recording technology offers several advantages over analog technology for recording sound, including lower noise, wider frequency response, and less distortion (if the sound is recorded at the proper level). In addition, digital recordings can be reproduced any number of times without any loss of audio quality. These advantages, combined with the popularity of personal computers, have led to the rapid development of digital audio as a leading technology for music production.

Sample Rate and Bit Depth

The audio quality of any digital recording depends on two factors: the sample rate and the bit depth used to record the signal. The sample rate is the number of samples recorded per second. The bit depth is the number of digital bits each sample contains. Together, these two factors determine the amount of information contained in a digital audio recording. The higher the sample rate and bit depth of a recording, the more accurately the recording reproduces the original sound.

Time

Low sample rate

Time

High sample rate

Recording music digitally requires a very high sample rate and bit depth to reproduce the nuances in the music satisfactorily. The Nyquist theorem states that sounds must be recorded at no less than double the rate of the highest frequency being sampled to accurately reproduce the original sound. Audio CDs are recorded at a sample rate of

44.1 kHz and a bit depth of 16 bits (some CDs use a higher 20- or 24-bit depth). Audio for DVDs is often recorded using a slightly higher sample rate of 48 kHz. Soundtrack lets you record and play back digital audio files at sample rates of up to 96 kHz, and at bit depths of up to 24 bits.

Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics 17

Digital Distortion

To record sound with the widest possible dynamic range, the input level must be set high enough to capture the complete audio signal. When the input level of the signal is set too high, however, the signal exceeds the maximum level that can be sampled or reproduced accurately, resulting in digital distortion. Digital distortion is defined for most digital audio applications, including Soundtrack, as any time the signal rises above 0 dB. Even a single sample above 0 dB can produce noticeable distortion, which you hear as a sharp crackling sound in the audio output. Digital distortion is nearly always undesirable, and Soundtrack includes audio meters and other controls so that you can identify and remove distortion from your projects.

Time

Basic Music Concepts

You can create professional-sounding music projects in Soundtrack without any background or training in music. In order to understand how the different elements in a piece of music work together, and how you can use them to plan and create projects in Soundtrack, it’s helpful to know some basic concepts about music.

Rhythm and Tempo

Rhythm is the most essential of all elements of music. People respond to rhythm unconsciously by tapping their feet or moving their bodies in time to the rhythm. When the rhythm in a piece of music changes, most people feel a difference in the character or mood of the music right away.

Rhythm defines the sense of time in music by creating a recurring pulse. The feeling of rhythmic pulse in music can be subtle (for example, in classical music and some electronic music), or it can dominate all other elements of the music (as in tribal drumming or in dance music).

There are usually several layers of rhythm occurring simultaneously in a piece of music. The strongest rhythmic layer occurs in regular units called measures. Falling within each measure are a number of softer pulses called beats. The beat that coincides with the beginning of the measure is called the downbeat. There can also be more subtle pulses between beats. In the Soundtrack interface, the Beat ruler and Beat display show the division of musical time into measures, beats, and beat divisions.

18 Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics

Musicians use the concept of time signature to express the relationship between measures and beats. The first, or upper, number of the time signature indicates the number of beats in each measure, and the second, or lower, number indicates the basic beat value.

The rate at which beats occur in a piece of music is called its tempo. Tempo is measured in beats per minute (bpm). Music with an active or upbeat feeling tends to use a faster tempo, while music with a more relaxed or inward feeling tends to use a slower tempo. You can control the tempo of a Soundtrack project, and change the tempo during the course of a project.

Melody

Melody is often the most recognizable or memorable part of a piece of music. It’s the part of the music you walk away singing, whistling, or humming, and the part you usually think of when trying to identify the music or tell someone about it.

A melody is an arrangement of musical notes in a specific rhythmic pattern. Melodies establish the character of a piece of music, and immediately evoke a feeling or mood.

In Soundtrack projects, you work with prerecorded loops, some of which contain melodies or melodic phrases. If you sing or play an instrument, you can also record original melodies in Soundtrack. Whether you use existing loops or your own recordings, the most important thing to consider is whether a melody you want to use is appropriate for the style and feeling of a particular project.

Harmony and Key

Harmony occurs when several musical notes are played simultaneously, typically in groups of three or more notes called chords. The harmony of a piece of music is often played by rhythm or accompanying instruments, and works with the rhythm and melody to help establish the feeling of the music. As a piece of music progresses, the harmony changes, often at the beginning of a measure or on a strong beat, creating chord progressions that help give the music a sense of forward motion.

Most music makes use of groups of related notes called musical scales as the basis for both melody and harmony. The most common scales are the major scale and the minor scale. A scale centered around a particular musical pitch is called the key of a piece, and the central note is called the root note or tonic of that key. You can set the key of a Soundtrack project, and add key changes over the course of a project.

Some loops and one-shots you’ll use in your projects contain recordings with harmonies and chords. Soundtrack automatically matches the key of each audio file you add to a project to the project’s key. You can also transpose individual loops to create chord progressions and achieve other harmonic effects.

Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics 19

Instrumentation

The instruments used in any piece of music help define the style and the character of the music. Because each instrument adds its own particular range of musical expression to the piece, the choice of instrumentation is a crucial one in creating your projects. If you’re working in a particular style, you should always consider whether an instrument fits the sound of that style. If you’re going for something original, you can try combining instruments in a unique or unusual way.

The art of arranging involves choosing the right instrumentation, and using changes in the instrumentation over the course of the piece to create musical interest and drama. The arrangement becomes an integral part of the character and expression of the music.

Musical Patterns and Form

Most styles of music engage their audience by building up repeating patterns, then breaking or changing them after a number of repetitions. Larger musical compositions are created out of a series of related patterns.

Musical patterns typically occur in groups of two or four, and changes from one pattern to another typically occur at multiples of four. The form of a popular song provides a simple example: Many pop songs consist of a short introduction followed by two main sections, the verse and the chorus. The verse and chorus alternate several times, with the melody either sung or played by the lead instruments.

The introduction typically lasts 8 or 16 measures; each verse lasts 16 or 32 measures, and the chorus lasts for another 16 or 32 measures. In both the verse and chorus, the harmony may change at the beginning of every measure, or every two or four measures. Often the last chorus is repeated several times for a coda or “outro.”

Most styles of contemporary music are based to some degree on song form. You can easily create projects based on this form, using loops with drum beats and rhythmic patterns to define each section of the form. Each repetition of the verse and chorus sections can be set off using loops with vocals, or with varying lead or solo parts. You can scale the length of the piece to fill a specific amount of time, such as the length of a movie you want to score, by either adjusting the tempo or changing the number of times the final section repeats.

Another typical feature of song-based music is that there is often a signal at the end of each pattern that tells the audience that the pattern is about to change. Often this occurs in the drums or rhythm section parts. For example, the drums may repeat the same pattern for seven measures, but introduce slight changes in the eighth measure that energize the music and signal that a new pattern is about to start. Musicians call these signals fills, and loop libraries often contain several fills meant to be used with a looped drum pattern.

20 Chapter 1 Audio and Music Basics

2 Setting Up Your System

The way you set up your system depends on the audio equipment you plan to use.

You can use your computer’s speaker or headphone jack to monitor the audio output from Soundtrack. For better results, you may want to connect external monitors or speakers to your system, so that you can monitor the audio output at a higher level of quality. You may want to connect other external audio equipment such as an audio interface or a mixer, particularly if you plan to record your own audio in Soundtrack.

Â For information on system and hardware requirements, see the Read Before You

Install document on the installation DVD.

Â For information on installing the software, see the Installing Your Software booklet.

System Considerations

To achieve the most effective results, you should consider the following issues when setting up your system.

Processor Speed and RAM

Digital audio files require intensive processing by your computer. If you plan to work on longer or more complex projects, or use multiple effects plug-ins in your projects, a computer with a faster processor can facilitate your productivity.

Soundtrack is optimized for use with computers that have a multiprocessor architecture. Working with Soundtrack projects on a multiprocessor-equipped computer can make your workflow more efficient, especially when creating longer or more complex projects.

If you plan to work on large projects, it’s useful to have extra random-access memory, or RAM, installed in your computer. Additional RAM allows you to play back more files simultaneously, use a greater number of effects plug-ins, and keep several multimedia applications open at the same time.

Hard Disk Space

It’s also a good idea to have a large hard disk with plenty of available space to store the media (audio and video) files you use with Soundtrack. As you work with the application, you’ll likely want to acquire a large collection of sounds to use in your Soundtrack projects. You can use audio files stored on a CD-ROM disc or other external media, but playback performance may not be as good as when the audio files are installed on a local hard disk, especially when using a large number of files.

If you store media files on an external hard disk, make sure the disk has a fast enough seek time and a high enough sustained data transfer rate for use with multimedia files. Consult the manufacturer’s specifications.

Dedicated Hard Disk

If you plan to record your own audio in Soundtrack, remember that every minute of stereo digital audio (recorded using a 44.1 kHz sample rate and 16-bit depth) requires roughly 10 MB of hard disk space. If you plan to record large amounts of audio, you may want to record to a dedicated hard disk.

Setting the Audio Input and Output

By default, Soundtrack uses the input and output devices set in your computer’s System Preferences for audio input and output. You can set the default input and output (for monitoring) devices for Soundtrack in the Recording pane of the Soundtrack Preferences window, and change them for individual recording sessions in the Recording tab. For information on changing the default input and output devices Soundtrack uses, see “Setting Soundtrack Preferences” on page 73.

Adding Audio Units Plug-Ins to Your Computer

Soundtrack includes an extensive set of professional-quality effects plug-ins. Soundtrack uses effects in the Audio Units plug-in format, the native plug-in format of Mac OS X.

Audio Units plug-ins are also available from third-party manufacturers. When adding third-party effects to your computer, be sure to read the documentation, including any Read Me and installation files, that came with the plug-in. Supported Audio Units effects plug-ins appear in the Effects window under the manufacturer’s name.

Soundtrack does not support VST, ASIO, MAS, or RTAS effects plug-ins.

22 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System

Connecting Audio Equipment

You can use a variety of audio equipment with Soundtrack for both recording and playback. For information on connecting a specific piece of equipment to your computer, read the documentation that came with the equipment.

When using external audio devices, it’s a good idea to connect them before opening Soundtrack.

Soundtrack does not support video input from devices such as camcorders or videocassette decks.

Audio Interfaces

You can connect an audio interface to your computer, and then connect microphones and musical instruments to the audio interface for recording. You can also connect output devices, such as monitors or speakers, a mixer, or an amplifier to the audio interface.

When choosing an audio interface, check the manufacturer’s specifications to make sure the interface is compatible with Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger). Some audio interfaces require driver software, while others are supported without the need for a driver. If the device requires a driver, make sure an up-to-date driver is included with the device, or is available from the manufacturer.

All digital audio interfaces can be susceptible to latency, a noticeable delay between the time the audio signal is produced and the time you hear it. When connecting an audio interface, you should connect the interface directly to the computer, rather than connecting it through a hub or daisy-chaining it through another device. Connecting an audio interface through a hub or an intermediary device can cause an unacceptable amount of latency, particularly with slower protocols such as USB.

Soundtrack supports input from digital audio interfaces up to a maximum sample rate of 96 kHz and a maximum bit depth of 24 bits. If you connect an interface that uses sample rates or bit depths outside the range supported by Soundtrack, an alert message appears, telling you that data from the audio interface is not compatible with the application.

Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 23

FireWire (IEEE 1394)

FireWire is a professional and consumer standard for both audio and video equipment. The combination of fast data-transfer rates, high storage capacities, and plug-and-play connection makes FireWire an attractive choice for working with digital audio files. FireWire is included on all current Macintosh computers, and a number of FireWire audio interfaces are available.

There are two kinds of FireWire connectors: a 4-pin connector (typically found on video equipment) and a 6-pin connector (used for computer and audio equipment).

FireWire 400 (6-pin) (Sometimes labeled iLINK)

FireWire 400 (4-pin)

USB (Universal Serial Bus)

USB is a consumer standard used on computer peripherals and other devices. USB offers a lower data-transfer rate than FireWire, but supports plug-and-play operation and the ability to connect several devices in sequence (daisy-chaining). Some USB devices draw their power over the USB cable, while others require a separate power connection. USB is included on all current Macintosh computers.

There are two kinds of USB connectors: an A connector, typically used to connect a device to a USB hub, and a B connector, typically used to connect devices together, and also to connect a device to a computer. USB audio interfaces should always be directly connected to your computer, not connected via a hub or to the computer’s display, keyboard, or another peripheral.

