SOUND EDITING: LAB
WHAT IS A DAW?
DAW means Digital Audio Workstation is an
electronic device or application software used
for recording, editing and
producing audio files.
Cubase is a digital audio workstation
(DAW) developed by Steinberg for
music and MIDI recording, arranging
and editing. It combines outstanding
audio quality, intuitive handling and a
collection of highly advanced audio and
MIDI tools. Cubase Pro condenses
almost three decades of Steinberg
development into the most cutting-
edge DAW anywhere. It is mostly used
by star producers and musicians for
composing, recording, mixing and
editing music. It was released in April
1989; 30 years ago.
CUBASE PRO
CUBASE PRO: FEATURES
• Chord Tracks: Helps the user keep track of chord changes, and can optionally be used to harmonize audio and MIDI
tracks automatically, as well as trigger arpeggios and chords with basic voicings or voicings for piano and guitar. Chords
can be either entered manually or detected automatically.
• Expression Maps: Adds a lane to the Key Editor (Cubase's piano roll) that allows the user to define changes to the
instrument's articulations and dynamics. In other DAWs, this requires the use of complicated MIDI program changes
and key switches.
• Note Expression: Allows MIDI controllers such as pitch bend, volume, pan, and filters to be applied only to the selected
notes. This overcomes one of the limitations of MIDI, where such controllers normally affect the entire channel (For
example, all notes of a chord are equally affected by a pitch bend message).
• Key Editor Inspector: Provides precise control over chord
drawing, chord inversions, quantization, transpositions, scale correction, note lengths, and legato. Changes can be
applied either to only the selected notes or the entire MIDI part being edited.
CUBASE PRO: ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
• Advantages of Cubase Pro is that it is more oriented to creating a fully-produced
song in a studio. It also runs on Mac which allows more people to access this
software. There are also 9 different languages available:
English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian
• Disadvantages of Cubase Pro is that it does not allows you to add different kinds of
tracks at once. It also
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation
developed and released by Avid
Technology for Microsoft Windows and
macOS which can be used for a wide
range of sound recording and sound
production purposes.
PRO TOOLS
PRO TOOLS: FEATURES
• Pro Tools works with Avid Cloud Collaboration which allows users to work with up to 10
collaborators on a single project. You can access projects from anywhere using any Pro Tools-
equipped computer.
• With Pro Tools, there are a variety of ways to edit sound, you can reshape or fix sounds and edit
tracks with flexibility and precision. The Smart Tool allows you to trim clips, edit notes and also
adding fades. Change tempo or timing on the fly with Elastic Time. You can even make bad notes
pitch-perfect with Elastic Pitch.
• It also allows you to make big mixes, with powerful recording, MIDI, and score editing tools and
much more, Pro Tools is fast and fluid for composing, editing, and mixing big productions with up
to 128 audio tracks, 512 instrument tracks, and 1,024 MIDI tracks.
• You can also easily share your tracks with Avid Link, you can quickly connect with other people
within the community
An advantage of Pro Tools is that if the user learns how to
use it properly, it allows them to have the skills to work
in many different audio environments. There are also
many online communities with the same interest and
problems, they are usually big groups and are likely to
help people who are new to the software.
PRO TOOLS:
ADVANTAGES AND
A disadvantage of Pro Tools is that is expensive and
DISADVANTAGES proprietary. You can't buy Pro Tools software on its
own. The interface functions as a physical anti-piracy key,
sometimes called a dongle. Since Pro Tools is designed for
professionals, it may take time to learn the functions of
the system. It is designed to be extremely versatile, which
means that there are tons of tools and editors and plug-
ins that you may never use.
Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation and
MIDI sequencer software application for
the macOS platform. Its initial release was
in 1993; 26 years ago (as Notator Logic).
LOGIC PRO
LOGIC PRO: FEATURES
• Available in 6 different languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Spanish.
• There are different audio effects included to add to your work, including Logic's reverb plugins,
Space Designer, which uses convolution reverb to simulate the acoustics of audio played in
different environments.
• Logic Remote can wirelessly connects your iOS device to your Mac and adds the power of Multi-
Touch control to your performances and mixes. This feature allows users to play any software
instrument in Logic Pro X from your iPad Pro, iPad or iPhone and easily shape your sound as you
go.
• You can create songs by choosing from over 7,000 included royalty-free Apple Loops that are
tagged with keywords and automatically conform to the tempo and key of your project.
LOGIC PRO: ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
• Advantages of Logic Pro is that there is a user friendly layout which allows users
to navigate through the application easier. It is also capable of very high
quality recordings which is ideal for professional people within the industry. There
is also a range of instruments and effect included which can make users work more
variable with more options to pick from to improve their work.
• Disadvantages of Logic Pro is that this can only be installed on Apple
computers which isnt very convenient for people who are looking for DAW's like
Logic Pro to suit their needs. It is also difficult to use for new users who have had
no previous experiences of using high level recording interfaces. Quite a bit of
computer memory is also used up when this is downloaded, and can be
relatively expensive.
Fl Studio has decent synths and effects
built-in, and great support for VST
Plugins. The midi piano roll and
arrangement view have very powerful
tools for editing and the mixer
is pretty full featured as well. It also
features a bunch of plugins and
workflows for drums programming. It
has very good support for keyboard
controllers, pad controllers and
some DAW/mixer controllers. This
software is mainly used for music
production.
FL STUDIO
FL STUDIO: ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
• Advantages of the software is that it is easy to use, there are many tutorial videos
online which can allow users to easily search up ways on how to work the
software if they are new to it. It also runs on Macs as well as Windows. It also
gives users the freedom to organise things the way they want it to be. This
software is also quite lightweight, and uses less power than it seems. The pricing
is also reasonable as it is affordable for musicians on their own rather than large
studios.
