Soundtrack ignite!

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Author: Mark Abdelnour

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© 2004 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from Thomson Course Technology PTR, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. The Muska & Lipman and Thomson Course Technology PTR logo and related trade dress are trademarks of Thomson Course Technology PTR and may not be used without written permission. SVP, Course Professional, Trade, Reference Group: Andy Shafran Publisher: Stacy L. Hiquet Senior Marketing Manager: Sarah O’Donnell Marketing Manager: Heather Hurley Manager of Editorial Services: Heather Talbot Acquisitions Editor: Todd Jensen Senior Editor: Mark Garvey Associate Marketing Managers: Kristin Eisenzopf and Sarah Dubois Project Editor: Jenny Davidson Technical Reviewer: Eric Grebler Course PTR Market Coordinator: Amanda Weaver Interior Layout Tech: Bill Hartman Cover Designer: Nancy Goulet Indexer: Katherine Stimson Proofreader: Kim Benbow Soundtrack is a trademark of Apple Computer Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Important: Thomson Course Technology PTR cannot provide software support. Please contact the appropriate software manufacturer’s technical support line or Web site for assistance. Thomson Course Technology PTR and the author have attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer. Information contained in this book has been obtained by Thomson Course Technology PTR from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Thomson Course Technology PTR, or others, the Publisher does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from use of such information. Readers should be particularly aware of the fact that the Internet is an ever-changing entity. Some facts may have changed since this book went to press. Educational facilities, companies, and organizations interested in multiple copies or licensing of this book should contact the publisher for quantity discount information. Training manuals, CD-ROMs, and portions of this book are also available individually or can be tailored for specific needs. ISBN: 1-59200-428-8 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004103485 Printed in the United States of America 04 05 06 07 08 BH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Thomson Course Technology PTR, a division of Thomson Course Technology 25 Thomson Place ■ Boston, MA 02210 ■ http://www.courseptr.com

This book is dedicated to my loving wife, Heather Archibald, the miracle that is our newborn daughter, Katie Bronwyn, and my incredible family. Thanks to all of you for always being there to support me.

Acknowledgments T

his book would not have been possible without the support of the following people. Heather Archibald, my wife, for your constant love and patience. Thanks for always listening. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Heidi and George, my parents, for being the perfect role models and the best parents anyone could possibly have. You are an inspiration to your family. Katie Bronwyn, my daughter, for helping me believe in miracles. Eric Grebler, my technical editor and friend, for your graciousness and support over the years. You are a good friend. Todd Jensen, for being so easy to work with and for sharing the wonderful pictures of your family. Jenny Davidson, for your hard work, dedication, and attention to detail. Andrew L. Smith, for providing many of the files I worked with from his movie Reawakening (www.nilsix.com).

About the Author M

ark Abdelnour is an avid Soundtracker. Translation—he’s an Apple Soundtrack fanatic and uses it extensively. Mark transformed what began as a hobby into a small business, where he writes and sells music created in Soundtrack and other similar applications. From simple loops to complex scores, Mark has created and worked on numerous musical compositions for websites, Flash productions, and video. Mark has developed numerous curriculums and learning tools across a wide range of technical and non-technical topics. He recently worked on several books with topics covering operating systems, music editors, image-editing software, and hardware.

Contents at a Glance Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii Chapter 1

Installing Apple Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2

Exploring the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 3

Help… Help… I Said Help! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Chapter 4

Working with Project Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chapter 5

Managing Your Media with the Media Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 6

Moving Media Files to Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 7

Recording Your Own Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Chapter 8

Making the Audio Clips Yours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Chapter 9

Taking Your Time with the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 10

Making Your Mark with Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Chapter 11

Laying Down the Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Chapter 12

Working with Master Settings and Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Chapter 13

Understanding and Using Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

Chapter 14

Exporting and Saving Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Chapter 15

Working with Other Applications and Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Appendix A

“Building the Machina” Loop Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Appendix B

Review Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Appendix C

Additional Online Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

ix

Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii How This Book Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii Appendixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii

Chapter 1

Installing Apple Soundtrack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Reviewing System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Installing Apple Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Installing Apple Loops for Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Creating a Desktop Alias for Apple Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 2

Exploring the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Launching Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 UI (User Interface) at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Working with the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Using Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Contextual Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Working with Dialog Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Using Scroll Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Changing Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Exiting Apple Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Chapter 3

Help… Help… I Said Help! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Using Soundtrack Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Accessing Late-Breaking News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

CONTENTS

Getting Online Soundtrack Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Installing the Soundtrack Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Viewing Tooltips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 4

Working with Project Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Modifying Startup Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Saving Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Using Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Using Revert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Opening Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Opening an Existing File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Opening Recent Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Switching between Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Closing Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 5

Managing Your Media with the Media Manager . . . . 55 Using the File Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Adding Favorites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Previewing Your Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Using the Search Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Adding Directories to the Search Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Removing Directories from the Search Database . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Changing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Refining Your Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Chapter 6

Moving Media Files to Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Moving Audio Files to the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Moving Audio Files from the File Browser to the Timeline . . . . 70 Moving Audio Files from Your Favorites to an Existing Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Moving Audio Files from the Search Pane to the Timeline . . . . 74 Moving Audio Files from the Finder to the Timeline . . . . . . . . 75 Using the Audio Pane to Access Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Adding Clips to the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Selecting All Occurrences of a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Replacing Selected Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

xi

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CONTENTS

Moving Video to the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Moving Video Files from the File Browser to the Viewer Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Moving Video Files from the Media Manager Preview Window to the Video Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Chapter 7

Recording Your Own Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Setting Your Recording Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Recording a Single Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Recording Multiple Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Recording Your Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Previewing Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Navigating the Waveform Display Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Saving Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Chapter 8

Making the Audio Clips Yours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Selecting Single and Multiple Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Moving Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Drag-and-Drop Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 The Nudge Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Resizing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Duplicating an Audio Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Duplicating Multiple Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Copying and Pasting Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Paste Repeat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 Splitting Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Joining Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Removing/Deleting Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Converting a Loop to a One-Shot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Using Undo/Redo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Accessing a Clip’s File Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Chapter 9

Taking Your Time with the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Working with the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Manually Moving the Playhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Precisely Moving the Playhead Using the Time/Beat Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Moving the Playhead Frame by Frame (Video Only) . . . . . . . . 119

CONTENTS

Using the Transport Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Working with Playback Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Creating a Playback Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Adjusting a Playback Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Removing a Playback Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Moving along the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Snap To Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Adjusting the Track Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Zoom Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Splitting the Timeline into Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Global Timeline View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Working with Timeline Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Chapter 10 Making Your Mark with Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Setting Your Marker Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Adding Beat Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Adding Time Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Naming Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Moving Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Deleting Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Snapping the Playhead to a Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Working with the End-of-Project Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Moving Duration Markers Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Moving Duration Markers Precisely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Setting Your Duration Marker Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Chapter 11 Laying Down the Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Adding Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Selecting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Single Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Multiple Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Naming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Customizing the Track Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Using Soundtrack’s Track Icon Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Using Your Own Custom Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Changing the Order of the Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

xiii

xiv

CONTENTS

Working with Volume, Pan, and Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Adjusting the Track Volume Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Using the Track Mute and Solo Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Working with the Track Pan Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Transposing Individual Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Deleting/Removing Audio Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Deleting Video Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Using the Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Using the Video Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Chapter 12 Working with Master Settings and Envelopes. . . . . 169 Adjusting Overall Project Master Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Setting the Project Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Setting the Project Time Signature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Setting the Project Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Setting the Project Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Setting the Project Sample Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Setting Master Control Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Working with Envelopes at the Track Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Adjusting Volume Using Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 Adjusting Pan Using Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Working with Envelope Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Working with Envelopes at the Project Master Level . . . . . . . . . 190 Viewing Master Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Hiding Master Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Chapter 13 Understanding and Using Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Opening the Effects Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Track Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Master Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Sizing the Effects Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Adding Effects to Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Working with Effects Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Using Effects Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Using the MatrixReverb Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Using the MultibandCompressor Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

CONTENTS

Adjusting the Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Automating Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Resetting Effects to Their Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Bypassing Track Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Removing Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Closing the Effects Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Chapter 14 Exporting and Saving Your Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Exporting Your Project as a Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Exporting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Exporting Single Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Exporting Multiple Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Saving Your Work—Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Collecting Audio Files/Video Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Reconnecting Audio/Video Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Exporting to QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Chapter 15 Working with Other Applications and Formats . . . . 233 Converting Your Soundtrack Files into MP3s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Converting Your MP3s to AIFF Files for Use in Soundtrack . . . . 243 Exporting Video from Final Cut Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Importing Audio CD Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Using Media Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Using Finder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Creating Music for Flash Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Flash to QuickTime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Soundtrack to Flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Appendix A “Building the Machina” Loop Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Indexing the Soundtrack Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Saving Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Searching for Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 Dragging Clips to the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Sizing the Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Customizing the Track Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Time Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

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CONTENTS

Tasks to Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 Search, Resize, and Drag Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 How Are We Doing So Far? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Working the User Interface (UI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Master Fade Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Tasks to Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 How Are We Doing So Far? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Applying Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Tasks to Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Mission Accomplished! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Share the Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Tasks to Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Appendix B Review Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Appendix C Additional Online Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Apple User-to-User Forums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Final Cut Pro Forums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Soundtrack’s Support Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Ken Stone’s Final Cut Pro Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Soundtrack Lounge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Soundtrack Lounge’s Links Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Introduction Never played a musical instrument in your life? Don’t know anything about music? New to computer music software? You’ve come to the right place.

If you’ve ever wanted to create your own music, Apple Soundtrack is the tool that will make it possible. Imagine having a whole orchestra of instruments, not to mention vocals and sound effects, at your disposal. All you have to do is choose the ones you like, play them alongside each other, and through trial and error, you’ll create a musical masterpiece. Believe it or not, it is that easy. This book is a clear, extremely visual, step-by-step guide that will allow you to master the basics of using Apple Soundtrack. By the time you’ve read and absorbed the lessons in this book, you will have the necessary skills and confidence to take your knowledge of Apple Soundtrack to the next level. Enjoy yourself and who knows, maybe one day soon you’ll consider yourself a Soundtracker—like the rest of us Soundtrack fanatics.

How This Book Works If you’re anything like me, you enjoy learning visually rather than being overloaded with technical mumbo jumbo. In this book, you will find many screenshots coupled with clear, concise instructions, rather than page after page of boring, complex theory. In addition to the many screenshots, you will also find special boxes to highlight key issues:

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INTRODUCTION

TIP Tips provide shortcuts or hints that will help you when working with Soundtrack.

NOTE Notes offer additional information about a feature or particular steps in a lesson. Notes are that little extra I like to squeeze into the book to provide you with some additional support.

CAUTION Cautions are like what you see on the road when you are driving—warnings of potential traps, dangers, or pitfalls. These are especially important when things just don’t seem to be working right in Soundtrack.

Appendixes At the end of this book are appendixes that provide additional learning and resources. Put all your learning to the test by completing review questions and a tutorial or seek out additional support and resources by visiting the websites listed. Whether you want to create your own songs, score your home movies, or create crazy loops, have a good time and get ready to rock.

1

Installing Apple Soundtrack

Welcome to the new age of music creation. If you’re anything like me, you couldn’t wait to tear open this software, install the application, and start creating incredible music. Fortunately for all of us, Soundtrack’s installation process is very straightforward, assuming your computer meets Apple’s system requirements. Amazingly, Soundtrack also includes over 4,000 royalty-free loops and sound effects, which you may choose to install in addition to the application. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Confirm your system’s operating system (OS) version Check your system’s processor speed Check your system’s memory Confirm your system’s hard drive space Install Apple Soundtrack and Apple Loops for Soundtrack Create an Alias for Apple Soundtrack

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CHAPTER 1: INSTALLING APPLE SOUNDTRACK

Reviewing System Requirements Apple Soundtrack’s documentation warns that the Installer utility will do a system requirements check prior to installation to ensure that your computer is properly set up. Part of the minimum software requirements is that you are running Mac OS X v10.2.5 or later. You must also have a Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4 processor, 450 MHz or faster dual processor, or a 500 MHz or faster single processor. In addition, your system must have at least 384 MB of RAM (random-access memory), although 512 MB is strongly recommended. The additional RAM will greatly increase the speed at which the application performs, especially when dealing with larger video or music files. Last but not least, the application will require varying amounts of hard drive space depending on the components you choose to install. For the application and Soundtrack Loop Utility, just under 95 MB of hard drive space is required. If you choose to install all of the Soundtrack content, you are looking at over 5 GB of necessary space for all the tutorials, loops, and sound effects. As intimidating as this may appear, the following steps will detail how you can ensure your system meets all these needs.

