BIAS Peak - 5.2 User Manual

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Peak

Version 5.2

Software User’s Guide

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INSTALL LICENSE AGREEMENT

This legal document is an agreement between you, the end user (“YOU” or “LICENSEE”), and Berkley Integrated Audio Software, Inc. (“BIAS, Inc.”). BY CLICKING “INSTALL” ON THE FOLLOWING DIALOG, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BECOME BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, WHICH INCLUDES THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AND THE SOFTWARE DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY (collectively the “Agreement”). CLICK “QUIT” ON THE FOLLOWING DIALOG IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. THIS AGREEMENT CONSTITUTES THE COMPLETE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND BIAS, INC. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE OR REGISTER THE SOFTWARE AND PROMPTLY RETURN THE SOFT WARE AND THE OTHER MATERIALS (INCLUDING WRITTEN MATERIALS, BINDERS OR OTHER CONTAINERS) THAT ARE PART OF THIS PRODUCT TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU OBTAINED THEM FOR A FULL REFUND. YOUR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL CONSTITUTE ACCEPTANCE OF THIS AGREEMENT, AND ONCE YOU HAVE REGISTERED THE SOFT WARE YOU MAY NOT RETURN IT.

1. BIAS SOFTWARE LICENSE

BIAS offers two distinct license options – SINGLE USER and MULTI-USER SINGLE SITE. If you have purchased a single user license, the license terms in section 1a apply to you. If you have purchased a multi-user single site license (e.g. 5 user lab pack), the license terms in section 1b apply to you.

1a. GRANT OF LICENSE (SINGLE USER). In consideration of payment of the

single user license fee, which is part of the price you paid for this product, BIAS, as Licensor, grants to you, LICENSEE, a nonexclusive license to use and display this copy of a BIAS software program (the “SOFTWARE”) and accompanying user documentation (“DOCUMENTATION”). LICENSEE may install and authorize the SOFTWARE on one COMPUTER, provided that (a) the COMPUTER is owned by (or leased to) and under exclusive control of the Licensee; (b) the SOFTWARE shall NOT be used simultaneously on more than one COMPUTER at a time, and (c) any COMPUTER(S) with BIAS Software installed shall not be sold, rented, leased, loaned or otherwise be removed from the LICENSEE’s possession without first removing and deauthorizing the Software, except as provided in Paragraph 6 (below) pertaining to “TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS.” BIAS reserves all rights not expressly granted to LICENSEE.

1b. GRANT OF LICENSE (MULTI-USER SINGLE SITE LICENSE). In

consideration of payment of the multi-user single site license fee, which is part of the price you paid for this product, BIAS, as Licensor, grants to you, LICENSEE, a nonexclusive license to use and display this copy of the Software and Documentation. LICENSEE may install and authorize the SOFTWARE on a number of COMPUTERS equal to or less than the number of licenses purchased (e.g. a 5 User Lab Pack allows up to 5 BIAS SOFTWARE licenses at a single SITE to be simultaneously installed, authorized, and used on up to 5 COMPUTERS at said SITE), provided that (a) each COMPUTER is owned by (or leased to) and under exclusive control of the Licensee; (b) the SOFTWARE shall NOT be used simultaneously on more COMPUTERS at a time than the number of licenses purchased as part of the multi-user single site license, and (c) any COMPUTER(S) with BIAS Software installed shall not be sold, rented, leased, loaned or otherwise be removed from the LICENSEE’s possession without first removing and deauthorizing the Software, except as provided in Paragraph 6 (below) pertaining to “TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS.” BIAS reserves all rights not expressly granted to LICENSEE.

2. SOFTWARE AUTHORIZATION. You must register and AUTHORIZE this SOFTWARE either online (via the included BIAS Authorization Manager software) or by phone (1-800-775-2427 +1-707-782-1866). Once the SOFTWARE is registered and AUTHORIZED, it may not be returned.

3. OWNERSHIP OF SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION. As LICENSEE, you own the media on which the SOFT WARE and DOCUMENTATION are originally or subsequently recorded or fixed, but BIAS retains title and ownership of the SOFT WARE and DOCUMENTATION and all subsequent copies of the SOFT WARE and DOCUMENTATION, regardless of the form or media on which the original and other copies may exist. This License is not a sale of the original SOFTWARE or any copy or sale of the original DOCUMENTATION.

4. COPY RESTRICTIONS. This SOFT WARE and the DOCUMENTATION are copyrighted. Unauthorized copying of the SOFTWARE, including SOFTWARE that has been modified, merged, or included with other software, or of the DOCUMENTATION is expressly forbidden. You may be held legally responsible for any copyright infringement that is caused or encouraged by your failure to abide by the terms of this License. Subject to these restrictions, and if the SOFT WARE is not copy-protected, you may make one (1) copy of the SOFTWARE solely for backup purposes. You must reproduce and include the copyright notice on the backup copy.

5. USE RESTRICTIONS. As the LICENSEE, you may physically transfer the SOFTWARE from one computer to another provided that the SOFTWARE is used on only one computer at a time if you have purchased a single user license or, if you have purchased a multi-user single site license, on up to the number of computers for which you have purchased a license at one time. You may not electronically transfer the SOFT WARE from one computer to another over a network. You may not distribute copies of the SOFTWARE or the DOCUMENTATION to others. You may not modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works based on the SOFTWARE. You may not modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works based on the DOCUMENTATION without the prior written consent of BIAS.

6. TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS. This SOFTWARE is licensed only to you, LICENSEE, and may not be assigned or otherwise transferred to anyone, whether voluntary or by operation of law, without the prior written consent of BIAS. Any authorized transferee of the SOFTWARE must agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, or the transfer shall be invalid. In no event may you transfer, assign, rent, lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of the SOFTWARE on a temporary or permanent basis except as expressly provided herein.

7. LICENSE TO U.S. GOVERNMENT. If LICENSEE is an agency or instrumentality of the United States Government, the SOFT WARE and DOCUMENTATION are “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation”, and pursuant to FAR

12.212 or DFARS 227.7202, and their successors, as applicable, use, reproduction and disclosure of the Software and Documentation are governed by the terms of this Agreement.

8. TERMINATION. This License is effective until terminated. This License will terminate automatically without notice from BIAS if you fail to comply with any provision of this License. Upon termination you shall destroy the DOCUMENTATION and all copies of the SOFTWARE, including modified copies, if any.

9. UPDATE POLICY. BIAS may create, from time to time, updated versions of the SOFTWARE. At its option, BIAS will make such updates available to LICENSEE and transferees who have paid the update fee and returned the registration card to BIAS.

10. BIAS PRODUCT SUPPORT.

Unlimited Complimentary Self Help Options

If you have questions about installing or using your BIAS products, please check the manual or user guide first, and you will find answers to most of your questions there. If you need further assistance, please check the

Peak 5 User’s Guideii

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support section of the BIAS web site, which contains answers to frequently asked questions, troubleshooting tips, and more:

http://www.bias-inc.com/support/faq/

Limited Complimentary Technical Assistance

Ninety days of complimentary technical support assistance for up to three incidents is available with the initial purchase of Type 1 BIAS products (Peak Pro, Peak Pro XT, Master Perfection Suite, SoundSoap Pro, Deck). Ninety days of complimentary technical support assistance for a single incident is available with the initial purchase of Type 2 BIAS products (Peak LE, Deck LE, SoundSoap 2). The support period begins when the product is initially registered and authorized. Type 3 products (OEM versions) are excluded.

An additional thirty days of complimentary technical support assistance for a single incident, beginning on the expiration of the initial ninety days of complimentary support described above, is available with the purchase of paid upgrades to Type 1 and Type 2 BIAS products.

To receive e-mail or telephone technical support, you will need a valid serial number and must be registered for a current BIAS product. Please keep your original product serial number (located on your original owner’s certificate) in a safe place as it will be required for support.

Customers who prefer support by email, please contact:

[email protected]

Customers who prefer support by telephone, (connect and toll charges apply), please have your computer running and close by the phone and call us at:

+1-707-782-1865 (9AM-5PM Monday-Friday PST – excluding BIAS holidays)

Fee-based Technical Support Options

Fee-based Support is available for those customers whose support period has expired or for Type 3 (OEM version) customers. Please call:

+1-707-782-1865 (9AM-5PM Monday-Friday PST – excluding BIAS holidays)

For customers living outside of North America, please contact your local BIAS distributor, or contact BIAS directly. A list of BIAS distributors may be found at:

http://www.bias-inc.com/distributors.html

BIAS Support Policy and Hours

BIAS, Inc. support policy and hours are subject to change without notice.

Sales and Non-Technical Customer Service

For product information, sales, and other non-technical customer service, please email or call:

[email protected] US: 1-800-775-BIAS (2427) International: +1-707-782-1866 (9AM-5PM Monday-Friday PST – excluding BIAS holidays)

No technical support is available at the numbers or email address above.

11. MISCELLANEOUS. This Agreement is governed by the law of the State of California, without regard to conflicts of law principles.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY AND LIMITED WARRANTY

THE SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION (INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE) ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. FURTHER, BIAS DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE, OF THE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU, AND NOT BIAS OR ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES. YOU AGREE TO ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION. BIAS warrants to the original LICENSEE that the media upon which the SOFTWARE is recorded and the BIAS Key (USB dongle), if applicable, are free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use and service for a period of ninety (90) days from the date of delivery as evidenced by a copy of your receipt. Further, BIAS hereby limits the duration of any implied warranty(ies) on the media to the respective periods stated above. Some states do not allow limitations on duration of an implied warranty, so the above limitation may not apply to you. BIAS’ entire liability and your exclusive remedy as to the media shall be, at BIAS’ option, either (a) return of the purchase price or (b) replacement of the media that does not meet BIAS’ Limited Warranty and which is returned to BIAS with a copy of the receipt. If failure of the media has resulted from accident, abuse, or misapplication, BIAS shall have no responsibility to replace the media or refund the purchase price. Any replacement media will be warranted for the remainder of the original warranty period or thirty (30) days, whichever is longer. THE ABOVE ARE THE ONLY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT ARE MADE BY BIAS CONCERNING THE BIAS PRODUCT. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY BIAS, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. NEITHER BIAS NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE). BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

This Disclaimer of Warranty and Limited Warranty is governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflicts of law principles.

Should you have any questions concerning this Agreement, or if you desire to contact BIAS for any reason, please contact in writing:

BIAS Customer Sales and Service 140 Keller Street Petaluma, CA 94952 USA

License Agreement/Credits

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Credits: Peak 5 Software: Steve Berkley, Andrew Kimpton, Guillermo Garcia, David Ralley, Wayne Jackson, Eric Eizenman.

Apple Events™, AppleTalk™, Audio Units™, GarageBand™, Final Cut Pro™, iMovie™, iPod™, iTunes™, Logic™, Macintosh™, and OS X™ are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

Cubase™ and VST™are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies, AG.

Pro Tools™ and Sound Designer II™ are registered trademarks of Digidesign, Inc.

Digital Performer™ is a registered trademark of MOTU, Inc.

CDDB™ is a registered trademark of Gracenote, Inc.

FileMaker Pro™ is a registered trademark of FileMaker, Inc.

PS2™ is a registered trademark of Sony, Inc.

Xbox™ is a registered trademark of Microsoft, Inc.

Live™ is a registered trademark of Ableton, AG.

Jam™ is a registered trademark of Roxio, Inc.

SFX Machine LT™ is a registered trademark of The Sound Guy, Inc.

E-32™, E-64™, E-IV™, E-4000™, and E-5000™ are registered trademarks of Emu Systems, Inc.

A3000™, A4000™, and A5000™ are registered trademarks of Yamaha, Inc.

SP™ and SX™ are registered trademarks of Peavey, Inc.

K2000™, K2500™, and K2600™ are registered trademarks of Kurzweil, Inc.

User’s Guide: Zac Wheatcroft, Bruce Bennett, Steve Berkley

Special Thanks to: Christine Berkley, Jason Davies, Paul Knowles, Dan Spirlock, Gabe Khofri, Ben Ventura, Lisa Stefan, Victor Cebreros, Megan Peterschmidt, Cory Stück, Kristen Jacobs, Ben Hester, Kelly Evans, Larry Nilsen, Michael Van Landingham, Andrew Stone, Brent Hurtig, Seamus Walsh, Andy Marcus, Ian & Christina Nyquist, Steve Cerilli, Ernest Cholakis, Bil Bryant, Howard Frederics, CKSDE, Michael Anse, Michael Barrett, Marvin Bass, Chris Borgia, Daniel Brennan, Sean Charles, Donnie Christian, Barry Diament, Jeff Dinces, Dr. Fred Bashour, Jason Fernandez, Scott Frankfurt, Chris Griffin, Barry Higgins, Gary Hobish, James L. Jackson, Julian Kwasneski, Drew Lavyne, Jeremy Lee, George Leger III, Ray Legnini, Ken Loge, Elvio Magliocca, Darin Marshall, Peter McConnell, Arnaud Melese, Jim Miller, Heather Perkins, Paul Pierron, Marc Poirier, Fernando Rodriguez, Marc Rosenberg, Brad Sarno, Jeremy Scidmore, John O. Senior, Luke Slater, William Storkson, Craig Sylvern, Rudy Trubitt, James Wadell, Brandon Ware, Jim Wintermyre, J. Mark Andrus, Michael Barrett, Robbie Berman, Bruce Bennett, R ay Brunelle, BT, Will Carpmill, Chris Clanin, Luke DeLalio, Dennie Edwards, Tom Erbe, Terje Finstad, Daniel Fisher, Kelly Fitz, Mikail Grahm, Brian Hamilton, Tom Hays, Morris Hayes, Matt Isaacson, Carson Kendall, peer landra, Igor Len, Randy M., Jose Ignacio Martin, Christophe Masson, Riccardo Mazza, Ron Macleod, David Mash, Peter McCabe, David McIntyre, Melvin & Milo Mole, Jeff Moore, Itai Neoran, NIN, Drayson Nowlan, Martin O'Donnell, Larry Oppenheimer, Dan Phillips, Scott

Plunkett, Gene Porfido, Les Quindipan, Ralph, Bob Rice, Brad Sarno, Arne Schulze, Seva, Eli Shauriki, Ronen Shloush, Craig Snoke, Alex Stahl, M. Stevens, Morten Stjernholm, Mark Tinley, David Torn, Rudy Trubitt, Tsvika, Earl Vickers, Charles Wiltgen, Michael Winter, and Tsuyoshi Yasukawa.

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BIAS Product Support:

Unlimited Complimentary Self Help Options

If you have questions about installing or using your BIAS products, please check the manual or user guide first, you will find answers to most of your questions there. If you need further assistance, please check:

http://www.bias-inc.com/support.html

for frequently asked questions, an extensive database of related articles, troubleshooting tips, and more.

Limited Complimentary Technical Assistance

Ninety days of technical support assistance for up to three incidents is available with the initial purchase of Type 1 BIAS products (Peak Pro, Peak Pro XT, Master Perfection Suite, Deck, SoundSoap Pro). Ninety days of technical support assistance for a single incident is available with the initial purchase of Type 2 BIAS products (Peak LE, Deck LE, SuperFreq, SoundSoap 2). Type 3 products (OEM versions) are excluded. Thirty days of technical support assistance for a single incident is available with the purchase of paid upgrades to Type 1 and Type 2 BIAS products. The support period begins when the product authorization code (PAC) is initially issued following the product registration. To receive email or telephone technical support, you will need a valid serial number and must be registered for a current BIAS product. Please keep your original product serial number and PAC in a safe place as it will be required for support. For customers preferring e-mail assistance, please use the email form available on our web site at:

http://www.bias-inc.com/support.html

Or, email:

[email protected]

For customers preferring telephone assistance, (connect and toll charges apply), please have your computer running and close by the phone and call us at:

+1-707-782-1865

9AM-5PM Monday-Friday PST – excluding BIAS holidays

Fee-based Technical Support Options

Fee-based Support is available for those customers whose support period has expired or for Type 3 (OEM version) customers. Please call:

+1-707-782-1865

9AM-5PM Monday-Friday PST – excluding BIAS holidays

For customers living outside of North America, please contact your local BIAS distributor, or contact BIAS directly. A list of BIAS distributors may be found at:

http://www.bias-inc.com/distributors.html

BIAS Support Policy and Hours

BIAS, Inc. support policy and hours are subject to change without notice.

Product Support Options

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Sales and Non-Technical Customer Service

For product information, sales, and other non-technical customer service, please email or call: [email protected]

US: 1-800-775-BIAS (2427) International: +1-707-782-1866

9AM-5PM Monday-Friday PST – excluding BIAS holidays

No technical support is available at the numbers or email address above.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introducing Peak

Welcome!......................................................................................................................................................................................................19

Who is Peak Designed For?............................................................................................................................................................20

What’s New in Peak 5.0/5.2?..................................................................................................................................................................20

Minimum System Requirements........................................................................................................................................................21

Maximizing Peak’s Performance.................................................................................................................................................................21

About Your User’s Guide...........................................................................................................................................................................21

About Peak LE..............................................................................................................................................................................................22

Getting Help with Peak...............................................................................................................................................................................23

Conclusion..................................................................................................................................................................................................23

Chapter 2 - Installing, Registering, & Activating Peak

Installing Peak.............................................................................................................................................................................................27

Registration & Authorization......................................................................................................................................................................28

Deauthorizing a Computer..........................................................................................................................................................................30

Chapter 3 - Peak Basics

Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................................33

A Brief Explanation of Digital Audio..........................................................................................................................................................33

Sampling & Sample Rate........................................................................................................................................................................33

Bit Resolution..........................................................................................................................................................................................33

About Disk-Based Recording & Editing.....................................................................................................................................................34

Nonlinear Versus Linear Recording......................................................................................................................................................34

Nondestructive Editing..........................................................................................................................................................................34

Hard Disk Storage Requirements..........................................................................................................................................................34

Hard Disk Maintainance........................................................................................................................................................................34

Creating a New Peak Document........................................................................................................................................................35

Opening Existing Audio Documents..........................................................................................................................................................35

Opening WAVE Files................................................................................................................................................................................35

Opening Compressed Audio Documents.............................................................................................................................................35

Recently Opened Documents...............................................................................................................................................................36

Opening Dual Mono Files..........................................................................................................................................................................36

Dragging & Dropping Folders, Disks, & CD Audio Tracks.....................................................................................................................37

Recovering Damaged Audio Files..........................................................................................................................................................37

Saving & Closing Documents......................................................................................................................................................................38

Using the Save As & Save A Copy As Commands..................................................................................................................................39

Using POW-r™ Dithering.......................................................................................................................................................................39

Saving Compressed Audio Documents.................................................................................................................................................39

Closing Audio Documents......................................................................................................................................................................40

Peak Windows & Palettes.............................................................................................................................................................................40

Peak Audio Document Window..............................................................................................................................................................40

Transport Window...................................................................................................................................................................................43

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Contents Window....................................................................................................................................................................................43

Setting Preferences......................................................................................................................................................................................44

Setting Peak’s Playback Parameters.......................................................................................................................................................44

Dynamic Scrub Time..............................................................................................................................................................................45

Scroll During Playback............................................................................................................................................................................45

Move Waveform During Playback..........................................................................................................................................................45

Show Marker Times................................................................................................................................................................................46

Auditioning..............................................................................................................................................................................................46

Blending..................................................................................................................................................................................................46

Auto-Import Dual Mono.........................................................................................................................................................................47

Choosing Colors for the Audio Document Window............................................................................................................................47

Choosing a Time Format........................................................................................................................................................................47

Audio File Meter, Tempo & Timestamp Settings..................................................................................................................................48

Choosing A Scratch Disk.........................................................................................................................................................................48

Keyboard Shortcuts................................................................................................................................................................................49

The Toolbar...................................................................................................................................................................................................50

Quitting Peak................................................................................................................................................................................................51

Chapter 4 - Playback & Recording

Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................55

Core Audio...................................................................................................................................................................................................55

Configuring Peak for Playback.....................................................................................................................................................................56

Playback Options....................................................................................................................................................................................57

Core Audio Settings Dialog....................................................................................................................................................................58

Configuring Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback................................................................................................................................59

Playing Audio with Peak..............................................................................................................................................................................60

The Transport Controls..........................................................................................................................................................................60

Triggering Playback of Multiple Audio Documents..............................................................................................................................60

Playing Virtual Instruments....................................................................................................................................................................61

Configuring Peak for Recording..................................................................................................................................................................61

Recording Options..................................................................................................................................................................................62

Record Settings.......................................................................................................................................................................................62

Multi-Document Recordings (Long Recordings).......................................................................................................................................64

Recording Audio...........................................................................................................................................................................................64

The Record Dialog..................................................................................................................................................................................65

Configuring Peak to Record Through Effects Plug-Ins..........................................................................................................................65

Recording.....................................................................................................................................................................................................66

Recording into a QuickTime Movie.......................................................................................................................................................67

Importing a Track from an Audio CD..........................................................................................................................................................67

Making Audio Connections.........................................................................................................................................................................68

Using the Macintosh’s Built-In Inputs & Outputs.................................................................................................................................68

Third-Party Audio Interfaces...................................................................................................................................................................70

Chapter 5 - Editing

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................................75

Editing Audio with Peak...............................................................................................................................................................................75

Interactive Editing...................................................................................................................................................................................75

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Nondestructive Editing...........................................................................................................................................................................75

Unlimited Undo & Redo.........................................................................................................................................................................75

The Audio Document Window...................................................................................................................................................................76

An Audio Waveform................................................................................................................................................................................76

A Selection...............................................................................................................................................................................................76

A Marker...................................................................................................................................................................................................78

A Loop.....................................................................................................................................................................................................78

Audio Between Adjacent Markers..........................................................................................................................................................78

Audio Info Area.......................................................................................................................................................................................78

Audio Info Dialog....................................................................................................................................................................................79

Selecting Audio.............................................................................................................................................................................................79

Markers & Selections as Navigational Aids.............................................................................................................................................80

Auditioning Audio........................................................................................................................................................................................80

Scrubbing.....................................................................................................................................................................................................80

Dynamic Scrubbing................................................................................................................................................................................80

Jog Scrubbing..........................................................................................................................................................................................81

Tape-Style Scrubbing..............................................................................................................................................................................82

Using Unlimited Undo & Redo....................................................................................................................................................................82

Essential Editing Functions..........................................................................................................................................................................84

Scratch Disks...........................................................................................................................................................................................84

Clearing the Clipboard to Reclaim Disk Space.....................................................................................................................................84

Cutting Audio..........................................................................................................................................................................................84

Deleting Audio........................................................................................................................................................................................85

Copying Audio.........................................................................................................................................................................................85

Pasting Audio...........................................................................................................................................................................................85

Replacing Audio......................................................................................................................................................................................86

Inserting Audio........................................................................................................................................................................................86

Duplicating Audio...................................................................................................................................................................................86

Cropping a Selection..............................................................................................................................................................................87

New Document from Selection..............................................................................................................................................................87

Silencing a Selection...............................................................................................................................................................................88

Inserting Silence into a Document.......................................................................................................................................................88

Repairing Clicks & Pops.....................................................................................................................................................................88

Show Edits..................................................................................................................................................................................................90

Using Crossfades & Blending to Smooth Edits........................................................................................................................................90

Creating Fade Ins & Fade Outs..................................................................................................................................................................92

Editing a Fade In/Fade Out Envelope..................................................................................................................................................92

Creating & Using Markers..........................................................................................................................................................................94

Creating Markers...................................................................................................................................................................................94

Delete Markers......................................................................................................................................................................................96

Regions.......................................................................................................................................................................................................98

Creating Loops...........................................................................................................................................................................................99

Turn Loop Flag On/Off on Save.................................................................................................................................................................101

Crossfading Loops......................................................................................................................................................................................101

The Crossfade Loop Dialog..................................................................................................................................................................101

Crossfade Variations..............................................................................................................................................................................101

Using Loop Surfer.......................................................................................................................................................................................103

Making Loops into Regions..................................................................................................................................................................105

Using the Guess Tempo & Threshold Commands to Find Tempo..........................................................................................................106

Using Loop Tuner.......................................................................................................................................................................................106

Exporting Regions..............................................................................................................