USB (Universal Serial Bus)

PCI (Peripheral Connect Interface)

PCI interfaces, unlike FireWire and USB interfaces, require that you install a dedicated sound card in your computer. PCI provides high bandwidth and fast data-transfer rates, allowing you to record and play back large numbers of files at the highest possible sample rates and bit depths.

24 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System

PCMCIA

PCMCIA is a consumer standard for connecting devices to a laptop computer. PCMCIA provides a lower data-transfer rate than FireWire or USB, but provides a compact, affordable solution for connecting an audio interface to your computer, while keeping your USB and FireWire ports available for other devices. Most current Macintosh laptop computers support PCMCIA connections via a built-in card slot.

Audio Cabling

There are several types of audio cables and connectors used on professional and consumer audio equipment, at a range of prices and levels of quality. When connecting microphones and musical instruments to an audio interface or a mixer, make sure the interface has the proper input jacks for the type of connectors and cables you plan to use.

XLR

XLR cables and connectors are used on professional-quality microphones, monitors, and other musical equipment. They provide a high-quality, balanced signal at +4 dB level.

XLR connector (balanced)

1/4-Inch Audio

1/4-inch connectors (sometimes called “phone plugs”) are used on a wide variety of professional and consumer musical equipment, including musical instruments and amplifiers, speakers, and external effects devices. They can be either balanced (+4 dB) or unbalanced (–10 dB). Some devices require Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) connectors to transfer the audio signal.

1/4-inch Tip-Ring Sleeve (TRS) connector

1/4-inch Tip-Ring (TR) connector

RCA

RCA connectors are used on consumer audio equipment such as home stereo systems and videocassette recorders.

RCA connector (unbalanced)

Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 25

Optical Digital (AES-EBU and S/PDIF)

AES-EBU and S/PDIF are both used to provide an optical digital connection to professional and consumer audio equipment, including audio interfaces, DAT (digital audio tape) machines, and hardware samplers. Both carry a stereo digital signal. AESEBU is balanced, and has an operating level of 5 volts, while S/PDIF is unbalanced and has an operating level of roughly 1/2 volt. There are adapter cables available to convert between the two protocols. S/PDIF carries additional information with the audio signal, including SCMS copy-protection information.

S/PIDF optical digital connector

1/8-Inch Miniplug

Miniplug connectors are used for audio input and output to computers and on some consumer electronic devices, particularly portable ones.

Stereo miniplug connector (unbalanced)

Audio Output

Being able to monitor the audio output of your projects at a high level of quality is crucial to achieving professional results. In general, you should use the best output equipment your budget allows.

Speakers and Monitors

You can play back audio through your computer’s speakers or headphone jack, but the audio output may not be high enough for you to evaluate your music at a professional level of quality. Connecting external speakers or monitors to your system allows you to hear the audio output with greater fidelity and a wider dynamic range. In general, you should use the highest-quality speakers or monitors you can afford in order to hear your projects at the highest level of audio quality.

For detailed information about connecting external speakers to your audio interface, see the documentation that came with the speakers.

26 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System

Amplifiers

If you are recording audio from microphones, and are not running the microphone’s signal through a mixer with a microphone pre-amplifier, you need to connect an amplifier to boost the microphone’s signal before sending it to the computer. If you are connecting monitors or speakers that are not self-powered, you also need to connect them through an amplifier.

Mixers

Connecting a mixer to your system allows you to record audio from multiple microphones or instruments simultaneously, to play back the output from your computer through connected monitors or speakers, and to control the volume levels of both the audio input and output. Professional-quality mixers have a number of additional features, including equalization (EQ) controls, auxiliary sends and returns for adding external effects, and separate monitor and mix level controls. Mixers may also include inboard pre-amplification for microphones, making the use of a separate amplifier unnecessary.

Example Hardware Setups

The following sections provide several examples of different hardware setups.

Setting Up a System Using Powered Speakers

With this setup, you can monitor the audio output through a set of connected powered speakers.

This setup uses the following equipment:

Â Your computer and display

Â A set of powered speakers, including speaker wire and a power adaptor

Speakers

Power cables

Speaker cables

Computer

Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 27

Setting Up a System Using a USB Audio Interface

With this setup, you can record audio input from microphones and musical instruments, and monitor audio output, through a USB audio interface.

This setup uses the following equipment:

Â Your computer and display

Â USB audio interface (from 2 to 8 channels) with USB cable to connect to your computer

Â Microphone

Â Musical instruments (guitar, bass, and keyboard)

Â Cables to connect microphones and instruments to the audio interface

Â Set of monitors or speakers

Monitors

Microphone

Speaker

Computer

USB

cable

cables

Computer

Audio interface

Instrument

28 Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System

Setting Up a System Using a FireWire Audio Interface

With this setup, you can record audio input from several sources simultaneously, and monitor audio output channels independently, through a mixer connected to a FireWire audio interface.

This setup uses the following equipment:

Â Your computer and display

Â FireWire audio interface with FireWire cable to connect to your computer

Â Mixer (8 channels) with built-in pre-amplifier

Â Microphones

Â Musical instruments (guitars, bass, keyboards, and outboard effects units)

Â Set of powered monitors or speakers

Â Cables to connect microphones and instruments to the mixer and audio interface

Â Speaker cables

Monitors

Microphone

Audio interface

FireWire

cable

Computer

Speaker

cables

Mixer

Chapter 2 Setting Up Your System 29

Instrument

Utility window

3 The Soundtrack Interface

In Soundtrack, you work in three main windows: the Project window, the Media and Effects Manager, and the Utility window.

Project window

Media and Effects

Manager

Â The Project window includes the Timeline, where you arrange audio clips.

Â The Media and Effects Manager is where you locate and preview audio and video

files to add to your project, and also where you add and adjust realtime effects.

Â The Utility window has tabs where you can add and view a video in a project, see the

master level meters, get details on clips and other items, and set up recording.

Project Window

The Project window is the “canvas” where you work on your projects. The Timeline is where you arrange and edit audio clips.

Tabs

Mono Mix button

Master volume slider

Playhead Position

value slider

Toolbar

Transport

controls

Selection Length value slider

Â Toolbar: Includes tools for common functions. You can customize which tools appear

in the Toolbar.

Â Tabs: You can switch between any projects open in the Timeline.

Â Transport controls: Control playback and the position of the playhead, and turn

recording on or off. (For more information, see “Transport Controls” on page 33.)

Â Master volume slider: Adjusts the overall volume when you play the project. The

volume level defaults to 0 dB when you create a project. Adjusting the master volume slider does not affect export volume.

Â Mono Mix button: Click to listen to a temporary mono mix of the project.

Â Playhead Position value slider: Displays the current playhead position. You can move

the playhead by clicking the arrows, dragging, or typing a value.

Â Selection Length value slider: Displays the length of the current Timeslice in the

Timeline. You can change the Timeslice or selection length by clicking the arrows, dragging, or typing a value.

32 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Toolbar

The Toolbar is located at the top of the Project window. When you first open Soundtrack, the Toolbar includes buttons for creating a new project, managing layouts, displaying the Utility window, adding markers, and other common functions. You can customize the Toolbar, adding buttons for functions you want to access frequently. For information about customizing the Toolbar, see “Customizing the Toolbar” on page 50.

Transport Controls

You use the transport controls to control playback, set the position of the playhead, start recording, and activate the playback region.

Go to End

Cycle

MIDI Sync

Play from Beginning

Record

Go to Beginning

Play/Pause

Â Record button: Starts and stops the recording process.

Â Play from Beginning button: Starts playback from the beginning of the project.

Â Go to Beginning button: Moves the playhead to the beginning of the project, or to

the beginning of the playback region if it is active.

Â Play/Pause button: Starts playback at the current playhead position. If the project is

playing, stops playback.

Â Go to End button: Moves the playhead to the end of the project, or to the end of the

playback region if it is active.

Â Cycle button: Activates the playback region, if one is set in the Time ruler.

Â MIDI Sync button: Synchronizes playback with incoming MIDI Clock and MIDI

Timecode (MTC) signals.

For information on using the transport controls, see “Controlling Playback with the

Transport Controls” on page 56.

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 33

Timeline

The Timeline gives you a visual representation of a project, showing the position of clips, the playhead, and other items in time. The Timeline is organized into three groups of horizontal rows called tracks, busses, and outputs. You can add and arrange audio clips in tracks, use busses to create submixes, and send audio to physical output channels using outputs. You can control the sound of each track, bus, and output using the controls in its header.

Timeline editing tools

Time display

Audio tracks

Automation Mode pop-up menu

Timeline controls

Project controls

Global Timeline view

Level meters

Time ruler

Track area

Scroll bar

Â Timeline editing tools: Select items using the Selection (arrow) tool, or split audio

clips using the Split (razor) tool.

Â Automation Mode pop-up menu: Choose the mode for recording automation using

the onscreen controls.

Â Project controls: Set the project’s time signature, tempo, key, sample rate, time

format, and other properties using these controls.

Â Show pop-up menu: Choose whether the video track, audio tracks, busses, outputs,

and master envelopes are visible in the Timeline.

Â Global Timeline view: Shows a miniature view of the entire Timeline and the playhead

position, and lets you move quickly to different parts of a project.

34 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Â Time display: Shows the current playhead position in both Time-based and

Beats-based formats. You can set the playhead by typing a new playhead position in the time display.

Â Level meters: As the project plays, the level meters show the volume level of the first

output (Output 1).

Â Time ruler: You can precisely position clips, the playhead, and other items to a specific

point in time (minutes, seconds, frames) or to a musical beat using the Time ruler.

Â Track area: Includes horizontal rows for tracks, busses, and outputs. Also includes the

playhead, envelopes, and markers.

Â Headers: Each track, bus, and output has a header with an icon, name, volume slider,

and other controls. (For more information, see “Headers” on page 35.)

Â Timeline controls: Includes controls to show the master envelopes, turn snap on or

off, set the track height, and zoom in or out. (For more information, see “Timeline

Controls” on page 36.)

Â Scroll bar: Moves the Timeline horizontally so you can see different parts of the project.

Headers

Each track, bus, and output in the Timeline has a header that includes the track name, track icon, and a set of track controls.

Envelopes

disclosure triangle

Drag handle

Name field

Record Enable button

Volume sliderIcon

Effects button

Mute button

Solo button

Output pop-up menu

Pan slider

Â Drag handle: Click to select the track, bus, or output and drag to reorder it in the Timeline.

Â Icon: You can choose an icon for the track, bus, or output, making it easy to quickly

distinguish them in a large project.

Â Name field: You can type a new name for the track, bus, or output in the name field.

Â Record Enable button: Enables (or disables) the track for recording when you click the

Record button. Only tracks have Record Enable buttons, not busses or outputs.

Â Mute button: Mutes (or unmutes) the track, bus, or output.

Â Solo button: Solos (or unsolos) the track, bus, or output. Soundtrack supports both

multiple solo and exclusive solo.

Â Effects button: Displays the Effects tab of the Media and Effects Manager with the

track, bus, or output effects settings.

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 35

Â Envelopes disclosure triangle: Shows the track, bus, or output envelopes in the area

directly below the track.

Â Volume slider: Sets the track, bus, or output relative volume in the overall mix.

Â Output pop-up menu: Choose an output for the track or bus, or choose the physical

output channels for the output from the menu.

Â Pan slider: Sets the pan position of the track or bus. Appears in track and bus

headers only, not in output headers.

For detailed information about using the track controls, see “Using the Track Controls” on page 96.

Timeline Controls

The lower-left corner of the Timeline contains controls for various aspects of Timeline display and operation.

Master Envelopes button

Snap button

Track Height control

Snap To Value pop-up menu

Zoom control

Â Master Envelopes button: Shows or hides the master envelopes.

Â Snap button: Turns snap on or off.

Â Snap To Value pop-up menu: Sets the value to which items in the Timeline snap.

Â Track Height control: Sets the height of tracks, busses, and outputs to one of four

settings, from Reduced to Large.

Â Zoom control: Click the control or drag the slider to change the zoom level. You can

zoom in to edit clips precisely, or zoom out to display more of the Timeline.

For information about using master envelopes, see “Master Envelopes” on page 144. For information about snap, see “Using Snap” on page 70. For information about using the Track Height control and zoom control, see “Moving Around in the Timeline” on page 89.

36 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Media and Effects Manager

The Media and Effects Manager is where you locate and preview media (audio and video) to add to your project. It has five tabs: The Browser, Favorites, and Search tabs give you three different ways to find media files; the Bin gives you quick access to media files for the current project; and the Effects tab is where you add and adjust effects.

Browser Tab

The Browser tab displays the disks connected to your computer in a view similar to the Finder’s list view. You can also preview files in the Browser tab, and drag them to the Timeline.