CAUTION If you are using a different version than Mac OS X, version 10.3, dialog boxes may look slightly different and appear in a different order.

NOTE Unfortunately, if you are running a version of OS X that is lower than 10.2, you must purchase an upgrade. All 10.2 users of OS X can upgrade their operating systems for free by downloading the necessary file(s) at http://www.info.apple.com/.

REVIEWING SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

3

1. Click on the Apple icon. The Apple menu will appear.

2. Click on About This Mac. The Apple dialog box will open and reveal your system’s specifications.

3. Note the version of OS X you are using.

4. Note your computer’s processor speed.

5. Note your computer’s memory capabilities.

6. Click on the Close button. The About This Mac dialog box will close.

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Installing Apple Soundtrack Macintosh computers are well known for having straightforward installation procedures. The instructions are typically clear and easy to follow. You usually get started by simply inserting a disc into your CD-ROM drive. From that point, install wizards guide you through the remaining steps until the application is fully installed.

1. Insert the Soundtrack disc into the CD-ROM drive. A window with several icons will appear.

2. Double-click on the Before You Install Soundtrack icon. A document will appear.

INSTALLING APPLE SOUNDTRACK

5

3. Review this document prior to installing Apple Soundtrack. This document contains detailed system requirements and things you should do before moving forward with the installation.

4. Click on the Close button. The document closes and you are returned to the open window of icons on the desktop.

5. Double-click on the Install Soundtrack icon. The installation process will begin.

NOTE Depending on your OS version, you may be prompted earlier in the process to authenticate yourself by entering a user name and password.

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6. Click on Continue to allow the Installer package to run a check for system requirements.

7. Click on Continue after you’ve read through the Apple Soundtrack introduction text.

8. Click on Continue after you have read the license agreement and you agree with the terms.


7

9. Click on Agree to continue the installation.

10. Click on the appropriate destination volume to install the Soundtrack software. It will be selected.

11. Click on Continue. The installation will proceed to the next step.

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12. Click on Upgrade to select the Easy Install setup process.

13. Type your password. Depending on your operating system’s current configuration, you may or may not be presented with this password dialog box option. 14. Click on OK. The software will begin installing.


9

15. Click on Close. The installation process for the Soundtrack application is complete.

16. Click on OK after reading further instructions regarding the Apple Loops for Soundtrack install.

NOTE To remove the Soundtrack CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive, simply Ctrl + click the Soundtrack CD-ROM icon on the desktop and select the Eject “Soundtrack” command from the menu.

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Installing Apple Loops for Soundtrack Once you’ve installed the Soundtrack application, a separate installation is required for the 4000+ royalty-free loops and sound effects. These are all contained on one DVD-ROM entitled Apple Loops for Soundtrack. In order to install the contents of this DVD-ROM, you must have a DVD drive and approximately 4 GB (gigabytes) of hard drive space available.

NOTE Not enough space for the loops? Four gigabytes of hard drive space isn’t anything to sneeze at. No problem. You can still access the thousands of loops directly from the DVD-ROM using the Soundtrack Media Manager—without having to take up valuable hard drive space. Later chapters will cover this method in more detail.

1. Insert the Apple Loops for Soundtrack disc into the CDROM drive. A window with two icons will appear. TIP You may need to scroll down or enlarge the window in order to see both files.

2. Double-click on the Install Apple Loops for Soundtrack icon. The installation process will begin.

INSTALLING APPLE LOOPS FOR SOUNDTRACK

11

3. Click on Continue to allow the Installer package to run a check for system requirements.

4. Click on Continue after you’ve read through the Apple Soundtrack introduction text.

5. Click on Continue after you have read the license agreement and you agree with the terms.

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6. Click on Agree to continue the installation.

7. Click on the appropriate destination volume to install the Apple Loops for Soundtrack software. It will be selected. 8. Click on Continue. The installation will proceed to the next step.

INSTALLING APPLE LOOPS FOR SOUNDTRACK

13

9. Click on Install to begin the setup process.

10. Type your password. Depending on your operating system’s current configuration, you may or may not be presented with this password dialog box option.

11. Click on Install. The software will begin installing.

14


12. Click on Close. The installation process for the Apple Loops for Soundtrack software is complete.

Creating a Desktop Alias for Apple Soundtrack An Alias is an icon that acts as a shortcut or link to an application on your hard drive. Double-clicking on an Alias starts the application, even though the program icon may be buried deep in a complex directory structure. Creating Aliases for your favorite or most often used applications is extremely convenient and a great time saver as well.

CREATING A DESKTOP ALIAS FOR APPLE SOUNDTRACK

15

1. Click on the Finder icon on the OS X Dock. The Finder window will appear.

2. Click on Applications. All the system’s applications will appear.

3. Click on the Soundtrack icon. Depending on your View setting, information regarding the application will appear in a column to the right of the Applications list.

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4. Click on File. The File menu will appear.

5. Click on Make Alias. A Soundtrack Alias file will appear in the Applications list.

6. Click and drag the Soundtrack Alias file to the desktop behind the Finder window. You will now have a shortcut on the desktop that you can use to access the program. NOTE During installation, you may receive a warning that your QuickTime version needs to be upgraded. Visit Apple at http://www.apple.com/ quicktime/ to download the upgrade.

2

Exploring the User Interface

Would you visit a foreign country without first researching some of its languages, cultures, and attractions? Would you wander around a strange city without a map? Exploring and understanding an application’s user interface is extremely important because it lays the groundwork for how you work with the software to complete your projects. The tools and techniques covered in this chapter will serve as an excellent introduction to Soundtrack and best prepare you for the remaining chapters. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Launch Soundtrack Navigate the user interface Change layouts Exit Soundtrack

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CHAPTER 2: EXPLORING THE USER INTERFACE

Launching Soundtrack Let’s quickly get to work using Soundtrack by first launching or starting the application. Although there are numerous ways to launch this application, the following steps will outline one of the launch methods in detail.

1. Click on the Finder icon on the left side of the Dock. The Finder window will appear.

2. Click on the Applications icon in the left column of the Finder window. A list of applications currently installed on the system will appear. NOTE Depending on the version of your OS, the dialog boxes may appear slightly different. In this case, the Applications icon may appear along the top of the Finder window as opposed to the left column.

UI (USER INTERFACE) AT A GLANCE

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3. Double-click on Soundtrack. You may need to scroll down through the list of applications until you see it. The Apple Soundtrack application window will appear.

NOTE If you followed the steps covered in Chapter 1 for creating an Alias, you could have simply doubleclicked the Soundtrack Alias icon on the desktop to launch the application.

UI (User Interface) at a Glance When you first launch Soundtrack, you may be caught offguard by the UI’s simplicity in terms of layout. The user interface consists of a variety of elements, each performing different functions as you work through your projects. Although later chapters will provide more detail, let’s familiarize ourselves with the UI and its two main areas of functionality.

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• Media Manager. The central location of the user interface, where you search for, preview, and access the audio and video files you will be using for your projects. • Project workspace. The project workspace is where you arrange all the audio and video files from the Media Manager to form a musical soundtrack.

Working with the User Interface The work area in Soundtrack includes a menu bar like other Macintosh applications, as well as dialog boxes and panes that organize the tools you’ll be working with. The following steps will outline how to use these tools in the most effective ways.

Using Menus There is a list of commands within a menu bar located at the top of the Soundtrack user interface. Accessing these commands is as simple as a click of the mouse button.

WORKING WITH THE USER INTERFACE

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1. Click on a menu name. The menu will open.

2. Click on a command. The command will be executed. Beside some of the menu commands you may notice symbols or icons. Each of these items represent something different.

• Arrow. If the command name has a small arrowhead or triangle next to it, a submenu will typically appear. Submenus allow you to further select related commands. • Keyboard shortcut. On the far right side of a menu command, you may notice a keyboard shortcut or key plus a modifier combination. Most of the menu commands can be accessed more quickly using these shortcut key combinations. • Three dots. If the command name is followed by three dots (ellipsis), typically a dialog box will appear.

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Contextual Menus A quick way to access menu functions is to use the on-screen contextual menus. With a click of the mouse button, you can gain access to several commonly used commands for that functional area of the application.

1. Ctrl + click (or right-click) an area of the interface. A contextual menu will appear providing options specific to that area. TIP Only certain areas of the application offer contextual menus. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to determine where they exist, except for trial and error.

2. Click on a desired menu command. The command will be executed.

Working with Dialog Boxes Dialog boxes typically group like commands together in one centralized location. They are usually represented by a small window that appears on-screen, requiring some sort of action or decision.


23

1. Click on Soundtrack. The Soundtrack menu will appear.

2. Click on Preferences. The Preferences dialog box will open. As mentioned earlier, whenever a menu command is followed by an ellipsis, it indicates that a dialog box will open when executed. Dialog boxes, windows, and panes in Soundtrack always include one or more of the following choices: • Option button. Click on the option button to select one choice over another in that group. • Pop-up menu. A menu that, when closed, displays the selected choice and can be opened to present a list of mutually exclusive choices in a window or dialog. Pop-up menus are typically represented by a double triangle indicator. • Check box. When making choices, you can either select or deselect check boxes to show your preference regarding a function.

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3. Click on the Project pane. The Project pane will come to the front. • Pane. Click on the desired pane within a dialog or window to see more related content. • Text box. Click within a text box and start typing as you would in any word processor. • Slider. Drag the slider control to set a value in a range.

4. Click on the Recording pane. The Recording pane will come to the front. • Command button. Click on a command button to select it and perform a specific action. • Close button. Click on the Close button to remove any open window.

5. Click on the Close button. The Preferences dialog box will close.


25

Using Scroll Bars Scroll bars are the vertical or horizontal bars in the Soundtrack user interface that are used to move to different locations on the window. Depending on your display settings and the length or complexity of your projects, getting from A to B is as easy as a click and drag using the scroll bars. The following steps outline two methods of scrolling in Soundtrack.

1. Click on any area of a scroll bar to move up or down or left or right. Depending on where you click, there will be an incremental change in that direction.

2. Position your mouse pointer over the scroll bar.

3. Click and drag the scroll bar. The window will scroll smoothly in the direction you choose.

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Changing Layouts Soundtrack allows for some customization of the user interface by giving the user control over the windows and their layout. You can have them joined as one single window or separate them into two. Having two distinct windows is especially convenient when working with other applications in the background. The following steps will detail how you can separate windows, create a single window, and hide windows in the Soundtrack user interface.

1. Click on View. The View menu will appear.

2. Point to Layouts. The Layouts submenu will appear. 3. Click on Separate Windows. The windows will separate into two distinct areas, revealing the Mac OS desktop or any open applications in the background.


5. Point to Layouts. The Layouts submenu will appear. 6. Click on Single Window. Soundtrack will connect the windows into one distinct area.

CHANGING LAYOUTS

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8. Point to Layouts. The Layouts submenu will appear.

9. Click on Hide Media Manager. Soundtrack will hide the Media Manager.



12. Click on Single Window. Soundtrack will redisplay the Media Manager.

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Exiting Apple Soundtrack Every beginning has an end and that goes for Apple Soundtrack as well. When you’ve finished working in Soundtrack and you want to quit the application, simply follow these steps.

1. Click on Soundtrack. The Soundtrack menu will open. 2. Click on Quit Soundtrack. The Soundtrack application will close.

NOTE A Save dialog may appear prior to the application closing, reminding you to save your work. Saving your projects will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.

TIP Rather than using the menus to quit Soundtrack, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + Q.

3

Help… Help… I Said Help!

Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of the big reference-style user manuals that are included with software packages. On-screen or online help has always been my preferred way to quickly get the answers to my questions, without having to get the manual currently being used as a door stop in my basement. Although Soundtrack is easy to use, you can’t possibly remember everything. Not only does Soundtrack offer the help you need with a searchable on-screen manual, it also keeps you current with the latest Soundtrack news, quick access to Soundtrack’s website, Tooltips, and last but not least, two informative tutorials. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Use Soundtrack Help View late-breaking news about Soundtrack Get online support Install the Soundtrack tutorials View Tooltips

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CHAPTER 3: HELP… HELP… I SAID HELP!