........................................................................107

Editing QuickTime SoundTracks in Peak..................................................................................................................................................109

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Chapter 6 - Playlists & CD Burning

Basic Playlist Concepts...............................................................................................................................................................................116

Creating a Playlist..................................................................................................................................................................................116

Adding Regions to a Playlist..................................................................................................................................................................116

Selecting Playlist Events.......................................................................................................................................................................116

About the Move Event & Trim Event Cursor Modes...........................................................................................................................117

Deleting Playlist Events........................................................................................................................................................................117

Using Undo & Redo..............................................................................................................................................................................118

Creating Transitions between Playlist Events......................................................................................................................................118

Auditioning Transitions.........................................................................................................................................................................118

Burning an Audio CD............................................................................................................................................................................119

Saving a Playlist......................................................................................................................................................................................119

Detailed Overview of Controls, Modes & Tools.......................................................................................................................................119

Miscellaneous Controls.............................................................................................................................................................................120

Saving, Closing & Opening Playlists....................................................................................................................................................120

Adding Regions to a Playlist..................................................................................................................................................................120

Undoing & Redoing..............................................................................................................................................................................123

Indexes..................................................................................................................................................................................................123

Control Area...............................................................................................................................................................................................123

Playlist Function Buttons......................................................................................................................................................................123

Counter Display....................................................................................................................................................................................127

Transport Controls................................................................................................................................................................................127

Crossfade Audition Controls................................................................................................................................................................128

Slip & Shuffle Mode Controls..............................................................................................................................................................130

Nudge Controls.....................................................................................................................................................................................131

Mode Checkboxes & Behaviors...........................................................................................................................................................137

Adding Disc-Specific CD-TEXT Metadata............................................................................................................................................139

Waveform View Area..................................................................................................................................................................................140

View Controls........................................................................................................................................................................................140

Waveform Display Area.........................................................................................................................................................................142

Cursor Modes & Tools...........................................................................................................................................................................145

High-Precision Editing Mode...............................................................................................................................................................147

Selecting Playlist Events.......................................................................................................................................................................147

Deleting Playlist Events.........................................................................................................................................................................148

Creating Transitions between Playlist Events......................................................................................................................................148

Setting Track Start Offsets....................................................................................................................................................................152

List View Area.............................................................................................................................................................................................153

List View Columns, Controls, & Data Fields........................................................................................................................................153

Changing the Order of Columns..........................................................................................................................................................159

Selecting Playlist Events........................................................................................................................................................................159

Deleting Playlist Events.........................................................................................................................................................................159

Changing the Names of Playlist Events................................................................................................................................................160

Changing the Order of Playlist Events..................................................................................................................................................160

Creating Transitions between Playlist Events......................................................................................................................................161

Editing Crossfades.................................................................................................................................................................................162

Setting Track Start Offsets.....................................................................................................................................................................164

Adding Metadata to Discs & Tracks......................................................................................................................................................165

Applying Effects Plug-Ins to Playlist Events..........................................................................................................................................167

Output Options..........................................................................................................................................................................................170

Burning Audio CDs....................................................................................................................................................................................170

CD Burning Options.............................................................................................................

................................................................170

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Burning from a Playlist.........................................................................................................................................................................171

Burning from an Audio Document......................................................................................................................................................171

Burning from a Jam Image File.............................................................................................................................................................171

Creating a New Document from a Playlist................................................................................................................................................172

Exporting a DDP Fileset.............................................................................................................................................................................172

Exporting a Jam Image File........................................................................................................................................................................173

Exporting as Text........................................................................................................................................................................................174

Chapter 7 - DSP

Processing Audio with Peak’s DSP Tools...................................................................................................................................................177

Peak’s Audio Processing Tools...................................................................................................................................................................177

Add.........................................................................................................................................................................................................178

Amplitude Fit........................................................................................................................................................................................178

Auto-Define Tracks................................................................................................................................................................................179

Bit Usage................................................................................................................................................................................................182

Change Duration...................................................................................................................................................................................182

Change Gain..........................................................................................................................................................................................182

Change Pitch.........................................................................................................................................................................................184

Convert Sample Rate............................................................................................................................................................................185

Convolve................................................................................................................................................................................................186

Crossfade Loop.....................................................................................................................................................................................186

Envelope from Audio............................................................................................................................................................................188

Fade In & Fade Out...............................................................................................................................................................................189

Find Peak...............................................................................................................................................................................................189

Gain Envelope.......................................................................................................................................................................................189

Harmonic Rotate...................................................................................................................................................................................190

ImpulseVerb...........................................................................................................................................................................................190

Invert......................................................................................................................................................................................................192

Loop Tuner.............................................................................................................................................................................................192

Mono to Stereo & Stereo to Mono.......................................................................................................................................................192

Mix..........................................................................................................................................................................................................193

Modulate................................................................................................................................................................................................194

Normalize..............................................................................................................................................................................................194

Normalize (RMS)...................................................................................................................................................................................195

Panner....................................................................................................................................................................................................196

Phase Vocoder.......................................................................................................................................................................................196

Rappify...................................................................................................................................................................................................197

Repair Click...........................................................................................................................................................................................197

Repair Clicks..........................................................................................................................................................................................198

Remove DC Offset.................................................................................................................................................................................199

Reverse Boomerang..............................................................................................................................................................................200

Reverse..................................................................................................................................................................................................200

Strip Silence...........................................................................................................................................................................................200

Swap Channels......................................................................................................................................................................................202

Threshold..............................................................................................................................................................................................202

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Chapter 8 - Plug-Ins

Plug-Ins Included with Peak 5...................................................................................................................................................................207

Installing Plug-Ins.......................................................................................................................................................................................209

Audio Units Plug-Ins..............................................................................................................................................................................209

BIAS Plug-Ins.........................................................................................................................................................................................209

VST Plug-Ins..........................................................................................................................................................................................209

Organizing Plug-Ins with Folders..............................................................................................................................................................210

Using Effects Plug-Ins.................................................................................................................................................................................210

Inserts....................................................................................................................................................................................................210

Vbox.......................................................................................................................................................................................................210

The Vbox Matrix.........................................................................................................................................................................................212

Box Controls..........................................................................................................................................................................................212

Editing Effect Plug-In Parameters.........................................................................................................................................................214

Moving Plug-Ins.....................................................................................................................................................................................214

Changing Input Routing.......................................................................................................................................................................215

Creating Serial Plug-Ins Chains.............................................................................................................................................................215

Creating Parallel Plug-Ins Chains..........................................................................................................................................................215

Master Wet/Dry Controls......................................................................................................................................................................215

Master Input/Output Levels.................................................................................................................................................................215

Loading & Restoring Vbox Presets.......................................................................................................................................................216

A/B Comparisons..................................................................................................................................................................................216

Vbox Preferences..................................................................................................................................................................................216

Recording Through Effect Plug-Ins...........................................................................................................................................................216

Plug-Ins Envelope......................................................................................................................................................................................217

Plug-In Latency Compensation.................................................................................................................................................................217

Using Effect Plug-Ins with the Batch Processor........................................................................................................................................218

Using Virtual Instrument Plug-Ins.............................................................................................................................................................219

Configuring Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback..............................................................................................................................219

Loading Virtual Instruments on Inserts...............................................................................................................................................220

Playing Virtual Instruments.......................................................................................................................................................................220

Recording Virtual Instruments..................................................................................................................................................................220

Deactivating Virtual Instruments..............................................................................................................................................................221

Playing Virtual Instruments Alongside Audio Documents.......................................................................................................................221

Chapter 9 - Batch File Processor & Apple Events

Batch File Processor...................................................................................................................................................................................225

Input Area..............................................................................................................................................................................................226

Process Area..........................................................................................................................................................................................226

Save Changes Area................................................................................................................................................................................227

Errors & Cancelling Batch Processes...................................................................................................................................................228

Peak’s Audio Librarian Tools......................................................................................................................................................................229

Apple Events Support...........................................................................................................................................................................229

“Savvy” Core Suite of Apple Events......................................................................................................................................................229

Peak Events............................................................................................................................................................................................229

Example Scripts.....................................................................................................................................................................................230

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Table of Contents

xiii

Chapter 10 - Samplers

Working with SMDI Samplers....................................................................................................................................................................233

SMDI Samplers......................................................................................................................................................................................233

SMDI Samper Error Messages & Troubleshooting..............................................................................................................................235

A Note about the Yamaha A3000...............................................................................................................................................................236

The Sampler Preferences Dialog...............................................................................................................................................................236

Chapter 11 - Peak Menus

Peak Pro Menu............................................................................................................................................................................................239

About Peak.............................................................................................................................................................................................239

Help.......................................................................................................................................................................................................239

Preferences............................................................................................................................................................................................239

Hide Peak...............................................................................................................................................................................................243

Hide Others...........................................................................................................................................................................................243

Quit Peak...............................................................................................................................................................................................243

File Menu....................................................................................................................................................................................................243

New........................................................................................................................................................................................................243

Open......................................................................................................................................................................................................244

Close......................................................................................................................................................................................................244

Close All.................................................................................................................................................................................................244

Save........................................................................................................................................................................................................244

Save As...................................................................................................................................................................................................245

Save a Copy As.......................................................................................................................................................................................245

Import CD Track....................................................................................................................................................................................245

Import Dual Mono................................................................................................................................................................................246

Recover Audio File................................................................................................................................................................................246

Export Dual Mono.................................................................................................................................................................................246

Export Regions......................................................................................................................................................................................246

Export as Text........................................................................................................................................................................................247

Batch Processor.....................................................................................................................................................................................247

Burn Audio CD......................................................................................................................................................................................247

Recently Opened Documents..............................................................................................................................................................247

Edit Menu...................................................................................................................................................................................................248

Undo......................................................................................................................................................................................................248

Redo.......................................................................................................................................................................................................248

Edits.......................................................................................................................................................................................................248

Cut.........................................................................................................................................................................................................248

Copy.......................................................................................................................................................................................................249

Paste.......................................................................................................................................................................................................249

Replace..................................................................................................................................................................................................249

Duplicate...............................................................................................................................................................................................249

Insert......................................................................................................................................................................................................249

Insert Silence.........................................................................................................................................................................................249

Silence...................................................................................................................................................................................................249

Delete....................................................................................................................................................................................................250

Delete Except Audio.............................................................................................................................................................................250

Crop.......................................................................................................................................................................................................250

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Peak 5 User’s Guidexiv

Clear Clipboard.....................................................................................................................................................................................250

Select All................................................................................................................................................................................................250

Insertion Point at Selection Start/End..................................................................................................................................................250

Set Selection..........................................................................................................................................................................................250

Select Loop............................................................................................................................................................................................250

Previous Selection/Next Selection.......................................................................................................................................................250

Action Menu...............................................................................................................................................................................................250

Zoom Out..............................................................................................................................................................................................251

Zoom In.................................................................................................................................................................................................251

Increase Vertical Zoom.........................................................................................................................................................................251

Decrease Vertical Zoom........................................................................................................................................................................251

Fit Selection...........................................................................................................................................................................................251

Zoom Out All the Way...........................................................................................................................................................................251

Zoom at Sample Level...........................................................................................................................................................................251

Zoom at Sample Level (End)................................................................................................................................................................251

Snap To..................................................................................................................................................................................................252

Snap Start & End...................................................................................................................................................................................252

Snap Start..............................................................................................................................................................................................252

Snap End...............................................................................................................................................................................................252

Loop this Selection...............................................................................................................................................................................252

Nudge Loop Backward.........................................................................................................................................................................252

Nudge Loop Forward............................................................................................................................................................................252

New Marker............................................................................................................................................................................................252

Markers from Tempo.............................................................................................................................................................................253

New Region...........................................................................................................................................................................................253

New Region Split...................................................................................................................................................................................253

Capture Region to Playlist.....................................................................................................................................................................253

Markers to Regions................................................................................................................................................................................253

Nudge....................................................................................................................................................................................................254

Go To......................................................................................................................................................................................................254

Loop Surfer............................................................................................................................................................................................254

Guess Tempo........................................................................................................................................................................................255

Audio Menu................................................................................................................................................................................................255

Stop/Rewind..........................................................................................................................................................................................255

Play/Pause..............................................................................................................................................................................................255

Play Selection........................................................................................................................................................................................255

Play with Auditioning............................................................................................................................................................................255

Stop & Extend Selection.......................................................................................................................................................................255

Fast-Forward..........................................................................................................................................................................................256

Record....................................................................................................................................................................................................256

Record Settings.....................................................................................................................................................................................256

Hardware Options.................................................................................................................................................................................258

Hardware Settings.................................................................................................................................................................................258

Meters....................................................................................................................................................................................................258

DSP Menu...................................................................................................................................................................................................258

Auto-Define Tracks................................................................................................................................................................................259

Change Duration...................................................................................................................................................................................261

Change Gain....................................................................................................................

......................................................................261

Convert Sample Rate............................................................................................................................................................................262

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Table of Contents

Crossfade Loop.....................................................................................................................................................................................262

Envelope from Audio............................................................................................................................................................................262

Fade In & Fade Out...............................................................................................................................................................................263

Gain Envelope.......................................................................................................................................................................................263

Harmonic Rotate...................................................................................................................................................................................263

Mono to Stereo & Stereo to Mono.......................................................................................................................................................265

Normalize (RMS)...................................................................................................................................................................................266

Phase Vocoder.......................................................................................................................................................................................267

Remove DC Offset.................................................................................................................................................................................269

Reverse Boomerang..............................................................................................................................................................................269

Swap Channels......................................................................................................................................................................................269

Sampler Menu............................................................................................................................................................................................270

Send to Sampler....................................................................................................................................................................................270

Revert from Sampler.............................................................................................................................................................................270

Send All to Sampler...............................................................................................................................................................................270

Revert All from Sampler........................................................................................................................................................................270

E-mu, Ensoniq, ASR-X, Kurzweil, Peavey, Yamaha Sampler...............................................................................................................271

Plug-Ins Menu............................................................................................................................................................................................271

Bounce...................................................................................................................................................................................................272

Options Menu............................................................................................................................................................................................272

Time Units.............................................................................................................................................................................................272

Sample Units.........................................................................................................................................................................................272

Use Loop in Playback............................................................................................................................................................................272

Scroll During Play..................................................................................................................................................................................273

Move Waveform During Playback........................................................................................................................................................273

Compute Max File dB...........................................................................................................................................................................273

Show Marker Times..............................................................................................................................................................................273

Show Overview......................................................................................................................................................................................273

Show Cursor Info..................................................................................................................................................................................273

Auto-Import Dual Mono.......................................................................................................................................................................273

Auto-Adjust Bounce for Latency...........................................................................................................................................................274

Audio Info..............................................................................................................................................................................................274

Dynamic Scrub Time.............................................................................................................

...............................................................274

Auto Snap..............................................................................................................................................................................................275

Keyboard MIDI Input............................................................................................................................................................................275

Page 16

Peak 5 User’s Guidexvi

Movie.....................................................................................................................................................................................................275

“Open” Dialog After Launch.................................................................................................................................................................275

Window Menu............................................................................................................................................................................................275

Transport...............................................................................................................................................................................................275

Toolbar...................................................................................................................................................................................................276

Contents................................................................................................................................................................................................276

MIDI.......................................................................................................................................................................................................276

Playlist....................................................................................................................................................................................................276

Tiling Windows......................................................................................................................................................................................276

Stacking Windows.................................................................................................................................................................................276

Hide All Audio Document Windows....................................................................................................................................................276

Toggle Contents Drawer.......................................................................................................................................................................277

Links Menu.................................................................................................................................................................................................277

Appendix 1 – Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts...................................................................................................................................................................................279

Appendix 2 – Peak Actions

Peak Actions...............................................................................................................................................................................................285

Appendix 3 – Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting – Before Calling for Help..............................................................................................................................................289

Appendix 4 – Recording & Playback with Mac OS X Audio HAL & FireWire DV

Recording & Playback with Mac OS X Audio HAL & FireWire DV............................................................................................................295

Glossary

Glossary......................................................................................................................................................................................................301

Index

Index...........................................................................................................................................................................................................309

Page 17

Chapter 1 Introducing Peak

Page 18

Peak 5 User’s Guide18

Page 19

Chapter 1: Introducing Peak

Welcome!

BIAS Peak™ is an advanced audio application that provides superior tools for recording, editing, and processing digital audio on the Macintosh computer. Peak was specifically designed to meet the needs and demands of audio professionals. By combining highquality direct-from-disk digital audio editing features with lightning fast destructive & nondestructive editing environments, Peak provides unsurpassed audio editing power, and makes a superb addition to multitrack audio application programs, such as BIAS Deck™, Cubase™, Digital Performer™, Live™, Logic™, Pro Tools™, and practically any other application that deals with digital audio. Peak offers advanced sampler support, and works directly with many popular MIDI sampling keyboards and rackmount samplers. Peak is also the perfect audio complement to digital video editing programs, such as iMovie™ and Final Cut Pro™.

Peak Features:

• Direct-to-disk recording and playback at all sample rates supported by the sound hardware on your Macintosh, or supported through third-party audio hardware

• User-configured waveform display

• Support for commonly used audio document formats, including AIFF, Sound Designer II™, WAVE, QuickTime™, Raw, System 7 Sound, Sonic AIFF, Paris™, Jam Image, AU, MP3, and MP4(AAC) formats

• Non-destructive file-based editing with unlimited undo and redo

• Professional editing abilities, including user-definable fade curves, silence, and complete support for cut/copy/paste with multiple undo and redo

• By using an application that supports Apple Events, such as FileMaker Pro™, you can catalog your Peak sound files and audition them from within the application

• Support for third-party digital audio hardware, such as M-Audio™ or Mark of the Unicorn™ digital audio interfaces, through Core Audio.

• Support for 8-, 16-, 24-, and 32-bit audio files

• Support for third-party VST™ & Audio Units effects and instrument plug-ins, allowing you to add advanced signal processing features to Peak. Plugins from companies such as BIAS, Cycling `74™, Steinberg™, Waves™, and Apple™ can be used with Peak for digital filtering, noise reduction, reverb, equalization, and other effects in real time

• The ability to create 100% Red Book compliant (with CD-TEXT, ISRC codes, and PQ subcodes) audio CDs directly from a Peak Playlist or audio document

• Sophisticated Tools for looping, including Loop Surfer™, Loop Tuner™, and Guess Tempo™

• Sampler Support

• Advanced Playlist editing and mastering options

• Automated batch file processing

• Customizable Toolbar and Keyboard Shortcuts

• QuickTime Movie window with scrubbing

Chapter 1: Introducing Peak

Page 20

Who Is Peak Designed For?

Peak is designed for a wide variety of users, ranging from composers and multimedia producers to sound designers, mastering engineers, video editors, and remix editors. Peak’s comprehensive recording, editing, mastering, looping, and processing capabilities make it a powerhouse tool for virtually any aspect of digital audio production. If you are interested in sound and possess imagination and creativity, Peak is for you.

What’s New in Peak 5.0/5.2?

Version 5.2 of Peak software offers the following updates and enhancements:

• Universal application supports both Intel and PowerPC-based Macs

• Updated authorization system allows Peak to be authorized by serial number or USB key

Features new as of version 5.0 include:

• Completely redesigned Playlist with unlimited undo/redo

• International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) support

• PQ subcode support

• CD-TEXT support

• DDP File Export*

• POW-r™ Dither in Playlist

• Advanced Change Pitch algorithm

• Advanced Change Duration algorithm

• Advanced Sample Rate Conversion algorithm

• VBox 2.0 effects routing interface – now supports

Audio Units plug-ins, and VST/Audio Units instruments

• MIDI support (for virtual instruments)

• Freq-4 v. 2.0 EQ Plug-In

• Automatic plug-in latency compensation

• Adjust Parameters while recording through plugins

• Support for Unicode & long file names (longer than 32 characters)

• More accurate waveform display

• Auto-Define Tracks DSP tool

• Strip Silence DSP tool

• Envelope from Audio DSP tool

• RMS Normalize DSP tool

• New Region Split

• High Resolution Tape-Style Scrubbing

• Snap To options: CD Frames, Sony PS2™ & Microsoft XBox™ loop boundaries, and custom units

• Recover Audio File

• Preserve File Attributes in Batch Processor

• Multi-Document Recording (Long Recordings)

• Edit History in File Drawer

• HD Time Units (59.97 & 60 fps)

• Save Loop Flags in On/Off position

• Automatic Window Tiling

• New ImpulseVerb User Interface

• New Toolbar icons

• Support for Mac OS X v. 10.4 “Tiger”

Peak 5 User’s Guide20

Page 21

Minimum System Requirements

To use Peak you will need:

• G4, G5, or Intel-based Mac (>500MHz processor recommended)

• Macintosh OS 10.3.9 minimum (10.4 recommended, Intel-based Macs, and burning CD-TEXT require 10.4)

• Minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution

• 256 MB RAM (512 MB or more recommended)

• 330 MB available free disk space

• 18 ms hard drive (average seek time) or faster

• QuickTime 6.0 or later

• Support for third-party audio hardware may require compatible Core Audio drivers

For the most up-to-date information, please visit:

http://www.bias-inc.com/products/peak/

Mac OS X v. 10.4 “Tiger” and a compatible CD

burner are required for burning CD-TEXT and subcode metadata from a Peak Playlist document.