Tabs

Back and Forward

buttons

File list

Preview controls

Computer and Home buttons

Path pop-up menu

Media pop-up menu

Â Back and Forward buttons: Move through previously viewed levels of the folder hierarchy.

Â Computer button: Displays your computer’s hard disk and other storage media

connected to your computer.

Â Home button: Displays the contents of your home directory.

Â Path pop-up menu: Displays the levels of the file path to the current location, letting

you move back to a previous level.

Â File list: Displays the files and folders at the current location.

Â Preview controls: Include Play and Mute buttons and a volume slider. For information

about using the Preview controls, see “Using the Preview Controls” on page 67.

Â Media pop-up menu: Choose menu items to add a Favorite, add a file to the Bin, and

perform other functions.

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 37

Favorites Tab

You can store frequently used items in Favorites so that you can easily access them directly. You can also preview files in Favorites, and drag them to the Timeline.

Favorites list

Preview controls

Media pop-up menu

Â Back and Forward buttons: Move through previously viewed levels of the folder hierarchy.

Â Path pop-up menu: Displays the levels of the file path to the current location, letting

you move back to a previous level.

Â Favorites list: Displays the files and folders at the current location.

Â Preview controls: Include Play and Mute buttons and a volume slider. For information

about using the Preview controls, see “Using the Preview Controls” on page 67.

Â Media pop-up menu: Choose menu items to remove a Favorite, add a file to the Bin,

and perform other functions.

38 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Search Tab

The Search tab lets you locate audio and video files using a variety of criteria. You can perform text searches and search for Apple Loops and other tagged file formats using keywords for instrument, genre, mood descriptors, and other categories. Matching files are displayed in the Search Results list. Once you locate the files you want to use, you can preview them in the Search Results list or drag them to the Timeline.

Category pop-up menu

Button and Column

View buttons

Keywords list

Time Signature

pop-up menu

Search Text field

Search Results list

Preview controls

Setup button

Matches list

Scale Type pop-up menu

Nearby Keys button

File Type pop-up menu

Media pop-up menu

The Search tab has two views, Column view and Button view. Column view features a Keywords list containing keywords, and a Matches list with subcategories you can use to refine your searches. Button view displays a matrix of keyword buttons you can click to see matching files.

Keyword buttons

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 39

Â Button and Column View buttons: Change the view to either Button or Column view.

Â Category pop-up menu: Restricts the available keywords to a particular category.

Â Setup button: Displays the Search Setup dialog, from which you add items to the

Search database.

Â Time Signature pop-up menu: Restricts search results to files with the selected

time signature.

Â File Type pop-up menu: Choose whether to display all files, or only looping or

non-looping files.

Â Scale Type pop-up menu: Restricts search results to audio files using the selected scale.

Â Keyword buttons (Button view only): Displays files matching the keyword in the

Results list.

Â Keywords list (Column view only): Displays files matching the keyword in the Results

list and displays subcategories in the Matches list.

Â Matches list (Column view only): Displays subcategories of the selected keywords.

Â Search Text field: Type text in the field to display matching files whose filename or

path contains the search text.

Â Nearby Keys button: Restricts search results to keys within two semitones above or

below the project key.

Â Search Results list: Displays the files matching the selected search criteria, in

alphabetical order. Includes columns displaying the tempo, key, and number of beats of each file. You can click files to preview them.

Â Preview controls: Include Play and Mute buttons and a volume slider. For information

on using the Preview controls, see “Using the Preview Controls” on page 67.

Â Media pop-up menu: Choose menu items to add a Favorite, add a file to the Bin, and

perform other functions.

40 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Bin Tab

The Bin tab lists the media files added to the project. You can drag files from the Bin tab to the Timeline. You can also add files to the Bin for easy access in a project. Files not currently added to the project appear dimmed, and offline files appear in red text.

File list

Preview controls

Category list

Show pop-up menu

Effect Parameters area

Media pop-up menu

Â File list: Displays the media files in the current project.

Â Preview controls: Include Play and Mute buttons and a volume slider. For information

about using the Preview controls, see “Using the Preview Controls” on page 67.

Â Media pop-up menu: Choose menu items to add a Favorite, add a file to the Bin, and

perform other functions.

Effects Tab

You add effects and sends to your project and adjust effect parameters in the Effects tab. When you click the Effects button on a track, bus, or output, the Effects tab appears showing the item’s current effects settings and sends.

Effect list

Add Effect button

Remove Effect button

Add Send button

Reset Effect button

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 41

Â Category list: Lists the categories of available effects, which are categorized by

manufacturer. Click a category to see the effects for that category in the Effect list.

Â Effect list: Lists the effects in the selected category. Double-click an effect to add it to

the track, bus, or output.

Â Show pop-up menu: Choose an item (a track, bus, or output) from the Show pop-up

menu to display its effects settings.

Â Add Effect (+) button: Adds the selected effect to the current effects chain.

Â Remove Effect (–) button: Removes the selected effect from the current effects chain.

Â Effect Parameters area: Displays the parameters for effects in the current effects

chain. Click an effect’s disclosure triangle to see its parameters. You can adjust effect parameters using the controls in the Effect Parameters area.

Â Add Send button: Adds a send to the end of the current effects chain for the track.

You can add sends only to tracks, not to busses or outputs.

Â Reset Effect button: Resets the selected parameter or group of parameters to its

default value (or values).

Utility Window

The Utility window features tabs for viewing a video in a project, observing project levels, viewing details, and setting up recording.

Video Playback

value slider

Video Tab

The Video tab is where you add a video to a project, view the video, and control video playback.

Video Scale pop-up menu

Video viewing area

Video transport controls

42 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Â Video Playback value slider: Move the video to a specific frame by dragging, clicking

the left or right arrow, or double-clicking and typing a value in the value slider.

Â Video Scale pop-up menu: Choose the scale of the video in the Video tab from the

pop-up menu.

Â Video viewing area: Add a video by dragging it into the viewing area, and watch it

play in the viewing area.

Â Video transport controls: Control playback of the video with the project using the Play

from Beginning, Previous Frame, Play/Pause, Next Frame, and Cycle buttons.

Recording Tab

The Recording tab is where you edit a track’s recording settings. When you click a track’s Record Enable button, the Recording tab appears, displaying the track’s current recording settings.

Peak indicator

Level meters

Input pop-up menu

Gain slider and field

Stereo checkbox

Monitor pop-up menu

Mute Project checkbox

Disk space indicator

Â Peak indicator: Shows the highest level reached by the recording input signal. If the

level rises above 0 dB, the peak indicator becomes red to indicate clipping.

Â Level meters: Show the input volume for the selected track during recording.

Â Input pop-up menu: Choose the input device and input channel (or channels)

for recording.

Â Gain slider and field: Drag the slider or type a number in the field to set the input

gain for recording.

Â Stereo checkbox: Select to record to a stereo file, or deselect to record to a mono file.

Â Monitor pop-up menu: Choose the output device and output channel (or channels)

for monitoring during recording.

Â Mute Project checkbox: Select to mute the project during recording, so you hear only

the sound being recorded.

Â Disk space indicator: Shows the available disk space on the recording sessions

location set in Recording Preferences.

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 43

Meters Tab

The Meters tab displays stereo level meters that you can use to observe the volume of the first output in a project.

Peak indicator

Level meters

Reset button

Go to Peak buttons

Peak Value and Location display

Â Peak indicator: Shows the highest level reached as the project plays. If the level rises

above 0 dB, the peak indicator becomes red to indicate clipping.

Â Level meters: Show the output volume of the overall project as the project plays.

Â Peak Value and Location display: For each channel, displays the highest (peak) value

played, and its location.

Â Go to Peak buttons: Move the playhead to the channel’s peak.

Â Reset button: Resets the Peak Value and Location display and the peak indicator to

their default values.

44 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

Details Tab

The Details tab shows information about the currently selected media file, clip, marker, or envelope point, and gives you a way to edit clip, marker, and envelope point details.

File Details

Clip Details

Audio File Details

When you select an audio file, the Details tab displays information about the file, including the file icon, hints, tags for Apple Loops and other tagged audio files, sample rate, bit depth, file size, and whether the file is a looping or non-looping file.

Video File Details

When you select a video file, the Details tab displays information about the file, including the dimensions of the video, file size, length in seconds, frame rate, and other information. You can preview the video file in the Details window by clicking the Play button in the Media and Effects Manager preview controls.

Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface 45

Clip Details

Â Clip display: Displays the waveform of the selected clip.

Â Playback buttons: Set the clip playback mode to looping or non-looping.

Â Measure in pop-up menu: Sets the units shown in the Position, Duration, and Offset

value sliders.

Â Position value slider: Set the position (start point) of the selected clip.

Â Duration value slider: Set the duration (length) of the selected clip.

Â Offset value slider: Set the offset of the selected clip.

Â Transpose pop-up menu: Choose the number of semitones to transpose a looping

clip from the pop-up menu.

Â Clip Speed pop-up menu: Choose the clip playback speed for a looping clip from the

pop-up menu.

Marker Details

Â Type buttons: Select whether the marker is a Beat marker or a Time marker.

Â Name field: Type a name for the marker.

Â Position value slider: Set the time position of the selected marker.

Â Measure in pop-up menu: Choose the units for setting the marker position.

Envelope Point Details

Â Position value slider: Set the time position of the selected envelope point.

Â Value value slider: Set the value of the selected envelope point.

Â Measure in pop-up menu: Set the units shown in the Position value slider.

Â Copy from Previous Point button: Set the value of the selected envelope point to the

value of the preceding one in the envelope.

Â Copy from Next Point button: Set the value of the selected envelope point to the

value of the next one in the envelope.

46 Chapter 3 The Soundtrack Interface

4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

This chapter describes what projects you can create in Soundtrack, and how to work with windows, use layouts, play projects, and set Soundtrack preferences.

Overview

In Soundtrack, you create and work with multitrack projects. Multitrack projects let you arrange audio clips in tracks in the Timeline and synchronize them to a video clip. You add clips to the Timeline from the Media and Effects Manager or from the Finder, and can also record audio directly into tracks. Each track has controls you can use to adjust volume and pan, mute or solo the track, add effects, and adjust effect parameters. The Timeline also includes busses and outputs with similar controls. You can mix a project in the Timeline, and automate volume, pan, and other controls using envelopes in the Timeline.

You can export a project mix to an audio file, which you can import into Final Cut Express or another application. You can also export selected tracks, busses, and outputs or export a project to a QuickTime movie.

For information about creating, saving, and working with projects, see Chapter 5, “Working with Projects,” on page 77.

Note: The audio files used in a project are not stored as part of the project file. The project file only saves references (pointers) to their location on disk. This keeps the size of the project file relatively small, and lets you use an audio file in multiple projects.

Setting Up Your Workspace

There are several ways you can set up the Soundtrack workspace to suit your display size and workflow. You can arrange windows, reorder and detach tabs in the Utility window and the Media and Effects Manager, and add and reorder buttons in the Toolbar. You can create layouts for different tasks and switch between them.

Basic Window Controls

You can move, resize, or minimize a project’s windows. Most windows feature tabs, which give you flexibility in arranging the visual elements of a project.

To move a window:

m Drag the window by its title bar to a new location.

To resize a window, do one of the following:

m Drag the Size control in the lower-right corner of the window until the window is the

desired size.

m Hold the pointer near the edge of a window until it becomes a Resize Window pointer,

then drag the window edge left or right to resize adjacent windows together.

To minimize a window to the Dock:

m Click the minimize button in the window’s title bar.

To close a window:

m Click the window’s close button (or press Command-W with the window active).

Using Tabs

Soundtrack uses tabbed windows so you can quickly access different project views and controls. You can switch between projects and between different controls in the Media and Effects Manager and the Utility window. Clicking the tab you want makes it active and brings it to the front. You can reorder the tabs in a window to easily access the tabs you use frequently.

To reorder tabs:

m Drag a tab left or right in the window’s tab area.

You can also detach a tab from its docked position in the Utility window or the Media and Effects Manager, which creates a separate draggable, resizeable window for the tab. For example, you can drag the Bin tab to a new location so that you can easily move items from the Browser tab to the Bin tab.

48 Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

To detach a tab from the Utility window or the Media and Effects Manager:

m Drag the tab out of its docked position in the window to create a separate window for

the tab.

To reattach a tab:

m Drag the tab back to its original location at the top of its originating window.

Using Project Layouts

Soundtrack lets you save and recall preset window arrangements called layouts, so that you can optimize your workspace for different tasks and different display sizes. You can show, hide, and resize windows, then save each window arrangement as a layout.