Using Soundtrack Help Although Soundtrack includes a paper-based user manual, people who prefer finding their help on-screen, like me, can do so by accessing the electronic version of this manual, which is fully searchable. The following steps will guide you through accessing and searching the Soundtrack Help contents.

1. Click on Help. The Help menu will open.

2. Click on Soundtrack Help. The Soundtrack Help file will open in a Preview viewer on your system.

NOTE The following steps assume you are using the Preview viewer available in OS X to display your Help files. If you are using Adobe Acrobat as your viewer, the steps below will be slightly different.

USING SOUNDTRACK HELP

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3. Click on the Drawer icon (if it is not already open). A drawer will open on the right side of the Help window.

4. Click on a Topic link. The Help topic will open on the left side of the window.

5. Click on the Page Down icon. A new page for that topic will appear.

6. Review the Help. Continue to navigate the Help area if the topic selected does not resolve the issue you are experiencing.

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7. Click on Index. An index for the online Help manual will appear in the left window.

8. Click on the Page Down icon to search through the index for the topic you need help on. 9. Click on the desired topic. The main page will display the help for you to read.

NOTE In order to click on linked topics in the index list, you must be in Text Tool mode. Access this tool from the Tools menu while viewing the Soundtrack Help file.

USING SOUNDTRACK HELP

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10. Click in the Search box. A flashing insertion point will appear.

NOTE If you are using Adobe Acrobat, you will instead click on the Find button on the Toolbar to activate the search capabilities.

11. Type the term to search for in the Search box. As you type, each occurrence of that word(s) will appear with page numbers in the list below.

12. Click to select the desired occurrence from the list in order to view that topic. The selected page and topic will appear in the main Help document on the left.

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13. Click on Preview. The Preview menu appears.

14. Click on Quit Preview. The Help file and the Preview viewer will close.

Accessing Late-Breaking News Apple has also included an on-screen document that lists any late-breaking information about Soundtrack that didn’t make it into the Help files or documentation. Some of these notes are extremely helpful, and I recommend you review them once you’ve become more acquainted with this application.

1. Click on Help. The Help menu will appear.

2. Click on Late-Breaking News. The document will appear in the Preview viewer on your system.

ACCESSING LATE-BREAKING NEWS

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3. Click on the Page Down icon. A new page will appear.

4. Click on the Zoom In icon. The Preview window will zoom in on the page.

5. Click on the Zoom Out icon. The Preview window will zoom out on the page.

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6. Click on Preview. The Preview menu appears.

7. Click on Quit Preview. The Preview window will close.

Getting Online Soundtrack Support Whenever I truly need the latest and greatest support for any of the software I purchase, I always venture to that application’s website. In this case, visiting the Soundtrack pages on the Apple website is a definite must. From these pages, you will have access to product updates (fixing pesky bugs that may exist), tips and tricks, training, and third-party resources that are available to assist you further if required.

GETTING ONLINE SOUNDTRACK SUPPORT

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1. Click on Help. The Help menu will appear.

2. Click on Soundtrack Help. The Soundtrack Help file will open in a Preview viewer on your system.

3. Click on Soundtrack website. The default web browser for your system will load. Once you are connected to the Internet (depending on how your system is currently set up for Internet access), your browser will automatically take you to Soundtrack’s pages on the Apple website.

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4. Click on a link on the Soundtrack support website to locate the support you need. Apple’s website will show all the related information. Continue searching online for any other areas in which you may require assistance or information.

5. Click on Safari (substitute Safari for your default web browser). The Safari menu will open. 6. Click on Quit Safari. The web browser will close.

7. Disconnect from the Internet if required.

INSTALLING THE SOUNDTRACK TUTORIALS

39

Installing the Soundtrack Tutorials In what seems to be a positive growing trend with software these days, Apple Soundtrack includes two tutorials that serve as excellent hands-on introductions to the software. These tutorials cover “Creating a Score for a Video” and “Creating a Musical Composition.” Installing the tutorials is easy but does require approximately 75 megabytes of free space on your hard disk. The following steps will get you up and running with the installation of these tutorials.

1. Insert the Soundtrack disc into the CD-ROM drive. A window with several icons will appear.

2. Click and drag the Soundtrack Tutorials icon to your preferred hard drive location. A copy of the folder will appear in this new location.

3. Click on the Close button. The window will close.

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4. Double-click on the Soundtrack Tutorials icon. A window containing two icons will appear.

5. Double-click on the Soundtrack Tutorial icon (PDF). The Preview viewer for your system will launch, displaying the tutorial document.

VIEWING TOOLTIPS

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6. Follow the Tutorial steps using the Page Up and Page Down icons to navigate through the document.

CAUTION It’s a good idea to complete the tutorials in order. The second tutorial builds on information learned in the first.

Viewing Tooltips Tooltips provide a short description of a tool’s function, immediately on-screen—without having to consult the software’s Help documentation. Tooltips are also sometimes known as context-sensitive help. All you have to do is point, and help is on the way! Wouldn’t you love it if everything in life had a Tooltip? • Position your mouse pointer over an icon, button, or tool and pause. A Tooltip will appear in a text field below or above the pointer.


4

Working with Project Files

The musical masterpieces that you will soon be creating in Soundtrack are called project files. These project files may contain several media items, including loops, effects, one-shots, and video. Before you can begin assembling your own scores, it is important for you to understand the basics of how to handle project files. Can you imagine creating an incredible song and not knowing how to save or open it? In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Create new projects Modify startup behavior Save projects Revert to last saved project Open and close existing projects Switch between projects

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CHAPTER 4: WORKING WITH PROJECT FILES

Creating a New Project When you launch Soundtrack, it automatically starts with a blank, new project. This allows you get to work a lot quicker without having to select from several dialog options. If you want to work on multiple files at once, you can easily start a new project, as detailed here.


2. Click on New. A blank, new project will open on-screen.

Modifying Startup Behavior If you prefer that Soundtrack launch and automatically open the last project you worked on, follow the steps detailed here.


2. Click on Preferences. The Preferences dialog box will open.

SAVING PROJECTS

45

3. Click on the General pane. The General pane will come to the front.

4. Click on the Last Project option. The Last Project option will be selected.

5. Click on the Close button. The dialog box will close.

Saving Projects How many times have you been working and suddenly your system freezes or crashes? If you hadn’t saved your file before the crash, you most likely lost everything. Saving your work is an essential step in any software application. Soundtrack saves projects with the extension .LOOP. The following steps lead you through how to save a project in Soundtrack.

1. Click on File. The File menu will appear. 2. Click on Save. The Save dialog box will open.

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3. Navigate to the folder where you want to save your project. You may need to do one or more of the following steps in order to find the desired location. • Click on the Expand triangle button if the dialog box isn’t already expanded. The Save dialog box will expand to show more options and file lists. • Click on the pop-up menu just below the Save As text box, then click on the name for the disk or folder where you want to save your project.

• Double-click on folder icons in the list to navigate to the desired folder location. • Click the List view button to display a different folder layout. • Click on the Back or Forward buttons to navigate further through the different folder locations.

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4. Double-click on the Save As text box entry, then type a descriptive name for this project.

5. Click on Save. The Save dialog box will close. Soundtrack has saved the file and the project remains on-screen.

NOTE The Save dialog box will appear only on the first save of the project. All subsequent saves will automatically save to the same file name without the dialog box appearing. To force the appearance of the Save dialog box, you must use the Save As feature.

Using Save As You can save new versions of the project you are working on by using the Save As command. This involves saving versions of the project using different file names and to potentially different locations. This is especially useful when you are working on large projects and backup copies are required.

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2. Click on Save As. The Save As dialog box will open.

3. Navigate to the folder in which you want to save your project. This may or may not be the same folder in which the original file is saved. (See “Saving Projects” earlier in this chapter for assistance navigating folders.)

4. Double-click on the Save As text box entry, then type a different descriptive name for this project.

5. Click on Save. The Save As dialog box will close. Soundtrack has saved the file with a new file name and it remains on-screen.

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CAUTION When you save a project in Soundtrack, it is important to note that only “pointers” to all the media files you are using are saved and not the actual files. If, by chance, a media file is removed from your system, the project will no longer play properly. Soundtrack does include features that allow for the files to be collectively saved with the project. This will be explained in Chapter 14, “Exporting and Saving Your Work.”

Using Revert In my opinion, this feature is one of the application’s best kept secrets. It allows you to revert or go back to the state your project was in when you last saved it. There have been many cases in which I would save my work, then go off on a creative voyage, adding and deleting loops from my projects just to discover that I made a tremendous mess of what could have been something good—if I had only shown some control. Reverting to my last saved version of that file saves me every time.

1. Click on File. The File menu appears.

2. Click on Revert. A Revert dialog box appears.

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3. Click on Revert. The project will revert to the most recently saved version of the project you are working on.

CAUTION All your current changes will be lost if they were performed after you last saved your project.

Opening Projects Some people think opening files is as a lot harder than saving them. The main reason is that most people forget where they saved their files, making it more difficult and time-consuming to find and open them. There are two main ways to open projects in Soundtrack. One is fairly standard while the other is a true time saver.

Opening an Existing File Once you’ve saved and closed the projects you were working on, you can later reopen them to view or modify them. The following steps will show how you can open an existing project using the menus in Soundtrack.

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2. Click on Open. The Open dialog box will open.

3. Navigate to the appropriate project location. The project will appear in the Name list. 4. Click on the desired project file. The project name and date will become highlighted in the list. 5. Click on Open. The project will open in Soundtrack.

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Opening Recent Projects Just in case you lose sight of a recently saved project, Soundtrack remembers by providing quick access in its Open Recent command. Even if you know where the project file is located, it is almost always quicker to open files using this method.


2. Point to Open Recent. A submenu will appear.

3. Click on the name of the project file you are looking for in the submenu. The project will open in Soundtrack.

TIP If you would prefer to clear your Open Recent list, click on the File menu, point to the Open Recent command, and then click on the Clear Menu command. Your list will remain cleared until your next Save activity.

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Switching between Projects For all you multitaskers out there, you can have multiple projects open in Soundtrack and work back and forth between them. This is ideal for sharing information or when comparing projects. To avoid the potential racket multiple projects playing at the same time would make, Soundtrack allows only one project to be active at a time. The following steps detail how to switch between open projects and select a new active project.

1. Click on Window. The Window menu will appear.

2. Click on the project name to display. The selected file becomes the active project and moves to the front in Soundtrack.

TIP In order to tell which project is the active project, click on Window, and you will see that it has a checkmark next to it.

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Closing Projects There will always come a time when you need to close a project you are working on. This is especially true when you are working on multiple projects at the same time. If you forget to save your file before closing, you will always be prompted as a reminder. The following two methods will step you through closing projects in Soundtrack.


2a. Click on Close. A Save reminder message may appear. OR

2b. Click on the Close button in the top-left corner of the Project window. A Save reminder message may appear. 3. Click on Save if prompted. The project will save and close.

5

Managing Your Media with the Media Manager

I like to think of the Media Manager as a big warehouse full of musical instruments. The Media Manager is the source of all the audio and video files you will be using in your Soundtrack projects. You will use the Media Manager to access files on your own computer, and to search for loops and sound effects. Once you locate the files you want to use, you can preview them, add them as Favorites for quicker access, and then drag them to the project workspace to assemble your score. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Locate files using the File Browser Add Favorites Preview your files Search for loops and sound effects

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CHAPTER 5: MANAGING YOUR MEDIA WITH THE MEDIA MANAGER

Using the File Browser There are three ways to locate files using the Media Manager. The first way, using the File Browser, allows you to navigate the drives connected to your system and retrieve the files you need. Similar to the Mac OS X Finder application, this method requires having a good idea of where the files are stored before having the ability to preview and then add them to your project. The steps listed here demonstrate how you can access the File Browser, navigate through your drives, and select a media file for your project.

1. Click on the File Browser pane. The File Browser pane will come to the front.

2. Click on the Path pop-up menu. The Path pop-up menu will open.

3. Click on the desired location for the file. The path will be selected and display in the popup menu. 4. Double-click on the desired folder in which the file is stored. The folder structure will move down a level.