Maximizing Peak’s Performance

The following tips are optional, and will help you get the best performance out of Peak and your Macintosh, but they are not required.

To maximize Peak performance:

• Set your monitor to no more than thousands of colors (the lowest setting that displays properly is recommended for older Macintosh computers).

• Turn File Sharing off, unless you need it.

• Disconnect your Macintosh from any networks and

turn off AppleTalk, unless you need to be on a network.

• Optimize your hard drive. (See Chapter 3 to learn about proper hard disk maintenance.)

• Use a separate (i.e., a drive that is not also hosting the operating system or Peak application) fast hard drive as a scratch disk/record disk – BIAS recommends at least a 7200 RPM rotational speed, 8 MB cache or higher, 18ms access time or better, and a fast data transfer connection, such as SCSI, FireWire 400/800, ATA, etc.

About Your User’s Guide

Peak is designed to be simple and intuitive. Your User’s Guide is designed to help you set up and use Peak for digital recording and editing as quickly and easily as possible.

This User’s Guide assumes that you are familiar with standard Macintosh operating techniques, including:

• Setting up, starting, and using your Macintosh

• Choosing commands from menus

• Clicking, double-clicking, selecting, Shift-selecting, dragging with the mouse, and other common operations

• Opening, copying, saving and deleting files

• Opening, closing, scrolling, moving, re-sizing, and selecting Macintosh windows

If you don’t know how to perform these tasks, please refer to your Macintosh User’s Guide and spend a little time learning about your Macintosh before going any further. This will make using Peak much easier and more enjoyable.

The Chapters in your Peak User’s Guide are arranged in

Chapter 1: Introducing Peak

Page 22

the order in which you would typically perform tasks when embarking on an audio project:

• Chapter 1 introduces you to Peak and explains some of the requirements for using it

• Chapter 2 explains how to install Peak and configure your Macintosh for recording and playback

• Chapter 3 introduces you to some basic concepts of digital audio and disk-based recording, as well as basic Peak operations

• Chapter 4 explains how to configure, record to, and playback audio from hard disk in Peak using Core Audio. It also explains how to import audio from compatible CD-ROM drives

• Chapter 5 introduces you to the concepts and techniques of nondestructive editing with Peak

• Chapter 6 explains how to create regions and sequence their playback using Playlists, as well as how to burn audio CDs export a variety of common file formats

• Chapter 7 explains how to use Peak’s native DSP tools

• Chapter 8 explains how to use Audio Units & VST plug-ins, and how to use Vbox to enhance Peak’s audio production capabilities

• Chapter 9 explains how to use Peak’s Batch File Processor as well as how to use Apple Events for file management

• Chapter 10 explains how to import samples directly from compatible samplers (to edit or process the audio using all of Peak’s functions) and send the modified sample back to the sampler

• Chapter 11 describes each of the commands found in Peak’s menus

• Appendix 1 lists the default Keyboard Shortcuts for Peak

• Appendix 2 provides a troubleshooting guide for commonly encountered problems

• A Glossary and Index complete your Peak User’s Guide

Look for important tips and notes whenever you see this exclamation mark.

About Peak LE

Peak LE is a limited-feature edition of “Peak Pro”, and not all features are available. Peak LE has a streamlined feature set and includes the essential tools required for music production, basic CD mastering, and editing the audio content in files commonly used in non-linear video editing systems.

If you are using the limited edition (LE edition) of Peak, not all features will be available. Specifically, the following features are not available in Peak LE:

• Add

• Advanced Playlist functions – Peak LE features a basic Playlist

• Amplitude Fit

• Bit Depth and Sample rate limited to 24-bit/96kHz

• Bit Usage

• Convolve

• Crossfade Loop

• Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts

• Customizable Toolbar

• Dither

• Envelope from Audio

• Find Peak

• Harmonic Rotate

• Import Dual Mono

• ImpulseVerb

• Includes a 2-band edition of the Freq EQ plug-in

Peak 5 User’s Guide22

Page 23

• Limited to using one effect/virtual instrument plugin at a time

• Loop Surfer and Loop Tuner

• Meters Dialog

• Modulate

• Mono To Stereo

• Panner

• POW-r™ Dithering

• Phase Vocoder

• Rappify

• Recording Input Levels

• Recording Notepad

• Remove DC Offset

• Repair Click

• Repair Clicks

• RMS Normalize

• Sampler Support

• Specialized Apple Events for Playback from a database such as FileMaker Pro

• Stereo To Mono

• Strip Silence

• Swap Channels

• Threshold

• Vbox is not included

Features that are not supported in Peak LE will

show this icon in the manual. Features unavailable in Peak LE will appear greyed out in their menus.

Getting Help with Peak

Peak provides a variety of helpful resources when you run into questions. The first type is Toolbar Help, which shows you the function of each icon in the Toolbar or Transport. If you hold the mouse cursor over a Toolbar/Transport icon for 2 seconds, the Toolbar Help for that icon’s function will appear.

The next type of help is available under the Peak menu. Choosing Help will open the .pdf format Peak User’s Guide, which was installed along with Peak.

You may also use the Links menu to access additional documentation, tutorials, and technical support online, via the BIAS website.

BIAS recommends using these resources before contacting Technical Support. The answers to most common technical questions can be found online. Best of all, using online help resources is free, easy, and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If you do need to contact Technical Support, please see the BIAS Technical Support Policy on page 5 of this user’s guide.

Conclusion

Now that you know a little about Peak, proceed to the next chapter to learn how to install your software and get started using it.

Chapter 1: Introducing Peak

Page 24

Peak 5 User’s Guide24

Page 25

Chapter 2 Installing, Registering, & Authorizing Peak

Page 26

Peak 5 User’s Guide26

Page 27

Chapter 2: Installing, Registering, & Authorizing Peak

Installing Peak

Peak’s auto-installer software makes installation very easy. The steps below will guide you through the process.

Your complete Peak system consists of:

• CD-ROM installer

• Serial number

• Authorization File

Before you install Peak, please check the Minimum System Requirements on Page 21.

To Install Peak:

1. If you are using any virus protection software, turn it off or temporarily remove it, and restart your Macintosh.

2. Insert the Peak installer CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive – when its icon appears on your computer’s desktop, double-click the Install Peak icon.

3. When prompted about the Installer package running a program to determine if it can be installed, click the Continue button.

4. When the Installer dialog appears, click the Continue button.

5. Read the Software License Agreement – then click the Continue button to proceed.

6. Click the Agree button if you agree to the terms of the Software License Agreement.

7. Select the hard drive/volume on which you wish to install Peak, and click the Continue button.

8. Click the Install/Upgrade button (depending on the configuration of your user account, you may need to enter your account password. If prompted for your password, enter it and click the OK button. If you do not know your account password, please contact your system administrator for assistance).

9. When the installation is complete, a message will appear indicating that the installation was successful. Click the Close button to quit the Installer. (Don’t forget to turn back on any virus-protection software that you may be using the next time you restart the computer).

What Peak Installs:

• Peak Application

• Plug-Ins

• Peak Impulses

• Peak Envelopes

• Documentation

If you would like to register and authorize Peak at this point, launch the Peak application (which is installed into your Applications folder by default), and have your Owner’s Certificate handy, and follow the directions in the next section.

If you upgraded from an earlier version of Peak which used a BIAS USB Key for authorization, and prefer to continue using the key for authorization – simply plug in the key and Peak will work with it.

Chapter 2: Installing, Registering, and Authorizing Peak

Page 28

Registration & Authorization

Peak must be authorized to work on your computer. You must register Peak with BIAS in order to authorize it. BIAS offers a variety of methods to authorize your computer – though registering and authorizing via the internet with the computer on which Peak will be run is by far the fastest and easiest method. This and alternate methods are outlined below.

Serial Number-Based Authorization System

Peak’s standard authorization system consists of the following components:

• BIAS Authorization Manager – A simple application for managing BIAS software licenses.

• Serial Number – Located on Owner’s Certificate.

• Registration Account – Your registration and authorization information on the BIAS Server.

• Authorization Request File – A file transferred from your computer to the BIAS server, which adds the computer you are authorizing to your BIAS Registration Account.

• Authorization File – A file transferred from the BIAS server to your computer, which authorizes it to run Peak.

Optional BIAS USB Key-based Authorization

Users who prefer the BIAS USB key-based authorization system to the standard serial number authorization system may purchase a key separately, or use an existing, authorized USB key from a previous version of Peak.

Multi-user or site-license keys are also available, and may be more convenient than using serial numbers in academic “lab”, or corporate settings. For more information on purchasing BIAS USB keys, please contact BIAS Sales, at:

US Toll-Free: 1-800-775-2427

International: +1-707-782-1866

Email: [email protected]

You must register with BIAS in order to authorize your computer – Peak will not launch unless your computer is authorized to run it.

The registration/authorization process provides the following services:

• Registers your software with BIAS - making you eligible for technical support and product updates.

• Authorizes your computer so it can run Peak. You may authorize up to two computers for use with Peak – for example, a studio or office computer, and a laptop for home or mobile use.

Keep in mind that for each license of Peak – the

software may only be used by one user, on one computer system at a time. If you have used both of your authorizations, and need to authorize a new computer, you will need to first de-authorize one of the authorized computers before you are issued a new authorization for the new computer.

To Register & Authorize a Computer to Run Peak:

1. Launch Peak – the first time it is launched on an unauthorized computer, you will be prompted to use it in trial mode, or to authorize it – click the Authorize button.

2. When the BIAS Authorization Manager appears, select BIAS Peak Pro 5.x in the “Please Choose a Product” section – then enter your Peak serial number and email address in the appropriate fields, and click the Authorize button.

Peak 5 User’s Guide28

Your serial number appears on the Owner’s Certificate, included in the Peak Pro package, or on the electronic receipt from a downloadable purchase (not shown here).

Page 29

If you use more than one email address, be sure to

make a note of which one you registered with – this will make managing your BIAS Registration Account faster and simpler in the future.

3a. If you have previously registered another BIAS

product, using the same email address, Peak will be authorized automatically – please continue to step 4.

3b. If the BIAS Registration system does not recognize

your email address (i.e., if this is the first BIAS product you are registering, or if you enter a different email address than with previously registered BIAS products) – a dialog will appear, prompting you to enter your registration information. Enter your registration information, and click the Submit button – a dialog will appear indicating that you have been successfully registered – please continue to step 4.

4. A dialog will appear indicating successful authorization – click the OK button, and then click the Done button to exit the Authorization Manager, and begin using Peak.

Alternate Methods of Registration/Authorization

If the computer on which you plan to use Peak cannot be temporarily connected to the Internet, even for this onetime authorization process, there are a number of other ways to register and authorize Peak.

Authorizing Peak with an existing BIAS USB Key (Dongle)

If you have upgraded from an earlier version of Peak, which used a BIAS USB Key for copy protection, and prefer to continue using key-based authorization – simply plug in the key and your computer will be authorized with the existing Peak authorization on it.

If you choose this method of authorization, be aware that you will need to have your BIAS Key with you, and plugged into your computer when you wish to use Peak!

Registering & authorizing Peak using another computer with internet access

To use this method of registration/authorization, you will need to run the BIAS Authorization Manager application from your installer CD-ROM – or copy the BIAS Authorization Manager application from your installer CDROM to the internet-equipped computer’s hard drive.

To Register & Authorize using Another Computer with Internet Access:

1. Launch Peak on the computer where Peak will be used (i.e., the computer without internet access) – the first time an unauthorized copy is launched, the Welcome to Peak dialog appears, click the Authorize button.

2. In the BIAS Authorization Manager dialog, select BIAS Peak Pro 5.x in the “Please Choose a Product” section – then enter your Peak serial number and email address – your Peak serial number is printed on the Owner’s Certificate included in the Peak package (see picture on previous page).

3. Click the Alternate Authorization button – the Alternate Authorization dialog appears.

4. In the Alternate Authorization dialog, click the Generate Authorization Request button – the Serial Number/Email Address dialog appears.

5. Confirm that the email address and serial number are correct, and click the OK button to save an Authorization Request File to your hard drive.

6. Transfer the Authorization Request File to another computer that has Internet access (via a LAN, by burning it to CD, copying to a floppy diskette, flash drive, external hard drive, iPod, digital camera, etc.)

7. Launch the BIAS Authorization Manager application on your internet-equipped computer.

8. In the “Please Choose a Product” section, choose BIAS Peak Pro 5.x.

9. Click the Alternate Authorization button in the BIAS Authorization Manager application..

10. Go directly to step 3 in the Alternate Authorization dialog – click the Open Authorization Request button.

11. In the Open dialog that appears, locate and select

Chapter 2: Installing, Registering, and Authorizing Peak

Page 30

the Authorization Request File, then click the Open button – this will transmit the Authorization Request File to the BIAS Server.

12a. If you have previously registered another BIAS

product, using the same email address, the BIAS server will transmit an Authorization File back to your internet-equipped computer – click the Save button to save this to the internet-equipped computer’s hard drive. Please proceed to step 13.

12b. If the BIAS Registration system does not recognize

12c. Enter your registration information, and click the

Submit button, then click the OK button when the successful registration dialog appears.

12d. You will be prompted to open the Authorization

Request File a second time – locate it, and then click the Open button – The BIAS server will transmit an Authorization File back to your internet-equipped computer – click the Save button to save this to the internet-equipped computer’s hard drive.

13. Click OK to exit the Authorization Successful dialog, then click the Done button in the Alternate Authorization dialog, and again in the BIAS Authorization Manager.

14. Transfer the Authorization File (the file is called “BIAS Peak Pro 5.x”) from the internet-equipped computer back to the host computer where Peak will be used (via a LAN, by burning it to CD, etc.).

15. Go directly to step 4 in the Alternate Authorization dialog – click the Open Authorization File button.

16. In the Open dialog that appears, locate and select the Authorization File, then click the Open button.

17. Click OK in the Authorization Complete dialog, and Done in the Authorization Manager.

To Register & authorize Peak with no internet connection

If you do not have temporary Internet access on any

computer, or need help with any part of the registration/authorization process, please contact BIAS at:

US Toll-Free: 1-800-775-2427

International: +1-707-782-1866

Deauthorizing a Computer

If you need to de-authorize a particular computer that will no longer be used to run Peak, you can do so by following the steps below.

The computer running Peak must be connected to the internet in order to deauthorize it.

To De-Authorize a Computer:

1. Launch Peak – and choose Authorization Manager from the Peak menu (or launch the BIAS Authorization Manager application from your installer CD-ROM).

2. In the BIAS Authorization Manager, select the product you wish to de-authorize – the serial number and email address used to authorize that product will be automatically recalled and will appear in the Serial Number and Email Address fields.

3. Click the Deauthorize button.

4. Click the Deauthorize button to confirm the deauthorization process – the Deauthorization Successful dialog appears.

5. Click the OK button – then click the Done button in the BIAS Authorization Manager.

Conclusion

Now that you have installed, registered, and authorized Peak, please proceed to the next chapter to learn several basic concepts and functions essential to using Peak.

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Chapter 3 Peak Basics

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Chapter 3: Peak Basics

Introduction

This chapter explains several key Peak concepts and functions, including how to open, close, and save audio documents.

A Brief Explanation of Digital Audio

If you are new to digital hard-disk-based recording, you may wish to acquaint yourself with a few of the principles behind digital audio before you dive into using Peak software. This section explains a few key concepts that will give you a good general understanding of how Peak does what it does.

What we hear as sound is actually a pattern of pressure waves that move through the air. The frequency of these waves determines the pitch of the sound – how low or high it sounds. Sound frequency is measured in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz). The range of human hearing is generally considered to be from about 20 Hz at the low end to 20 kHz at the high end. In practice, however, most adults hear only as high as 12 kHz to 18 kHz, especially those of us who may have spent more time than we should have with headphones or at loud rock concerts.

Sampling and Sample Rate

Your Peak software-equipped Macintosh computer stores audio digitally. This means that analog electrical signals from microphones or other sources are converted into numbers by a circuit called an analogto-digital converter and stored on hard disk. The

analog-to-digital (A/D) converter uses a technique called digital sampling to convert analog electrical signals into numbers. Digital sampling is the sonic equivalent of taking a snapshot. By taking thousands of little digital samples per second and storing them to a hard drive, an A/D converter can capture an accurate sample-by-sample representation of a sound, much like a movie is a frame-by-frame representation of a moving image. The number of samples taken of the audio in a second is called the sample rate. The sample rate determines the recording’s upper frequency response. A higher sample rate delivers higher frequency response. As a rule of thumb, a digital recording’s upper frequency response is roughly half of its sample rate (known as the Nyquist frequency). The audio on compact discs, for example, is recorded at 44,100 samples each second, or 44.1 kHz. This sample rate is the standard for professional-quality digital audio, and provides an upper-end frequency response of approximately half the sample rate (known as the Nyquist frequency): 22.5 kHz, somewhat higher than most people’s hearing range.

Bit Resolution

Another factor that affects the quality of the audio is the resolution of each sample. The greater the resolution, the better the quality. To use an analogy from the film world, just as image resolution and quality increase with film size (8 millimeter film is much lower in image quality than 70 millimeter film) greater bit resolution (8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit) results in better fidelity digital audio. Audio CDs have a resolution of 16-bits.

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In practice, the bit resolution determines the recording’s dynamic range-that is, how many distinct steps you have to describe a sound’s level, from quiet to loud. For instance, an 8-bit recording has 256 (28) levels available, which is the equivalent of 48 decibels (dB) of dynamic range. On the other hand, a 16-bit recording has 65,536 (216) levels available, equivalent to 96 dB dynamic range. (The rule of thumb for determining the dynamic range in decibels is to take the bit rate and multiply it by 6.)

About Disk-Based Recording and Editing

If you are new to hard-disk-based recording, you will be impressed by the power and control that Peak software provides for recording and editing digital audio. You will encounter several new concepts and techniques for using a disk-based system such as Peak. Perhaps the most important among these is the concept of nondestructive manipulation of audio.

Nonlinear Versus Linear Recording

Nondestructive audio manipulation is possible thanks to the nature of Peak’s recording medium: a hard disk instead of a roll of analog tape. Unlike analog tape, which is a linear recording medium, hard disks provide a nonlinear, or random-access medium. This is because audio is stored on hard disk as digital information which the hard disk can access immediately or randomly (hence the term “random-access”), simply by moving its read/write head to the appropriate location and reading the appropriate data. This allows you to perform such miraculous feats as cutting and pasting “pieces of sound” and rearranging material long after it has been recorded.

Nondestructive Editing

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that with diskbased audio production you need not actually modify the original source material in any way to accomplish these feats. In most cases, by cutting and pasting you are in reality only asking the hard disk to access portions of the audio file in a slightly different order. Since Peak doesn’t normally cut up, move around, or delete the actual recording on the hard drive, it’s said to be a nondestructive editing system. Peak does not rewrite the file until you choose to save your edits. Other manipulations, such as playing audio material backwards, can be accomplished by reading the data in reverse order. The power and flexibility of diskbased audio production software such as Peak far surpasses the capabilities of traditional analog audio production tools.

Hard Disk Storage Requirements

The actual recording of audio to hard disk requires a significant amount of storage. This is directly affected by the sample rate and bit resolution at which you record: the higher the fidelity, the greater the requirements for storage. As a guideline, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz audio requires roughly 5 megabytes of storage per minute of mono recording. Stereo 16-bit, 44.1 kHz audio requires roughly 10 megabytes per minute. Stereo 24-bit, 44.1 kHz audio requires roughly 15 megabytes per minute.

Hard Disk Maintenance

Because audio recording and playback is a hard diskintensive task, it is important that your hard drive be in good operating condition. In the computer world, this means keeping it from becoming fragmented by using hard drive maintenance software. Fragmentation occurs as your hard drive begins to run out of contiguous (uninterrupted) space where it can write files. If the data that makes up a file is stored at a single location on your drive, it is much easier and faster for your drive to find the data and read it. However, as

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contiguous space runs out, the drive may not be able to write the entire file in one location and instead must fragment the file by writing pieces of it at various locations in whatever smaller open areas it can find. This requires that the drive search near and far to read the pieces of the file. Too much fragmentation can lead to errors in recording and playback as the hard drive struggles to keep up with the demands of your audio application. In general, you should keep your hard disk below 10% fragmentation. Most hard drive maintenance software packages let you monitor the degree of fragmentation on your drive and defragment it by rewriting files into contiguous blocks of data. In addition to defragmenting your drive regularly, you should also back up your files and reformat your drive on a regular basis to keep your system in top operating condition. By doing this, you will ensure maximum performance from your Macintosh and Peak software, and keep your studio running smoothly. Now that you understand some of the basic principles behind digital audio and disk-based recording, take a few moments to learn some of the basic operations of Peak. These are covered in the sections that follow.

Creating a New Peak Document

Peak will allow you to create an empty audio file of zero duration by choosing a new mono or stereo document. However, you would typically record a new audio file in Peak or open an existing audio file into Peak for editing. Peak allows you to have multiple audio documents open at the same time.

To create a new audio document:

Choose New (-N) from the File menu or Toolbar. This command provides a hierarchical menu, which allows you to choose either a mono or stereo format for the new document.

Opening Existing Audio Documents

Peak allows you to open audio files created in a variety of common audio formats including AIFF, Sound Designer II, WAVE, QuickTime, Raw, System 7 Sound, Sonic AIFF, Paris, Jam Image, AU, MP3, and AAC/MP4.

Peak will not allow you to open and edit protected AAC/MP4 files, such as music purchased from the iTunes Music Store.

Opening WAVE files

The Macintosh recognizes files using a “type” and “creator”. WAVE files are recognized by some audio applications with a type “.WAV”, while others recognize only “WAVE” as the type. Peak, along with Apple’s QuickTime software and most other multimedia applications, recognize WAVE files of the type “WAVE”, but not of type “.WAV”. You can use ResEdit or other third-party applications to ensure your WAVE files have the correct type prior to opening them with Peak.

Opening Compressed Audio Documents

AIFF/AIFC and QuickTime files with compression such as MACE 3:1, MACE 6:1, IMA 4:1, QDesign, or Alaw are compatible with Peak.

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Creating a new mono audio document

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To open an audio file:

1. Choose Open (-O) from the File menu.

2. In the dialog that appears, locate the file that you wish to open. From this dialog, you can open AIFF, Sound Designer II, WAVE, QuickTime, Raw, System 7 Sound, Sonic AIFF, Paris, Jam Image, AU, and MP3 formatted audio files.

3. When you find the file you wish to open, click the Open button and Peak will open the audio file into a new audio window, displaying an overview of the entire sound. Shift-click or -click to open multiple files.

Recently Opened Documents

Peak automatically remembers up to the last eight audio documents that you have opened and keeps a list of these at the bottom of the File dialog. This allows you to easily select a document’s name and reopen it without having to search on your hard drive. Peak can find and open a document even if you have changed its location on your hard drive. If you change the name of the file, the next time you open Peak, it will automatically update the name in its internal list.