To save a project layout:

1 Arrange the application windows as you want them to appear.

2 Choose Window > Save Layout.

3 In the Save dialog, type a name for the layout, then click Save.

The layout is saved, and appears in the Layouts submenu.

To switch to a saved project layout:

m Choose Window > Layouts, then choose the layout you want to use from the submenu.

To delete a saved layout:

1 Choose Window > Manage Layouts.

2 In the Manage Layouts dialog, select the layout you want to delete.

3 Click the – (minus) button to delete the layout, then click Done.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 49

Customizing the Toolbar

The Toolbar at the top of the Project window contains buttons for frequently used commands. You can customize the Toolbar, adding buttons for the actions you use most often, and can return to the default set later.

The default set of Toolbar buttons includes buttons for creating new projects, opening project windows and tabs, adding markers, and other common commands. You can customize the Toolbar with additional buttons for other commands. You can also hide the Toolbar to maximize available screen space. You customize the Toolbar by dragging items from the Customize dialog to the Toolbar.

To show the Customize dialog, do one of the following:

m Choose View > Customize Toolbar.

m Control-click the Toolbar, then choose Customize Toolbar from the shortcut menu.

The Customize dialog appears, and spaces between buttons in the Toolbar are outlined in gray.

To add a button to the Toolbar:

m Drag a button from the Customize dialog to the Toolbar.

If you drag a button between two existing buttons, the buttons move to make room for the new button.

To move a button in the Toolbar:

m Command-drag the button to a new location on the Toolbar.

You can also rearrange the Toolbar using set-width spaces, flexible spaces, and separators.

To add space or a separator to the Toolbar:

m Drag a space, flexible space, or separator from the Customize dialog to the Toolbar.

To return the Toolbar to the default set of buttons:

m Drag the default button set, located at the bottom of the Customize dialog, to the Toolbar.

You can also change the Toolbar so that it shows only icons or only text.

To show only icons in the Toolbar, do one of the following:

m Control-click the Toolbar, then choose Icon Only from the shortcut menu.

m In the Customize dialog, choose Icon Only from the Show pop-up menu.

50 Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

To show only text in the Toolbar, do one of the following:

m Control-click the Toolbar, then choose Text Only from the shortcut menu.

m In the Customize dialog, choose Text Only from the Show pop-up menu.

To show both icons and text in the Toolbar, do one of the following:

m Control-click the Toolbar, then choose Icon & Text from the shortcut menu.

m In the Customize dialog, choose Icon & Text from the Show pop-up menu.

To close the Customize dialog:

m When you are finished customizing the Toolbar, click Done.

To hide the Toolbar:

m Choose View > Hide Toolbar. When the Toolbar is hidden, the menu item becomes

Show Toolbar.

Playing Projects

You can play projects as you work, so you can hear the audio in the project along with the changes you’ve made.

To play the project:

m Click the Play button in the transport controls (or press the Space bar). Click the Play

button (or press the Space bar) again to stop playback.

As the project plays, the playhead shows the point in the project currently playing.

Soundtrack lets you set the playhead and control playback of your projects in several different ways. You can use the transport controls or keyboard commands to start and stop playback and set the playhead to different points in time. You can also set a playback region to repeat playback of a specific part of the project.

Setting the Playhead

The playhead appears as a thin black line running vertically through the Timeline in projects. Where it crosses the Time ruler, the top of the playhead has a triangular handle that makes it easier to see its position onscreen and drag the playhead.

To set the playhead, do one of the following:

m Click anywhere in the Time ruler to set the playhead to that position.

m Drag the triangular handle at the top of the playhead to the position you want to set it.

As you drag the playhead, you hear the audio at the current playhead position.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 51

By default, clicking anywhere in the Timeline moves the playhead to that position. You can change the default behavior so that only clicking in the Time ruler moves the playhead. For more information, see “General Preferences” on page 73.

Drag the playhead where you

want it or click in the Timeline.

When you set the playhead, it snaps to the nearest Snap To position if snap is turned on. For information on setting the Snap To value, see “Using Snap” on page 70. You can also set the playhead using the transport controls or using the Playhead Position value slider.

Setting the Playhead Using the Time Display

When a project is playing, the Time display constantly updates to show the current position of the playhead in both Time-based and Beats-based formats. You can also set the playhead to a new position by entering the position in the Time display.

The arrangement of the Time-based and Beats-based positions in the Time display changes depending on the time format of the project. The position matching the time format of the project appears in large, white numerals in the upper part of the Time display, and the other position appears below it in smaller, gray numerals. Each position is labeled for quick visual recognition.

For information on setting the project time format, see “Setting Project Properties” on page 78.

52 Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

To set the playhead using the Time display:

m Select either the Time or Beats position in the Time display, then enter a new position.

You can select the entire position or part of the position.

Enter a time position in the Time area.

Enter a beat position in the Beats area.

Entering Time-Based Units

When you set the playhead by entering a Time-based position in the Time display, you don’t need to enter all of the punctuation. Soundtrack automatically adds the correct punctuation for the format of the Time display.

For example:

Â If you enter 01234321, and the Time ruler units are set to seconds, Soundtrack interprets

it as 01:23:43:21. This stands for 1 hour, 23 minutes, 43 seconds, and 21/100 of a second.

If you enter a partial number, Soundtrack formats it with the rightmost pair of numbers as fractions of a second (or frames if a timecode format is selected), and with each successive pair of numbers to the left as seconds, minutes, and hours. Numbers omitted from a complete time position are interpreted as zeros. For best results, always enter delimiters to separate each division of time.

For example:

Â If you enter 01.23, and the Time ruler units are set to seconds, Soundtrack interprets it

as 00:00:01.23. This stands for 1 second and 23/100 of a second.

Â If you enter 0.12.34, Soundtrack interprets it as 00:00:12.34. This stands for 12 seconds

and 34/100 of a second.

You can select only part of the position in the Time display and enter a new number for that position. For example, you can select only seconds, or minutes and seconds. The other categories keep their present values. You can enter a time position in timecode format, in a way similar to the way you enter timecode in Final Cut Express.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 53

Entering Beats-Based Units

When you set the playhead by entering a Beats-based position in the Time display, you enter periods between numbers to separate measures, beats, and beat divisions. Soundtrack fills out the digits in the beat division category with zeros.

For example:

Â If you enter 123, Soundtrack interprets it as 123.1.000. This stands for the 123rd

measure, 1st beat, with no added beat divisions.

Â If you enter 12.3, Soundtrack interprets it as 12.3.000. This stands for the 12th

measure, the 3rd beat, with no added beat divisions.

Â If you enter 1.2.3, Soundtrack interprets it as 1.2.300. This stands for the 1st measure, the

2nd beat, and 300/1000ths of a beat (because each beat division is 1/1000 of a beat).

You can select only part of the position in the Time display and enter a new number for that position. For example, you can select only measures, or measures and beats. The other categories keep their present values.

Setting the Playhead Using the Playhead Position Value Slider

Below and to the left of the transport controls is the Playhead Position value slider. When a project is playing, the Playhead Position value slider constantly updates to show the current position of the playhead. You can set the playhead by entering a new position in the Playhead Position value slider.

The units shown in the Playhead Position value slider depend on the project time format. For projects set to Time-based time format, the units appear as timecode, using the currently selected Time ruler units. For projects set to Beats-based format, the units appear as measures, beats, and beat divisions at the current tempo.

You can change the value in a value slider in one of several ways: You can enter a new value, change the value incrementally using the Decrement and Increment arrows, or drag the slider left or right.

54 Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

To change the playhead position by entering a value:

1 Double-click the value slider.

The value slider becomes a value field, with the current value selected.

2 Type a new value into the field, using appropriate punctuation.

3 Press Tab or Enter to confirm the new value.

To change the playhead position in increments:

m Click the Decrement arrow to move the playhead left (earlier in time) in increments, or

click the Increment arrow to move the playhead right (later in time) in increments.

To change the playhead position by dragging:

m Click in the center area of the value slider (where the numbers are), then drag left to

move the playhead left (earlier in time) or drag right to move it right (later in time).

For projects set to Time-based time format, the Decrement and Increment arrows move the playhead in seconds. For projects using Beats-based time format, the arrows move the playhead in beats.

Scrubbing a Project

You can scrub a project in the Timeline. Scrubbing the project lets you hear the audio at the playhead position as you drag the playhead, so you can find a particular sound or event in the audio file.

To scrub a project:

m In the Timeline, drag the playhead left or right at the speed you want to scrub the audio file.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 55

Controlling Playback with the Transport Controls

You use the transport controls to control playback of your project. The transport controls let you set the playhead to various points in time, start and stop playback, activate the playback region, and start a recording session to record your own audio.

Play from Beginning

Record

Play

Go to

Beginning

Go to End

Cycle

MIDI Sync

Â Record: Starts recording at the playhead position on the track you have enabled for

recording. If no track is enabled, a new track is created when recording starts.

Â Play from Beginning: Starts playback from the beginning of the project. Playback

begins immediately, whether the project is playing or is stopped when you click the button.

Â Go to Beginning: Sets the playhead to the beginning of the project. If the playback

region is active, and the playhead is after the beginning of the playback region in time, the playhead is set to the beginning of the playback region.

Â Play: Starts playing back the project from the current playhead position. Clicking the

Play button again stops playback at the current playhead position.

Â Go to End: Sets the playhead to the end of the project. If the playback region is

active, and the playhead is before the end of the playback region in time, the playhead is set to the end of the playback region.

Â Cycle: If a playback region is set, clicking the Cycle button toggles whether the

playback region is active or inactive. If no playback region is set, clicking the Cycle button sets the project to repeat from the beginning when the playhead reaches the end of the project. For information on setting the playback region, see “Working with

the Playback Region” on page 93.

Â MIDI Sync: Synchronizes playback with incoming MIDI Clock and MIDI Timecode

(MTC) signals.

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Controlling Playback Using Keyboard Shortcuts

There are a number of keyboard shortcuts you can use to control playback of your project. To use keyboard shortcuts, the pointer cannot be in a text field.

Â Space bar: Plays back the project from the current playhead position. If the project is

playing, pressing the Space bar sets the playhead back to the point from which the project started playing. This is equivalent to clicking the Play button.

Â Return: Sets the playhead to the beginning of the project. If the playback region is

active, pressing Return sets the playhead to the beginning of the playback region. This is equivalent to clicking the Go to Beginning button.

Â Shift-Return: Sets the playhead to the beginning of the project, and starts playback if

it is stopped. This is equivalent to clicking the Start from Beginning button.

For a complete list of Soundtrack keyboard shortcuts, see Appendix B, “Soundtrack

Keyboard Shortcuts,” on page 189.

Locating and Adding Audio Files

You can locate media files to use in a project using the Media and Effects Manager, or drag files from the Finder. The Media and Effects Manager gives you three ways to locate audio files: the Browser, Favorites, and Search tabs. You can also store media files for a project in the Bin for easy access in a project.

Supported Audio File Formats

You can add AIFF, WAV, MP3, and AAC (except protected AAC) files to a project. You can also add QuickTime (.mov) audio files and STAP (Soundtrack Pro Audio Project) files. You can import audio files with any combination of the following sample rates and bit depths:

Sample Rates

Â Any sample rate from 8 kHz to 192 kHz

Bit Depths

Â 8 bit

Â 16 bit

Â 24 bit

Â 32 bit (both integer and floating point)

Note: Files with lower bit depths or sample rates do not have the same playback quality as do higher-rate formats.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 57

Looping and Non-Looping Files

Soundtrack supports two types of audio files: looping and non-looping files. Most audio files are non-looping files unless they contain tags for tempo, key, and other information.

Many of the Apple Loops that come with Soundtrack, as well as other tagged audio files, can be looping files. Looping files may contain music, rhythmic sounds, or other repeating patterns. You can resize a looping file to fill any amount of time. Looping files adjust to the project tempo and key, letting you use loops recorded in different keys and at different tempos in the same project.

Non-looping files do not adjust to the project tempo and key. You can shorten or lengthen a non-looping file, but lengthening it beyond the size of the original file adds only silence to the lengthened part. You can search for non-looping files in the Search tab using the Search text field.

Both looping and non-looping files can contain tags with information about the file, including mood, genre, and musical instrument. Soundtrack recognizes tags in audio files intended for use with loop-based music applications. You can open an audio file in Apple Loops Utility and add tags, and can convert a looping file to a non-looping file, or convert a non-looping file to a looping file. For information about tagging audio files using Apple Loops Utility, see Appendix A, “Using Apple Loops Utility,” on page 173.