5. Click on the Back and Forward buttons to navigate through the file list to search and retrieve desired audio/video files.

6. Click on the desired file. The file will be selected.

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Adding Favorites Another way of locating files in the Media Manager is by using Favorites. Think of a Favorite as a quick link to a file. Similar to Bookmarks or Favorites in web browsers, this is a faster way of getting to a file without having to search or navigate through folders. This is especially useful for files you will use multiple times across projects.


2. Click on Add Favorite. The button will change to Remove Favorite.

3. Click on the Favorites pane. The Favorites pane will come to the front. The file you selected will appear in this list.

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Previewing Your Audio Files Depending on the type of file you are accessing from the Media Manager, you may want to preview it prior to adding it to your project. One of the best things about Soundtrack is its ability to preview a file while simultaneously playing your project in the project workspace. The following steps show how to preview a file, view its information, and use the preview controls.

1. Click on the File Browser pane. The File Browser pane will come to the front. 2. Navigate to the file location that you want to preview. The desired file will be displayed in the file list. 3. Click on the audio file you want to preview. The file will be selected, and the audio will preview automatically.

4. Click on the Additional Info arrow. Additional information about this file will appear. NOTE To preview video, follow the same steps as audio except double-click the video file in the File Browser, or you can click it once, and then click Play in the preview controls area to see and hear it.

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5. Drag the volume control slider right to increase the volume or left to decrease the volume.

6. Click on the Mute button. The button will gray, and the audio will be muted.

7. Click on the Mute button again. The audio will return.

8. Click on the Stop button. The audio will stop.

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Using the Search Pane With over 4 GB of loops and effects available, you’d better believe that a search utility exists to help you find what you are looking for. The Search pane allows you to search for audio files based on criteria you select from the various options available. Examples of searchable criteria include time signature, instrument type, genre, scale type, and keywords.

Adding Directories to the Search Database When Soundtrack is searching for audio based on your selected criteria, it searches through indexed directories of volumes and folders. In order for Soundtrack to find what you are looking for, you must first add the appropriate directories for it to index. For example, if you had a new library of loops you wanted to add to Soundtrack’s search engine, you would first have to index the library so that it would be included in future searches. This is also how you set up the Search database to see the 3000+ royalty-free loops and effects from the DVR-ROM—without having to install them and take up valuable hard drive space. Use the following steps to add a directory in the Search database.

1. Click on the Search pane. The Search pane will come to the front. 2. Click on Setup. The Setup dialog box will open. 3. Click on the Add Directory (plus sign) button. The Open dialog box will open.

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4. Navigate to the appropriate directory location. The directory will appear in the File window.

5. Click on Open. The directory will appear in the Setup dialog box.

6. Click on Index Now. The Index Now button will lighten while the directory is indexed.

7. Click on Done. The Setup dialog box will close.

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Removing Directories from the Search Database If you want to reduce the number of locations Soundtrack searches through for files, you can remove directories from the index list by following these steps:

1. Click on the Search pane. The Search pane will come to the front.

2. Click on Setup. The Setup dialog box will open.

3. Click on the directory that you would like to remove. The directory will be selected. 4. Click on the Remove Directory (minus sign) button. The directory will be removed from the index list. 5. Click on Done. The Setup dialog box will close.


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Changing Views Soundtrack allows for two different views when searching for files. One isn’t necessarily better than the other; they simply function in different ways. The following steps show how you can switch between views in the Search pane.


2. Click on the Buttons View icon, if it is not already selected. The display changes to show a collection of keyword buttons as opposed to lists.

3. Click on a Keyword button. The button darkens and the search results box is populated with loops and sound effects.

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4. Click on the Columns View button. The display changes to show a Keyword list set up in two columns.

5. Click on the down arrow to scroll through the different options available. The keywords will move down.

6. Click on the desired keyword in the Keyword list. A list of matches will appear on the right. 7. Click on the down arrow to scroll through the available options. The matches list will move down.


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8. Click on the desired match in the matches list. A list of associated matches will appear in the search results box below.

Refining Your Search By simply using the Columns view, you are in fact already refining your search. Each match that appears narrows the scope of your search. You can further refine your searches by using the Time Signature and Scale Type pop-up menus, as well as the Refine Search feature.

1. Click on the Buttons View icon. The display changes to show a collection of keyword buttons.

2. Click on a Keyword button. The button darkens, and the search results box will populate with loops and sound effects related to that keyword selection.

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3. Click on the Time Signature pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

4. Click on the desired time signature setting. The pop-up menu will close, and the new time signature setting will be displayed. The search results will be further refined, depending on your selection.

5. Click on the Scale Type popup menu. The pop-up menu will appear. 6. Click on the desired scale type. The pop-up menu will close, and the new scale type setting will be displayed. The search results will be further refined, depending on your selection.


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7. Type text in the Refine Search field. Your text will appear in the Search field.

8. Press the Enter key. The search results area will be even further refined.

9. Click on the desired loop or sound effect in the results list. The audio file will be selected, and the preview will play. Please refer to this chapter’s section entitled “Previewing Your Audio Files” for further information on how to work within the preview controls area.

TIP To narrow your search to results starting with a certain letter, simply type that letter in the Refine Search field and press Enter. You can also enter partial words in the Refine Search field to narrow your searches, like “perc” instead of “percussion.”

TIP You can see each search result’s tempo, key, beats, and hints if you scroll to the right in the search results area.


6

Moving Media Files to Your Project

Since you’ve now gone through the steps of locating and previewing the files you want to use in your projects, it is now time to put them into action. To do this, you must select the desired files in the Media Manager or Viewer and then drag and drop them into your project. This is where the fun truly begins. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Move audio files to the Timeline Access audio from the Viewer’s Audio pane Select and replace audio files using the Audio pane Move video to the Timeline

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CHAPTER 6: MOVING MEDIA FILES TO YOUR PROJECT

Moving Audio Files to the Timeline There are many ways to move or add audio files to your project’s Timeline. The following three methods can be used interchangeably, depending on your preferences.

Moving Audio Files from the File Browser to the Timeline Every new Soundtrack project begins with a fresh, empty track in the project workspace’s Timeline. A track is a horizontal row that contains your loops and sound files. The following steps will show you how to drag audio files from the File Browser to an empty track in your project.

1. Click on the File Browser pane. The File Browser pane will come to the front. 2. Navigate to the location in which the desired audio file is located. The desired file will be displayed in the Name list. 3. Click on the desired file. The file will be selected.

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4. Click and drag the desired file from the Name list to the empty track in the Timeline. As you enter the Timeline, the mouse pointer will turn into a green circle with a plus sign in it.

NOTE Depending on your version of OS X and Apple Soundtrack, the mouse pointer may not appear as a green circle but rather a cursor with a plus sign.

5. Release the mouse button and drop the file at the top of the Timeline. Track information will update and the audio clip will appear in the Timeline.

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TIP You can also drag audio files directly from the Additional Info area of the Media Manager Preview window to the Timeline. Preview volume settings are retained when using this method.

Moving Audio Files from Your Favorites to an Existing Track Each time you move a file from the Media Manager to your project Timeline, it will create a new track for that file unless you drop the file into an existing track. Tracks will be explained in more detail in Chapter 11, “Laying Down the Tracks.” The following steps will describe how to drag an audio file from your Favorites window to an existing track in the Timeline.

1. Click on the Favorites pane. The Favorites pane will come to the front.

2. Click on the desired file from the Favorites list. The file will be selected.


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3. Click and drag the file to the project Timeline. As you enter the Timeline, the mouse pointer will turn into a green circle with a plus sign in it.

4. Release the mouse and drop the file into an existing track to the right of any existing waveform (to avoid any overlap). The track information will not change, but a new waveform will appear in that track’s Timeline.

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Moving Audio Files from the Search Pane to the Timeline The following steps will describe how you can drag audio files from the Search pane to the Timeline, below all existing tracks, in order to create a new track. You will most likely create new tracks when new instruments or sound effects are introduced in your project. Projects can hold up to 127 tracks plus one video track.

1. Click on the Search pane. The Search pane will appear.

2. Search for a desired loop or sound effect. A Search Results list will appear. 3. Click on the desired file in the Search Results list. The file will be selected. TIP If you need help using the Search pane, see Chapter 5.

4. Click and drag the desired file into the project Timeline. As you enter the Timeline, the mouse pointer will turn into a green circle with a plus sign in it.


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5. Release the mouse and drop the file just below any existing tracks in the Timeline. A new track will be created, and the audio clip will appear within it.

Moving Audio Files from the Finder to the Timeline You can also drag audio files from the Finder window into your project’s Timeline. The following steps explain how to do so.

1. Click on the Finder icon in the OS X Dock. The Finder window will open and appear in front of the Soundtrack application.

2. Navigate to the file location. The desired file will be displayed in the file list.

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3. Click and drag the audio file from the folder list to your project’s Timeline. The audio file will appear in an existing or new track, depending on your needs.

4. Click on the Close button. The Finder window will close.

Using the Audio Pane to Access Clips The Audio pane is the hidden gem of this application. Neatly tucked away behind the Video pane in the Viewer, the Audio pane displays all the audio clips in that active project.

Adding Clips to the Timeline You can access clips from the Audio pane at any time and use them over and over in your project without having to drag files from the Media Manager or duplicate existing clips. The following steps will show how you can drag a clip from the Audio pane and then move it to the Timeline.

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1. Click on the Audio pane. The Audio pane will come to the front.

2. Click and drag a clip from the Audio pane to a track on the Timeline. The clip will appear in the Timeline.

Selecting All Occurrences of a Clip If you want to find and select all the instances of a specific clip in your project, look no further. Any clip in the Audio pane can be located and automatically selected in the Timeline in a matter of seconds, avoiding the need to scroll through your composition wasting valuable time.

1. Control + click a clip in the Audio pane. A contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Select All Occurrences of. All instances of that specific clip will be selected in the Timeline.

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Replacing Selected Clips Let’s say you’ve used a certain clip multiple times throughout your composition. You then realize that a different clip would sound much better in its place. The Replace feature will save you a lot of time.

1. Control + click the clip in the Audio pane that you want to replace. A contextual menu will appear. 2. Click on Select All Occurrences of. All instances of that specific clip will be selected in the Timeline.

3. Control + click the clip that you want to replace it with. A context menu will appear.

4. Click on Replace Selected Loops With. All instances of the first clip will be replaced with the second clip.

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Moving Video to the Timeline Although the steps for this process are very similar to moving and adding audio files to the Timeline, the big difference is where you drop the file in the project workspace.

Moving Video Files from the File Browser to the Viewer Window In this example, video files are moved to a location in the project workspace called the Viewer window. The Viewer window allows you to display and play the video while you create a score in the Timeline—simultaneously.


2. Navigate to the location where the desired video file is located. The desired file will be displayed in the Name list.


4. Click on the Play button in the Preview window. The video file will play.

5. Click on the Stop button. The video file will stop playing.

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6. Click on the Video pane. The Video pane will come to the front.

7. Click and drag the file from the Name list to the Viewer window in the project workspace. The Viewer window will display a blue highlighted outline.

8. Release the mouse and video file in the Viewer window. Soundtrack will display the first frame of the video file in the Viewer window. If the video has audio, a new audio track will appear in the Timeline.

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Moving Video Files from the Media Manager Preview Window to the Video Track You can also drag video from the Preview window in the Media Manager to the video track area of the Timeline. You will notice that the Viewer window is immediately updated to display the video that you dropped into the video track.


2. Navigate to the location where the desired video file is located. The desired file will be displayed in the Name list.

3. Click on the file. The file will be selected and will appear in the Preview window.

4. Click and drag the desired file from the Preview window to the video track area of the Timeline. The pointer will change into a green circle with a plus sign in it.

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5. Release the mouse and video file in the video track area. The first frame of the video file will be displayed in the Viewer window as well as in the video track area of the Timeline. If the video has associated audio, a new audio track will appear in the Timeline.

NOTE Soundtrack will support QuickTime-compatible file formats. You can insert QuickTime (.mov) or MPEG-2 (.m2v) video files into your projects.