Opening “Dual Mono” Files

Certain audio applications, such as BIAS Deck, do not directly support stereo interleaved files, and instead use “dual mono” files, which comprise the right and left channels of stereo material. Peak allows you to open such dual mono files, and in the process creates a new interleaved stereo audio document. Because Peak actually writes a new stereo audio file to disk, this conversion process requires hard disk space equivalent to the two original mono files.

Please note that the Import Dual Mono command requires that both files be mono files and have the same sample rate.

To open a dual mono file:

1. Choose Import Dual Mono from the File menu.

2. In the dialog that appears, locate the desired files.

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The Open dialog

Recently opened documents are displayed in the lower portion of the File menu

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3. Select either half of the dual mono file and click Open. Peak imports the first file and then prompts you for the second.

4. Select the second audio file and click Open. When Peak has finished creating the new stereo audio document you can begin editing.

For simpler importing of Dual Mono files, turn on the Auto Import Dual Mono feature in the Optinos menu. With this feature activated, you can automatically import dual mono files by choosing Open from the File menu and selecting one of the dual mono file’s channels. Peak will then create a new stereo document containing both channels. Please note that these dual mono files must have exactly the same file name with the suffix “.L” for the left channel and “.R” for the right channel.

Peak also allows you to export your stereo audio documents in Dual Mono format, which means that it’s easy to import dual mono tracks from BIAS Deck into Peak, edit and process them within Peak, and then export them as Dual Mono files to be reincorporated into your Deck sessions.

Dragging and Dropping Folders, Disks, and CD Audio Tracks

In addition to opening individual documents by dragging and dropping them onto the Peak application’s icon, you can drag and drop entire folders or disks onto the Peak application’s icon. The contents of the disk or folder(s) will be scanned for audio documents that Peak can open, such as AIFF, Sound Designer II, WAVE, QuickTime, MP3, and so on.

This feature is particularly useful when used with Peak’s Batch File Processor.

Peak allows you to drag a CD audio track directly onto the Peak icon or open the track directly from the Open command under the File menu or Toolbar. When you import a CD track using one of these two methods, the entire track will be imported. If you do not want to import an entire audio track, you can still use the Import CD track command under the File menu (covered in Chapter 4).

Recovering Damaged Audio Files

Peak 5 includes a new tool called Recover Audio File, which allows you to open a damaged file, and attempt to recover the audio data contained in it. This tool extracts audio data only, and ignores all other information contained in the file’s header, such as information about loop points, regular markers, region markers, etc. When audio data is successfully recovered, it is placed into a new audio document and must be saved.

There are a few pieces of information that Peak requires, in order to attempt file recovery – these include the number of channels, the file’s bit depth and sample rate, the audio data location, and the byte order. With these few bits of information (and depending on the degree of damage), Peak may be able to recover many otherwise unusable audio files. To attempt to recover a file, you must supply correct

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The Recover Audio File dialog

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information about the format the file was originally recorded in, otherwise, you may end up with white noise, or a file that plays at the wrong speed, etc.

When the Recover Audio File encounters corrupt sectors with media, file, or I/O errors, it will attempt to continue recovering whatever audio data is available, and will write the sections containing errors as silence in the new audio file that is created.

Saving and Closing Documents

It is good practice to save regularly throughout a project to avoid losing valuable work in the event of a power failure or other unfortunate occurrence. The Save command saves the changes you have made to your audio document by writing it to your hard disk.

The Save command cannot be undone. If you want to be able to continue to undo your edits, use the Save a Copy As command under the file menu. Peak allows you to save your audio documents in a variety of common audio file formats, each of which is described below. Be aware that different formats allow different information to be stored with the file. Peak preserves this information unless you save the file into a different file format. Saving a file in a format different from its original format may, however, cause some information stored in the file to be discarded.

New in version 5 is support for Unicode characters. This allows non-English characters to be used when saving files, and also allows the use of “long” filenames (longer than 32 characters).

Peak supports the following audio file formats:

• AIFF:

This is Apple’s Audio Interchange File Format. It is also Peak’s default file format and is supported by many Macintosh software applications.

• Sound Designer II: This is Digidesign’s audio file

format for its digital audio products. Use this

format if you wish to use an audio document in a Digidesign audio application.

• WAVE/.WAV: This is Microsoft’s Windows Audio File

Format. It is supported by many Windows software applications and some Macintosh applications. The WAVE format is best if you plan to use an audio document in an application that supports or requires WAVE format files.

• QuickTime: This is Apple’s audio file format for

QuickTime-based multimedia. It is supported by all Macintosh software applications that support QuickTime. The QuickTime format is best if you plan to use an audio document in multimedia applications that support QuickTime, such as Macromedia Director™. QuickTime includes formats such as AAC/mp4.

• Raw: This is the header-less raw file format that

may be useful for some game platforms.

• System 7 Sounds: This is the Apple audio file format

used for Macintosh Operating System Sounds.

• Jam Image file: This is the Jam audio image file

format. Jam audio image files may be created in Peak and used in Roxio Jam for burning audio CDs.

• Sonic AIFF: The file format used by Sonic Solutions

audio workstations.

• .paf: This is the file format used by E-mu’s Paris

audio system. Note this file format favors mono and dual mono files.

•.au:This file format is commonly used on the

World Wide Web and in Java audio applets – it is supported by many platforms and programs.

•MP3: This saves your document in MP3 format.

Encoding as mp3 format requires that the LAME encoder be installed. For more information on downloading and installing this encoder, please see Appendix 3, which contains step-by-step directions for using the LAME encoder.

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To save a Peak document:

1. Choose Save from the File menu or press -S on your keyboard.

2. Select a file format from the pop-up File Type menu. AIFF is Peak’s default audio file format.

3. Enter a name for the new audio document, select where you want to save the new file, and then click Save.

Using the Save As and Save A Copy As Commands

The Save As command allows you to save a copy of the current document under a different name, or in a different location on your hard disk. Since the Save As command closes the current document and lets you keep working on the renamed copy, it is useful for saving successive stages of a project. This allows you to save each major step under a different name. Later you can retrace your steps should you want to go back to an earlier version. The Save A Copy As command will save a copy of the file you are working on, but it will keep the copy you are working on open. This allows you to continue working on your audio and still be able to undo any edits you executed prior to using the Save A Copy As command.

To save an audio document under another name:

1. Choose Save As (-Shift-S) or Save A Copy As (- Option-S) from the File menu. The Save dialog appears:

2. Select the desired file format from the File Type pop-up menu. AIFF is Peak’s default audio file format.

3. If you wish to save the audio document to a different bit depth resolution, click the bit depth pop-up. It is strongly recommended that you enable the POW-r™ dithering option if you are saving to a lower bit depth (e.g., 24-bit to 16bit).

4. Enter a name for the new audio document, select where you want to save the new file, and click Save.

Using POW-r Dithering

If you are saving to a lower bit depth (e.g., 24-bit to 16-bit), it is strongly recommended that you enable the POW-r dithering option. Choose the POW-r Dither Settings from the Preferences dialog to adjust the settings for POW-r dither. For mono files, or stereo files with a narrow stereo field (e.g., recordings of solo instruments), use POW-r 1; for more stereophonically complex material, use POW-r 2; for full-spectrum audio with a wide stereo field, use POW-r 3.

Saving Compressed Audio Documents

AIFF/AIFC and QuickTime files with compression such as MACE 3:1, MACE 6:1, IMA 4:1, QDesign, or Alaw are compatible with Peak.

You can only Save with file compression using AIFF or QuickTime file formats.

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The Save dialog

The POW-r™ Dither Settings dialog

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Audio compression should be the last step in mastering your audio documents. Decompressing and re-compressing audio documents will degrade their sound quality each time they are recompressed, so it is best not to save with compression until all editing and mastering has been completed.

To save an audio document with compression:

1. Choose Save As ( -Shift-S) from the File menu. The Save As dialog appears.

2. Choose the audio compressor you wish to use from the Compressor pop-up menu. Some compression formats only work with 8-bit or 16bit data, so the compression options may be grayed out, depending on your setting in the bit depth pop-up menu. Some of the types of available audio file compression include: MACE 3:1, MACE 6:1, QDesign Music, ALaw 2:1, 32-bit Floating Point, 64-bit Floating Point, IMA 4:1, 24bit integer, 32-bit integer, 16-bit Little Endian, and 16-bit Big Endian.

3. Click the Options button to adjust the settings for the specified compression format, and then click OK.

4. Type the name of the new audio document, select the folder you wish to save the audio document, and click Save.

Closing Audio Documents

To close a file in Peak, choose Close from the File menu (-W ). If you have made any changes to your document since the last time you saved, Peak will ask you if you want to save them. If you do, choose Yes; if you do not, choose No. If you change your mind and wish to continue your session, choose Cancel. To close all files currently open in Peak, choose Close All from the File menu (-Option-W ).

Peak Windows and Palettes

There are several windows and palettes when you open Peak that either appear by default or are available to you under Peak’s Windows menu. Windows that appear in Peak by default include an audio document window for each audio file you have open. Windows and palettes that you can turn on or off include the Transport, the Toolbar, the Contents Window, and the Movie Window. This section will cover the basic function of these Peak Windows and Palettes.

Peak Audio Document Window

Peak Audio Document windows contain a Waveform Display, an Audio File Info Bar, a Max Level Indicator in the lower left corner, and an expandable contents drawer which contains information about markers, regions, and loops. The Waveform Display is a graphic representation of the audio file, the Audio File Info Bar shows the sample rate, bit resolution, file format and file size of the audio file, and the Max Level Indicator shows the highest amplitude level in the audio file. On top of the Audio Document window is the File Overview, if it is enabled under the Peak Options menu. The contents drawer is similar to the Contents Window, but offers a convenient way to view regular, region, and loop markers on a document-by-document basis, as well as a complete edit history for that document. The Audio Window is described in more detail in Chapter

Peak’s audio document window also contains several different tool icons representing different cursor modes. The default cursor is a standard Arrow Cursor. You can also use the cursor palette to select a Hand Cursor for scrolling a Pencil Tool for drawing directly on the waveform at the sample level, and a Magnifying Glass Tool for zooming the waveform view in and out. The ESC key on your computer keyboard will toggle through the four cursor modes.

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To access any of these cursors or functions, just click on the corresponding icon. To change the cursor tool, click on a new icon. The various cursors and editing modes are discussed briefly below, and in greater detail in Chapter 5: Editing.

Blending On/Off Button

When Blending is turned on, Peak creates very short crossfades between sections of audio that are cut, pasted, copied, or inserted. Blending helps to avoid clicks and pops that can occur when cutting an audio waveform at a non-zero crossing, or when combining material with significantly different amplitude. The left-most button toggles Blending on and off, and the Caps Lock key on your keyboard may also be used to toggle it on and off. More information on using Blending is available in Chapter 5: Editing.

Horizontal Lock Button

The Horizontal Lock button allows both the Begin & End markers in a loop or region to be moved simultaneously. This feature is very useful in situations where the duration of a selection needs to be maintained, but the selection needs to be made in a different part of an audio document. The secondfrom-left button toggles Horizontal Lock on and off.

Vertical Lock Button

The Vertical Lock button allows back-to-back Region markers sharing the same space between samples to be moved simultaneously. This is very useful when cutting a long DJ mix or live recording into “tracks” – when you need to adjust where a track break will occur, without introducing any gaps between the two regions.

Arrow Cursor Tool

The Cursor Tool is the default tool. It is the standard “arrow” tool that lets you click and select on-screen items.

Chapter 3: Peak Basics

Blending On/Off

Horizontal Lock

Vertical Lock

Arrow Cursor

Hand Cursor

Magnifying Glass Tool

Pencil Tool

Toggle Drawer

The Audio Document window, with the Contents Drawer open

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Hand Tool

The Hand Tool lets you scroll a waveform in its window.

Magnifying Glass (“Zoom Tool”)

To use the Magnifying Glass tool, simply click on the tool in the audio document window, then move the cursor over the waveform. A “plus” (+) sign will appear inside the Magnifying Glass. Click on the waveform to zoom in; each click of the mouse will zoom in farther. To zoom out, option-click on the waveform. A “minus” (-) sign will appear in the Magnifying Glass, and you can click on the waveform to zoom out. Double-clicking on the Magnifying Glass will open the Zoom Amount dialog where you can specify the Zoom Amount.

Pencil Tool

The Pencil Tool lets you draw directly on the waveform at the sample level. This is very useful for drawing out clicks in the waveform. Double-click on the Pencil Tool icon for the Drawing Tool Smoothing Settings.

Cursor and Selection Information

The lower section of the audio document window’s Contents Drawer displays the X (time) and Y (amplitude) coordinates of the cursor point, Sel: the duration of any currently selected audio), DTR (Distance to Reference Marker), and BPM: the tempo in beats per minute. You can type a value in for the X, Sel, and BPM parameters.

The same information can also be displayed by toggling the transparent cursor overlay to the “on” position, which appears next to the mouse cursor, and moves along with the mouse cursor. Transparent cursor information can be turned on and off under Peak’s Options menu (-Shift-T).

The time format displayed in these fields depends on which time format (Samples, Min:Sec:ms, SMPTE, or Bars|Beats) you have chosen with the Time Units command under the Options menu.

Here is how to read the cursor and selection information that appears in the Cursor Location display.

Y = the current cursor position along the

vertical scale (amplitude), or start point of a selection

X = the current cursor position

[L] = the cursor is positioned over the left channel

[R] = the cursor is positioned over the right

channel

DTR = distance to the nearest reference marker

Sel = the duration of the current selection

+/- = indicates positive or negative phase

BPM = beats per minute

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The Zoom Amount dialog

The Draw Tool dialog

The cursor overlay follows the mouse cursor as it moves, and displays various types of information directly over the waveform

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Transport Window

The Transport window is a floating, re-sizable window. It contains four main components: a time display showing elapsed time, the Transport controls (Return to Zero, Stop, Play, Go to End, Record, and Loop during playback), audio level meters with clip/peak indicators, and a master fader for playback volume control.

Time Display

Peak’s Time Display serves a number of functions. While audio is playing, the Time Display shows the elapsed time in the selected time units format, and tracks the “playback head”, or cursor. When audio playback is stopped the Time Display shows the current cursor location within the audio waveform. Clicking the Time Display opens Peak’s Go To Time dialog, and allows you to enter a time value – the insertion point cursor jumps to this time location in the audio document.

This display will also show the time remaining while performing Open, Save, DSP processing, or CD-burning actions.

Meters

Peak’s meters are much like the VU or LED meters on a mixing board or tape recorder. They are bar graph meters that show the relative volume or loudness of the audio as it plays. They are also designed to show peak volume and whether the signal has “clipped,” or distorted.

The Meters dialog

You can configure the Meters display by choosing Meters from the Audio menu, or by clicking the appropriate button in the Toolbar. Using the Meters dialog, you can select the Peak Hold time and Clip Indicator Hold Time.

The Peak Hold indicators appear as yellow bars at the far right of each of the bar graphs as audio plays, and selecting a hold time causes the indicator to pause for easy reading of the peak value during playback. The Clip Indicators appear as red bars at the far right of each of the bar graphs as audio plays, and are triggered when audio distorts, or “clips”, and selecting a hold time causes the indicator to pause for easy reading of any clipping or distortion that occurs during playback. Setting the Peak Hold and Clip Indicator Hold Times to None turns these features off.

The Meters dialog is not available in Peak LE.

Progress Bar

The Meters display changes to a progress bar during audio processing, and while saving or opening audio files.

Master Fader

The Master Fader is located just below the level meters, and is used to control the level of audio documents being played back in Peak.

Contents Window

Peak has a floating Contents Window that will display all regular, Region, and Loop markers contained in any open

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The Meters dialog

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audio documents. There are three buttons at the bottom of the palette that allow you to select which items to view-from left to right: the Region Button, the Marker Button and the Loop Button. Option-double-clicking on any item in the Contents window will bring up the Edit Region or Edit Marker dialog.

To resize the Contents Window:

• Click and drag on the lower right hand corner of the Contents window to resize the Contents Window.

To resize columns in the Contents Window:

• Click and drag to the right of the column’s title bar that you want to resize. For example, to make the Name column wider, click and drag the line between Name and Time to the right.

To sort columns in the Contents Window:

• Click the title of the column by which you want to sort. For example, to sort by Time, click on Time.

To change the sort order in the Contents Window:

• Click the sort order button in the column title to change the sort order.

Setting Preferences

You can customize a number of Peak’s parameters so you can work with the program in a way that best suits you. Most of these parameters are found in the Preferences

dialog and Options menu. These include the controls for playing back audio documents, the selection of the icons in the Toolbar, and the colors that you want for the audio document window. Once you have set these preferences as you like, they will stay that way until you decide to change them again. This section explains how to set several of these parameters. For any menu items not covered here, please refer to Chapter 11: Peak Menus. There you will find explanations of each command in the Preferences dialog and other Peak menus. Items from the Preferences dialog and Options menu are also covered throughout this manual where their discussion is relevant.

Setting Peak’s Playback Parameters

Peak’s Playback Preferences dialog allows you to control the master output volume, hard disk playback buffer size, and window buffer size.

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The Contents Window

The Preferences dialog

The Playback Preferences dialog

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Playback Master Volume

Peak provides a master volume control for audio playback. In the Playback Preferences dialog, set Peak’s output volume to the level that you desire by adjusting the slider or entering a number value from 0 (silent) to 7 (loudest). If you are controlling your playback volume with the volume control of your playback system, you’ll probably want to leave the output level set to 7.

Playback Buffer

Peak allows you to control the amount of RAM the program uses when playing back audio documents. In general, lower is better. A playback buffer setting of 32 - 64k is a good place to start. If you are experiencing clicks in your playback, working with fragmented files, using processor-intensive real-time DSP, or are using a slow hard drive, you may need a larger playback buffer setting.

Window Buffer

Peak also allows you to control the amount of RAM the program uses to cache audio data and the size of each processing chunk. Use larger values if you are working with a few large files, and smaller values if you are working with many smaller files.

Dynamic Scrub Time

Peak provides a unique audio auditioning technique called dynamic scrubbing. This feature is very useful for precisely pinpointing and selecting a desired location in an audio document. Dynamic scrubbing allows you to drag the mouse forward or backward over a waveform while Peak plays a short loop (between 10 and 600 milliseconds) at the scrub location. When you have found the location you are looking for, let go of the mouse and the insertion point will be exactly where you want it to be. Peak allows you to choose the length of this playback loop with the Dynamic Scrub Time command in the

Options menu. You can also select Tape-Style Scrubbing in this dialog. For a full description of scrubbing audio in Peak, please see Chapter 5.

To select a loop duration for dynamic scrubbing:

1. Choose Dynamic Scrub Time from the Options menu, and choose a duration from the hierarchical submenu. Typically, a value of between 40 to 80 milliseconds works well.

2. You can also select Tape-Style Scrubbing by selecting it in this submenu. To deselect Tape-Style Scrubbing, just click any duration value in the submenu.

Scroll During Playback

With the Scroll During Playback command enabled, Peak will “scroll” through the audio document as playback progresses. This allows you to visually follow the progress of audio playback. A check next to this menu item indicates that it is enabled.

To enable Scroll During Playback:

1. Select Scroll During Play from the Options menu. A check next to this item indicates it is enabled.

2. To disable Scroll During Playback, simply re-select Scroll During Play from the Options menu. The absence of a check next to this item indicates it is disabled.

Move Waveform During Playback

With the Move Waveform During Play command enabled, Peak will move the waveform under the cursor as playback progresses, so that the playhead cursor is always in the middle of the waveform display. A check next to this menu item indicates that it is enabled.

To enable Move Waveform During Playback:

1. Select Move Waveform During Play from the Options menu. A check next to this item indicates it is enabled.

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2. To disable Move Waveform During Playback, simply re-select Move Waveform During Play from the Options menu.

Show Marker Times

With the Show Marker Times command enabled, all Peak markers will show a time value as well as the marker name.

To enable Show Marker Times:

1. Select Show Marker Times from the Options menu. A check next to this item indicates it is enabled.

2. To disable Show Marker Times, simply deselect Show Marker Times from the Options menu. The absence of a check next to this item indicates it is disabled.

Auditioning

Peak’s Auditioning command allows you to audition a selection along with a specific amount of audio preceding or following it. The Auditioning dialog allows you to select a desired amount of pre-roll or post-roll when you play the selection. To play a selection with the selected amount of pre- and postroll, press ControlSpacebar.

To configure Auditioning:

1. Select Auditioning from the Preferences dialog – The Auditioning Preferences dialog appears.

2. Enter the desired amount of Pre-roll and Post-roll, and click OK.

Blending

Blending is an automatic crossfade function with a usereditable envelope. Peak can apply blending to areas of an audio document when they are modified by cutting, deleting, or other editing processes in order to smooth abrupt transitions between waveform amplitudes. It can be very useful for creating a smooth transition between edits that would otherwise sound too abrupt. If you have cut, pasted, or inserted audio into a document, you may wish to enable blending to smooth things out a bit. It can be toggled on or off by clicking the Blending button in the Audio Document Window, or by using the caps lock key on your keyboard.

To configure Blending:

1. Select Blending from the Preferences dialog. Enter the Duration over which you wish Blending to occur into the dialog box.

2. To edit the Blending Envelope, click on the Edit Blending Envelope button. Click OK to exit the dialog and click Save Preferences Now to save the change.

For detailed instructions on how to use blending or how to edit the blending crossfade envelope, see Chapter 5: Editing.

Auto-Import Dual Mono

Certain audio applications, such as BIAS Deck and Digidesign’s Pro Tools, do not directly support interleaved stereo files, and instead use “dual mono” files-a pair of files, one for the left channel and one for the right channel. These files have typically been exported with the suffix “.L” for the left channel, and the suffix “.R” for the right channel. Auto-Import Dual Mono, when selected, will allow you to select just one channel of the dual mono file in the Open dialog. Peak will automatically “grab” the other half of the file, and convert both files into a single stereo Peak document.

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Please note that the Import Dual Mono command requires that both files be mono files, have the same sample rate and bit depth, and the must have the exact same name followed by the suffixes “.L” and “.R”. If you are using file type extensions (.aif, .wav, etc) the format must be “Filename.Side.Extension”. For example – “Song1.L.aif ” and ”Song1.R.aif ”.

To enable Auto-Import Dual Mono:

1. Select Auto-Import Dual Mono from the Options menu. A check next to this item indicates it is enabled.

2. To disable Auto-Import Dual Mono, simply reselect Auto-Import Dual Mono from the Options menu. The absence of a check next to this item indicates it is disabled.