Using the Browser to Locate Files

The Browser tab shows the hard disks and other storage media connected to your computer, and lets you browse through the file hierarchy to find audio files located on disk.

To locate audio files using the Browser:

m Double-click a volume or folder in the Browser to view its contents.

m You can move back through the previous locations in the Browser using the Forward and

Back buttons, or through the levels of the file hierarchy using the Path pop-up menu.

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Using Favorites to Locate Files

Favorites let you store frequently used file locations, so that you can access them directly. You can add and remove Favorites from the Media pop-up menu at the lowerright corner of the Media and Effects Manager.

To locate audio files in Favorites:

m Double-click the disk or folder you want to open.

Double-click an item to open it.

You can move back through the previous locations in the Favorites tab using the Forward and Back buttons, or through the levels of the file hierarchy using the Path pop-up menu.

Using Search to Locate Files

Using Search, you can search for media files to add to your project. Search has two views: Column view and Button view. You choose which view to display by clicking the Column View or Button View button in the upper-left area of the window. In both views, the files matching your search criteria appear in the Search Results area, along with columns displaying additional information for tagged files. You can sort these columns by clicking the heading on top of each column. You can also perform text searches in both views, and refine your searches.

If you use Apple Loops or other tagged audio files in a project, you can search based on a variety of criteria, including musical instrument, genre, time signature, mood descriptor, and scale type. You can also search using specific keywords.

To display the Search tab:

m Click Search in the Media and Effects Manager.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 59

Searching for Files in Column View

In Column view, the upper area of the Media and Effects Manager displays two columns: Keywords shows the categories of files that meet the search criteria, and Matches shows the total number of matching files and any subcategories containing matching files, with the number of matching files in each.

Clicking a keyword displays the files matching that keyword in the Search Results area. You can refine your search results by narrowing the criteria using the subcategories in the Matches column.

To search for files in Column view:

1 Choose the type of keywords to display in the Keywords list from the Keywords

pop-up menu.

You can use the Time Signature and Scale Type pop-up menus to restrict matches by those categories.

2 Select a keyword in the Keywords list to display matching files in the Search Results area.

Select a keyword

to display the

matching files in the

Search Results area.

The hints, tempo, key, and number of beats for each matching file are also displayed.

You can also perform text searches, which can be especially helpful for non-tagged files. When you type text in the Search Text field, any files with the text in their file path or filename appear in the Search Results list. The number of files appears in the Matches column under “No Category.”

To search using the Search Text field:

m Enter text in the Search Text field.

As you type, files matching the characters you type appear in the Search Results field.

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Refining a Search in Column View

There are several ways you can refine your searches in Column view. You can select items in the Matches column to add the matching files for each category to the search results, and you can enter text in the Search Text field to narrow your search to files that include the text in their file path. Selecting multiple keywords in the Keywords list narrows the search results to files matching all the selected keywords.

To refine your search using the Matches column:

m Click to select a match category, or Command-click to select multiple match categories.

Click match categories to refine your search.

These are files that match the categories selected above.

To refine your search by selecting multiple keywords:

m Shift-click to select adjacent keywords, or Command-click to select nonadjacent keywords.

Searching for Files in Button View

In Button view, the upper area of the Media and Effects Manager displays a grid of buttons, each of which is labeled with a keyword. The keywords displayed are determined by the Keywords pop-up menu; the choices are Best Mix, Instruments, Genre, Descriptors, and Custom. The keywords for each choice are fixed, and appear whether or not matching files for the keyword exist. Keywords for which no matching files exist are dimmed.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 61

To search for files in Button view:

1 Choose the type of keywords to display on the keyword buttons from the Keywords

pop-up menu.

2 You can optionally use the File Type, Time Signature, and Scale Type pop-up menus to

restrict matches by those categories.

3 Click a keyword button to display matching files in the Search Results area.

Click a button to display the matching files in the Search Results area.

To search by file path or filename:

m Enter text in the Search Text field.

As you type, files matching the characters you type appear in the Search Results field.

62 Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

Refining a Search in Button View

There are several ways you can refine your searches in Button view. You can select multiple keyword buttons to narrow your search results to files matching all the selected keywords, and you can enter text in the Search Text field to narrow your search to files that include the text in their file path.

To refine your search using multiple keywords:

m Command-click multiple keyword buttons.

Select additional keywords to refine your search.

These are files that match both of the keywords selected above.

Adding Custom Keywords

You can add custom keywords, which appear in the Keywords list in Column view and on the keyword buttons in Button view. Custom keywords can be added only in Button view.

To add a custom keyword:

1 Choose Custom from the Keyword Type pop-up menu.

2 Control-click one of the buttons in the grid, then choose a custom keyword from the

shortcut menu.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 63

Click the Add Directory

button, then select a

directory to add.

Click here to index

the directory.

Adding a Directory to the Search Database

Search looks through all indexed directories (volumes and folders) for files that match your search criteria. Before a file can appear in Search, you must add the directory containing the file to the Search database and index the directory.

Note: The Search database does not update automatically. If you add files to an indexed directory, you must index the directory again before the files will appear in the Media and Effects Manager.

To add a directory to the Search database:

1 Click the Setup button at the top of the Search tab.

2 In the Setup dialog, click the Add Directory (+) button.

3 In the file dialog, navigate to the directory you want to add, then click Open.

The directory appears in the list in the Setup dialog. You can resize the dialog if you need to see more items in the list.

4 Select the directory in the list, then click the Index Now button.

Note: Indexing a large collection of files may take several minutes. The bottom of the Add Directory dialog displays the progress of the directory being indexed. If you need to interrupt the indexing process, click the Stop Indexing button. You can re-index the directory later. You can deselect items you do not wish to re-index.

5 When Soundtrack is finished indexing the directory, click Done to return to the Media

and Effects Manager.

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Click the Remove

Directory button to

remove the selected

Removing a Directory from the Search Database

If you move or change your collection of audio files, you can remove a folder from the Search database. Removing unneeded folders from the database can shorten search times and eliminate extraneous results.

To remove a folder from the Search database:

1 Click the Setup button at the top of the Search tab.

2 In the Setup dialog, select the directory you want to remove, then click the Remove

Directory (-) button.

directory.

3 Click Done to return to the Media and Effects Manager.

Once you have added the folders containing your audio files to the Search database and indexed them, you can use Search to find the files. In both Column view and Button view, the audio files that match the search criteria appear in the Search Results area in alphabetical order. You can preview files in the File list and drag them to the Timeline. You can also add a folder to your Favorites from the Search tab.

Storing Files in the Bin

The Bin shows all of the clips added to the project. You can add audio files to the Bin for easy access to files you may want to add to the current project. Audio files appear in the Bin in alphabetical order.

To add a file to the Bin, do one of the following:

m Drag the file from the Finder to the Bin.

m Drag the file from the Browser, Favorites, or Search tab to the Bin.

Files added to the Bin but not included in the project appear dimmed in the Bin.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 65

Previewing Audio Files

Once you locate an audio file you want to use in your project, you can preview the file in the Media and Effects Manager. When you preview files, Soundtrack matches the sample rate of the file to the project sample rate. When you preview looping files, Soundtrack matches their tempo and key to the project tempo and key.

To preview an audio file:

m Select the file in the Media and Effects Manager.

The selected file starts playing. If the project is playing when you preview a file, Soundtrack starts playback of the previewed file on the downbeat of the next measure of the project. You can turn preview playback on and off by holding down Option and pressing the Space bar.

Select an audio file in the Media and Effects Manager to preview it.

Audio files tagged as loops play back repeatedly when previewed. You can control the playback of the file being previewed using the preview controls. You can only preview one audio file at a time.

You can also preview video files. When you double-click a video file in the Media and Effects Manager, the video appears in a small window in the Details tab.

To preview a video file:

1 Click the Details tab in the Utility window to make the tab active.

2 Select the video file in the Media and Effects Manager.

3 Click the Play button in the preview controls at the bottom of the Media and Effects

Manager. To stop playback, click the Play button again.

For more information on working with video files, see Chapter 7, “Working with Video

in Soundtrack,” on page 115.

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Using the Preview Controls

The Preview area at the bottom of the Media and Effects Manager contains controls you can use when previewing audio files.

Play button

Media pop-up menu

Volume slider

Â Play button: Starts playback of the preview file. If the file is playing, stops playback.

Â Mute button: Mutes playback of the preview file without stopping project playback.

Clicking the button again unmutes the preview file.

Â Volume slider: Sets the playback volume of the preview file.

Â Media pop-up menu: Choose whether to add the file to Favorites, open it in

Apple Loops Utility, or reveal it in the Finder.

To preview an audio file with a project:

1 Click the Play button in the transport controls to play the project.

2 When the project reaches the point in time where you want to hear the preview file,

select the file in the Media and Effects Manager.

To preview a file without the project (solo):

1 If the project is playing, click the Stop button in the transport controls to stop playback

of the project.

2 Select the file in the Media and Effects Manager to preview the file.

You can also preview a video file using the preview controls. For information about previewing a video file, see “Playing the Video” on page 117.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 67

Viewing Audio File Information

You can view information about an audio file in the Media and Effects Manager or the Timeline in the Details tab of the Utility window.

When you select an audio file in the Media and Effects Manager, the Details tab displays the file path and other information about the file. The following information is displayed in the File tab of the Details tab:

Â Name: The name of the file

Â Hints: The hints provided for the file. Hints are file tags that are used to search for

files or for tempo and key matching.

Â Instrument: The instrument or instrument category to which the file belongs

Â Author: The author of the file

Â Copyright: The copyright information for the file

Â Path: The path to the file’s location on disk

Â Tempo: The original tempo of the file

Â Time Signature: The time signature of the file

Â Beats: The number of beats recorded in the file. For non-looping files, this field

shows the duration (length) of the file in seconds.

Â Key: The original key of the file

Â Sample Rate: The sample rate at which the file was recorded

Â Bit Depth: The bit depth at which the file was recorded

Â Channels: The number of audio channels the file contains

Â Size: The file size in kilobytes

Â Genre: The musical category to which the file belongs

Â Length: The duration of the file in seconds

Â Looping file: Indicates whether the file is a looping file (Yes) or a non-looping file (No).

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Note: The information that is displayed depends on whether or not the file is tagged. Untagged files may not display information for all categories. For more information on file tags, see Appendix A, “Using Apple Loops Utility,” on page 173.

You can also view and edit audio clip properties in the Details tab. For information about viewing and editing clip properties, see “Viewing and Editing Clip Properties” on page 85.

Using Undo and Redo

As you edit clips and perform other operations in projects, you might need to use the Undo and Redo commands. For example, if you don’t like the last change you’ve made to a project, it can usually be undone. Then, if you decide you prefer to keep the change you just undid, you can redo the command immediately after using Undo.

You can also use the Undo and Redo commands as a quick way of trying out changes to your project. You can make changes to any aspect of the project, then use Undo to step back through changes you don’t like to the project’s previous state. If you change your mind after undoing a change or set of changes, you can always use Redo to recover the changes. At any point, you can save a new version of the project using the File > Save As command.

You can use the Undo command repeatedly to undo every change made since the project was last saved.

To undo the last change:

m Choose Edit > Undo [item] (or press Command-Z).

The [item] in the menu changes to show the last command or operation.

You can use the Redo command repeatedly to redo every undone change since the project was last saved.

To redo the last change:

m Choose Edit > Redo [item] (or press Command-Shift-Z).

The [item] in the menu changes to show the last command or operation.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 69

Using Snap

When you move and resize clips in the Timeline, you usually want them to start and end at a specific point in time. To synchronize clips with a video, you may want to position them in line with a specific frame. In a music-based project, you may want to align clips with measures and beats. Soundtrack includes a snap feature that causes clips, the playhead, and other items in the Timeline to “snap” to the nearest Snap To position.

Snap applies to the following operations:

Â Dragging audio clips to the Timeline

Â Moving audio clips

Â Resizing audio clips

Â Setting the playhead

Â Setting the playback region

Â Inserting markers

Â Moving markers

Â Selecting Timeslices

Â Adding envelope points

Â Moving envelope points

Â Moving crossfade edges

You can use snap to ensure that audio clips are synchronized to a measure or beat, that they begin playing back at a precise point in time, and that they are precisely aligned with other clips in the Timeline.

When you turn on snap, the item you are moving snaps to the nearest Snap To position in the Timeline. The available Snap To values depend on the time format of the project. For projects set to Time-based format, the available Snap To values are:

Â Ruler ticks

Â Seconds

Â Frames

Â Adjacent Tracks

Â Markers

70 Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack

For projects set to Beats-based format, the available Snap To values are:

Â Ruler ticks

Â 1/4 notes

Â 1/8 notes

Â 1/16 notes

Â 1/32 notes

Â 1/64 notes

Â Markers

Â Clips on Adjacent Tracks

To turn snap on:

m Choose View > Snap (or press N).