7

Recording Your Own Audio Files

Soundtrack’s extensive libraries of music only include a handful of actual vocals. It leaves that part up to you. Imagine recording your own voice and then playing it back along with the musical compositions you create. You can also record any instruments you play. With Soundtrack’s built-in recording features, you are that much closer to becoming a recording star. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Set recording preferences Record single takes and multiple takes Preview takes Save takes Navigate the Waveform Display window

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CHAPTER 7: RECORDING YOUR OWN AUDIO FILES

Setting Your Recording Preferences Before you begin recording, there are preferences you should set that will ensure everything goes as planned and works properly. The following will detail the steps required to set up your microphone, audio controllers, fade times, and file save locations.


2. Click on Preferences. The Preferences dialog will open.

3. Click on the Recording pane. The Recording pane will come to the front.

4. Click on the Input pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will open. This controls what type of microphone you are using to record your sounds.

5. Click on the appropriate microphone. The microphone selection will display in the popup menu.

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6. Click on the Monitor pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will open. This controls what you will be using to listen to your recordings.

7. Click on the appropriate sound controller choice. The sound controller selection will display in the pop-up menu.

8. Click on the Fade-in / Fadeout pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will open. This controls that amount of time a fade will occur at the beginning and end of your recordings.

9. Click on the desired number of milliseconds. The amount will display in the pop-up menu.

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10. Click on Choose. A dialog box will open. This dialog box controls where your session files or recordings will be saved.

11. Navigate to the desired save location. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list. 12. Click on Open. The dialog box will close. The Sessions Location path will be updated in the Preferences dialog box to reflect your selected save location.

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13. Click on the Close button. The Preferences dialog box will close.

TIP Keep an eye on your hard drive space when you are recording your own audio. In some cases, depending on your settings, each minute of recorded time can take up to 10 MB of hard drive space. Make sure to select a sessions location in which you know you will have enough room to play.

Recording a Single Take Soundtrack provides two methods of recording audio: single-take recordings and multiple-take recordings. Singletake recordings allow for audio to be recorded and then immediately inserted into the Timeline of your project. Multiple-take recordings allow for several takes or versions of a recording to be saved, previewed, and then inserted into your projects—depending on the take you like. The following steps will detail how to create a single-take recording.

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1. Click on the Record button in the transport controls. The Single Take Recording dialog box will open.

2. Type the name of the file you will be recording in the Session Name text box entry. 3. Note the amount of hard drive space available for recording. 4. Click on the Record/Stop button. The application will begin recording. 5. Speak, sing, or play an instrument into your system’s microphone. The application will record the sounds. CAUTION Stay out of the red! Clipping is an audio term that describes an audio signal that is distorted. On the right side of the Single Take Recording dialog box, there are audio meters. If clipping occurs, the meters will turn red and stay lit. Lower the input level controls and the volume slider to eliminate the clipping.

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6. Click on the Record/Stop button. The application will stop recording.

7. Click on OK. The dialog box will close, and a new audio clip will appear in a new track in the Timeline.

8. Click on the Go to Beginning button. The playhead will return to the start of the track.

9. Click on the Play button. The recording will play.

TIP The recording has been saved to the location you specified in the Recording Preferences dialog box. You can access your recordings using the Media Manager’s File Browser. Simply navigate using the browser to the location where the files are stored and drag them into your projects.

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Recording Multiple Takes Like in a real studio, this multiple-take recording allows you to record a series of takes or versions of your clip, preview them, save the ones you like, and then add them to your project

Recording Your Sounds The multiple takes method is like the single take method on steroids. This method provides more functionality and options when recording your audio clips. Let’s go ahead and record multiple takes of some sounds by following the steps listed next.

1. Click and drag within the Beat ruler. This will create a playback region for the recording. The playback region determines how long the recording will be. 2. Click on the Record button. The Multiple Take Recording dialog box will open.

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3. Type the name of the file you will be recording in the Session Name text box entry.

4. Note the amount of hard drive space available for recording.

5. Click on the Record/Stop button. The application will begin recording.

6. Speak, sing, or play an instrument into your system’s microphone. The application will record the sounds. When your recording has exceeded the playback region’s time duration, a new take will begin automatically.

7. Click on the Record/Stop button. The application will stop recording takes.

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Previewing Takes Once you’ve recorded several takes of a sound, you are then able to preview them one by one.

1. Click on a take. The take will be selected.

2. Click on the Record/Play button. The take will preview. Preview all the takes using this method to determine which take you want to keep and insert into your project. 3. Click on the Stop button. The preview will stop.

Navigating the Waveform Display Window The Waveform Display window is where your takes are recorded. You can visually see the waveforms develop as sounds are recorded and captured by the Multiple Take Recording system. The following steps will detail the Waveform Display window navigation features that exist in the Multiple Take Recording dialog box.


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1. Click on the Snapping On/Off button to disable it. Snapping will now be disabled within the Waveform Display window.

2. Click within the Take bar to move the playhead to a new location. The playhead will move to a new position and you will notice that snapping is no longer enabled.

3. Click on the Snap To pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

4. Click on a Snap To value. The Snap To value will be selected.

5. Click and drag the zoom slider to the left. The takes in the Waveform Display window will become closer and show more detail. The more you zoom in, the fewer takes will be visible. 6. Click and drag the horizontal scroll bar box to the right. The Waveform Display window will scroll to the right.

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Saving Takes 1. Click on the desired take. The take will be selected. 2. Click on the Add to Project When Saved check box (if it does not already contain a checkmark). A check will be placed in the check box.

3a. Click on Loop. The Multiple Take Recording save dialog box will open. This will allow you to save the selected take as a loop or repeating audio clip. OR

3b. Click on One-Shot. The Multiple Take Recording save dialog box will open. This will allow you to save the selected take as a one-shot or non-repeating audio clip.


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4. Click on the Expand triangle button, if the dialog box is not already expanded. Save file lists and options will appear.

5. Navigate to the folder in which you want to save your recording.

6. Double-click on the Save As text box entry and either accept the name that is currently there or type a new descriptive name for this recording.

7. Click on Save. The Multiple Take Recording save dialog box will close.

8. Click on the Close button. The Multiple Take Recording dialog box will close and insert the saved take of the recording into your Timeline.


8

Making the Audio Clips Yours

Once you’ve dragged your audio files into your project, it is now time to manipulate and edit them. Soundtrack gives you tremendous control over how to make these audio clips perform. To get your musical ensemble just perfect, you will need to arrange the song so that all the tracks are where you want them and are sounding their best. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to: Use Undo/Redo Select single and multiple clips Move and resize clips Duplicate, copy, and paste clips Split, join, and delete clips Convert a loop to a one-shot Access a clip’s file information

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CHAPTER 8: MAKING THE AUDIO CLIPS YOURS

Selecting Single and Multiple Clips Before you can begin arranging your clips, you must first learn how to select them. Soundtrack allows for the selection of one or more clips simultaneously. This is especially useful when your needs involve performing certain functions to multiple clips at once. The following steps illustrate how to select one or more clips.

1. Open or create a project that contains two or more audio clips. The project will become the active file.

2. Click once on a clip in the Timeline. The clip will darken to show that you have that clip selected. 3. Press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard while simultaneously clicking on a second clip. Both clips will darken and be selected.

4. Click anywhere in an empty area of the Timeline. The clips will return to their original color and will be deselected.

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Moving Clips Putting scores together takes work and a lot of patience. Like me, you may find yourself arranging and rearranging your projects several times before you get it sounding just right.

Drag-and-Drop Method The following steps will detail how you can move clips in the Timeline using the drag-and-drop method.

1. Open or create a project that contains one or more audio clips. The project will become the active file.

2. Click once on the clip in the Timeline. The clip will darken to show that you have one clip selected.

CAUTION Clip Alert! When you move a clip and place it on top of another clip, you are in effect overwriting that clip with the new one. If the second clip is smaller than the first clip it is being placed on, the first clip will be truncated by the second one. This can sometimes create interesting sounds. Give it a try to get a better idea of how it works.

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3. Drag the selected clip to its new location. To move a clip, you must place your pointer in the middle of the clip and not near its edges, then click and drag. The clip will move to a new spot on the Timeline.

The Nudge Method Nudging allows you to move a clip incrementally either by pixel or gridline. The following steps will outline both methods.

1. Click on a clip. The clip will be selected. 2. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will appear. 3. Point to Adjust. The Adjust submenu will appear.

4. Click on Nudge Left. The clip will move in a 1 pixel increment to the left.

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5. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will appear.

6. Point to Adjust. The Adjust submenu will appear.

7. Click on Shift Right. The clip will move right to the next gridline point in the Timeline.

Resizing Clips Resizing allows you to change the duration of a clip in the Timeline. For loops, resizing controls the number of times that clip will repeat in a given track. You can even shorten a loop when resizing to have only a portion of the audio clip play. The following steps will demonstrate how you can resize an audio clip in the Timeline.


2. Point to the right edge or left edge of an audio clip. The pointer will become a Clip Resizer.

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3. Click and drag the right edge or left edge of the desired clip by two ruler ticks or by one full loop. The clip will extend, and its duration will increase.

4. Drag the playhead to the start of that clip. The playhead will move to the beginning of that clip.

5. Click on the Play button in the transport controls. The clip will play.

Duplicating an Audio Clip In some instances, you may want to duplicate an audio clip in the Timeline. This is sometimes faster than having to find the loop in the Media Manager in order to reuse it. The following steps will show how you can duplicate an audio clip in a project.


2. Ctrl + click the clip. A contextual menu will appear, providing options. 3. Click on Duplicate. A duplicate copy of the original clip will appear adjacent to the first.

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Duplicating Multiple Clips I am a big fan of the Duplicate feature in Soundtrack. If there’s a certain melody of clips I created that sounds especially good, I sometimes duplicate that string of clips so that I can use them again and again within that project. In the previous example, we used the Ctrl + click method of activating the submenu to access the Duplicate command. In this lesson, we will instead use the menu bar to access the Duplicate feature.


2. Click on a clip. The clip will be selected.

3. Press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard while simultaneously clicking on a second clip. Both clips will darken and be selected.

4. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will open.

5. Click on Duplicate. A duplicate copy of the original clips will appear in the Timeline.

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Copying and Pasting Clips Everybody has cut, copied, and pasted something before. Almost all computer applications include this feature, and Soundtrack is no different. The following will outline the steps required to copy and paste a clip in a project.

1. Click on a clip to copy. The clip will be selected. 2. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will open. 3. Click on Copy. The clip will be copied. 4. Click in the desired paste location in a new area of the Timeline. The playhead will move to that location. 5. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will open. 6. Click on Paste. The clip will be pasted to the new location. NOTE Follow the exact same steps as above when cutting audio clips rather than copying. When cutting, you are actually moving a clip from its original location to a new location on the Timeline.

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Paste Repeat If you ever wanted to paste something a number of times in a row without all the clicking, it is now possible using the Paste Repeat feature. This function works by pasting a user-defined number of copies of a clip into a specified track. The following steps will detail the process.



3. Click on Copy. The clip will be copied.

4. Position the playhead in the desired track and paste location. The playhead will be set in the Timeline. This is where the first clip will be pasted when the Paste Repeat feature is activated.


6. Click on Paste Repeat. The Paste Repeat dialog box will open.

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7. Double-click in the text box, then type a number of times to perform the paste operation. The text box will display a number.

8. Click on OK. The dialog box will close, and the specified number of clips will be pasted in succession starting at the playhead location.

Splitting Clips If you ever find that you only want to use part of a clip, you can always split it into different segments to get the sound you need. This is especially useful when you want to change the way an audio clip begins or opens. The following steps will demonstrate how you can split the audio clip into segments and control the clip’s offset. The offset represents where the clip starts playing in an audio file.

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1. Click on a clip to split. The clip will be selected, and the playhead will automatically move to that location.

2. Click and drag the playhead for more precise placement if required. 3. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will open.

4. Click on Split. The clip will split into two segments.

5. Click on an empty area of the Timeline. The clips will become deselected.

6. Click and drag a segment of the clip away from the other. The clip will come apart into two separate segments.

TIP The playhead can be your best friend when it comes to splitting clips. By simply selecting multiple clips in a project, every clip that falls under the playhead will be split into two segments.