Choosing Colors for the Audio Document Window

Peak allows you to customize the colors used to display the elements in audio documents. You can use this dialog to set the background color, waveform color, and colors for markers and loops. You can select either a preset color combination, or individual colors for each element in the audio document window, as well as picking your own custom colors from a color palette. Changes made using the Colors dialog affect both the current audio document’s colors, and any subsequent new audio document’s colors.

To customize the colors of the waveform display:

1. Choose Colors from the Preferences dialog.

2. To select a preset color combination, click the Theme pop-up menu and choose the preset that you desire.

3. Alternatively, to select individual colors for each element in the audio document window, choose

Custom from the Theme pop-up menu and then select the desired colors from the Background, Waveform, Markers, Loops, and Regions pop-up menus.

4. If you wish, you can use this dialog to further customize any element in the audio document window. Pick an element to customize, choose Custom from the Theme pop-up menu, and select User Color. A standard Macintosh color palette will appear. Use this wheel to select any color you wish. Click OK to return to the Colors dialog.

5. To close this dialog, click Change (to change one color) or Change All (to change the colors for all open audio documents). The audio document window is now set to the colors and look you’ve selected.

Choosing a Time Format

The Time Units command allows you to choose a time format for the audio timeline in Peak’s audio document window. You can choose Samples, Seconds, SMPTE frames, and Bars|Beats. The format you choose will depend on the

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nature of the project that you are working on.

To choose Peak’s time format:

1. Choose Time Units from the Options menu.

2. From the submenu, choose the time format that you desire: Samples, Min:Sec:ms, SMPTE frames, Bars|Beats, or CD Frames. The timeline in Peak’s audio document window and Transport switches to the format that you choose.

Audio File Meter, Tempo, and Timestamp Settings

If your audio document is using bars|beats as its units, you will want to tell Peak what the tempo of the audio document is. Use the Audio Info command from the Options menu-or enter the BPM in the Cursor palette-to set the tempo of the audio document. You can also enter the meter of an audio document using the Audio Info dialog. The numerator represents the number of beats per measure, and the denominator represents the value of a beat, where 4=quarter note, 8=eighth note, 16=sixteenth note, and so forth.

You may also enter a timestamp for the audio document in seconds. If the audio document has a timestamp, then the displayed time in an audio document will be offset from this time rather than starting at zero. For example, if the timestamp for an audio document is four seconds, then the first sample in the audio document will appear in the audio document with a time of 4 seconds instead of zero seconds.

Choosing a Scratch Disk

Because audio data can be very large, Peak utilizes a portion of your hard disk’s free space to hold audio data that has been cut or copied, as well as for temporary or scratch files for undo purposes. If your hard disk is short on space, you may not be able to cut, copy, or modify large selections. If you have more than one hard drive attached to your Macintosh, the Scratch Disks section in the Preferences dialog allows you to choose the hard drives (or “scratch disks”) that you wish to use for these temporary files. Peak allows you to select which disk you want to have as your default, or “Primary” disk for this purpose-usually you would select the disk that has the most free space. If you are connected to a file server, you can utilize available storage on the server by clicking the Allow Servers checkbox. Any available servers will then appear in the Scratch Disks popup menu. This feature is recommended only if you have access to a high speed Ethernet, or other fast server.

To choose a scratch disk for temporary files:

1. Choose Scratch Disks from the Preferences dialog. The Scratch Disks dialog appears.

2. The Scratch Disks dialog will show all hard drives currently connected to your Macintosh. Choose the

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Choosing a time format with the Time Units command

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The Scratch Disks dialog

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hard drive(s) that you wish Peak to use when it creates temporary files by clicking the checkboxes next to the drives in the list. To choose the Primary Disk, or the default disk for temporary files, click on the Primary button next to that disk. If you are connected to a file server and would like to use storage available there as well, enable the Allow Servers checkbox.

3. Click OK to close this dialog. Peak will use the disk you have selected as your Primary scratch disk, and, if it becomes full, will then use the other disks you’ve chosen.

The hard drive with the original audio file must have the equivalent amount of free space (i.e., a 60MB file would require that there be an additional 60MB of free space on the hard drive on which the file resides).

You must have write permissions for the selected

Scratch Folders and Disks or else Peak will report an error. Contact your System Administrator if you need assistance changing Directory or Disk permissions.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Peak allows you to customize any Peak menu item with a keyboard shortcut. To change your keyboard shortcuts, go to the Preferences dialog and select the Shortcuts and Toolbar item. Preferences are stored in a file called Peak

5.0 Shortcuts, located in:

Users/<YourUserAccount>/Library/Preferences/

Peak’s default Keyboard Shortcuts are listed in Appendix 1 at the end of this manual.

To add a new Keyboard Shortcut:

1. Choose Shortcuts & Toolbar in the Preferences dialog.

2. Scroll through the list of menu items, or, with the list box selected, simply type in the first few letters of the menu item you wish to assign. Then click on the name of the Peak menu item you wish to assign a new keyboard shortcut.

3. Use the Shortcut Key box to enter the letter you wish to use for a shortcut. You may select the Command, Option, Shift or Control keys as additional modifiers by clicking on the checkboxes in this dialog.

4. Close the Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences dialog.

To remove a Keyboard Shortcut:

1. Choose Keyboard Shortcuts in the Preferences dialog.

2. Scroll through the list of menu items, and click on the name of the Peak menu item for which you wish to remove a keyboard shortcut.

3. Click on the Clear button.

4. Close the Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences dialog.

User-defined Keyboard Shortcuts and Toolbar customization are not supported in Peak LE.

Making a Keyboard Shortcuts “Cue Card”

It’s easy to make a “cue card” that you can keep on your desk with all the Peak shortcuts you’ve assigned. Using the supplied FileMaker Pro template, you can import all of your shortcuts from a text file describing each keyboard shortcut generated from Peak.

To Create A Custom “Cue Card” of your Keyboard Shortcuts:

1. Choose Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences in the Preferences dialog.

2. Click on the Save As Text button.

3. Enter the name of the keyboard shortcuts text file

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you wish to save, and choose the disk and folder you wish to save into. Click Save.

4. Switch to the Finder and Launch FileMaker Pro.

5. Choose Open from the File menu in FileMaker Pro.

6. Open the supplied “Peak Shortcuts Template” FileMaker Pro template.

7. Choose Import Records from the File menu in FileMaker Pro.

8. In the pop-up menu at the bottom of the Open dialog in FileMaker Pro, choose Tab-Delimited.

9. Find the shortcuts text document you saved in step 3 and click Open.

10. FileMaker Pro will add the records to the database.

11. Use the Print option in FileMaker Pro’s File menu to print out your keyboard shortcuts. You can also sort the imported keyboard shortcut commands by description or shortcut. Consult your FileMaker Pro User’s Guide for more information on importing records, sorting records, and printing.

FileMaker Pro is not included with Peak.

The Toolbar

Peak allows you to select almost any Peak command for the Toolbar. The Shortcuts & Toolbar menu allows you to group together the functions you use most often, so that you can simply click a button instead of going to the menus. For example, if you frequently use Normalize and Pitch Change, you can choose to have the icons for these functions in the Toolbar, so that all you have to do to use one of them is to make an audio selection and click a button. The Toolbar is an easy way to make your

work in Peak faster and more efficient, allowing you to customize the program to suit the way you work.

To add or subtract items from the Toolbar, use the Shortcuts & Toolbar item in the Preferences dialog. Toolbar selections are stored in a preference file called “Peak 5.0 Shortcuts” located in:

Users/UserName/Library/Preferences/.

You can reshape and resize the Toolbar by clicking on the lower right corner of the Toolbar window and dragging to the desired shape and size. The Toolbar can be arranged horizontally, vertically, or as a “cluster” of buttons. Icons in the Toolbar can be sized anywhere between 16 x 16 pixels to 64 x 64 pixels.

To add a new icon to the Toolbar:

1. Choose Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences from the Preferences dialog.

2. Scroll through the list of menu items, and click on the name of the Peak menu item you wish to have appear in the Toolbar.

3. Click on the “Place In Toolbar” checkbox to select the icon to add to the Toolbar. If there is no icon, the menu item cannot be placed in the Toolbar.

4. Close the Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences dialog.

To remove an icon from the Toolbar:

1. Choose Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences from the Preferences dialog.

2. Scroll through the list of menu items, and click on the name of the Peak menu item you wish to remove from the Toolbar.

3. Click on the checkbox to uncheck the item you wish to remove.

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4. Close the Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences dialog.

Customizable Toolbar is not supported in Peak LE

To resize icons in the Toolbar:

1. Choose Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences from the Preferences dialog.

2. Move the Toolbar Icon Size slider to the left for smaller icons, or to the right for larger icons.

3. Close the Shortcuts/Toolbar Preferences dialog.

Quitting Peak

When you have finished a project or wish to end an editing session, the Quit command allows you to quit Peak and return to the Finder. If you haven’t saved changes, Peak will warn you before allowing you to quit.

To quit Peak:

• Choose Quit from the Peak menu (-Q).

If you have made any changes to your document since the last time you saved, Peak will ask you if you want to save them. If you do, choose Yes; if you don’t, choose No. If you change your mind and wish to continue your session, choose Cancel.

If you wish to close all currently open windows without saving, hold down the Option key and click Don’t Save.

Conclusion

You now know how to create, open, import audio files, export, close, and save Peak documents. You also know how to set the preferences for operating Peak. The next chapter explains how to use your Peak software to record audio to disk.

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Chapter 4 Playback & Recording

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Chapter 4: Playback and Recording

Introduction

In this chapter you’ll learn how to play and record audio with Peak. Peak allows playback of many digital audio file formats, and can record any audio source that’s connected to your Macintosh. Playback and recording may be performed using either the built-in audio hardware in your Macintosh, or with a wide variety of third-party audio hardware interfaces (USB, FireWire, PCI, PCMCIA, etc).

Peak may also be used as a host for playing and recording virtual instrument plug-ins, recording soundtracks for QuickTime movies, and importing tracks from audio CDs.

Core Audio

Peak supports Apple’s Core Audio when using the Mac’s built-in audio hardware, as well as with third-party interfaces, such as those made by Digidesign™, Edirol™, M-Audio™, MOTU™, PreSonus™, Tascam™, and many others.

A list of many compatible audio hardware interfaces is available on the BIAS website:

http://www.bias-inc.com/support/hardware/

Please note that this list reflects interfaces that have been tested with Peak, and is updated regularly. If an interface is not listed here, it does not mean that it is not compatible with Peak. The general rule for hardware compatibility is, if a compatible Core Audio driver is provided by the hardware’s manufacturer, or Mac OS X natively supports the hardware device – Peak is compatible with it.

For Peak to work properly with third-party audio hardware devices, they must either be natively supported by Mac OS X – or, you will need to install a compatible Core Audio driver provided by the audio hardware manufacturer. Be sure to consult the audio hardware manufacturer’s instructions when installing & configuring your audio interface.

Using Core Audio is highly recommended! Using the Sound Manager (i.e., Mac OS X HAL or FireWire DV) settings is uncommon and is not addressed in this chapter. The only reason to record or play back audio using Sound Manager (Mac OS X HAL or FireWire DV ) is because you are using a third-party audio hardware interface or other device (such as a DV camera) as an input or output device – that is not compatible with Core Audio. For more information on recording and playback using Sound Manager (Mac OS X HAL or FireWire DV) audio, please see Appendix 4.

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Configuring Peak for Playback

Whether you are using the built-in audio hardware in your Macintosh, or a third-party interface, there are some basic configuration steps you must perform before playing back audio.

When launching Peak for the first time, a dialog appears asking whether you would like to configure your Audio/MIDI preferences. To quickly set up your audio hardware for the first time, click Yes.

To Configure Peak for Audio Playback:

1. If applicable, install/connect your third-party audio interface and its software according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

2. Reboot your Macintosh.

3. Launch the System Preferences, and choose Sound.

4. Select your third-party audio interface for Output.

5. Configure the audio interface’s own utility software or control panel (if one is included with your interface).

6. Launch Peak.

7. From the Audio menu, select Sound Out>Core Audio.

8. Select the Clock Source, Sample Rate, Play Through, and Sample Rate Converter Quality settings from the pop-up menus in the Core Audio Playback dialog. Click OK, or for further options, click the Hardware Settings button.

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The Output section of the Sound Preferences

The Sound Out submenu under the Audio menu

Hardware Settings: M-Audio Delta Control Panel

Core Audio Playback dialog

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Most audio interfaces can be adequately

configured using the Apple Sound Preferences. Some more advanced audio interfaces may require additional configuration. In this case the Apple Audio MIDI Setup Utility may be used to configure your audio hardware. The Audio MIDI Setup Utility is installed in the following directory, located in:

/Macintosh HD/Applications/Utilities/

9. Select the Input Device, Output Device, Buffer Size, and Input Level. Click OK to close the Core Audio Settings dialog, and click OK again to close the Core Audio Playback dialog.

Not all hardware devices allow control over the

input level from within the Core Audio Settings

dialog.

Peak is now configured for playback with Core Audio.

Playback Options

Various playback configurations are available within the Core Audio Settings dialog. Depending on the audio hardware you are using, you may need to configure these items with specific settings.

Clock Source Pop-Up Menu

This menu lets you choose the clock source for digital sync.

Sample Rate Pop-Up Menu

This menu allows you to choose the sample rate for playback. The default sample rate setting is “Auto”. Unless you specifically need to use another setting, this is best left set to “Auto”.

Play Through Pop-Up Menu

This menu lets you choose the channels on your audio interface that you wish audio to play out of. For example, if you are using a hardware interface with multiple outputs, you can select the appropriate outputs to route audio output through to your monitors/headphones.

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The Audio MIDI Setup Utility

Core Audio Settings

Core Audio Playback dialog

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Sample Rate Converter Quality Pop-Up Menu

Peak features on-the-fly sample rate conversion, used when playing back audio files with a sample rate not natively supported by the audio hardware being used. A setting of 1 gives the lowest quality sample rate conversion, and uses the least amount of CPU resources. A setting of 5 gives the highest quality, and uses more CPU power. Depending on your Macintosh system’s speed, you may need to experiment with this setting for the best performance.

Be aware that the setting used for Sample Rate Converter quality also affects the quality of TapeStyle Scrubbing. BIAS recommends using the highest setting possible that your computer system is capable of.

Core Audio Settings Dialog

Additional Core Audio options are available in the Core Audio Settings dialog, which may be accessed by choosing Hardware Settings from the Audio menu, or by clicking the Hardware Settings button in the Core Audio Playback dialog. These options include the following:

Input Device pop-up menu

This pop-up menu allows you to choose the desired audio hardware device to use for input, when more than one is available.

Output Device pop-up menu

This pop-up menu allows you to choose the desired audio hardware device to use for output, when more than one is available.

Buffer Size pop-up menu

This menu controls the buffer size used, and is directly related to the amount of latency that is encountered. It is recommended that you use the lowest possible setting that your computer is capable of. The easiest way to determine the lowest setting your computer is capable of is by doing test recordings – if you notice distortion, or dropouts in the recorded audio, you will need to use a higher setting. If you do need to raise this setting, it’s best to do it by one setting at a time, for example, if your system cannot handle using a 512k buffer size, raise it to 1024k and try again.

If your computer requires a relatively high buffer size for smooth recording, and you need to monitor your audio source, it is recommended that you set up your equipment to allow direct monitoring from a mixer, or from an audio interface that features direct monitoring. Direct monitoring will eliminate the problem of latency, in which you hear what is being recorded after a slight delay, which is directly proportional to the buffer size setting being used.

If you are playing virtual instruments and notice a significant delay from the time you play a note, and the time you hear it, you may want to experiment with lower buffer sizes, to reduce the latency to the lowest possible level that still provides smooth audio playback.

Input Level slider

The Input Level slider allows you to configure the input level prior to making a recording. This slider, and the input level slider in the System’s Sound Preference pane serve the same

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purpose – adjusting it in Peak will affect the setting in the Sound Preference pane, and vice-versa. This slider is not compatible with all audio devices. If you are using an audio hardware device that is not compatible with the Input Level slider, it is normal for it to appear greyed out.

Configuring Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback

Peak supports VST and Audio Units format virtual instruments.

Virtual instruments may be played by clicking keys in Peak’s MIDI keyboard window, or by enabling keyboard MIDI control (uses your computer’s keyboard as a MIDI input), or by using an external MIDI keyboard.

Note that when a virtual instrument is active, audio documents will not play back unless the instrument is bypassed.

To Configure Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback with Peak’s MIDI Keyboard Window:

• From the Window menu, select MIDI – Peak’s MIDI Keyboard window appears.

Active virtual instruments now receive input when keys in Peak’s MIDI Keyboard are clicked.

To Configure Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback with your Computer’s keyboard:

• From the Option menu, select Keyboard MIDI Input.

Active virtual instruments now receive input when keys on your computer’s keyboard are pressed.

Note that when Keyboard MIDI Input is active, that keyboard autolocate functions are temporarily disabled. To access these functions, disable Keyboard MIDI Input.

To Configure Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback using an External MIDI Controller:

1. Connect a MIDI interface to your Macintosh and follow its installation/setup instructions. After you have configured your MIDI interface, launch Peak.

2. Open Peak’s Preference Panel>MIDI Preferences.

3. Select the desired MIDI device and click OK – then click the Save button to exit Peak’s Preference panel.

Active virtual instruments now receive input when keys on your MIDI controller are pressed.

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An example of a virtual instrument that can be played and recorded using Peak

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More information on using virtual instruments is available in Chapter 8: Plug-Ins.

Playing Audio with Peak

Once you have finished the configuration steps in the previous section, you’re ready to start playing back audio files. The next section will familiarize you with the various controls and methods used to control file playback.

The Transport Controls

The Transport Controls that appear in the Transport window are useful tools for initiating both playback and recording. They function much like the controls on a tape recorder. As they appear below, from left to right, they are Return to Zero, Stop, Play, Go to End, and Record.

To start playback from the beginning of a document:

• Press the Spacebar, or click the Play button in the Transport. Playback begins from the beginning of the document.

• To stop playback, press the Spacebar again or click the Stop button in the Transport.

To “rewind” playback to the beginning of a document:

• Click the Stop button twice, or click the Return to Zero button in the Transport. You can also press the Return key if playback has been stopped.

To start playback from a specific point in a document:

• Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and press the Spacebar on your computer keyboard. Playback begins from the cursor location and continues to the end of the document.

or:

• Double-click the mouse at the desired location in the audio document. Playback begins from the location that you double-clicked and continues to the end of the document.

or:

• Click anywhere in the Audio Waveform Overview to begin playback from that point.

• To stop playback, press the Spacebar.

Triggering Playback of Multiple Audio Documents

As explained earlier, Peak allows you to have multiple audio documents open at the same time. Peak assigns each of these documents a number based on the order in which it was opened. Peak provides you with a convenient way of triggering playback of any open audio document by pressing a number key on your computer keyboard. This can be a very useful feature for applications such as “live” sound effects playback, since you can open multiple audio documents and play them from your Macintosh keyboard.

To trigger sequential playback of multiple audio documents:

1. Open several audio documents, taking note of the number that Peak assigns them in the Window menu. (This is based on the order in which the documents were opened.)

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The Transport Controls

Return to Zero Stop Play Go to End

Use Loop in Playback

Record

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2. Press the number which corresponds to the document(s) you wish to play. (Note: the numeric keypad will not work for this function, you must use the numbers at the top of the keyboard). You don’t need to wait until a document has finished playing to press the next number: typing a numerical sequence on your keyboard will “queue up” all of the corresponding files. They will then play in the order you choose.

3. If you wish to stop playback and jump to the next document in line, press the Return key. Peak initiates playback of the next document in sequence.

Playing Virtual Instruments

Peak supports VST and Audio Units format virtual instruments. Virtual instrument support in Peak offers a simple method for recording performances – and greatly expands the scope of Peak’s sound design possibilities.

To configure Peak to play virtual instruments, please see the section on Configuring Peak for Virtual Instrument Playback, earlier in this chapter.

To Play a Virtual Instrument with Peak’s MIDI Keyboard Window:

1. From the Window menu, select MIDI – Peak’s MIDI Keyboard window appears.

2. Open a virtual instrument.

3. Click a key in the MIDI Keyboard window to play a note.

To Play a Virtual Instrument with your Computer’s keyboard:

1. From the Option menu, select Keyboard MIDI Input.

2. Open a virtual instrument.

3. Press a key on your computer keyboard to play a note.

To Play a Virtual Instrument Playback using an External MIDI Keyboard:

1. Open the desired instrument (assuming you have already configured your MIDI equipment as described in the previous section).

2. Play a note on the MIDI keyboard.

More information on using virtual instruments is available in Chapter 8: Plug-Ins.

Configuring Peak for Recording

To record in Peak via Core Audio, you will first need to have configured Peak for playback with Core Audio. Once Peak is configured for playback, you can open the Record Settings dialog and configure Peak for recording with Core Audio. The Record Settings dialog can be accessed from under the Audio menu (Option-R) as well as from the Toolbar.

To Configure Peak for Recording:

1. From the Audio menu, choose Record Settings.

2. Click the Device and Sample Format button – the Core Audio Record Settings dialog appears.

3. Select the input source to Record Through, the Sample Rate, Clock Source, Channels (Mono or

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Stereo), and Bit Depth.

4. Click OK.

Peak is now configured for recording with Core Audio.

Recording Options

Various recording configurations are available within the Core Audio Record Settings dialog. Depending on the audio hardware you are using, you may need to configure these items with specific settings.

Record Through Pop-Up Menu

This menu allows you to choose which inputs on your audio interface (the “source”) you wish to record through. For example, if you are using an audio interface with multiple inputs, you can designate the appropriate inputs.

Sample Rate Pop-Up Menu

The Sample Rate pop-up menu allows you to select the sample rate at which you wish to record. Some sample rates may not be available depending on the limitations of the audio card and its Core Audio driver. Please note that if you are recording from a digital source you will want to record at the same sample rate as your digital source. For more information on sample rates, see the Glossary.

The “Auto” setting in the Sample Rate pop-up menu will record at whatever sample rate the device is currently set to. To record at a specific sample rate, it is best to choose the specific rate in this menu.

Channels Radio Buttons

These radio buttons allow you to specify whether to record in mono or stereo format.

Bit Depth Radio Buttons

These radio buttons allow you to specify the desired bit depth for a recording. Please note that you will be limited to recording at bit depths that are supported by your audio hardware and its Core Audio driver. For more information on bit depths, see the Glossary.

Be sure to set the Clock Source to digital in the Core Audio dialog if you plan to record via Core Audio from a digital source.

Record Settings

When you select Record Settings from the Audio menu (Option-R) or Toolbar, the Record Settings dialog appears. This dialog is used to configure your settings for recording with Peak.

Please note that the settings you choose here are independent of any previously set within the Mac OS Sound Preference pane.