A checkmark next to the menu item indicates that snap is turned on. Choose View > Snap again to turn snap off.

To set the Snap To value:

m Choose View > Snap To, then choose a value from the submenu.

You can temporarily defeat snap while you work in the Timeline. When you defeat snap, you reverse the current snap state.

To defeat snap:

m Select the item in the Timeline, then hold down the Command key as you drag the item.

If snap is turned on, Command-dragging lets you move the item without having it snap to the nearest Snap To position. If snap is turned off, the item snaps to the nearest Snap To position. When you release the Command key, items moved in the Timeline follow the normal snap state.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 71

Reconnecting Media Files

Because Soundtrack projects contain references to media files, and not the files themselves, a project cannot play back if the media files it uses are erased or moved. When you open a project in Soundtrack, the application checks to see if the media files it uses exist in the same location as they did when the project was last opened. If the media files are not in the expected location, Soundtrack displays a Can’t Find File dialog, with three choices.

Â Skip File: Opens the project without reconnecting the missing file.

Â Cancel: Cancels the Open command.

Â Find File: Presents a dialog that lets you locate the missing file and reconnect it to

the project.

If you choose to open the project without reconnecting its files, you can reconnect individual audio files from the Bin tab, and reconnect a video file in the video track in the Timeline.

To reconnect an audio file:

1 Do one of the following:

Â Control-click the audio file in the Bin tab, then choose Reconnect [filename] from the

shortcut menu.

Â Select the clip in the Bin tab, then choose Reconnect [filename] from the Media

pop-up menu.

Â Select the clip in the Timeline, then choose Clip > Reconnect.

Â Control-click the clip in the Timeline, then choose Reconnect from the shortcut menu.

2 In the dialog that appears, locate the audio file you want to reconnect.

3 Click Open to reconnect the file.

To reconnect a video file:

1 Control-click the video clip in the video track, then choose “Reconnect offline source”

from the shortcut menu.

2 In the dialog that appears, locate the video file.

3 Click Open to reconnect the file.

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Setting Soundtrack Preferences

You set preferences for various aspects of Soundtrack that affect both the appearance and operation of the application in the Preferences window. Some preferences apply to the current project, and some apply to new projects you create. You may want to specify some preferences before you begin working in Soundtrack.

To open the Preferences window:

m Choose File > Preferences.

General Preferences

The General preferences include program startup behavior, Media and Effects Manager options, and Timeline defaults for new projects.

Startup

These preferences let you set the startup behavior when you open Soundtrack.

Â Open Last Project button: Reopens the last project on startup.

Â Open New Project button: Creates a new, blank project on startup. This is the

default behavior.

Â Switch Hardware Sample Rate to match Document checkbox: When selected, the

sample rate of any connected audio device switches to match the project sample rate when you open Soundtrack or change the active project. The checkbox is selected by default.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 73

Timeline

These preferences let you set the default Snap To value, default track height, and other aspects of the Timeline.

Â Use ellipses (...) in clip names checkbox: When selected, clips in the Timeline with long

names are center-truncated with an ellipsis. “Use ellipses (...) in clip names” is deselected by default.

Note: Selecting “Use ellipses in clip names” can impact the speed at which the screen is redrawn during playback.

Â Scrollwheel pop-up menu: Choose whether an attached mouse with a scrollwheel

scrolls the Timeline or zooms in or out at the playhead position.

Â Automation Recording Sensitivity slider: Drag to set the level of sensitivity with which

onscreen movements are recorded. Setting the slider to High results in all movements being recorded.

Alerts

This preference lets you control when certain alerts appear.

Â Show alerts pop-up menu: Choose whether to show disk overload and unsupported

sample rate alerts when the conditions causing these alerts occur.

Project Preferences

These preferences let you set project properties and other default settings for new projects you create.

Â Tempo value slider: Sets the default tempo for new projects in beats per minute

(bpm). The range is 60 to 200 bpm.

Â Key pop-up menu: Sets the default key for new projects. The range is any key in the

chromatic scale from A to G#, or None.

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Â Time Signature pop-up menu: Sets the default time signature for new projects. The

choices are 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/8, and 7/8.

Â Sample Rate pop-up menu: Sets the default sample rate for new projects. The choices

are 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz (CD-quality audio), 48 kHz (DVD-quality audio), and 96 kHz. The default is 48 kHz.

Â Export Bit Depth pop-up menu: Sets the export bit depth for the current project and

new projects. The choices are 16-bit (CD-quality audio) and 24-bit.

Â Timescale pop-up menu: Choose whether the overall project uses Time-based or

Beats-based time format.

Â Video Frames per Second pop-up menu: Choose which video frame rate to use for

new projects.

Â Tracks slider: Sets the default number of tracks for new projects.

Â Snap buttons: Turn snap on or off for new projects.

Â Snap To pop-up menu: Sets the default Snap To value for new projects. The choices

are Ruler Ticks, 1/4 notes, 1/8 notes, 1/16 notes, 1/32 notes, and 1/64 notes.

Â Track Height pop-up menu: Sets the default track height for new projects. The choices

are Reduced, Small, Medium, and Large.

Â Overlap Mode pop-up menu: Sets whether overlapped clips are crossfaded or

truncated for new projects.

Â Starting Timecode field: Sets the starting timecode value.

Recording Preferences

These preferences let you specify settings for recording audio.

Â Input pop-up menu: Displays the available devices for audio input. Choose an input

device from the pop-up menu.

Â Monitor pop-up menu: Displays the available devices for monitoring audio output.

Choose an output device from the pop-up menu.

Chapter 4 Getting Started with Soundtrack 75

Â Latency Compensation slider: Sets the amount of latency compensation in

milliseconds. If recorded audio is late, drag the slider right. If the recorded audio is early, drag the slider left.

For information on eliminating latency, see “Eliminating Recording Latency” on page 196.

Â Sessions Location display: Displays the default location to which recording sessions

are saved. You can set the save location by clicking the Choose button and navigating to a new location.

Synchronization Preferences

These preferences let you specify synchronization settings.

Input

Â Sync To MIDI Clock checkbox: Sets Soundtrack to receive MIDI Clock signals from a

MIDI application or external device.

Â Sync To MIDI Time Code checkbox: Sets Soundtrack to receive MIDI Time Code (MTC)

signals from a MIDI application or external device.

Output

Â MIDI Clock pop-up menu: Choose the device to send MIDI Clock to, or choose None.

Â MIDI Clock Virtual MIDI Device checkbox: Sets Soundtrack to send MIDI Clock signals

to MIDI applications as “Soundtrack Sync Source.”

Â MIDI Time Code pop-up menu: Choose a device to send MTC signals to, or choose None.

Â MIDI Time Code Virtual MIDI Device checkbox: Sets Soundtrack to send MTC signals to

MIDI applications as “Soundtrack Sync Source.”

Â Frame Rate pop-up menu: Sets the frame rate for outgoing MTC signals. (Note that

Soundtrack automatically detects the frame rate for incoming MTC signals.)

Time Code Offset

Â Bar 1 At field: Sets the offset of Measure 1 of your Soundtrack project in SMPTE

format. The offset affects both incoming and outgoing MTC signals. This should be set to the same value in all applications and devices.

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5 Working with Projects

Using Soundtrack, you can create multitrack projects in which you arrange and mix audio clips. Projects include tracks, busses, and outputs that you can use to create sophisticated mixes.

When you create a project, you can set the project’s properties and the project length. You locate and add media to your project using the Media and Effects Manager.

Creating and Opening Projects

When you open Soundtrack, a new, blank project appears. You can change the default startup behavior in the Preferences window. For information about setting preferences, see “Setting Soundtrack Preferences” on page 73.

To create a new project:

m Choose File > New > Multitrack Project (or press Command-N).

A new, untitled project appears. You can name the project when you save it. For information on saving projects, see “Saving Projects” on page 82.

To open an existing project:

1 Choose File > Open (or press Command-O).

2 Locate and select the project, then click Open.

You can also open a recently open project by choosing it from the File > Open Recent menu, and can open a project by dragging it onto the Soundtrack icon in the Dock.

You can have multiple projects open in Soundtrack, and cut and paste between them, but you can only play one project at a time. You can open projects created with Soundtrack version 1.x that have the extension .loop, but can only save them as multitrack projects (with the extension .stmp). You can also open Soundtrack Pro v1.x multitrack projects (with the file extension .stmp) with Soundtrack, but they may not include all of the effects. (Additionally, Soundtrack projects can be opened from Soundtrack Pro.)

Closing Projects

To close a project:

m Select the project’s tab in the Project window, then choose File > Close Project (or press

Command-Shift-W).

Setting Project Properties

Each project has a set of project properties, which include time format, sample rate, tempo, time signature, key, and overlap mode. Each project property has a default setting, described below. You can change the project properties using the project controls in the Project window in the Timeline.

The most important project properties are time format and sample rate. The remaining properties (tempo, time signature, and key) are important for projects set to Beatsbased format. For projects set to Time-based format, you can usually leave the tempo, time signature, and key properties at their default settings.

You can change the default project properties for new projects in the Project pane of the Preferences window. For information on setting preferences, see “Setting

Soundtrack Preferences” on page 73.

Time Format

Each project has a project time format, which can be either Time-based or Beats-based format. Setting the time format controls the appearance of the Time display, Time ruler, Timeline gridlines, and available Snap To values. For projects set to Time-based format, time is displayed using the Time ruler units chosen in the View menu. For projects set to Beats-based format, the time is displayed in measures, beats, and beat divisions. The default format is Time-based.

Setting the format to Time-based lets you align clips and other items in the Timeline with specific points in time, for example, specific frames in a video file. Setting the format to Beats-based lets you align items in the Timeline with measures, beats, and other musical units of time, regardless of tempo. You can switch between Time-based and Beats-based format while working on a project.

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To set the time format:

m Click the Time-based Format button to set the format to Time-based, or click the

Beats-based Format button to set the format to Beats-based.

Beats-based Format button

Time-based

Format button

You can also set individual tracks to use a different time format than the project’s time format. For information on setting a track’s time format, see “Changing Track Time

Format” on page 98.

Sample Rate

The project sample rate determines the number of samples per second Soundtrack uses for audio playback and export. When you add audio files to your project, their sample rate is matched (upsampled or downsampled) on the fly to the project sample rate. The available sample rates are 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 96 kHz. The default is 48 kHz, which is the standard for DVD-quality audio.

Note: Digital video projects, including video for DVD, often use a 48 kHz sample rate. When creating a score for a video, be sure you save and export your project at the same sample rate the final video project will use.

To set the sample rate:

m Choose the sample rate from the Sample Rate pop-up menu.

Sample Rate pop-up menu

Note: If you open your project on a computer that cannot support the project sample rate, the project is resampled to the nearest rate the hardware supports for playback. When you export your project, it is exported at the project sample rate, regardless of hardware limitations. For more information on hardware sample rates, see Chapter 2, “Setting Up Your System,” on page 21.

Chapter 5 Working with Projects 79

Tempo

The tempo sets the rate of the basic beat value for the project. When you add looping files to a project, their tempo is matched to the project tempo. The tempo range is from 60 to 200 beats per minute (bpm). The default tempo is 120 bpm (which equals two beats per second). You set the project tempo using the Tempo value slider in the project controls.

To set the project tempo, do one of the following:

m Click the left arrow in the Tempo value slider to decrease the tempo, or click the right

arrow to increase the tempo.

m Click the value in the value slider, then drag the slider that appears left or right to

change the tempo.

m Double-click the value in the value slider to select it, then type a new value.

Tempo value slider

You can change the project tempo over time using the Master Tempo envelope. For information about creating tempo changes, see “Master Envelopes” on page 144.

Time Signature

The time signature controls how measures and beats appear in the Time display and Time ruler. A project can have only one time signature, which lasts from the beginning to the end of the project. The default time signature is 4/4 (four beats per measure, with a quarter note as the beat value).

To set the project time signature:

m Choose a time signature from the Time Signature pop-up menu.

If you want to use a time signature not included in the list, choose Other, enter the time signature in the dialog that appears, then click OK.

Time Signature pop-up menu

Note: The project time signature affects the format of the Playhead Position value slider. For projects using Beats-based time format, it also affects the appearance of the Time ruler and the gridlines in the Timeline. It does not affect the rhythm of audio clips. If your project uses audio clips with music in a definite time signature, make sure that the project time signature matches the time signature of the clips used in the project.