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Joining Clips If you’ve ever gone on a splitting binge and wished you hadn’t, then this lesson is for you. Joining segments allows you to create new loops from old ones by taking segments and rejoining them into one. You can take the segments from one clip and potentially reorder them before joining them to create a new sound. You can only join segments that reside on the same track and share the same source clip. Let’s look at how you can join segments to create a new clip.

1. Click and drag the segment to place it next to its other segment in the Timeline. The clips should be adjacent to one another. 2. Press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard while simultaneously clicking on the second clip. Both clips will be selected. 3. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will open.

4. Click on Join. The divider line where the segments were split will disappear, and the clips will be joined into one audio clip again.

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Removing/Deleting Clips It really isn’t rocket science when it comes to removing or deleting audio clips in Soundtrack. There are two different methods you can use, both of which are extremely straightforward. The method using the menu bar is detailed in the following steps.



3. Click on Delete. The clip will be deleted from the Timeline.

TIP You can delete clips from the Timeline using the keyboard as well. Simply select the clip that you want to remove, and then press the Delete key.

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Converting a Loop to a One-Shot One-shot? Now, that sounds dangerous. Don’t worry, a oneshot is a type of audio clip that doesn’t repeat or loop. Oneshots are typically sounds that are better off not looping—like a car crash or a vocal. By default, new clips added to the Timeline are in a loop format unless the original source file was already tagged as a one-shot. In this lesson, we look at converting a loop to one-shot.

1. Control + click on a loop audio clip. A contextual menu will appear. 2. Click on Make One-Shot. The notches, which indicate where a clip loops, will disappear, and the waveform with the clip will change shape. This clip will now play once and not loop.

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Using Undo/Redo Have you ever made a mistake and wished you could go back in time and correct it? Soundtrack allows you to do just that by undoing certain actions after they’ve been performed. Conversely, you may want to repeat or redo a certain action in Soundtrack. The following steps will demonstrate these functions in more detail.

1. Move a clip in the Timeline. The clip will be moved to a new location.


3. Click on Undo. The previous action will be undone.


5. Click on Redo. The action will be executed.

TIP A quicker way to access the Undo and Redo commands is by using the keyboard shortcuts, which are Apple + Z and Shift + Apple + Z, respectively.

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Accessing a Clip’s File Information In Chapter 5, “Managing Your Media with the Media Manager,” we learned how to view information for the audio and video files we were planning to add to the Timeline. In this section, we will look at accessing a clip’s file information when it has already been placed within the Timeline in the project workspace.

1. Control + click on a clip. A contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Show File Information. The File Information dialog box will open. 3. Review the clip’s file information. You will notice that information exists for the clip’s scale type, tempo, key, and size. Almost anything you may want to know about that file is located in this dialog box. 4. Click on Close. The File Information dialog box will close.

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6. Control + click on a clip in the list. A contextual menu will appear.

7. Click on Show File Information. The File Information dialog box will open.

8. Review and click on Close. The File Information dialog box will close.


9

Taking Your Time with the Timeline

The Timeline is the area of the project workspace where you bring your musical masterpiece together. It is here where you assemble your loops and sound effects to create a composition or score. Think of the Timeline as a visual representation of your project where you have complete control over how long and when your clips will play. As mentioned before, the Timeline area is made up of horizontal rows, called tracks, as well as gridlines that allow for controlled placement of your clips. How these elements appear can be customized depending on your preferences. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Work with the playhead Use the transport controls Work with playback regions Move along the Timeline Work with Timeline preferences

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CHAPTER 9: TAKING YOUR TIME WITH THE TIMELINE

Working with the Playhead When you play any clip or project in the Timeline, it plays from the point where the playhead lies. You will notice the playhead right away as the thin, black, vertical line running through your song. At the top of the line is a small, green triangular object that makes it easier to identify and control. The playhead acts as the starting point regardless of where it is placed in the project.

Manually Moving the Playhead When you begin your first project, by default, the playhead will appear at the beginning of your score. You can manually move the playhead to any point in your project with a simple click and drag, demonstrated in the following steps.

1. Press and hold the mouse button and drag the playhead to the right. The playhead will move to the right.

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2. Release the mouse button. The playhead will appear and play from its new location on the Timeline.

Precisely Moving the Playhead Using the Time/Beat Controls Not only can you move the playhead manually, but you can also move it with precision using the Time/Beats displays. Using the Beats display, you would enter the exact measures, beats, and beat divisions. Using the Time display, you would work with hours, minutes, seconds, and fractions of a second. The following steps will show just how precise you can be when positioning the playhead using these methods.

1. Click in the Time in Beats text entry box. The current Time in Beats numbers will be selected.

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2. Type a new beat position, inserting periods as divisions. The new beat position will appear in the text entry box.

3. Press the Enter key. The playhead will move to the new beat location. 4. Click in the Time in Seconds text entry box. The current Time in Seconds numbers will be selected.

5. Type a new time position, inserting periods as divisions. The new time position will appear in the text entry box. 6. Press the Enter key. The playhead will move to the new time location.

NOTE If you enter a beat or time position that extends out past the duration of the project, the playhead will simply move to the farthest possible point in the song—the end.

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Moving the Playhead Frame by Frame (Video Only) You can move the playhead one frame at a time using the menu controls. This feature will only work in projects that contain video.

1. Click on Project. The Project menu will appear.

2. Click on Move to Next Frame. The playhead will move ahead one frame.


4. Click on Move to Previous Frame. The playhead will move back one frame.

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Using the Transport Controls You can control your project’s playback by using the different functions available in the project workspace’s transport controls area. Here, you can play and stop your scores, as well as jump the playhead to either the start or end of your project. Your song’s loop settings are also controlled here. The following steps will run you through how to use the transport controls to play through your compositions.

1. Open a file that contains some clips. A file with clips will become the active project.

2. Click on the Play button. The project will play. 3. Click on the Stop button. The project will stop playing.

4. Click on the Go to the beginning button. The playhead will move to the start of the project.

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5. Click on the Play from the beginning button. The playhead will move to the start of the project and automatically start playing.

6. Click on the Go to the end button. The playhead will move to the end of the project.

7. Click on the Looping button. The project will no longer repeat or loop automatically. It will simply stop playing when the project ends.

8. Click on the Looping button again. The project will now repeat or loop until you click Stop.

Working with Playback Regions A playback region allows you to isolate a part of the Timeline that you want to play. The playback region will repeat or loop within the area you designate along the Beat ruler. This feature is especially useful when concentrating on specific areas of a project.

Creating a Playback Region Creating playback regions is an absolute breeze. Click and drag, and you’re done. The only rule to remember is that you can only have one playback region at a time. The following steps will show how you can create a playback region.

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1. Press and hold the mouse button and drag across the Beat ruler. The Beat ruler will show a white, lighter area for the playback region.

2. Click on the Play button. The playhead will jump to the starting point of the playback region and play.

3. Click on the Stop button. The project will stop.

Adjusting a Playback Region Once you’ve created a playback region, it’s just as easy to then resize it and move it across the Timeline. The following steps will demonstrate how you can adjust the playback region.

1. Position your mouse pointer over the playback region area of the Beat ruler.

2. Press and hold the mouse button and drag the playback region to the desired new location on the Timeline. The playback region will move to a new location.

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3. Position your mouse pointer over either the start point or end point handle of the playback region.

4. Press and hold the mouse button and drag one of the handles across the Beat ruler. The playable region will resize.

Removing a Playback Region Deleting or removing the playback region is even easier than what you’ve seen so far. Simply follow these steps to eliminate the playback region you created.

1. Click once in an open part of the Beat ruler—outside of the playback region. The playback region will disappear.

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Moving along the Timeline Soundtrack gives you the ability to control how you work and what you see in the Timeline based on your preferences. The Timeline can be a big place to work, so having the ability to control this environment makes working in it a lot more efficient. The following sections will show how you can work with the Timeline’s snap settings, track heights, scroll bars, and zoom, split, and Timeline views.

Snap To Settings The Snap features in Soundtrack make it easier for you to position or place clips at precise locations on the Timeline. I like to think of the Snap functionality as a magnet built into the Timeline. Depending on the elements you deem as magnetic, audio clips will automatically stick or be drawn to them. For example, you can have clips snap to ruler increments, musical increments, or markers (markers will be explained in Chapter 10, “Making Your Mark with Markers”). The following steps will demonstrate how you can turn on this feature as well as select Snap To values.


2. Click on Snapping. (Snapping is already enabled if a checkmark appears next to the Snapping command.) The Snapping command will be selected, and the menu will close.

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4. Click on Snap To. The Snap To submenu will appear.

5. Click on a Snap To value. A Snap To value will be selected, and the menu will close.

TIP Psssst… you can temporarily disable snapping by holding down the Command key when working in the Timeline. Knowing that sure made my life a little easier!

Adjusting the Track Heights This is yet another fantastic feature. When you are working on a larger composition and you have a fair number of tracks, this feature allows you to customize the number of tracks you see by adjusting their height. As you adjust the track height to be smaller, you will end up seeing more tracks in the Timeline. Let’s go ahead and modify the size of the track heights in the Timeline window.

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2. Click on Track Height. The Track Height submenu will appear. 3. Click on a Track Height value. The Track Height value will be selected, and the tracks in the Timeline will either enlarge or shrink depending on the choice you made.

TIP You can quickly access the Track Height controls from the Toolbar that is located at the bottom of the Timeline. By simply clicking on the different sized rectangles, the track heights will change heights accordingly.


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Zoom Controls Need a closer look at your audio clips? Want to get up close and personal with the Timeline? You can zoom right in on your Timeline in two different ways by accessing the Zoom controls. The following steps will show how you can access the Zoom controls from the Slider controls, as well as the menus.


2. Click on Zoom In. The Timeline will zoom in for a more detailed view of the audio clips. You will notice though, that a smaller period of time is visible in the Timeline.


4. Click on Fit to Window. The Timeline will display all the clips it can horizontally.

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5. Click on the View menu. The View menu will appear.

6. Click on Zoom Out. The Timeline will zoom out, displaying a larger period of time in the Timeline.

7. Press and hold the mouse button and drag the zoom slider to the left. The audio clips in the Timeline will become closer and more detailed. TIP You can also use keyboard shortcuts to zoom in and out of the Timeline. Press Apple+ to zoom in and Apple– to zoom out.


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Splitting the Timeline into Two It can sometimes get pretty hectic in the Timeline when you have large numbers of tracks and clips in your project. If you wanted to keep your eye on a certain number of tracks, located near the bottom of the Timeline, and at the same time work on tracks at the top of the Timeline, you can probably see how things could get pretty clumsy. The following steps will show how you can split the Timeline into two different views, displaying two different areas of the project at once.

1. Point to the Split View bar. The pointer will change to a Split View pointer.

2. Press and hold the mouse button and drag the Split View bar down. The Timeline will split to show two different views of the tracks in the project.

TIP To disable the split view, simply double-click the Split View bar, and the Timeline will revert to its original state.

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Global Timeline View The Global Timeline view displays a miniature view of the entire project in a small window located just to the right of the project’s tempo and volume controls. The visible area of the project is represented by a blue rectangle. Following on the steps from the previous example, when dealing with a split view, the upper area is represented by a red rectangle, while the lower split area is represented by a blue rectangle. In either case, by simply dragging one of the rectangles to a new location, you can quickly move to different areas of the project. Depending on the size of your monitor, you may not be able to view the Global Timeline view without first changing your layout setup. The following steps will show you how to access the Global Timeline view and move about your project.

1. Click on View. The View menu will appear. 2. Point to Layouts. The Layouts submenu will appear.

3. Click on Hide Media Manager. The Media Manager will disappear, and the project workspace will take up the entire work area.


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4. Click and drag the red rectangle to a new location. The upper split area of the Timeline will move and display that new location.

5. Click and drag the blue rectangle to a new location. The lower split area of the Timeline will move and display that new location.

NOTE If your view is not split into two different views, only one blue rectangle will be visible in the Global Timeline view.