You will notice several pop-up menus, buttons, and checkboxes in the Record Settings dialog. These allow you to select which hard drive to record to, what file format you’d like to record in, as well as a number of other options (described below). You may also wish to record through plug-ins. The next few paragraphs describe how to set all of these parameters using the Record Settings dialog.

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Core Audio Record Settings dialog

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Record Disk Pop-Up Menu

The Record Disk pop-up menu allows you to choose which hard drive you would like to record to. If you have more than one hard drive connected to your Macintosh, use this pop-up to select your record drive. (This option will default to the largest drive currently available to your Macintosh unless you select otherwise.)

Peak requires that you save the audio file to the same drive on which it was recorded.

File Format Pop-Up Menu

The File Format pop-up menu allows you to select the file format for the audio being recorded. You may choose from AIFF or Sound Designer II. If you need the newly recorded audio file to be in a different format, you can always use the Save As function to save it as another format once recording is complete. If you do not select a file format for recording, Peak will default to AIFF.

Auto Gain Control Checkbox

The Auto Gain Control checkbox allows you to enable/disable the Automatic Gain Control feature used by the Sound Manager system with some Macintosh microphone inputs. If the recording device you are using supports this feature, and you wish to use Auto Gain Control, check the Auto Gain Control checkbox. It is normal for this checkbox to be greyed out (unavailable) when using Core Audio.

Setup information for using the Sound Manager system is available in Appendix 4 of this user’s guide.

Monitor Checkbox

The Monitor checkbox allows you to monitor the audio throughput while you are recording.

Split Stereo Files Checkbox

The Split Stereo Files checkbox allows you to record the incoming stereo audio as dual mono files rather than a single stereo file. Dual mono files are used in programs like Pro Tools, or BIAS Deck, so this option is useful if you need to record dual mono files (i.e., split stereo).

Append to Document Checkbox

The Append to document checkbox allows you to record into an existing audio document. To record new audio into an existing document, place the insertion point in the existing audio document at the point where you want to insert the new audio. If the insertion point is at the beginning of the file, the newly recorded audio will be inserted at the beginning of the file. If the insertion point is at the end of the file, the newly recorded audio will be appended to the end of the existing file. If the insertion point is somewhere in the middle of the file, the newly recorded audio will be inserted at that point. If you make a selection of audio, the Append to document feature will allow you to replace the current audio with newly recorded audio from the beginning of the selection through the end of the document or wherever you stop the recording.

Record Timer Checkbox

The Record timer checkbox allows you to designate a specific duration for recording. Peak will stop recording after this set time and then open the Save dialog in order for you to save your recording. Checking the Record timer checkbox will bring up the Recording Time dialog. In the Recording Time dialog, designate the duration for recording in seconds and click OK. For example, to record for ten minutes, enter “600” in the Seconds field.

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Open After Saving Checkbox

The Open after saving checkbox determines whether the audio document is opened in Peak after it is recorded.

Device and Sample Format Button

Clicking the Device and Sample Format button will open the Core Audio Record Settings dialog, where you can specify various recording options.

Hardware Settings Button

Clicking the Hardware Settings button in the Record Settings dialog brings up the Core Audio Settings dialog, where you can specify which hardware device to use (when multiple devices are connected to your computer), the buffer size, and the input level (if the device supports adjustable input level).

Multi-Document Recordings (Long Recordings)

If you plan to make long recordings with Peak, be aware that each individual audio document that Peak creates has a maximum file size of just under 2 gigabytes (1.99 to be precise). If a recording exceeds this length/file size, Peak automatically creates a new document and continues recording seamlessly. When a multi-

document recording is finished, Peak will present multiple Save dialogs (one for each 2 GB file, or fraction thereof ), so each document may be saved separately. The maximum recording length will vary depending on the number of channels used, as well as bit depth and sample rate. The maximum amount of disk space that can be used in multi-document recording is 10 GB, spread across five individual audio documents. This amounts to approximately 16.5 hours of continuous recording at CD quality settings (Stereo/16-Bit/44.1kHz). The recording settings you choose will affect how long a recording you can make.

For example, if you were to record 10 hours of audio at 16Bit/44.1kHz, you would be using approximately 600 MB of disk space per hour. At this rate, after about 3.3 hours of recording, you would have used about 2 GB of disk space. When this 2 GB limit is reached, Peak would continue recording, but now into a new document – the first document is stored as a temporary file on the hard disk. After another 3.3 hours, another 2 GB file is created, and Peak continues recording into a third file. When we reach

9.9 hours, Peak begins recording into a fourth document – this one being the remainder, or .1 hours (6 minutes). When we stop Peak at the 10 hour mark, four consecutive Save dialogs would be presented, allowing the four pieces of this long recording to be saved. It’s a good idea to develop a naming convention to address multi-document recordings, such as naming your files “Part 1/4”, “Part 2/4”, “Part 3/4”, “Part 4/4”, or something similar, that identifies each file as part of the whole recording.

When editing files created during multi-document recording, each one appears in Peak as a separate audio document.

Recording Audio

Once you have finished the configuration steps in the previous section, you’re ready to start recording audio. This section will familiarize you with the various controls and methods used to control file playback.

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The Record Dialog

When you select Record from the Audio menu (- R), Transport, or Toolbar, the Record dialog appears. There are transport buttons along the bottom to Start, Pause and Stop the recording, an Audio Source display that shows you the waveform as it is being recorded, and a Notepad window. There are also text displays showing you the sample rate, bit depth, and number of channels you selected in the Record Settings dialog, as well as the amount of time you have left to record on the selected Record Disk.

The Notepad feature in the Record dialog allows you to type in text descriptions, transcribe a recording, or type in comments called Notepad Cues at specific points during the recording of an audio document. The Notepad feature is available from the Record dialog and may be used once a recording starts.

If you enable the Notepad checkbox, you can create markers while recording. Each time you press the Return key, a new Notepad Cue (marker) is generated for the current recording time. You may then begin typing text to describe the audio recording at that time (i.e., naming the marker). When you hear the next significant event in the recording, press the Return key to create another cue, and so forth.

When you are finished recording, Peak will create markers in the audio document that correspond to each Notepad Cue you have entered. If you also enable the Notepad Regions, Not Markers checkbox, Peak will create regions during recording.

Notepad Cues are not available in Peak LE.

Configuring Peak to Record Through Effect & Instrument Plug-Ins

If you have plug-ins installed, you can record through them in real-time when using Core Audio. This is useful if you want to use a noise reduction, equalizing, or dynamics plug-in during recording. While recording through plug-ins, you are free to adjust plug-in parameters – however, be aware that you will be making permanent changes to the material that is recorded, and will not be able to undo these adjustments.

To configure Peak to record through Effects Plug-Ins:

1. From the Plug-Ins menu, open and configure the plug-in(s) you wish to record through.

2. Select Record Settings from the Audio menu. The Record Settings dialog will appear.

3. Check the Record Through Plug-Ins checkbox and click OK.

4. Select Record from the Audio menu (-R) or Toolbar. You are now ready to record audio through the plug-in(s).

5. Be sure to disable the active effects plug-in(s) after you have made the recording. (If effects plug-ins are active when playing audio back, the signal passes through the

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plug-in, and will double the effect of the plug-in on the signal, and will not give an accurate representation of the material being played back).

Peak can only record through plug-ins when using Core Audio.

You may want to monitor your recording. To do this, open the Record Settings dialog and check the Monitor On/Off checkbox.

Recording

Once you have configured Peak for recording, you may use the following directions to record audio from any source connected to your Macintosh.

To start recording:

1. Turn down the volume of your instrument or audio source.

2. Connect the instrument or audio source to the audio input jack on the rear of your Macintosh. If you are using third-party audio hardware device, use the connectors on this device; many audio devices have an external interface box which contains the input and output connectors, if this is the case, use these.

3. Choose Record Settings from the Audio menu (Option-R) or Toolbar, and configure the settings as described in the previous section. If you wish to listen to the audio being recorded, make sure that you have checked the Monitor On/Off checkbox in the Record Settings.

4. Select Record from the Audio menu (-R) or the Record button in the Transport. The Record dialog

will open.

5. Play your instrument or audio source. You should see the signal levels register on Peak’s Audio Meters in the Transport window.

6. Adjust the output of your audio source so that its signal registers relatively high on the meters but never hits top (indicated by the red Clip Indicators.). Remember to always leave 6 dB or so of headroom on the meters so that you don’t clip. Use the yellow and orange meter lights and red Clip indicators to help you make this adjustment.

If the recording level “clips” (exceeds 0 dB, causing digital distortion), you can reset the clip indicators by clicking them with your mouse.

7. Click the Record button in the Record dialog. You are now recording to disk. You should see the audio waveform begin to scroll in the Audio Source Display window.

8. To stop recording, click the Stop button. To pause, click the Pause button.

9. Once you have stopped recording, the Save dialog appears and prompts you to name the audio document. You must save the audio document to the same hard drive you selected in the Record Settings dialog. Enter a name and click Save. Peak automatically saves the document in the audio file format you selected in the Record Settings dialog. If you wish to later save the document in a different audio file format, use the Save As command.

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When recording through an effects plug-in, be aware that you will not be able to undo this effect. If you are not satisfied with the recording, you will have to re-record. If you are unsure about recording through a plug-in, you may wish to record a dry signal, and apply the effect after you have saved the recording. This way, you can experiment with effect settings and commit to them only when you are satisfied.

Recording into a QuickTime movie

Peak can record audio into a silent QuickTime movie. This is a useful feature for adding a soundtrack or voiceover to a QuickTime movie.

To Record into a QuickTime Movie:

1. Create a new stereo or mono document (from the File menu>New)

2. Open the movie

3. Open the Record Settings dialog, and check the Append to Document checkbox

4. Choose Record from the Audio menu (-R), or click the Record button in the Toolbar.

5. Click the Movie icon in the Record dialog.

6. Click the Record button in the Record dialog.

7. When finished recording, click the Stop button in the Record dialog.

8. Save the recording.

9. Choose Save As... and select QuickTime as the file format

Importing a Track from an Audio CD

If your Macintosh computer is equipped with a compatible CD-ROM drive, you can use Peak to import audio directly from an audio CD.

To import tracks from an audio CD:

1. Insert an audio CD in your CD-ROM drive.

2. Choose Import CD Track from the File menu or click the Import CD Track button in the Toolbar.

3. In the dialog that appears, select the CD track that you wish to import and click Mark. You may mark multiple tracks for import. If you wish to import all of the tracks on the CD, click on the Mark All button.

4. To name a selected CD track, click the Track Name button.

Chapter 4: Playback & Recording

Clicking the Movie icon in the Record dialog causes a QuickTime movie to play along while recording.

Import CD Audio dialog

Name Track dialog

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If you have iTunes™ installed, and your computer is connected to the internet – iTunes will automatically launch (unless it has been disabled in the Mac OS CD/DVD Preference pane) when an audio CD is inserted into the computer’s CD-ROM drive. iTunes default behavior is to automatically get the track names from the CDDB™ online CD database. Once a CD’s tracks are labeled, that information is available to any application that imports a track, including Peak. This is a convenient way to automatically name a CD’s tracks.

5. To select only a portion of the track, click on Set Import Times button or double-click on the track in the list. The CD Import Track Range dialog will appear.

6. By adjusting the Start and End time controls in this dialog you can import the entire CD track, or a just specific portion of the track. You may also click directly on the timeline to adjust start and end points. Click Play to audition the CD track (or selected portion of the CD track). Click OK when you are happy with the selection.

7. Check the Open tracks after importing checkbox if you want the CD track(s) you are importing to open in Peak.

8. Click the Import button in the The Import CD Audio dialog to import the selected tracks and the Save dialog appears. Use the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog to navigate to the volume where you wish to save the audio file. Click Save to save the file to disk. Peak will save the file(s) in the AIFF audio format.

Making Audio Connections

While it is possible to listen to audio playback in Peak using a Macintosh’s built-in speaker or headphones, most people will prefer to listen through a better quality external speaker system.

It is very easy to set up audio connections between your Macintosh and a mixer or speaker system. Your exact setup will differ slightly depending on whether you are using the built-in sound input and output connectors on your Macintosh, or those of a thirdparty audio interface.

Using the Macintosh’s Built-In Inputs and Outputs

To use your Macintosh’s built-in audio inputs and outputs for recording and playback, do the following:

1. Turn down the volume on your playback system. Peak can be used with a variety of playback systems, including:

• Headphones

• A stereo receiver or amplifier and speakers

• A mixer, amplifier, and a pair of speakers

• A mixer and a pair of amplified (self-powered) speakers

• A pair of amplified (self-powered) speakers, smaller versions of which are often called “multimedia” speakers.

2. Connect your audio source output to the Macintosh’s audio input connector. Your audio source can be one of a variety of devices, such as:

• A cassette or DAT deck output

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• A mixer output

• A stereo receiver line output (such as “tape deck record” output)

• An instrument line output (such as the output of a synthesizer or guitar preamp)

The Mac’s audio input and output jacks are standard stereo mini-plug (1/8-inch) connector. Most mixer, receiver, and amplified speaker inputs are equipped with XLR, 1/4-inch, RCA, or mini-plug jacks. To make the proper connection, you may need to use an adapter.

Some Macintosh models may not have a built-in sound input – in which case you will have to use a third-party audio interface for sound input.

For advanced users: Certain professional mixing consoles, DAT decks, or other audio sources may have a nominal output level of +4 dBu, whereas the Macintosh expects to see a nominal -10 dBV level. Be aware that you may need to adjust your mixer’s output levels accordingly to prevent overloading the Macintosh’s input; or alternately, you may need to use a “+4 to -10” line-matching transformer.

Chapter 4: Playback & Recording

Audio Input

Receives input from any linelevel audio source (mixer, amplifier, etc.)

Connects to Mac with 1/8” stereo mini-plug

Audio Output

Sends line-level audio signal out of Mac to headphones, mixer, amplifier, or self-powered speakers.

Connects to Mac with 1/8” stereo mini-plug

Macintosh CPU

Mixer Auxilliary Outputs

Sends audio output to Mac’s audio input.

When recording an audio signal through a mixer, the Aux Outputs allow the computer to record the signal, while the mixer’s Main Outputs send the signal to the speakers/headphones, so you can monitor what you are recording.

Speakers

Monitor audio signals coming from Mac, or any other audio sources routed through the mixer – also allows monitoring audio signals being recorded into the Mac.

Mixer Main Outputs

Sends audio out to amplifier, or self-powered speakers.

Common types of output connections include 1/4”, XLR, or RCA – refer to your mixer’s documentation to see which you should use.

Mixer Inputs

Receive audio input from Mac’s audio outputs.

Common types of input connections include 1/4”, XLR, or RCA – refer to your mixer’s documentation to see which you should use.

Common connections when using the Mac’s built-in sound*

*Diagram shows connections via a mixer, which is not required – if connecting directly to speakers, use their volume control, or the volume control on your Macintosh

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3. Connect your Mac’s audio output to your playback system’s input.

4. Connect your playback system’s output (typically an auxiliary or bus send) to your Mac’s audio input.

Be very careful to avoid feedback loops (the audio signal feeds back into itself ) when recording. Feedback can damage both your equipment and your hearing. The Monitor option in the Record Settings dialog should be disabled if monitoring a recording will cause feedback.

5. Raise the volume on your mixer or playback

system. Your system should now be properly configured and ready for recording and playback.

Third-Party Audio Interfaces

If you have a Core Audio-compatible PCI, PCMCIA (CardBus), USB, or FireWire audio interface installed in your computer and wish to use its inputs and outputs, do the following:

1. Turn down the volume on your mixer or playback system.

2. Make sure that you have installed the third-party

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Common connections with a third-party audio hardware device*

Audio Input

Receives input from any line-level or miclevel audio source (connections will vary with different devices)

Typically connects to Mac with RCA, 1/4”, or XLR cables

Audio Output

Sends audio signal out of Mac to headphones, mixer, amplifier, or selfpowered speakers.

Typically connects to Mac with RCA, 1/4”, or XLR cables

Mixer Auxilliary Outputs

Sends audio output to audio hardware’s input.

Speakers

Monitor audio signals coming from Mac, or any other audio sources routed through the mixer – also allows monitoring audio signals being recorded into the Mac.

Mixer Main Outputs

Sends audio out to amplifier, or self-powered speakers.

Common types of output connections include 1/4”, XLR, or RCA – refer to your mixer’s documentation to see which you should use.

Mixer Inputs

Receive audio input from audio hardware’s outputs.

Common types of input connections include 1/4”, XLR, or RCA – refer to your mixer’s documentation to see which you should use.

*Diagram uses a PCI audio card as an example – other devices, such as USB or FireWire interfaces connect to the computer differently (ie: USB/FireWire cable), but generally have the same types of inputs & outputs, and can be connected to mixers and other audio equipment in a similar manner

Macintosh CPU

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audio interface according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

3. Install the Core Audio drivers (if required) for your audio interface according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

4. Connect your source’s outputs to the inputs of your audio interface.

5. Connect the outputs of your audio interface to the inputs of your mixer or playback systems

6. Raise the volume on your mixer or playback system. Your system should now be properly configured and ready for recording and playback.

A typical mixer/computer configuration is to have the computer outputs go to channel inputs on your mixer and to have the auxiliary or bus sends from the mixer go to the inputs of the computer. Instruments you want to record may be plugged into other channel inputs on the mixer and routed out the auxiliary or bus sends on the mixer to be recorded by the computer. The mixer’s main outputs go to the amplifier/speakers.

Conclusion

You have now learned about how to configure Peak for recording and playback with Core Audio, and how to connect various types of audio equipment to your computer. You’ve also learned how to record and play back audio documents, and how to record through plugins, play & record virtual instruments, record into QuickTime movies, and to import audio CD tracks.

Now that you’re familiar with setting up your equipment to get audio into and out of Peak, continue along to the next chapter, where you will learn how to edit audio with Peak’s powerful set of digital editing tools.

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Chapter 5 Editing

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Chapter 5: Editing

Introduction

This chapter introduces you to the concept of digital audio editing. You will learn how to edit digital audio with Peak’s many powerful editing tools.

Editing Audio with Peak

Peak provides you with a powerful interactive, nondestructive environment for editing and manipulating audio. In this environment, not only are virtually all editing actions completely “undo-able” and “redo-able,” but they can be performed interactively while audio playback is engaged.

Interactive Editing

Interactive editing means that you can cut, paste, loop, and process audio with many of Peak’s DSP functions and plug-ins, even while playing back the very audio that you are editing. For example, you can start playback, cut a selection of audio and paste or insert it later in the document, and when Peak reaches the location of the inserted audio, it will play it as if it were there all along. This revolutionary capability makes Peak a supremely fast and flexible audio production tool that makes conventional recording and editing methods, such as analog tape and a razor blade, seem primitive and archaic by comparison.

Nondestructive Editing

Peak’s nondestructive editing capabilities mean that the edits you perform to an audio document do not permanently change the original source recording until you finally save the document. Thus, you can cut, copy, paste, fade in and out of, and otherwise completely change a recording, and still be able to return back to square one – the original untouched state of the recording – up until the time that you save the document to disk. At that time, all edits are permanently written into the document.

Unlimited Undo and Redo

As an editing session progresses, Peak maintains an internal list of the edits that you perform. Changes that you make to an audio document are not permanently applied to the file until you ultimately save it. This is what gives Peak its unprecedented unlimited undo and redo capability. Through the use of the Macintosh’s standard Undo and Redo commands, you can undo or redo your actions sequentially, or by using the Edits command, using a “playlist-style” editing event list. This is a very exciting technology that allows you to maintain complete creative freedom of choice – right up until the last moment before you save your project to disk.

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The Audio Document Window

The heart of Peak’s powerful editing capabilities is the audio document window. The audio document window provides you with a “window into sound,” allowing you to make good use of both your eyes and ears to perform extremely precise editing tasks. The audio document window gives you a time-domain representation of sound, that is, you see the amplitude of the sound over time.

An Audio Waveform

If you have never seen sound displayed in a visual format before, it may not be immediately obvious how to “read” an audio waveform. It is actually quite easy to navigate through a recording with a waveform as your road map. The peaks in the waveform are areas of high amplitude (loud spots). The valleys in the waveform are areas of low amplitude (quiet spots). If the audio material is music with a pronounced, regular beat, it is generally very easy to pick out where the beats are simply by looking for peaks. Using this information, and the guidelines given shortly in the “A Selection” section, you will be able to successfully locate and select a desired portion of the audio document and perform the edits that you wish. The cursor marks the current location, and also serves as an insertion point.

Peak 5’s improved waveform display gives an even more accurate representation of the digital audio signal than in previous versions, and provides more information about positive and negative phase.

Vertical Scaling

Peak allows you to control the vertical magnification of audio waveforms. This feature is useful if you are editing and viewing a document with very quiet audio material.

To increase the vertical scaling magnification:

• Hold the Control key down and press the Up Arrow key.

To decrease the vertical scaling magnification:

• Hold the Control key down and press the Down Arrow key.

Audio Waveform Overview

Peak provides an Overview display of the entire audio waveform along the top of the screen under the menu bar. This provides you with a convenient visual reference of the overall document when you are editing only a portion in the audio document window. The highlighted area in the Overview display shows the area of the audio waveform currently visible in the audio document window. If desired, you can hide the Overview display to allow the audio document window to occupy more of the computer screen.

To show/hide the Audio Waveform Overview:

• Select Show Overview in the Options menu (-,) – a check next to this item indicates it is enabled, and the absence of a check means it is disabled (or click the disclosure triangle in the upper left corner of the audio document window).

A Selection

A selection is just what it sounds like: a portion of audio that you have selected by clicking and dragging with the mouse. You must select audio in order to perform an editing action on it. To make good selections for editing, the best rule of

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thumb is to begin a selection just before a peak in the waveform and end it just after a peak in the waveform. In other words, try to make selections start and end in areas of low amplitude (“valleys” in the waveform).

It is also important, when possible, to begin and end a selection at a point where the waveform meets the zero crossing line (the center line through the waveform). This helps you avoid creating pops and clicks if you later cut or paste the audio, because the point at which the waveform meets the zero crossing is a point of no amplitude in the sound wave. Pops and click generally only occur if you make a careless selection and begin or end on a portion of the sound wave where the amplitude is high (where the waveform is high above, or far below the center point). Enable Auto-Snap in the Options menu, and select Snap To>Zero Crossings from the Action menu to have Peak nudge your selection to the nearest zero crossings automatically.