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Key

The project key sets the root note (or tonic) for the project. When you add looping files to a project, their key is matched to the project key. You can set the project key to any note of the chromatic scale (from A through G#), or to None (–). The default key is A.

Note: The key does not determine the scale used (major, minor, or another scale), only the tonic or root note of the project.

To set the project key:

m Choose a key from the Key pop-up menu.

Key pop-up menu

Overlap Mode

The project overlap mode determines what happens when you move an audio clip so that it partially or completely overlaps another clip on the Timeline. There are two overlap modes: crossfade mode and truncate mode.

In crossfade mode, when you drag an audio clip so that it partially overlaps another audio clip in a track in the Timeline, a crossfade is created for the overlapped part of the two audio files. You can adjust the boundaries of the crossfade in the Timeline. In truncate mode, when you drag an audio clip so that it partially overlaps another audio clip in a track in the Timeline, the overlapped part of the clip is truncated.

To set the project overlap mode:

m Click the Crossfade Mode button to set the project to crossfade mode, or click the

Truncate Mode button to set the project to truncate mode.

Crossfade Mode button

Truncate Mode button

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Setting the Project Length

By default, the length of a project depends on the media in the project. The project length is set to the end of the last clip in the project. If the project uses a time-based effect, and the effect extends past the end of the last clip, the project length extends to include the effect’s “tail.” Adding a clip to the end of the project, or adding an effect that produces a “tail,” extends the project length to include the new clip or the effect’s tail. You can optionally set the project to a definite length.

To set the project length:

m In the Timeline, place the playhead at the point where you want the project to end,

then choose Mark > Set End of Project.

End-of-project marker

You can move the end-of-project marker to change the length of the project, or delete it if you decide you no longer want it in the project.

To delete the end-of-project marker:

m Select the marker in the Timeline, then choose Edit > Delete (or press the Delete key.)

Saving Projects

To save your project:

m Choose File > Save.

Soundtrack projects are saved as documents with the extension .stmp.

Important: When you save a project, the audio files used by the project are not saved

as part of the project file. To play a project on another computer, you must install the audio files the project uses on that computer, or on a disk it can access. If you remove the audio files used in a project so that your computer cannot access them, you cannot play back the project.

You can save a project and the media files the project uses together. This makes it easy to move projects between computers, and ensures that all needed audio files are available for playback.

Â When you select Collect Audio Files, the project file and all the audio files the project

uses are saved in the same folder.

Â When you select Collect Video File, the video file is included with the project and its

audio files.

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To save a project and its audio files together:

1 Choose File > Save.

2 In the dialog that appears, select the Collect Audio Files checkbox.

3 Navigate to the folder in which you want to save the project and its audio files, then

click Save.

The project file, and a copy of every audio file the project uses, are saved to the selected location.

4 You can optionally click the New Folder button to create a new folder for the collected

project. It’s a good idea to save each collected project in its own folder.

5 If the project includes a video file, you can optionally select the Collect Video File

checkbox to save the video to the selected location.

If the folder already contains any of the media files, an alert appears, asking if you want to replace the existing files.

Note: Because video files are typically very large files, saving a copy of the video file may take several minutes and may require a large amount of disk space.

You can also save a compressed version of the project. When you save a project compressed, the data used to draw the audio waveforms in the Timeline is not saved. This reduces the size of the project, but means that the waveforms must be redrawn each time the project is opened.

To save a project compressed:

m In the Save dialog, select the Save Compressed checkbox.

Adding Audio Files to a Project

Once you’ve located and previewed an audio file you want to add, you drag the file to the Timeline to add it to the project. When you drag an audio file to the Timeline, Soundtrack creates an audio clip from the audio file, and adds the clip to the project. An audio clip does not contain the actual audio data; instead, it contains a reference to the file stored on disk. Editing an audio clip in the Timeline does not change the source audio file.

Each audio clip has a playback mode. For untagged files and files tagged as non-looping files, the clip playback mode is non-looping. For files tagged as looping files, the clip playback mode is looping. If the playback mode of a clip is looping, the clip appears with notched edges to indicate where the audio file repeats when you resize the clip.

Chapter 5 Working with Projects 83

To add an audio file from the Media and Effects Manager, do one of the following:

m Drag the file from the File list in the Media and Effects Manager to a track in the Timeline.

m Drag the file from the File list between two existing tracks.

A new track is created and the clip is added to the track.

m Drag the file from the File list to the empty part of the Timeline below the outputs.

A new track is created and the clip is added to the track.

m Drag a file from the File list to a track or to the part of the Timeline below the existing tracks.

To add an audio file from the Finder:

m Drag the file from the Finder to the Timeline to a track, between two existing tracks, or

to the area below all existing tracks.

When the Bin tab of the Media and Effects Manager is active, the Bin shows all of the audio clips in the project. You can drag a clip from the list to the Timeline to add a new clip from the same audio file at a different point in time, or to a different track.

To add an audio file from the Bin tab:

m Drag the file from the Bin tab to the Timeline, either to a track or to the area below the

existing tracks.

Note: When you drag an audio file to the Timeline, the file snaps to the nearest Snap To position if snap is turned on. For information on setting the Snap To value, see “Using

Snap” on page 70.

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Drag the file from the Media and Effects Manager to the Timeline.

Viewing and Editing Clip Properties

When you create an audio clip by dragging an audio file to the Timeline, the audio clip has a set of properties. These properties are specific to the clip, and can be different for two clips created from the same source audio file.

The following properties for the selected clip are displayed, and can be edited, in the Clip tab of the Details tab:

Â Playback buttons: Set whether the clip is looping or non-looping. When you add an

audio file to the Timeline, the clip will be non-looping unless the audio file is tagged as a looping file.

Â Measure in pop-up menu: Sets the units shown in the Position, Duration, and Offset

value sliders.

Â Position value slider: Sets the start point for the clip in the Timeline.

Â Duration value slider: Sets the duration of the clip. The duration of looping files is

displayed in number of beats; the duration of non-looping files is displayed in seconds.

Â Offset value slider: Sets the number of beats (for looping files) or seconds (for non-

looping files) from the beginning of the source file at which the clip begins playing.

Â Transpose pop-up menu: Sets the transposition in semitones for looping files; the

range is –12 to +12 semitones.

Â Clip Speed pop-up menu: Sets the playback speed for looping files, which can be

Quadruple, Double, Normal, Half, or Quarter.

Some properties can be changed by editing the clip in the Timeline. For detailed information on editing audio clips, see “Editing Audio Clips” on page 101.

Chapter 5 Working with Projects 85

The name of an audio clip appears on the clip in the Timeline. By default, the entire name appears on the clip if the clip is long enough to display it. You can change the default behavior in the General pane of the Preferences window, so that long clip names are truncated from the center. For information on setting preferences, see “Setting Soundtrack Preferences” on page 73.

Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

Soundtrack projects contain tracks, busses, and outputs, which appear as horizontal rows in the Timeline. Tracks, busses, and outputs are grouped together by category in the Timeline, with a separator between each category. You can move each type within its own category, but cannot move one to either of the other categories. Each track, bus, and output has a header with its icon, name, and a set of controls.

Tracks

Tracks contain the audio you add to your project in the Timeline. Each track has a drag handle, a name, an icon, and a set of controls that appear in the track’s header in the Timeline. Track controls include a volume slider, a pan control, an output pop-up menu, and buttons to mute or solo the track, add effects, and enable the track for recording.

Busses

Using busses, you can create submixes, letting you adjust volume and pan and add effects to groups of related tracks. You use busses by adding sends to effects chains in the Effects tab, then routing audio from each send to a bus.

Each bus has a drag handle, a name, an icon, and a set of controls that appear in the bus’s header in the Timeline. Bus controls are the same as track controls, except that a bus does not have a Record Enable button (because you can’t record audio to a bus). The bus controls affect the audio of every track sent to that bus.

You route audio from a track to a bus by adding a send to the track in the Effects tab. When you add a send, the send is assigned to a bus. You can change the bus to which a send is assigned, and can adjust the volume and pan for the send.

Sends allow you to route audio from multiple tracks to the same bus to create submixes. For example, you could route every dialogue track for a particular actor to a bus with the actor’s name. You could adjust the volume of all the actor’s dialogue using the bus volume fader, and add an EQ effect that brings out the actor’s voice in the mix. You could then send (route) the bus to a particular output.

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Outputs

Outputs let you route the audio from tracks and busses to physical outputs. If you are using external audio hardware that supports multiple physical outputs, you can add outputs to a project and choose the physical output to which each output in the project sends its audio. You can also send audio from multiple tracks or busses to a single output, control volume and pan for all the tracks using the output’s controls, and add effects to the output.

For example, you could have a bus with the dialogue tracks for each actor, and route all the dialogue busses to a single output. You could route all sound effects tracks to another output, and adjust the volume or add effects to each output. For a final stereo mix, you could route both outputs to the same pair of physical output channels (channels 1 and 2, for example).

Each output has a drag handle, a name, an icon, and a set of controls that appear in the output’s header in the Timeline. Output controls include a volume slider, a pop-up menu where you can choose the physical output channels for the output, and buttons to mute or solo the output and add effects. Outputs do not have pan controls or Record Enable buttons.

Tracks, busses, and

outputs in the Timeline

For information about working with tracks, busses, and outputs in the Timeline, see “Working with Tracks, Busses, and Outputs” on page 94.

Chapter 5 Working with Projects 87

6 Working in the Timeline

The Timeline is where you arrange audio clips to build your soundtrack. You can also adjust volume and panning, add effects, and edit envelopes to control automation.

The Timeline displays a visual representation of a project, showing the point in time when audio clips start playing and their duration. You control when and how long clips play by moving and resizing them in the Timeline.

The Timeline is arranged in three sets of horizontal rows: tracks, busses, and outputs. You add audio clips to tracks, create submixes using busses, and send audio to physical output devices using outputs. For information about working with tracks, busses, and outputs, see “Tracks, Busses, and Outputs” on page 86.

The Timeline also displays vertical gridlines that make it easy to position clips precisely in time. The gridlines correspond to the divisions of time in the Time ruler. The units of time the gridlines display change depending on the time format and the current zoom level.

Moving Around in the Timeline

Soundtrack provides several controls that let you change the view of the Timeline and move to different parts of your project. You can zoom in or out for a closer or wider view of the Timeline, control how many tracks are displayed in the Timeline, and change which part of the project is currently visible using the scroll bars and Timeline controls. You can use the Global Timeline view to quickly move to different parts of your project.

Using the Scroll Bars

If the entire project cannot be displayed in the Timeline, you can scroll through the project using the horizontal scroll bar located at the bottom of the Timeline. Drag the horizontal scroll bar left or right to move the visible part of the Timeline.

If your project contains more tracks than can be displayed in the Timeline, a vertical scroll bar appears along the right edge of the Timeline. Drag the vertical scroll bar up or down to change which tracks are visible.

Vertical scroll bar

Horizontal scroll bar

In the lower left of the Timeline are the Timeline controls, including the Track Height control and Zoom control.

Using the Zoom Control

You can zoom in to make precise edits in the Timeline, or zoom out for a wider view of your project using the Zoom control.

The Zoom control features a slider on a graduated scale. Moving the slider to the left or clicking the left side of the control zooms in for a closer view, displaying a smaller area of the Timeline close up. Moving the slider to the right or clicking the right side of the control zooms out for a wider view, displaying a wider area of the Timeline.

You can also zoom in and out using menu commands or keyboard shortcuts. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use it to zoom in and out. You can also fit the entire project in the visible area of the Timeline.

To zoom in, do one of the following:

m Move the Zoom slider to the left.

m Click the left side of the Zoom control.

m Choose View > Zoom In.

m Press the Up Arrow key.

m Press Command-plus (+).

m If the mouse connected to your computer has a scroll wheel, move the scroll wheel up.

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To zoom out, do one of the following:

m Move the Zoom slider to the right.

m Click the right side of the Zoom control.

m Choose View > Zoom Out.

m Press the Down Arrow key.

m Press Command-minus (–).

m If your mouse has a scroll wheel, move the scroll wheel down.

By default, when you use the scroll wheel, the playhead remains in the same position, and the Timeline zooms in or out on both sides of the playhead. You can change the default scrollwheel behavior in the General Preferences pane so that using the scrollwheel scrolls the document rather than zooming it.

To fit the project in the visible area of the Timeline:

m Choose View > Fit in Window (or press Shift-Z).

Setting Track Height

You set the height of tracks, busses, and outputs in the Timeline using the Track Height control. The Track Height control has four settings. The smallest rectangle sets the track height to a minimized setting, with each track (and track header) reduced to half-height, allowing more tracks to be displayed in the Timeline.