8. Click on Single Window. The Media Manager will reappear alongside the project workspace.

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Working with Timeline Preferences The Timeline Preferences window allows you to control the defaults for your Timeline’s behavior and appearance. You can control the defaults for Snap To values, track heights, and naming conventions for your tracks, to name a few. Let’s look at each option in detail.


2. Click on Preferences. The Preferences window will open.

3. Click on the General pane. The General pane will move to the front, and the Timeline section will display several choices. • Snapping. This option controls the default snapping behavior for all projects. When On is selected, snapping will be enabled and will be the default for all new projects.

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• Snap To. This pop-up menu sets the default Snap To value for all new projects. Click on the pop-up menu to see what choices are available. • Markers. A check in this check box determines if new projects will have snapping to markers enabled as a default. • Track Height. This pop-up menu sets the default track height for all new projects. Click on the pop-up menu to see what choices are available. • Use “…” in clip names. Selecting this option will shorten and truncate longer named clips in the Timeline to include an ellipsis.


10

Making Your Mark with Markers

Markers in Soundtrack allow you to mark or designate key moments in your score and its associated video. Just imagine a nail-biting car chase which ends with an extraordinary crash. You may want to mark the beginning of the chase with a marker and possibly mark the crash scene as well. Markers are also excellent tools for indicating sections in your projects as well as great reminders of the last place you were working. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Set marker preferences Add markers Name markers Move markers Delete markers Snap markers to the playhead Work with the end-of-project marker

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CHAPTER 10: MAKING YOUR MARK WITH MARKERS

Setting Your Marker Preferences Before you can begin inserting markers into your projects, you must ensure that your marker preferences are set up properly in Soundtrack. Some of those preferences include displaying marker lines and titles, and enabling marker snapping. The following steps will guide you to those options and ensure they are activated.


2. Click on Show Marker Titles (if this option is not already checked and activated). Marker titles will now display in your projects. 3. Click on View. The View menu will appear.

4. Click on Show Marker Lines (if this option is not already checked and activated). Marker lines will now display in your projects.

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6. Point to Snap To. The Snap To submenu will appear.

7. Click on Markers (if this option is not already checked and activated). Audio clips will now snap to markers in the Timeline.

TIP Enabling these options makes working with markers much easier—especially if you use them a lot in your projects. In my opinion, they are so much easier to find and work with when the lines and titles are displayed and the Snapping feature is enabled.

Adding Beat Markers You can actually assign markers to beats in your Soundtrack scores. This is especially useful when adjusting the tempo or speed of your compositions due to the beat marker’s sticky nature. The marker will remain glued to the beat it is associated with regardless of the changes made to the overall project. The following will demonstrate how to add a beat marker to your project.

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1. Click on the area of the Timeline in which you want to insert a beat marker. The playhead will move to that location.


3. Click on Insert Beat Marker. A beat marker (purple) will appear at the designated point in the project.

Adding Time Markers Time markers are used to mark events or key scene moments in your video. You attach or designate a time marker to an actual time code as opposed to a beat. Regardless of the changes made to your project’s tempo, the time marker will remain stuck to the time code assigned to it. The following steps will show how to add a time marker to your project.

TIP Keyboard shortcuts are available for both beat and time marker insertions. To add a beat marker, simply position the playhead where you want it and press B on the keyboard. To add a time marker, press M instead.

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1. Click on the area of the Timeline in which you want to insert a time marker. The playhead will move to that location.


3. Click on Insert Time Marker. A time marker (green) will appear at the designated point in the project. A photo clip of the scene you marked will also appear next to the marker.

Naming Markers Regardless of the type of marker used, naming them is done the same way. If you have a large number of markers strewn throughout your project, you could probably imagine that things could get pretty confusing. Naming your markers will make life a lot easier for you by keeping your score organized and structured. The following steps will demonstrate how you can name your markers.

1. Control + click the marker. A contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Edit. The Marker dialog box will open.

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3. Click on the Marker Name text box entry, then type a descriptive name for this marker.

4. Click on OK. The Marker dialog box will close, and the new name will appear next to the marker in the Timeline ruler.

Moving Markers There are two different ways to move markers in your project once you’ve placed them. You can manually drag the marker to its new location or use more precise methods.

Moving Markers Manually Manually moving markers is basically the same procedure as manually moving the playhead in the Timeline. The following will show how you can perform this action.

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1. Press and hold the mouse button and drag the marker to the right. The marker will move to the right.

2. Release the mouse button. The marker will appear in its new location on the Timeline.

Moving Markers Precisely If there’s an exact time or beat that needs to be marked in your project, you can use Soundtrack’s more precise methods of moving your markers. The following steps will detail this method.

1. Control + click a marker. A contextual menu will appear.


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3. Click on the Time text box entry, then type an exact time or beat for this marker, inserting periods as divisions.

TIP Remember to enter a time position for time markers and a beat position for beat markers.

4. Click on OK. The Marker dialog box will close, and the beat marker will move to its new location.

Deleting Markers 1. Click on a marker. The marker will darken to show it is selected. 2. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will appear. 3. Click on Delete. The marker will be deleted.

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TIP You can delete markers just as easily but with fewer steps by simply selecting the marker as you would normally, but instead of accessing the menus, press the Delete key on the keyboard. Goodbye marker—it’s been nice knowing you.

Snapping the Playhead to a Marker Now that you have markers inserted throughout your project, you may need a couple of tips on how to navigate quickly between them. The following will show how you can use the menu commands to move the playhead between the markers in your project.


2. Click on Move to Next Marker. The playhead will jump forward to the nearest marker.

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4. Click on Move to Previous Marker. The playhead will jump back to the nearest marker. TIP You can use keyboard combinations to move between markers as well. To move to the previous marker, press Option + M and to move to the next marker, press Shift + M.

NOTE In Final Cut Pro 4.0, users can insert markers into their videos as well. In many cases, people using Soundtrack may want to use Final Cut Pro video, markers and all, in their Soundtrack projects. Soundtrack will import and recognize Final Cut Pro’s markers and display them in the Timeline. Markers coming from Final Cut Pro will be colored purple in the Beat ruler.

Working with the End-of-Project Marker The end-of-project marker determines the length of your project. Also known as the duration marker, its role involves identifying when playback should stop or, depending on your

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loop setting, when playback should loop or repeat in your project. The following steps will show you how to locate and set the end-of-project marker to control your project’s length.


2. Click on New. A new, blank Soundtrack window will open.

3. Click and drag the horizontal scroll bar box all the way to the right. The Timeline window will move to the right, and the red-colored end-ofproject marker will come into view.

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Moving Duration Markers Manually One of the methods of setting the end-of-project marker is to manually drag it to the desired duration location on the Timeline.

1. Press and hold the mouse button and drag the end-ofproject marker to the left. The marker will move to the left. 2. Release the mouse button. The marker will appear in its new location on the Timeline, and the project’s duration will shorten accordingly.

Moving Duration Markers Precisely If you know exactly how long or short you want your composition to be, simply enter it into the duration marker’s control settings and you’re off to the races.

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1. Control + click on the endof-project marker. A contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Set Song Duration. The Song Duration dialog box will open.

3. Click on the Enter Duration text box entry, then type an exact time position for this marker, inserting periods as divisions.

4. Click on OK. The Song Duration dialog box will close. The end-of-project marker will then move to its new location on the Timeline, and the duration of the project will be changed accordingly.

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Setting Your Duration Marker Preferences By default, when you begin a new project in Soundtrack, it automatically sets a duration for your compositions based on the time specified in the Project pane of the Preferences window. If you would prefer to have your projects default to a time that better suits your needs, follow these steps.



3. Click on the Project pane. The Project pane will come to the front.

4. Double-click on the Length text box entry, then type an exact time in minutes. The field will display a time duration in minutes.

5. Click on the Close button. The Preferences window will close.

11

Laying Down the Tracks

Earlier chapters got your feet wet to the concept of tracks and their purpose in Soundtrack. If you recall, tracks are the horizontal rows located just below the Viewer window in the project workspace. Tracks act as homes for the media clips in your compositions. Each track spans the entire length of the Timeline, and Soundtrack can hold up to 127 audio tracks in one project. Let’s dive right in and learn to work with tracks to structure and control the sounds in your projects. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Add and delete tracks Select tracks Name tracks Customize the Track icon Change the order of tracks Work with volume, pan, and key

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CHAPTER 11: LAYING DOWN THE TRACKS

Adding Tracks There are several ways to add tracks to your projects. One method, covered in Chapter 6, “Moving Media Files to Your Project,” involves dragging clips from the Media Manager to the Timeline. Once the clip is dropped into the Timeline, a track is automatically created. The following steps will detail other methods of adding new tracks to your project.

1. Click on Project. The Project menu will appear. 2. Click on Add Track. A new track will appear below any tracks that already exist in the Timeline.

3. Control + click an existing track header. A contextual menu will appear.

4. Click on Add Track Below. A new track will appear below the track selected in step 3.

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5. Control + click in a track. A contextual menu will appear.

6. Click on Add Track Above. A new track will appear above the track selected in step 5.

TIP You can also add tracks by using a keyboard combination shortcut. To add a track, press Command + T.

Selecting Tracks Now that tracks have been added, it is time to select and work with them. Soundtrack gives you the ability to single and multiple select the tracks in your project.

Single Select The only tricky thing about selecting tracks in Soundtrack is figuring out where to click. Each track has a selection area along the left edge of the header. One click and the track darkens to show it is selected.

1. Click on the selection area (three dots) of a track. The track will darken to show it is selected.

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Multiple Select You can also select multiple tracks simultaneously, regardless of where they lie in relation to one another. The following steps will demonstrate how you can select multiple tracks that are adjacent and non-adjacent to one another using keyboard shortcuts.

1. Click on the selection area of a track. The track will darken to show it is selected. 2. Press and hold the Shift key, while clicking adjacent track selection areas. The tracks will darken to show they are selected. 3. Click on the selection area of a non-selected track. The previously selected tracks will become deselected. One track will be selected. 4. Press and hold the Command key while clicking on non-adjacent track selection areas. Multiple, non-adjacent tracks will darken to show they are selected.

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Naming Tracks Soundtrack automatically assigns a default name to tracks when they are added to your projects. If it’s an empty new track, Soundtrack affectionately names it “Untitled Track.” When you drag clips from the Media Manager to the Timeline, the track takes on the name and attributes of that clip. In either case, you may want to change the name of a track in your project so it’s more descriptive or easier to identify. The following steps will show how you can change the name of a track in the Timeline as well as access special characters and the built-in Spellchecker tool.

1. Triple-click on the Track Name field text box entry, and then type a new name for the track. The new name will be displayed.

2a. Click on the selection area. The name change will be applied. OR

2b. Press Return/Enter on the keyboard. The name change will be applied.

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3. Click in the Track Name field text box entry in which you want to insert a special character. The cursor will blink in the text box.


5. Click on Special Characters. The Special Characters window will appear. NOTE The Special Characters feature may not appear as an option unless you are running the latest and greatest version of the Soundtrack software. Visit http://www.apple.com/ support/soundtrack/ to download the free update.

6. Click on the View pop-up menu. A list of special character sets will appear. 7. Click on the desired set. The special character set will be displayed.

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8. Click on By Category. A list of special character categories will appear.

9. Click on a category. The column on the right will display a list of special characters specific to that category.

10. Click on the desired special character. The special character will be selected.

11. Click on Insert. The special character will be inserted into the Track Name text box.

12. Click on the Close button. The Special Characters window will close.

13. Triple-click within the Track Name field text box. All the text within the field will become highlighted.

14. Control + click on the Track Name field text box entry. A contextual menu will appear.

15. Point to Spelling. The Spelling submenu will appear.

16. Click on Spelling. The Spelling dialog box will open.

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17. Click on the appropriate command. The results will vary depending on the nature of the command: • Ignore. Click on Ignore to skip over a detected error. • Find Next. Spell checker will move to the next potential spelling error in the text field. • Correct. Spell checker will take the highlighted word from the Guess list and replace the incorrect word in text field. • Guess List. Spell checker displays a list of potential word corrections for the detected error.

18. Click on the Close button after making the appropriate corrections. The Spelling dialog box will close.

Customizing the Track Icon Soundtrack also gives you complete control over the icon that is displayed within the track header information area. A list of icon choices is available allowing you to customize the look of your tracks to your liking. You can also use your own images as track icons for a true custom look for your projects.