In addition to snapping to zero crossings in the audio waveform, Peak features a number of other Snap To options. These options allow a selection to be “snapped” to a preset number of samples, or to a custom selection length. Other Snap To boundaries include:

• Bars/Beats

• CD Frames (588 samples or multiple thereof)

• Sony PS2 Loop Boundaries (28 samples or multiple thereof )

• Microsoft Xbox Loop Boundaries (64 samples or multiple thereof )

• Custom Units (user-definable number of samples)

The Snap To units you choose will depend on the type of editing work you will be doing. Most users will probably use Zero Crossings or Bars/Beats for most musical applications. Multimedia and video game sound designers will especially appreciate these new options when producing audio for a particular delivery platform. For example, when creating audio loops and sound effects for a Playstation 2 video game, audio edits need to be made at increments of 28 samples in order to loop/play back smoothly in the PS2’s audio engine. By choosing the Snap To PS2 loop boundary setting, any edits that are made will automatically be made in units that will translate smoothly to the PS2’s playback system.

Once markers are placed in the waveform, they may need to be moved. By holding down the Shift key while dragging the markers the selected Snap To behavior will be applied, and the markers may be shifted slightly so as to conform to the selected Snap To format.

The Zoom In function helps you make very precise selections by letting you zoom in to a higher magnification and select exactly the portion of the waveform you desire. Also, once you have made a selection, you can adjust the beginning or the end of the current selection by holding down the Shift key and clicking with the mouse. Your selection will be shortened or lengthened accordingly.

Channel Independent Processing

To select only the Left channel, move the cursor over it and above the left channel’s waveform. The cursor will show a small “L” at the insertion point. To select only the Right channel, move the cursor over it and below the left channel’s waveform. The cursor will show a small “R” at the insertion point. You can process one channel of an audio document using most of Peak’s native DSP or third-party plug-ins.

Peak allows you to select and process the left and right channels of a stereo file independently, but you cannot edit (i.e., Cut, Paste, Delete, etc.) the left and right channels of a stereo file independently.

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A waveform with selected audio

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A Marker

A marker can be placed in a document to identify a point of importance. A marker appears as a line with a solid triangular base. Peak allows you to place markers into a document in order to mark a given location or Region in a document for later selection, navigation, or editing. Markers can be moved, named and renamed, “anchored” to a particular location on a waveform, and given other attributes. The use of markers is covered in greater detail later in this chapter.

A Loop

A loop refers to a section of audio that is bounded on either side by loop markers. In the illustration above, the area that falls between the loop markers “beg loop” and “end loop” is looped. Loops are used to sustain or repeat a section of audio. They can be used for material that you intend to transfer to a sampler, or simply for playback within Peak itself. Peak allows you to create one loop per audio file.

Although Peak allows only one loop per audio document, there is a quick and easy way to mark multiple desired sections for looping. With the loop markers in the desired location, choose Select Loop from the Edit menu, then, choose New Region from

the Action menu

– a Region is created that is the

same length as the loop. Using this technique allows you to create as many Regions as desired within a single audio document. To loop any of these Regions,

simply



-click between a Region’s markers to select

the Region (or press the Tab key until the desired Region is selected), and then choose Loop this

Selection (



-Shift-“-“)from the Action menu.

Audio Between Adjacent Markers

Audio between adjacent markers refers to a section of audio that is bounded by markers. In the illustration above, the area that falls between the Beat 1 and Beat 2 markers is audio between markers. (Note: A selection of audio between markers is different than an audio Region. Regions are described later in this chapter, as well as in Chapter 6, Playlists and Audio CD Burning.)

Audio Info Area

In the lower left corner of each Peak Audio Document is the Audio Info Area. The Info Area shows the maximum amplitude, sample rate, bit resolution, file format, and file size of the audio file.

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A waveform with a Marker (named “Verse2”)

A waveform with a Loop

A waveform with 2 adjacent markers (named “Beat #1 and Beat #2)

Audio Info Area

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Clicking on the Max dB section of the Audio Info Area will open the Change Gain dialog, so that you can change the gain for the entire audio file, or the current selection. For more information on the Change Gain DSP function, please refer to Chapter 7: DSP. Clicking on any other portion of the Audio Info Area will open the Audio Info dialog.

Audio Info dialog

Selecting Audio Info from the Options menu (-I) – or clicking on the Audio Info area – opens the Audio Info dialog. The Audio Info dialog allows you to change the sample rate, duration, root key (for use in a sample playback instrument), and high and low key range. Note that by changing the sample rate, the pitch and duration of the audio will be affected. (To change the sample rate of an audio document without changing the pitch, use the Convert Sample Rate command from the DSP menu, or click on the appropriate Toolbar icon.) The Audio Info dialog is described in more detail later in this chapter, as well as in Chapter 11: Menus.

Selecting Audio

In order to perform any type of editing action on an audio document, first you must select the portion of the document that you wish to modify. Peak has several techniques for making and modifying selections.

To make a selection with the mouse:

• Click the cursor at the desired start location in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

To extend or shorten a selection:

1. Make a selection with the mouse as explained above.

2. Hold down the Shift key and click on the end of the selection that you wish to modify.

3. Drag the mouse to extend or shorten the selection. When you are satisfied with the length of the selection, release the mouse.

To select audio between two markers:

1. Hold down the Command key () and click anywhere in between two markers. (Markers are explained in detail in the next section.) Peak selects the audio between the markers.

2. If there are additional markers in the document and you wish to extend the selection to encompass other portions of audio that fall between the markers, hold down the Shift key and the Command key, and click between another two markers. The selection will extend from the originally selected audio to the audio that you just added.

3. Repeat as desired to navigate to and select additional audio between markers.

To select audio between two markers with the Tab key:

1. Create markers at several locations in the document with one of the techniques explained in the next section.

2. Press the Tab key on your computer keyboard.

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Peak selects the portion of the waveform that lies between the first two markers in the document.

3. Press the Tab key again to select the portion of audio between the next two markers. (If you hold down the Shift key while tabbing the selection through the audio file, you can append each successive space between markers to the current selection.)

4. Repeat as desired to navigate to and select additional audio.

To select all audio in a document:

• Choose Select All from the Edit menu or press - A on your Macintosh keyboard.

Markers & Selections as Navigational Aids

The presence of Regions, loops, or markers – and selected portions of the waveform can be very helpful in navigating through an audio document.

When markers are present, the Tab key on your keyboard may be used to select the audio between markers. Pressing the Tab key again selects the next space between markers – when Peak reaches the end of the document, it will “wrap” back to the beginning. Using the Option & Tab keys together will select the spaces between markers in the opposite direction.

This keyboard shortcut makes it very easy to navigate to specific areas, for example: Imagine you are working with a recording of an LP, and have placed a marker in the space between each song (the silent area). To quickly navigate to the beginning of song 5, simply press the Tab key five times, and then press the up arrow key on your keyboard – this would select the space between markers that bound the fifth song, and the up arrow key would locate Peak’s cursor to the beginning of the selection.

Many other useful tips can be found in Appendix 2: Peak Actions.

Auditioning Audio

It is often useful to audition a selection along with just a bit of audio preceding or following it – without actually including this material in the selection itself. Peak’s Auditioning command allows you to do this by specifying a desired amount of pre-roll or post-roll when you play the selection.

To audition audio with pre-roll or post-roll:

1. Choose Auditioning from the Preferences panel – the Auditioning Preferences dialog appears.

2. Enter the desired amount of pre-roll and post-roll and click OK.

3. Click the cursor in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

4. Press -Spacebar – Peak plays the selection, adding the specified amount of pre- and post-roll.

Scrubbing

Peak offers a number of ways to scrub audio, these are described below.

Dynamic Scrubbing

Peak provides a unique audio auditioning technique

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called dynamic scrubbing. This feature is very useful for precisely pinpointing and selecting a desired location in an audio document. Dynamic scrubbing allows you to drag the mouse forward or backward over a waveform while Peak plays a short loop (between 10 and 600 milliseconds) at the scrub location. When you have found the location you are looking for, you can commence editing. Peak allows you to choose the length of this playback loop with the Dynamic Scrub Time command in the Options menu. Peak provides two types of dynamic scrubbing: dynamic shuttle scrubbing and dynamic jog scrubbing. Both are described below.

To select a loop duration for dynamic scrubbing:

• Choose Dynamic Scrub Time from the Options menu, and choose a duration from the hierarchical submenu. Typically, values between 40 and 80 milliseconds work well.

To use dynamic “Shuttle-type” scrubbing:

1. Hold down the Control key and click and drag the mouse across a portion of the waveform in an audio document window. As you drag the mouse, Peak plays a short loop of the audio at the insertion point. You can control the tempo and direction (forward or backward) of playback by dragging the mouse slower or faster, forwards, or backwards.

2. Release the mouse button to stop scrubbing. The insertion point will be exactly where you left off scrubbing.

3. To make a selection starting at the current scrub point, stop scrubbing, hold down the Shift key, and click the mouse to extend the selection from the insertion point to the desired end location.

Jog Scrubbing

Peak provides a variation of the dynamic scrubbing feature, which is similar to a technique known in recording studios as jog scrubbing. With this technique, Peak actually engages playback and moves through the file at its normal pace, but allows you to control the playback point by dragging the mouse. You can control the direction (forward or backward) of playback by dragging the mouse forwards or backwards. This scrubbing mode affords a greater degree of control when you are “zoomed out” in the audio document window.

To use dynamic “jog” scrubbing:

1. Hold down the Control key and Option key and drag the mouse across a portion of the waveform in an audio document window. As you drag the mouse, Peak engages playback while it loops a short portion of the audio at the insertion point. Dragging the cursor farther away from the current insertion point increases the velocity of scrubbing.

2. Release the mouse button to stop scrubbing. The insertion point will be exactly where you left off scrubbing.

3. To make a selection starting at the current scrub point, stop scrubbing, hold down the Shift key, and click the mouse to extend the selection from the insertion point to the desired end location.

Since jog scrubbing mode is engaged by pressing the Option key in combination with the Control key, it is possible to toggle back and forth between jog and shuttle modes simply by pressing or releasing the Option key.

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Tape-Style Scrubbing

In addition to dynamic scrubbing feature, Peak provides high resolution tape-style scrubbing. To enable tapestyle scrubbing, set the Dynamic Scrub Time under the Options menu to Tape-Style.

To start tape-style scrubbing:

• Hold down the Control key on your keyboard, and then click and drag the mouse at the location in the waveform where you wish to begin scrubbing.

To deactivate tape-style scrubbing:

•Release the mouse and Control key.

To control “tape” speed in tape-style scrubbing:

1. As you drag the mouse towards the right, scrubbing speed will increase.

2. As you drag the mouse toward the left, scrubbing will slow down.

3. If you drag the mouse to the left of the point where you started scrubbing, the scrub direction will change from forward playback to backwards playback.

The top of the playhead cursor will display the scrubbing speed, which can vary from +/- 2.25 times the original speed.

Using Unlimited Undo and Redo

Peak maintains an internal list of the edits that you perform during the course of an editing session. These changes are not permanently applied to the file until you save it. This

gives Peak unlimited undo and redo capability. Through the use of the Macintosh’s standard Undo (-Z) and Redo (-Y ) commands, you can undo and redo your actions sequentially; or by using the Edits command, using a “playlist-style” editing event list. This powerful capability allows you to maintain complete creative freedom of choice – right up until the last moment before you save your project to disk. The only limitation in using Redo is that if you insert a new action when a redo action is available, you will no longer be able to redo. Remember, as soon as you perform an editing action other than Undo in Peak, Redo is no longer available.

To undo an action:

1. Perform an edit (such as cutting audio or moving a marker).

2. Choose Undo from the Edit menu (-Z) or Toolbar. The action is undone.

3. You can continue undoing actions until you return to the original state of the audio document (the state at which it was last saved). When there are no actions left to undo, the Undo menu item will appear grayed out.

To redo an action:

1. If you wish to redo the action that was undone, choose Redo from the Edit menu (-Y ) or Toolbar. The action is redone.

2. You can continue redoing actions until none are left to redo. When there are no actions left to redo, the Redo menu item will appear grayed out.

Using the Edits Command to Undo a Series of Actions

Peak’s Edits command provides you with a second unique and powerful method of undoing virtually

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any number of editing actions performed on an audio document since you last saved it. You can think of the Edits command as an “event-based” listing of all your editing actions since you last saved. Using this list, you can navigate back in time to the point at which you performed a particular edit, and if you wish, undo it. Once you have returned to an earlier state in the project, you are free to start editing from that point on.

The Edit history list is available in two locations – one is in the Edits dialog, located under the Edit menu.

The other location where the Edit history may be accessed is in the Audio Document Window’s Contents Drawer.

Be aware that if you do go back to a past action and perform a different action at that state in the project, any edits that originally occurred after will be gone, and you won’t be able to redo them.

To use the Edits dialog to return to or undo an action:

1. Perform several edits. (Don’t use the Save command or you won’t be able to undo any edits that occurred before you saved.)

2. Choose Edits from the Edit menu. A dialog appears listing the edits you have performed since you last saved the document.

3. In the list, double-click on the description of the action you wish to return to (or select an action and click the Revert to Item button). Peak returns the document to the state it was in at the time of that edit.

4. When you have finished, click Done.

To use the Edits list in the Contents Drawer to return to or undo an action:

1. Perform several edits. (Don’t use the Save command or you won’t be able to undo any edits that occurred before you saved.)

2. From the Window menu, choose Toggle Contents Drawer ( -F), and click the Show History button in the lower right portion of the drawer – a list of edits you have performed since you last saved the document appears.

3. In the list, double-click on the description of the action you wish to return to. Peak returns the

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document to the state it was in at the time of that edit.

4. When you have finished, click Done.

Essential Editing Functions

Peak supports all of the Macintosh’s essential editing functions such as cut, copy, and paste and provides several more specifically designed for audio editing. This section explains how to use each of these functions.

Because Peak allows you to have multiple audio documents open at the same time, it is possible to conveniently cut, copy, paste, and insert audio between documents. This makes combining material from several audio documents very fast and easy.

Scratch Disks

Because audio data can be very large, Peak utilizes a portion of your hard disk’s free space to hold audio data that has been cut or copied, as well as for temporary or “scratch” files for undo purposes. If you have more than one hard drive attached to your Macintosh, the Scratch Disks section of the Preferences panel allows you to choose the hard drives (or “scratch disks”) that you wish to use for these temporary files. Peak allows you to select which disk you want to have as your default, or “Primary” disk for this purpose – ideally you would select the disk that has the most free space. If you are connected to a file server, you can utilize available storage on the server by clicking the Allow Servers

checkbox (that is if you have a very fast server connection). Any available servers will then appear in the Scratch Disks pop-up menu. This is recommended only if you have access to a high-speed ethernet, or other fast server.

Clearing the Clipboard to Reclaim Disk Space

If you no longer need the clipboard contents, you can free up the disk space occupied by the clipboard by choosing the Clear Clipboard command from the Edit menu.

Cutting Audio

The Cut command (-X) allows you to cut a selected range out of an audio document. Audio that occurs after the cut slides over to fill in the gap. By cutting and pasting “pieces” of audio, you can freely rearrange material in an audio document. This can be a powerful tool for creating audio remixes for musicoriented applications, as well as an indispensable tool for general sound design tasks. When you cut a selection, the Macintosh holds the cut audio data in its internal memory (the Clipboard) in case you wish to paste it elsewhere. Because all real-time editing you do with Peak is nondestructive, the audio isn’t actually removed from the original audio document until you finally save the file to disk with the Save command. At that time, all edits are saved and any changes that you have made are permanently saved to the audio document.

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To cut a selection:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

2. Choose Cut from the Edit menu (-X) or Toolbar.

3. The selected range is removed from the audio document(s) and held on the Clipboard. Audio occurring after the cut slides over to fill in the gap.

Deleting Audio

If you wish to remove a section of audio from an audio document without using the Cut command, you can use the Delete key, or the Delete button on the Toolbar. As with the Cut command and other editing functions, the audio isn’t actually removed from the original audio document until you save the file to disk.

To delete a selection:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

2. Press the Delete key, or click the Delete button on the Toolbar.

3. The selection is removed from the audio document. Audio occurring after the deleted section slides over to fill in the gap.

Copying Audio

The Copy command ( -C) copies the current selection to the Macintosh’s Clipboard (or internal memory buffer) so that you can paste it, insert it, or use it with optional “Clipboard-based” processing such as Add, Convolve, Mix, Modulate, and ImpulseVerb. As with the Cut command, copying and pasting “pieces” of audio, allows you

to freely rearrange material in a document. This can be a powerful tool for creating audio remixes for music-oriented applications, and is an indispensable tool for sound design.

To copy a selection:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

2. Choose Copy from the Edit menu (-C) or Toolbar.

3. The selection is copied to the Clipboard.

At this point, you can use the Paste, Insert, or Duplicate commands to place the copied audio into an audio document. Each of these commands is explained below.

Pasting Audio

The Paste command ( -V ) allows you to paste the contents of the Clipboard into a location that you choose by placing an insertion point. Pasting audio deletes any selected audio and inserts the clipboard audio at the insertion point. Blending can be used with the Paste command if you have made a selection – the pasted audio will be crossfaded with the audio on either side of the selection according to the Blending Envelope and Blending Envelope Duration settings.

By cutting and pasting pieces of audio, you can freely rearrange material in an audio document. In musical applications, this gives you the freedom to entirely “rewrite” compositions by changing the order of things, repeating desired sections, and so on. In sound design applications, this gives you the power to “compose” with sound by creating audio collages.

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To paste audio into an audio document:

1. Click the cursor at the point where you wish to paste the audio data in an audio document or make a selection of audio you want to delete and replace with the contents of the clipboard.

2. Choose Paste from the Edit menu (-V ) or Toolbar.

The Clipboard contents are pasted into the audio document(s), beginning immediately after the insertion point. Any selected audio at the location of the paste is overwritten when the pasted data is inserted into the audio document.

Replacing Audio

The Replace command allows you to paste audio data over existing audio – to paste audio into an audio document without pushing all data to the right of the insertion point farther to the right (later in time) to accommodate the newly pasted audio. The Replace command is useful for “laying over” a portion of audio while maintaining the timing of the original document.

To replace audio into an audio document:

1. Click the cursor at the point where you wish to replace the audio data in an audio document.

2. Choose Replace from the Edit menu or Toolbar. All data to the right of the replaced audio maintains their time position.

Inserting Audio

The Insert command (-D) allows you to paste audio data into an audio document without overwriting any

existing data at the insertion point. When you paste data with the Insert command, all data to the right of the insertion point or selection start is pushed farther to the right (later in time) to accommodate the newly pasted audio. The Insert command is one of Peak’s most useful tools for restructuring the contents of an audio document. It is particularly good for “composing on the fly” since it allows you to cut and insert pieces of audio – musical phrases, riffs, or simply textural sounds – to create a composition or soundscape.

To insert audio into an audio document:

1. Click the cursor at the point where you wish to insert the audio data in an audio document.

2. Choose Insert from the Edit menu (-D) or Toolbar. All data to the right of the insertion point is pushed farther to the right (later in time) to accommodate the newly pasted range.

Duplicating Audio

The Duplicate command has a number of different behaviors, depending on whether you are working in an audio document or in a Playlist. The behavior in Playlists is covered in Chapter 6: Playlists – this section covers the behaviors of the Duplicate command in audio documents.

If no selection is made when this command is invoked, the Duplicate command allows you to paste multiple copies of audio data into an audio document without overwriting any existing data at the insertion point. When you paste data with the Duplicate command, all data to the right of the insertion point or selection start is pushed farther to the right (later in time) to accommodate the newly pasted audio. The Duplicate command allows you to specify how many times you would like to Duplicate the audio data contained in the clipboard. The Duplicate command is very useful for creating longer audio documents that need to repeat a

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certain piece of audio, such as creating a 4 bar drum loop out of a 1 bar drum loop.

To Duplicate audio:

1. Select a range of audio, and choose Copy from the Edit Menu (-C).

2. Click the cursor at the point you wish to insert duplicate copies of the audio selected in step 1.

3. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu.

4. Use the Duplicate slider to indicate how many copies should be inserted, or type in the number of desired copies.

5. Click the OK button. All data to the right of the insertion point is pushed farther to the right (later in time) to accommodate the newly pasted range.

If there is a selection in the waveform when the Duplicate command is invoked, then Peak automatically fills the selection with the Clipboard contents. Peak determines how many times the Clipboard contents must be duplicated in order to fill the selection. If the selection is not evenly divisible by the duration of the Clipboard contents, Peak includes a fraction of the Clipboard contents to make the duplication completely sample accurate to the original selection.

To Duplicate audio to fit a Selection:

1. Select a range of audio, and choose Copy from the Edit Menu (-C).

2. Select a range of audio that will be the “target”, and will be filled with the Clipboard contents.

3. Choose Duplicate from the Edit menu – Peak fills the selection with as many copies of the Clipboard contents as possible, and fraction of Clipboard contents if there is not enough space left in the

selection for another duplicate of the full Clipboard contents.

Cropping a Selection

The Crop command (-`) allows you to make a selection in an audio document and quickly remove all other audio from the audio document except the selection. The Crop command is a particularly useful tool for editing material to be used as samples or sound effects, since it allows you to isolate and save just the desired portion of a recording.

To crop a selection:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

2. Choose Crop from the Edit menu (-`). All audio but the selection is removed from the audio document.

New Document from Selection

The New Document from Selection command will automatically create a new Audio Document containing the selected audio from the source document.

To create a new document from a selection:

1. Make a selection in any open audio document that you want to have as its own document.

2. Choose Document from Selection from the New submenu under the File menu (Control-N).

3. A new audio document will be created with the selected audio.

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Silencing a Selection

The Silence command (-E) replaces the selected portion of an audio document’s waveform with silence. This feature is very useful for silencing nonessential portions of a recording that contain an unusual amount of noise. This can be used very successfully with spoken material such as dialog or narration to remove noise between words or during pauses in speech. It can also be used to remove pops or clicks that occur in such material.

To silence a selection:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.

2. Choose Silence from the Edit menu (-E) – the selected audio is replaced with silence.

Inserting Silence into a Document

The Insert Silence command allows you to insert a specific amount of silence into an audio document at the current insertion point. This feature is very useful for inserting pauses of a desired duration into a recording, and can be particularly useful in adjusting the timing or rhythm of spoken material such as dialog or narration. When you choose this command, Peak will prompt you to enter the amount of silence you wish to insert. You can enter this value in samples, milliseconds, or seconds. All audio occurring after the insertion point is moved later in time by the amount of the silence that you insert.

To insert silence of a specific duration into a document:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document.

2. Choose Insert Silence from the Edit menu.

3. In the dialog that appears, enter the amount of silence that you wish to insert into the audio document – Peak inserts the specified amount of silence into the document.

Repairing Clicks & Pops

Clicks & pops are common artifacts in digital audio – they occur in various ways, such as: performing cut/copy/paste-type edits at non-zero crossings in the audio waveform, recording vinyl records, faulty recording equipment or cables, digital sync problems, etc. There are two main categories of clicks that Peak’s tools can repair.