To set the height of tracks, busses, and outputs:

m Click one of the four rectangles on the Track Height control.

Reduced track height

Large track height

Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline 91

Drag this rectangle

to a new position.

Using the Global Timeline View

The Global Timeline view, located above the Time display and Time ruler, shows a miniature view of the entire project. The playhead appears as a black vertical line with a triangular handle. The part of the project currently visible in the Timeline is indicated by a blue rectangle in the Global Timeline view.

To move to a new area of the Timeline using the Global Timeline view:

m Drag the visible area rectangle to a new position.

You can quickly move to different parts of the Timeline by dragging the blue rectangle. This is especially useful when working on longer projects. You can also drag the rectangle up or down to move vertically in the Global Timeline view. This is useful if your project contains more tracks, busses, and outputs than can be displayed in the Project window.

Using the Time Ruler

The Timeline has a Time ruler that shows the divisions of time in a project. You can set the playhead to a precise frame, point in time, or sample number using the Time-based units on the Time ruler, or to a specific musical measure or beat using the Beats-based units, to synchronize playback of audio clips in the Timeline.

The Time ruler changes depending on the time format of the project and the Time ruler units. If the project is currently set to Time-based format, Time-based units appear in the upper part of the ruler. If the project is set to Beats-based format, Beats-based units appear in the upper half of the ruler.

You can use the Time ruler to position clips or the playhead at a precise point in time, including synchronizing them to a specific timecode reference in a video file.

To set the playhead to a specific point in the Time ruler:

m Click the Time ruler at the point where you want to set the playhead.

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Working with the Playback Region

You can create a playback region in a project, an area that plays back repeatedly. This is sometimes called “cycling” or “looping” playback. A project has only one playback region, but you can move and resize it as often as you want.

You also use the playback region when recording multiple takes. For information on recording, see Chapter 10, “Recording Audio in Soundtrack,” on page 159.

To set the playback region:

m Drag in the bottom half of the Time ruler from the beginning of where you want the

playback region to the end.

Drag in the Time ruler to set the playback region.

Playback region

The playback region is lighter in color than the rest of the Time ruler, with triangular markers indicating its start and end points. If a playback region already exists, you can drag anywhere in the Time ruler outside of the current playback region to set the playback region to a new position.

If cycling is turned off, you must turn it on for the playback region to be active. The Cycle button darkens to indicate that the playback region is activated.

To activate the playback region:

m Click the Cycle button in the transport controls.

To move the playback region:

m Click in the bottom half of the playback region and drag it to a new position in

the Timeline.

To resize the playback region:

m Select either the start point or end point handle in the Time ruler and drag to resize the

playback region.

To remove the playback region:

m Click in any part of the Time ruler outside of the current playback region.

Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline 93

Working with Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

The Timeline is arranged into three groups of horizontal rows: tracks, busses, and outputs. You add audio to tracks in your project, use busses to create and control submixes, and send audio to physical output channels using outputs. Tracks, busses, and outputs are described in greater detail in “Tracks, Busses, and Outputs” on page 86.

The tracks in a project appear in the upper part of the Timeline. Busses appear below tracks, and outputs appear below busses. A separator between each group helps visually distinguish them, and disclosure triangles on each separator let you show or hide the groups.

Adding Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

To add a track, do one of the following:

m Choose Multitrack > Add Track (or press Command-T).

m Control-click an open area of the Timeline, then choose Add Track from the shortcut menu.

m Control-click a track, then choose either Insert Track Before or Insert Track After from

the shortcut menu.

To add a bus, do one of the following:

m Choose Multitrack > Add Bus.

m Control-click a bus, then choose either Insert Bus Before or Insert Bus After from the

shortcut menu.

To add an output, do one of the following:

m Choose Multitrack > Add Output.

m Control-click an output, then choose either Insert Output Before or Insert Output After

from the shortcut menu.

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Selecting Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

You can select a track, bus, or output in order to move, copy, or remove it, and can also select tracks, busses, and outputs to export. The headers of selected tracks, busses, and outputs appear darker in the Timeline.

To select a track, bus, or output, do one of the following:

m Click the drag handle along the left edge of the header for the track, bus, or output.

m Click anywhere in the row for the track, bus, or output.

Drag handle

You can select multiple tracks, busses, or outputs.

To select adjacent tracks, busses, or outputs:

m Shift-click the drag handle in the header of each track, bus, or output you want to select.

To select nonadjacent tracks, busses, or outputs:

m Command-click the drag handle in the header of each track, bus, or output you want

to select.

Moving and Copying Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

As you work on your project, you may want to rearrange tracks, busses, and outputs. You can move and copy them to change their vertical arrangement in the track, bus, or output section of the Timeline. You cannot move one to the area for another (as indicated by the rows labeled “Tracks,” “Busses,” and “Outputs”).

You can only move or copy one track, bus, or output at a time.

To move a track, bus, or output:

m Drag the track, bus, or output drag handle up or down to a new vertical position.

A light blue horizontal line in the header area indicates the place the track, bus, or output will be moved to when you release the mouse button.

To copy a track, bus, or output:

m Option-click the drag handle in the header for the track, bus, or output, then drag it

up or down.

A copy of the track, bus, or output appears when you release the mouse button.

Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline 95

Renaming Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

By default, tracks are numbered when created, and take the name of the first audio clip you add to them. Busses and outputs are numbered starting from one (Bus 1, Out 1, and so on). You can rename a track, bus, or output and use the names to distinguish the type of audio it contains (for example, dialogue, voiceovers, music, or sound effects), its part in the overall project, or to identify it in some other way.

To rename a track, bus, or output:

m Click the name field in the header for the track, bus, or output and type a new name.

Changing a Track, Bus, or Output Icon

You can choose a new icon from the icon grid, or add your own image to the grid.

To change the icon for a track, bus, or output, do one of the following:

m Click the icon, then select a new icon from the icon grid that appears.

m Drag a graphics file from the Finder to the icon.

Using the Track Controls

Tracks, busses, and outputs have headers, located along the left side of the Timeline. Each header contains track controls that you can use to mute or solo the track, bus, or output, adjust its volume level and pan position, add effects, and show or hide its envelopes.

Adjusting Volume

The volume slider controls the volume (the loudness relative to other tracks) of the track, bus, or output.

To adjust the volume level of a track, bus, or output:

m Drag the volume slider left or right.

Drag the volume

slider left or right.

The range is –96 dB to +6 dB, with the default at 0 dB. Double-clicking the slider resets it to the 0 dB position.

96 Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline

Adjusting Pan Position

Tracks and busses also include a pan slider. The pan slider controls the pan position (the left-to-right placement in the stereo field) of the track.

To adjust the pan position of a track or bus:

m Drag the pan slider left or right.

Drag the pan slider

left or right.

The range is –100 (full left) to +100 (full right), with the default at 0 (center position). Double-clicking the slider resets it to the center position.

Muting and Soloing Tracks, Busses, and Outputs

The Mute button mutes (silences) the track, bus, or output. You can mute multiple tracks, busses, and outputs, allowing you to hear only the remaining, unmuted ones. Muting lets you compare the sound of the project using different combinations of tracks, busses, and outputs, and hearing the result of changes you make to them.

To mute a track, bus, or output:

m Click the Mute button. Click the Mute button again to unmute the track, bus, or output.

Muted tracks, busses, and outputs appear darker in the Timeline, making it easy to identify which tracks are currently audible.

Click the Mute button to mute

the track, bus, or output.

The Solo button solos the track, bus, or output, muting all others. Soloing a track, bus, or output lets you quickly isolate it from the rest of the project, so you can adjust the sound of the soloed track, bus, or output and make changes.

Soundtrack supports multiple solo and exclusive solo. Clicking the Solo button for multiple tracks, busses, or outputs solos them and mutes all others. When you exclusively solo a track, bus, or output, all others are muted, regardless of whether they are soloed.

Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline 97

To solo a track, bus, or output (multiple solo):

m Click the Solo button. Click the Solo button again to unsolo the track, bus, or output.

Click the Solo button to solo

the track, bus, or output.

To exclusively solo a track, bus, or output:

m Option-click the Solo button. Click the Solo button again to unsolo the track, bus, or output.

When you solo tracks, busses, or outputs, the ones not soloed appear darker in the Timeline.

Changing Track Time Format

By default, tracks use the same time format as the project (Time-based or Beats-based). You can change the time format of a track, which changes the behavior of tagged clips when you change the project tempo.

When the track time format is Time-based, clips remain at the same time position (the same second or frame) when you change the project tempo. When the track time format is Beats-based, clips remain at the same beat position (the same measure, beat, and beat division) when you change the project tempo.

When you set a track to Beats-based time format, a metronome appears in the corner of the track icon.

To change a track’s time format:

1 Select the track.

2 Choose Multitrack > Track Time Base, then choose a format from the submenu.

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Adding Effects to a Track, Bus, or Output

Clicking the Effects button in the header for a track, bus, or output displays the Effects tab, which you use to add effects. The Effects tab also displays any effects currently assigned to the track, bus, or output.

To add effects to a track, bus, or output:

1 Click the Effects button in the header for the track, bus, or output.

Click the Effects button to show the Effects tab.

2 In the Effects tab, select a category in the Category list to display the effects for that

category in the Effect list.

Select the category

of effects you want to

use from this list.

3 In the Effect list, do one of the following:

Â Double-click the effect you want to add.

Â Select the effect name, then click the Add Effect button.

Â Drag the effect to the Effect Parameters area.

Drag the effect from the Effect list...

...to the Effect Parameters area.

The effect now appears in the Effect Parameters area with its checkbox selected.

Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline 99

Click the envelopes

disclosure triangle.

When you add effects to a track, bus, or output, the Effects button changes color to indicate that the track, bus, or output contains effects.

For detailed information about adding and adjusting effects, see Chapter 8, “Working

with Audio Effects,” on page 125.

Showing and Hiding Track, Bus, and Output Envelopes

Clicking the automation disclosure triangle for a track or bus shows the volume and pan envelopes, which you can use to automate changes to pan position and volume level over the course of the project. Clicking the triangle for an output shows the output’s volume envelope. The envelopes appear in the Timeline below the track, bus, or output. You can also add envelopes for effect parameters, which appear below the other envelopes. For information on adding envelopes for effect parameters, see Chapter 8, “Working with Audio Effects,” on page 125.

To show the envelopes for a track, bus, or output:

m Click the envelopes disclosure triangle in the header for a track, bus, or output. Click

the disclosure triangle again to hide the envelopes.

Note: If you automate controls or effects using envelopes, you hear the results whether or not the envelopes are visible.

For information on automating changes to volume, pan, and other settings, see Chapter 9, “Working with Automation,” on page 143.

100 Chapter 6 Working in the Timeline

The envelopes appear below the track in the Timeline.

Apple Soundtrack - 1.5 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

An Introduction to Soundtrack

What Is Soundtrack?

Creating Music with Soundtrack

Resources for Learning About Soundtrack

Soundtrack Onscreen User Manual

Apple Websites

Soundtrack Website

Apple Service and Support Website

Other Apple Websites

Audio and Music Basics

Basic Audio Concepts

Sound Waves

Frequency and Amplitude

Musical Sounds

Envelopes

Phase Relationships

Recording Sound

Basic Music Concepts

Rhythm and Tempo

Melody

Harmony and Key

Instrumentation

Musical Patterns and Form

2 Setting Up Your System

System Considerations

Processor Speed and RAM

Hard Disk Space

Setting the Audio Input and Output

Adding Audio Units Plug-Ins to Your Computer

Connecting Audio Equipment

Audio Interfaces

Audio Cabling

Audio Output

Example Hardware Setups

Setting Up a System Using Powered Speakers

Setting Up a System Using a USB Audio Interface

Setting Up a System Using a FireWire Audio Interface

3 The Soundtrack Interface

Project Window

Toolbar

Transport Controls

Timeline

Headers

Timeline Controls

Media and Effects Manager

Browser Tab

Favorites Tab

Search Tab

Bin Tab

Effects Tab

Utility Window

Video Tab

Recording Tab

Meters Tab

Details Tab

Overview

Setting Up Your Workspace

Basic Window Controls

Using Tabs

Using Project Layouts

Customizing the Toolbar

Playing Projects

Setting the Playhead

Scrubbing a Project

Controlling Playback with the Transport Controls

Controlling Playback Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Locating and Adding Audio Files

Supported Audio File Formats

Looping and Non-Looping Files

Using the Browser to Locate Files

Using Favorites to Locate Files

Using Search to Locate Files

Storing Files in the Bin

Previewing Audio Files

Using the Preview Controls