• Disadvantages of FL Studio is that tabs and work can easily be clustered and
disorganised.
Premiere Pro is a software that is
mainly used to create videos. It has a
clean interface which allows people of
all skill levels to navigate through the
software easily. This software is
integrated with Adobe products that
let its users transfer their works from
one software to another, so they can
edit and use their finished videos
whenever needed.
PREMIER PRO
PREMIERE PRO: FEATURES
• The Essential Graphics panel in Premiere Pro has a variety of text and graphics enhancements to
make your videos more smoother or appealing.
• Rulers and guides are also available to help users lay out their work with precision
• Color grading and effects are improved which allows faster mask tracking
• Adobe Premiere Pro is improved to support native video formats, so users don’t need to undergo
a conversion process. This means they can add videos from their device directly to the app
without converting them.
• Adobe Premiere Pro offers all of the industry standard features , It supports alpha channels , you
can customize your keyboard settings , the one feature of this product which makes it superior to
the rest is that it syncs effortlessly with the other parts of the Adobe Creative Suite.
PREMIERE PRO: ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
• Advantages of Premiere Pro is that is can track masks in 4K. There is also an
option to replace all the fonts in a video at once which saves time and is an easier
option and if the user is connected to Creative Cloud, then all the free missing
fonts will be automatically synced. It also enables users to open different projects
at once, allowing them to switch between scenes and lift clips from one project to
another which is less time-consuming.
• Disadvantages is that Premiere Pro may require a more powerful computer for it
to be downloaded on for it to run properly. It is also quite confusing to use for
new users due to the amount of controls and elements that are available, so the
price would be a little overwhelming for new users.
Final Cut Pro allows you to add as much clips
as you want
Using Final Cut Pro will enable you to transfer
projects easily. If your unfinished movie
project needs to make stops in several
production companies, it is best to use a
program that most of them are using.
Final Cut Pro itself has a wide range of
functionality. If it is big enough to handle
major motion pictures, it is capable of
handling your editing needs.
FINAL CUT PRO
FINAL CUT PRO: FEATURES
• Final Cut Pro is suited to create HD videos of the highest quality, importing HD
video into the editor is easy & flexible.
• You can import video straight from your camera or from the tape and you can
create high-quality HD videos from any media which supports the format and Final
Cut Pro is updated for use with the newest cameras & devices .
• It also offers a large number of third-party plug-ins that automate the tasks & make
them even easier. You can find third-party plug-ins which will allow you to use Final
Cut Pro with other software, even if it’s not made by Apple .
• There are a wide range of different texts and graphics background to select from,
and are simple to add into your project.
FINAL CUT PRO: ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
• Advantages of Final Cut Pro is that there are large community groups that support
Final Cut Pro and is an easy place for people to ask for help or share any thoughts
of the software. There are many forums that are user-friendly and can help new
users out.
• Disadvantages is that it is a more complex user to understand. It can
even sometimes corrupt your file if it isn’t saved properly which would then lead
to all of your work becoming lost. When you want high resolution screenshots,
you must save them as TIFF or PNG files , JPG stills can be saved out of FCPX but
they will be low resolution files.
DIFFERENT SOUND EDITING TECHNIQUES
AMBIENCE/ROOM TONE
When recording, there may be sounds in the background that are unwanted, such as vents or wind, and
would need to be removed in order for the sound to be more focused on the object or person you are
recording. However, some ambient sounds may be kept in a recording to make certain places sound more
natural.
KEYFRAMING LEVELS
Preview your track and adjust the gain accordingly. Insert your music into your timeline and listen, then work
with the levels by inserting keyframes. You can figure out the levels by adjusting the clip keyframes, or adjust
keyframes on the entire track. This is used to allow recordings to have a smoother transition.
SOUND EDITING IN VOLCANO EDIT
In my volcano edit, I have cut the different
sounds using the razor tool to make it
the approriate length for what was in the clip.
For example, there was a sound effect of
buildings falling which lasted about 20 seconds,
whereas in the clip there was a small segment
showing a building falling so I had to crop the
sound where appropriate.
There were many uses of sound in this edit, such as
explosions and fire and background music for this trailer,
so I have carefully marked out the beginning and ending
points of the sounds where I would then cut with the
razor tool and link it together with the clip. This is
effective as it made the action in the trailer more
realistic rather than keeping the sounds mute while it
was playing.
SOUND EDITING IN CAR CHASE EDIT
For this edit, I changed the shots very often to show
the driver and the car from the outside. Making the
clips change often creates an intense mood which is
what I am trying to achieve as she is being chased by
police, I wanted the audience to also feel intense. This
also makes the clip less boring as there is more than
one perspective. I have had to lower the volume on
the background music to prevent it from being louder
than the sound during the car chase.
Adding the sounds in the background had to match
the clips, for example, the sound of the acceleration of
the car should match with the video of the camera
inside the car. However, the music going over
everything was layered over everything else, so it
plays throughout the whole video without any pauses
unless necessary.
SOUND EDITING IN MAYA
For my own short film that I edited, I have gathered
some sound effects online to use. For example, I
have downloaded horror sounds to go along with
the genre of my short film which adds a sense of
mystery in the clips.
There was a scene in this film where I used a sound
effect to show the viewers that the character is
having a flashback, this was especially effective as
the sound was sharp and the change in the sound
from the flashback to the characters present were
different. I cropped the sound using the razor tool
to the appropriate length as I did not want the
sound to drag too long, and I lowered the volume
on the sound effect as it was loud and had a
noticeable sound jump from the previous clip.