When editing audio with Peak, it is unlikely that you will introduce new clicks and pops because of its Auto Snap (to Zero) option. When Auto Snap (to Zero) is turned on (which it is by default), any selections made are automatically snapped to the closest zero crossing in the waveform, where the audio is at zero amplitude. This ensures that you do not inadvertently introduce a click or pop when performing cut/copy/paste type edits.

Analog clicks – such as those found in digital recordings of vinyl records – are caused by scratches or other surface imperfections on a record. This type of click usually appears in the audio waveform as an abrupt, jagged anomaly.

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Digital clicks are generally caused by digital sync problems with audio hardware interfaces, bad digital cables, or recording with improper buffer settings. This type of click generally has a square shape to it.

Peak’s Pencil Tool can repair either type, though in the case of digital clicks you may want to use the Repair Click and Repair Clicks DSP tools, which are specifically designed for this purpose (more information on Repair Click and Repair Clicks is available in Chapter 7: DSP).

In either case, to use the Pencil Tool, you must be zoomed in to sample level (sample level being the first zoom level at which you can see individual audio samples) or beyond. Additional information on settings for the Pencil Tool is available in Chapter 3: Peak Basics.

To repair a click with the Pencil Tool:

1. Locate a click in the audio waveform – it will appear as an abrupt “spike”.

2. Place the insertion point/cursor directly over the click.

3. From the Action menu, select Zoom to Sample Level – you should now be able to see the individual samples that make up the click.

4. In the tool area of the audio document window, select the Pencil Tool.

5. Click into the waveform, and “draw” across the anomaly, trying to approximate the shape of the waveform on either side of the click. When you have repaired the click, don’t forget to switch back to the Arrow Cursor.

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It is useful to place a marker over a click, and then zoom in to repair it using the Pencil Tool. Markers are covered in detail later in this chapter. When you are zoomed in to allow viewing the waveform in detail, it is very easy to scroll past a

click

– having a marker in place makes it easy to

locate the click, should you lose your place.

Show Edits

When you enable the Show Edits command, Peak indicates areas of an audio document that you have edited by enclosing these areas with hatched lines. This provides you with a convenient visual reference to portions of the document that have been affected by your editing actions. Once you save a document, the edits are saved, and these indicators will no longer appear.

To Enable Show Edits:

• Choose Show Edits from the Options menu. A check next to this item indicates it is enabled.

To Disable Show Edits:

• Choose Show Edits again from the Options menu. The absence of a check next to this item indicates it disabled.

Using Crossfades and Blending to Smooth Edits

Blending is an automatic crossfade function with a usereditable envelope. Peak can apply blending to areas of an audio document where they are modified by cutting, deleting, pasting, or other editing processes in order to smooth abrupt transitions between waveform amplitudes. It can be very useful for creating a smooth transition between edits that would otherwise sound too abrupt. If you are going to edit (i.e., Cut, Paste, Delete, etc.) a document, you may wish to enable blending to smooth things out a bit. You can toggle blending on or off by clicking the Blend enable/disable button in the audio document window, or by pressing the Caps Lock key on your keyboard.

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Be aware that Blending can interfere with certain DSP processes available under Peak’s DSP menu, such as Fade In/Out and Normalize. You will typically only want to enable Blending only when you intend to make an edit in which Blending may be desirable.

To enable blending:

• Click the blending button in the audio document window, or press the Caps Lock key on your keyboard. The blending button will light up in blue when blending is turned on.

To disable blending:

• Click the blending button in the audio document window, or press the Caps Lock key on your keyboard. The blending button will not be illuminated when blending is turned off.

To set blending parameters:

1. Choose Blending in Peak’s Preferences panel.

2. Enter a value in milliseconds in the Duration field. Peak will apply a crossfade of this duration across the edit.

3. If you wish to edit the shape of the crossfade that the blending function applies, click the Edit Blending Envelope.

4. Peak’s Crossfades are calculated logarithmically to preserve volume levels for crossfaded material. If you want Peak to calculate the Blending Crossfade linearly, check the Linear Blend Calculations checkbox.

5. Click OK when you have finished.

To quickly access the Blending Envelope editor, press the Option key while clicking the Blending button in the tool area at the upper right of an audio document window.

To select and edit the blending envelope:

1. Choose Blending in Peak’s Preference panel and click the Edit Blending Envelope button. The Blending Envelope Editor appears. The envelope shape shown here represents the shape of the crossfade. Peak also comes with several commonly used preset envelopes that appear in the pop-up at the top of all of Peak’s Envelope Editing windows (see also Editing a Fade In/Out Envelope). These are stored in the Peak Envelopes folder in the Preferences folder of your home directory.

2. Click anywhere on the line and a new moveable “breakpoint” will appear.

3. Drag the breakpoint to the desired location.

4. Continue creating and dragging breakpoints until you have created the envelope that you desire. If you wish to delete a breakpoint, click on it with the cursor and press the Delete key on your computer keyboard.

5. If you wish to reverse the shape of the envelope you have created, click the “<->” button. This creates a mirror image of the envelope.

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6. If you would like to save your custom envelope for later use, click on the Save button before exiting the envelope editor.

If you save your custom blending envelope into:

/MacintoshHD/Users/<YourUserAccount> /Library/Preferences/Peak Envelopes/

it will automatically appear in the Envelope popup menu it the Blending Envelope editor.

7. When you are satisfied with your new envelope shape, click Change to confirm your edits and close the envelope editor. Peak will use this envelope until you change it again.

Note that the Blending Envelope will only be applied to an edit if it is configured prior to making the edit.

If Linear Blend Calculations is checked in the Blending dialog, the Equal Power X-fade envelope is very effective for a smooth crossfade that will not result in a dip in the energy of the audio data.

Creating Fade Ins and Fade Outs

Peak allows you to create fade ins or fade outs at any point in an audio document. Fade ins/outs can be very useful for smoothly fading in or out of an audio document, or for fading out of one type of audio material into another. Very short fade ins can also be useful for smoothing or removing clicks and pops in a recording. Peak allows you to control the exact “shape” of the fade in/out by providing you with preset envelope shapes as well as very precise user-definable envelope controls for

the fade. Peak also comes with several commonly used preset envelopes that appear in the pop-up at the top of the Envelope Editing windows. These are stored in the Peak Envelopes folder in your Peak folder.

To create a Fade In:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the range you desire. The Fade In will be applied to the audio within this selection.

2. Choose Fade In from the DSP menu, or click the Fade In button in the Toolbar. Peak applies the Fade In to the selection you have made in the audio document.

3. To hear the completed Fade In, press -Spacebar. You will hear the selected audio complete with your Fade In.

To create a Fade Out:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the range you desire. The Fade Out will be applied to the selected audio.

2. Choose Fade Out from the DSP menu, or click the Fade Out button in the Toolbar. Peak applies the Fade Out to the selection you have made in the audio document.

3. To hear the Fade Out, press -Spacebar. You will hear the selected audio complete with your Fade Out.

Editing a Fade In/Fade Out Envelope

Peak allows you to control the exact shape of Fade Ins/Outs by providing you with controls for editing the Fade In/Out envelope. These are found in the Fade In

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Envelope and Fade Out Envelope sections in the Preferences panel.

To edit and save a Fade In/Fade Out envelope:

1. Choose Fade In Envelope (or Fade Out Envelope) from the Preferences panel. The Fade Envelope Editor appears. The envelope shape shown here represents the shape of the fade, and overlays the selected audio to show where the curve is graphically applied to the waveform representation of the audio.

2. Click anywhere on the line and a new moveable “breakpoint” will appear.

3. Drag the breakpoint to the desired location on the envelope’s curve.

4. Continue creating and dragging breakpoints until you have created the fade envelope that you

desire. If you wish to delete a breakpoint, click on it with the cursor and press the Delete key on your computer keyboard.

5. If you wish to reverse the shape of the envelope you have created, click the “<->” button. This creates a mirror image of the envelope.

6. If you would like to save your custom envelope for later use, click on the Save button before exiting the envelope editor.

If you save your custom Fade In/Out envelope into:

/MacintoshHD/Users/<YourAccount>/Library/ Preferences/Peak Envelopes/

it will automatically appear in the Envelope popup menu it the Fade In/Out Envelope editor.

7. When you are satisfied with your new envelope shape, click Change to confirm your edits and close the envelope editor. Peak will use this envelope every time you apply a Fade In (or Fade Out) until you change it again.

To quickly access the Fade Envelope editor, press the Option key while clicking the Fade In/Out buttons in the toolbar, or while picking these commands from the DSP menu.

Note that the Fade In/Fade Out Envelope will only be applied to a selection if it is configured prior to applying the Fade In/Fade Out DSP function.

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To load a Fade In/Fade Out envelope:

1. Choose Fade In Envelope (or Fade Out Envelope) from the Preferences panel. The envelope editor appears.

2. Click the Load button.

3. In the dialog that appears, locate and select the fade envelope that you desire, and click Open.

4. Click Change to confirm this new envelope and close the envelope editor. Peak will use this envelope until you change it again.

The steps above for loading a custom

envelope apply only if you have saved a custom envelope outside of the Peak Envelopes folder, for example, if you have saved custom envelopes with a project that will be transferred to another Peak user. Otherwise, you may simply choose the desired envelope from the Envelope pop-up menu in the Fade In/Out Envelope editor dialog.

Creating and Using Markers

Peak has a very powerful set of features to control the placement and modification of markers. Markers are locations in an audio document that you define as important. By marking specific locations in a recording, you can navigate easily to a location for selection, editing or playback purposes.

Markers can also be made into loops. Loops are used to sustain or repeat a section of audio. They can be used for material that you intend to transfer to a sampler, or simply for playback within Peak itself. Peak allows you to create one loop per audio

file. Loops are covered in detail later in this chapter.

Creating Markers

The next few pages describe in detail the various ways to create markers – by dropping them “on the fly” during playback, inserting them during recording with Notepad Cues, defining them with the mouse when playback is stopped, creating markers using the Threshold DSP command, or using the Markers from Tempo command to insert multiple markers at regular intervals. Of the various ways to create markers, the mouse method is perhaps the more precise. However, since it is possible to fine tune the location of a marker at any time by dragging it, (or by using the Edit Marker dialog, explained later) all methods work equally well – the method you choose to insert markers will depend largely on the task at hand.

Remember that if Auto Snap is enabled the insertion point will snap to the nearest selected Snap To unit. This will cause your marker to be placed at the nearest Snap To unit when you use the mouse to create or place a marker.

Once you have created a marker, you can assign or edit the marker’s attributes in the Edit Marker dialog. Double-click the triangular base of the marker to open the Edit Marker dialog.

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A marker in the Waveform Display

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Text

You may wish to give markers meaningful names (up to 256 characters long) based on their locations in an audio document. Peak gives markers default numeric names based on the name of the audio document and the order in which the marker was defined. To name or rename a marker, simply type the new name in to the Text field of the Edit Marker dialog.

You can easily find any marker, Region, or loop that you have named by simply typing the first few letters of its name. For example, if you want to locate a marker called “Solo,” just type the letters “s”-“o”-“l”, and Peak will automatically scroll to the marker called “Solo.” If you hit Enter or Return after typing the characters, Peak will also automatically place the insertion point at that marker. If more than one marker matches the letters you type in, Peak will locate the first marker with that name. (Note that numerical marker name entries will only work from the keypad, not the numbers keys along the top of your keyboard.)

If you re-name the first marker in a document to

“1”

– then all subsequent markers will be

automatically named “2”, “3”, “4”, and so on. You can then quickly locate to the desired marker by typing its number on the numeric keypad (the numbers at the top of the keyboard serve another purpose) and pressing Enter.

Marker Position

The Marker Position field allows you to move a marker to a specific time location in an audio document by entering the desired value. The popup menu to the right of this field allows you to choose a time format (samples, Minutes:Seconds:Miliseconds, etc.) for the value that you enter in the Marker Position field.

Marker, Loop Start, and Loop End

These three radio-style buttons allow you to define whether the marker is a regular marker or a loop marker. If you choose to designate the marker as loop marker, you can define it as either the loop start or the loop end by clicking on the corresponding radio button.

Anchor To Sample Checkbox

When you insert or delete audio that is near a marker, you may want the marker to move with that particular location on the waveform. This will compensate for the insertion or deletion, so that the marker remains with the particular portion of audio you want it to be associated with. By enabling the Anchor feature for a marker, you can assure that Peak will “tie” the marker to a location on a waveform, causing it to stay with that location even when audio is inserted or deleted into the document. By default, Peak enables this feature for markers, loops and Regions.

Be a Reference Marker Checkbox

By defining a marker as a reference marker, you can use the marker as a reference when you make selections or move other markers. Selecting or dragging the marker will then automatically display the distance to the closest reference marker in whatever time format (Samples or Seconds) is currently selected in the Peak application. This may be useful, for instance, if you know that you want a particular sound event (such as a car door slam) to happen a certain number of seconds before or after another sound event (such as a tire squeal).

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Deleting Markers

The Delete Marker button allows you to remove the currently selected marker from an audio document.

The following section explains how to create markers and define their attributes.

To create a marker when playback is stopped:

1. Click the mouse at the desired location in the audio document – a dotted vertical line appears, indicating the insertion point.

2. Press -M on your computer keyboard or choose New Marker from the Action menu or Toolbar – Peak places a marker at that location.

To create a marker during playback:

1. Begin playback of an audio document.

Pressing the Return key first, and then typing the marker’s name ensures that markers are

placed accurately

was made when typing in the marker’s name, it might take longer than anticipated to enter the corrected name, and the marker would be placed later in time. By pressing the Return key first, and then typing the name, you can be sure that the marker is placed in the correct location.

To create a marker using dynamic scrubbing:

– for instance, if an error

1. Hold down the Control key (or Control-Option for jog-type scrubbing) and drag the mouse across the desired location to scrub playback.

2. At the desired point during playback, release the mouse to stop scrubbing.

2. At the desired point during playback, press -M on your computer keyboard. Peak will drop a marker at that location.

3. Repeat as desired as playback continues. Each marker will appear at the appropriate location in the audio document window.

To create a marker during recording:

1. Open the Record dialog.

2. Check the Notepad checkbox.

3. Begin recording.

4. Press the Return key to place a marker – then type a name for the marker. To place another marker, press the Return key and type a name for the second marker, and so on.

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3. Press -M on your computer keyboard. Peak will drop a marker at that location.

To name a marker or set other marker attributes:

1. Double-click on the triangular base of the marker that you wish to edit. The Edit Marker dialog appears.

2. Enter a name for the marker.

3. Change other attributes of the marker as desired. For an explanation of each of these attributes, refer to the beginning of this section.

4. When you have finished, click OK to close the Edit Marker dialog – the marker now has the attributes you selected.

or:

• You may also open the audio document’s Contents

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Drawer and click the desired marker’s name – it will become editable text and can be re-named. When you press the Return key, the marker’s name is updated.

To move a marker to a new location:

1. Click on the triangular base of the marker and drag it to the desired location.

2. To make a marker’s position snap to a zerocrossing (the point at which a waveform crosses the center phase line) as you drag it, hold down the Shift key while you drag.

To move a marker to a new location numerically:

1. Double-click on the triangular base of the marker. The Edit Marker dialog appears.

2. Choose the desired time units (Samples, Seconds, or Milliseconds) from the time format pop-up menu.

3. In the Position field, enter the precise time location that you wish to move the marker to.

4. Click OK to close this dialog – Peak moves the marker to the location you entered in the dialog.

or:

• You may also open the audio document’s Contents Drawer and click the desired marker’s duration – it will become editable text and a new value can be entered. Once the duration is altered and the Return key is pressed, the marker will snap to the new location.

To nudge a marker or a selection of markers to a new location:

1. Make a selection that includes the marker (or markers) that you wish to nudge.

2. Choose Nudge Markers from the Action menu or Toolbar – the Nudge Markers dialog appears.

3. In the “Nudge Markers By” field, enter the number of seconds (positive or negative) by which you wish to nudge the marker.

4. Click OK to close this dialog – Peak nudges the marker by the value you entered in the dialog.

To delete a marker:

1. Double-click the triangular base of the marker – the Edit Marker dialog appears.

2. Click the Delete button – the marker is deleted from the audio document.

3. Click OK to close the Edit Marker dialog.

To delete markers in a Selection:

1. Make a selection in the audio document that contains the markers you want to delete.

2. Choose Delete All Except Audio (Option-Delete) from the Action menu and all markers, Regions, and loops in the selection will be deleted.

To Copy/Paste only Markers:

1. Select the desired range of audio, which contains the markers you wish to copy.

2. From the Edit menu, choose Copy (-C).

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3. Select a different range of audio (in the same document or in a different document).

4. Hold down the Option key, and choose Paste from the Edit menu – just the markers are pasted over the current selection.

To paste just the markers, you must hold down the Option key and choose Paste from the Edit menu –

using the



-V keyboard command will paste the

audio on the Clipboard, as well as the markers.

Regions

Regions are portions of an audio document defined by Region Markers using the New Region command from the Action menu (-Shift-R) or Toolbar. Regions present in currently open audio documents will be listed in the Contents window.

Regions can be saved only into AIFF, Sound Designer II, and WAVE files. However, Peak will also read Regions stored from other programs in Sound Designer II files. The method Peak uses to store Regions in AIFF files is specific to Peak and is not necessarily supported by other software applications. If you are using Regions with other programs, you will want to store your files as Sound Designer II or WAVE files.

To define a new Region:

1. Make a selection in an opened audio document.

2. Choose New Region from the Action menu (- Shift-R) or Toolbar.

3. Type the name of the Region and click OK. The new Region will appear in the audio document.

To modify the length of the Region by changing the start or end:

• Drag the start or end marker of the Region in the audio document window.

To move a Region without changing its length:

• Hold down the Option key and drag either the start or end marker of the Region.

or:

• Click the Horizontal Lock button in the tool area of the audio document window, and then drag either the start or end marker of the Region.

To edit a Region’s start, end, or length manually:

1. Double-click on either the start or end marker of the Region in the audio document window. The Edit Region dialog will appear.

2. Enter new values for Start, End, or Length times, then click OK.

To change the name of a Region:

1. Double-click on either the start or end marker of the Region in the audio document window. The Edit Region dialog will appear.

2. Type the new name of the Region into the dialog

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An audio Region (named “A Region”)

The Edit Region dialog

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and click OK.

or:

• You may also open the audio document’s drawer and click the desired marker’s name – it will become editable text and can be re-named. When you press the Return key, the marker’s name is updated.

To locate a Region:

• Double-click the Region’s name in the Contents Window or in the audio document window’s Contents Drawer. The Region will automatically snap into view, with the Region selected.

or:

• Type the first few letters of the Region’s name, and the Region will snap into view automatically. Please note that if multiple Regions share similar names, such as “TheIntro” and “TheEnd”, you would need to type at least one character beyond “t-h-e-” for Peak to be able to distinguish between these similar names. If you plan on using this technique to locate to Regions, it is recommended that you not use spaces in the Regions’ names, as when you attempt to locate to them, pressing the Space Bar on your keyboard will initiate playback.

To split a Region:

1. Place insertion point cursor at the the desired location.

2. Choose New Region Split (Ctrl-Shift--R) from the Action menu. The cursor’s position determines the split point. Any part of the document before the split point becomes one Region, and any part after the split point becomes another Region.

To Copy/Paste only Regions:

1. Select the desired range of audio, which contains the Region markers you wish to copy.

2. From the Edit menu, choose Copy (-C).

3. Select a different range of audio (in the same document or in a different document).

4. Hold down the Option key, and choose Paste from the Edit menu – just the Region markers are pasted over the current selection.

To paste just the Region markers, you must hold down the Option key and choose Paste from the

Edit menu – using the



-V keyboard command

will paste the audio on the Clipboard, as well as the Region markers.

Creating Loops

If you’re editing music or other rhythmically-based material, it is generally a good idea to test a selection to make sure it contains an even number of beats before you cut, copy, or paste it. A good way to do this is to loop the selection and listen to the loop as it plays. As described in the next section, Peak includes Loop Surfer, which can automate the process of finding a rhythmically “correct” length of audio to loop, assuming you know the tempo and the number of beats you wish to loop. You can also use the Loop Tuner, found in the DSP menu, to adjust the loop start and end points. The Loop Tuner is also described in the next section.

Loops are useful in material that you plan to transfer to a sampler. Loop markers created with Peak are recognized by samplers as sustain loops. Peak allows you to create one loop per audio document.

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When using a single loop per audio document, there is a quick and easy way to mark multiple desired sections for looping. With the loop markers in the desired location, choose Select Loop from the Edit menu, then, choose New Region

from the Action menu

– a Region is created that is

the same length as the loop. Using this technique allows you to create as many Regions as desired within a single audio document. To loop any of

these Regions, simply



-click between a Region’s

markers to select the Region (or press the Tab key until the desired Region is selected), and then choose Loop this Selection from the Action menu.

To play a loop in Peak, select Use Loop in Playback command (-L) from the Options menu or click the loop button in the Transport window, begin playback, and when Peak reaches the loop, it will continue to repeat until you stop playback. If Use Loop in Playback is not enabled, Peak will simply play right through the loop to the end of the audio document or selection.

To create a loop from a selection:

1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the range you want.

2. Choose Loop This Selection from the Action menu (-Shift-”-”) or Toolbar. Your selection is now looped. Loop markers appear at the beginning and end of the loop.

3. To listen to the loop, choose the Use Loop in Playback command (-L) from the Options menu (a check next to this menu item indicates it is enabled), or click the Loop button in the Transport window, and start playback by pressing the Spacebar on your keyboard.

4. You can interactively fine-tune a loop by dragging the loop start or end markers while loop playback

is engaged. As you drag a loop marker to a new location, Peak will adjust the playback loop to reflect the changes you make. You can also use the Loop Tuner to call up a dialog that allows you to visually fine tune the loop, and even play the loop while adjusting it to listen to the changes.

To change regular markers into loop markers:

1. Create markers in an audio document.

2. Double-click on the triangular base of the marker that you wish to define as the loop start point. The Edit Marker dialog appears.

3. Click the Loop Start button and click OK. The marker becomes a Loop Start marker.

4. Double-click on the triangular base of the marker that you wish to define as the loop end point. The Edit Marker dialog appears.

5. Click the Loop End button and click OK. The marker becomes a Loop End marker. You have now defined a loop in your audio document.

To move a pair of loop markers together:

• Hold down the Option key and drag one of the loop markers to the desired location. Both markers move in tandem as you drag.

or:

• Click the Horizontal Lock button in the audio document window, and drag the begin loop or end loop marker – both markers move in tandem. Be sure to turn off Horizontal Lock to move the loop markers independently.

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The Horizontal Lock button