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Using Soundtrack’s Track Icon Grid The following steps will show how you can access and select an icon from Soundtrack’s icon list for a track header in your project.

1. Click on the Track Icon button. The Track Icon grid will appear.

2. Click on an icon choice. The new track icon will be displayed in the track header.

Using Your Own Custom Images Don’t you wish you could use that picture of your Aunt Mildred as a track icon image? In Soundtrack, it’s as easy as a drag and drop away. The following steps will detail what is required to use your own custom images as track icons.

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1. Click on the Finder icon in the OS X Dock. The Finder application window will open over the top of Soundtrack. Both applications should be visible.

2. Navigate to the folder in which your image is located. (See Chapter 4, “Working with Project Files,” for assistance navigating folders.) 3. Click on the desired image file. A thumbnail preview of the image will be displayed in the Finder window. 4. Click and drag the image over the top of the desired Track Icon button. The mouse pointer will turn into a green circle with a plus sign in it.

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5. Release the mouse button. The image will drop and replace the original track icon with your custom one.

6. Click on the Close button. The Finder application window will close.

7. Click on your custom Track Icon button. The Track Icon grid will appear displaying your custom image in the list.

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Changing the Order of the Tracks There may come a time when rearranging the track order in your project is required. An example of when this may be useful is when you want to group similar track instruments together for easier management. The following will detail how you can change the order of a track’s placement in the Timeline.

1. Click and drag the selection area of a track to a new location. The track will be moved to a new vertical position.

TIP When dragging the track to its new position, a blue line will display to show where the track will appear when you release the mouse button.

Working with Volume, Pan, and Key There are several ways to control the volume of individual tracks in your projects. More than simply increasing or decreasing the volume for a track, other options include setting pan levels, solo controls, and mute features. Last but not least, track controls also include the ability to change the key of a clip in the Timeline. The following steps will outline these features.

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Adjusting the Track Volume Controls You can set the volume levels of individual tracks by dragging the volume slider left or right, or by typing a custom decibel value in the associated text box.

1. Click on a track. The track will be selected.

2. Click and drag the volume slider to the left. The volume for that track will decrease.

3. Click and drag the volume slider to the right. The volume for that track will increase.

4. Click once in the Volume Value text box. The value currently displayed will be highlighted.

5. Type a new volume value. The new volume value will appear in the Volume Value text box.

6a. Click on the track’s selection area. The new volume value will be applied. OR

6b. Press Return/Enter on the keyboard. The new volume value will be applied.

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Using the Track Mute and Solo Options If you have a series of tracks playing at once in a project, you may want to mute some so others can be heard. Quickly mute tracks with the click of a button in the track’s header area. You can also solo a certain track so that it is the only one playing by enabling its solo option.

1. Click on the Play button. The project will play. 2. Click on a track’s Mute button. That track will no longer be heard.

3. Click on the same track’s Mute button again. That track will now be heard again.

4. Click on a track’s Solo button. That track will be the only track heard. All other tracks will be muted automatically.

5. Click on the same track’s Solo button again. That track will be heard again along with the other tracks in the project that are not muted.

Working with the Track Pan Controls Have you ever watched a movie with surround sound? You may have noticed that certain sounds come from the left side of the room and then gradually move across the room to the right. A plane flying overhead is a great example of this sound

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effect. Pan refers to how audio is balanced and heard between left and right speakers. The following steps will outline how Soundtrack gives you control over custom pan levels for your projects.

1. Click on the Play button. The project will play.

2. Click and drag a track’s pan slider to the right. The track will gradually play from the right speaker only.

3. Click and drag a track’s pan slider to the left. The track will gradually play from the left speaker only.

4. Click once in the Pan Value text box. The value currently displayed will be highlighted.

5. Type a new pan value. The new pan value will appear in the Pan Value text box.

6a. Click on the track’s selection area. The new pan value will be applied. OR

6b. Press Return/Enter on the keyboard. The new pan value will be applied.

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Transposing Individual Audio Clips Transposing audio clips is a technical way of saying “changing a loop’s key.” Whenever a loop is added to the Timeline, Soundtrack changes it to the master key of the project. That’s what makes all the loops sound like they were all made to be together in a project. You can override this key conversion by transposing the loop yourself once you’ve added it to your Timeline.

1. Control + click on a loop. A contextual menu will appear. 2. Point to Transpose. A Transpose submenu will appear.

3. Click on a semitone increment. Simply put, semitones control the pitch of an audio loop. Positive semitone values will raise the pitch of a loop, whereas negative semitone values will lower the pitch.

NOTE You will notice that a small number is placed in the lower-left corner of transposed clips. The number shows by how many semitones a loop has been transposed.

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Deleting/Removing Audio Tracks When it comes time to remove audio tracks, you can use one of three methods detailed next.

1. Control + click the track header area. A contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Remove Track. The track will be deleted.

3. Control + click in the track. A contextual menu will appear.

4. Click on Remove Track. The track will be deleted.

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5. Click on the selection area of a track. The track will darken to show it is selected.

6. Click on Project. The Project will appear.

7. Click on Remove Track. The track will be deleted. TIP You can also delete audio tracks by using a keyboard combination shortcut. To remove a track, first select it, and then press Shift + Command + T.

Deleting Video Tracks When you insert a video file that contains audio into your project, you will notice that the audio track takes spot number one in the track listings, and the video occupies the video track in the Timeline. These two tracks cannot be separated from one another when it comes to deletion. When you remove the video track, it will automatically remove the associated audio track as well. There are three different ways of deleting video tracks, which are detailed here.

Using the Viewer In this first method, it’s as easy as two mouse clicks to eliminate video. Follow these steps to remove a video track from your project.

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2. Control + click in the Viewer window. A contextual menu will appear.

3. Click on Delete Video. The Viewer window will go blank, and the video will be deleted.

Using the Video Track To the right of the Viewer window is the video track located in the Timeline. There, you can also choose to delete or remove the video track and its associated audio.

1. Control + click anywhere in the video track. A contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Delete Video. The video track will go blank, and the video will be deleted.

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Using the Menus If you’re a menu lover when it comes to computer applications, you may prefer this method of deleting video tracks from your project.

1. Click on the video track. The video track will highlight to show it is selected. 2. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will appear. 3. Click on Delete. The video track will go blank and the video will be deleted.

TIP You can delete video clips from the video track using the keyboard as well. Simply select video clip from the video track and press the Delete key.

NOTE Video files and audio clips are not deleted completely from your system’s hard drive when you remove them from your projects. You are simply deleting or removing the pointers or links to the media files from the project, rather than your system.

12

Working with Master Settings and Envelopes

Soundtrack’s master settings allow for complete control over a project’s properties and volume. Once set, the project will adopt those settings until instructed otherwise. But, let’s say you wanted to have a fade-in at the beginning of a project. Or you may want to have sounds pan from the left speaker to the right. How do you set dynamic and automated properties? The answer is “using envelopes.” In this chapter, you will learn how to: Adjust overall project master controls Set master control preferences Work with envelopes Work with envelope points Show and hide master envelopes

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CHAPTER 12: WORKING WITH MASTER SETTINGS AND ENVELOPES

Adjusting Overall Project Master Controls When you start a new project in Soundtrack, the project opens with a set of default properties that you can change. Those properties include key, tempo, sample rate, and time signature. You can also set the volume level for a project using the master control settings. Any properties set at the master control level will apply to the overall project.

Setting the Project Tempo When you set the tempo for an overall project, you are in fact setting the speed at which music is played. Tempo is typically designated in beats per minute (bpm). The following steps will outline two different ways of setting the project tempo.

1. Click and drag the tempo slider right or left. When dragged right, the tempo will increase. When dragged left, the tempo will decrease. 2. Click once in the Tempo Value text box. The value currently displayed will be highlighted.

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3. Type a new tempo value. The new tempo value will appear in the Tempo Value text box.

4. Press Return/Enter on the keyboard. The new tempo value will be applied.

NOTE Tempo can be set anywhere between 60 and 200 bpm. The default setting for tempo in new Soundtrack projects is 120 bpm.

TIP Double-clicking a slider will almost always bring it back to its original default position.

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Setting the Project Time Signature A time signature is typically represented by two numerals indicating the number of beats in each measure, and the kind of note receiving one beat. In Soundtrack, this is expressed as a fractional sign, like 3/4. Use these steps to set the project time signature and create your own custom signature.

1. Click on the Time Signature pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

2a. Click on the desired time signature. The time signature will be displayed in the pop-up menu. OR

2b. Click on Other. If a time signature you want to use does not appear in the signature list, choose this option. The Time Signature dialog box will open.

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3. Click once in the Signature Value text box. The value currently displayed will be highlighted.

4. Type a new signature value. The numerator will show the number of notes per measure, and the denominator will indicate the unit for the beat. The text box entries will display these new values.

5. Click on OK. The Time Signature dialog box will close.

Setting the Project Key A musical project that is centered around a certain scale or tone is said to have a key. Every time you add an audio file to your project, it takes on that project’s key. The following steps will show how you can set the project’s overall key.

1. Click on the Key pop-up menu. The Key pop-up menu will appear.

2. Click on a Key. The Key popup menu will display the selected key.

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Setting the Project Volume The master volume slider controls the overall volume levels for your projects. Use the following steps to control the volume for the overall project.

1. Click and drag the volume slider left or right. When dragged left, the volume for the project will decrease. When dragged right, the volume will increase. 2. Click once in the Volume Value text box. The value currently displayed will be highlighted.

3. Type a new volume value. The new volume value will appear in the Volume Value text box. 4. Press Return/Enter on the keyboard. The new volume value will be applied to the project.

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Setting the Project Sample Rate The project sample rate sets the speed at which audio samples are recorded, exported, and played back. The higher the sample rate, the higher quality the sample will be, with less audible imperfections.


2. Point to Sample Rate. The Sample Rate submenu will appear.

3. Click on a sample rate. The sample rate will be selected.

Setting Master Control Preferences You can also set the project’s master properties by accessing the Preferences window. By adjusting the settings from the Preferences window, you are changing the defaults for all new projects.

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3. Click on the Project pane. The Project pane will come to the front. 4. Click on a project default setting as needed. The settings are • Tempo. Sets the default project speed. • Key. Sets the default root note or key for the project. • Time Signature. Sets the default time signature for the project.

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• Sample Rate. Sets the default speed at which audio samples are recorded, exported, and played back. • Export Bit Depth. Sets the default number of digital bits that will be exported. There are two choices: 16 bit (CD quality) and 24 bit. A longer bit string allows more detail in the description of level changes in the signal.

5. Click on the Close button after making the appropriate changes. The Preferences window will close.

Working with Envelopes at the Track Level Have you ever wondered how you can create a fade-in and fade-out for your musical projects? In Soundtrack, you would use the Envelopes feature to create this effect. Think of envelopes as a visual representation of an audio clip or project that you can edit at any point along the line. This section will detail using envelopes at the track level to adjust volume, panning, and envelope points.

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Adjusting Volume Using Envelopes In earlier chapters, you learned that you can adjust a track’s volume controls from within its track header information area. You can also set a track’s volume level from within its envelope track. The following will show how you can access a track’s envelope and set its volume level manually and precisely.

Setting the Volume Manually Using Envelopes By dragging an envelope’s drag handle or envelope points, you can control and set a track’s volume level. The following steps will outline the manual method of volume control.

1. Click on the envelope disclosure triangle. The track’s envelopes will appear.

2. Click and drag the Volume drag handle up or down. The drag handle will move downward and the volume will decrease, or the drag handle will move upward and the volume will increase. As you drag the handle, numbers will appear next to your mouse pointer, displaying the precise volume level at that drag point location.

TIP Volume levels range from –96 dB to +6 dB.


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Setting the Volume Precisely Using Envelopes You can also be a lot more precise when setting envelope points for volume. If there’s a precise decibel level you want to use, you can enter it using these steps as a guide.

1. Control + click on the Volume drag handle. The Volume Drag Handle contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Set Value. The Set Value dialog box will appear.

3. Type a new envelope point value. The new envelope value will appear in the text box entry field.

4. Click on OK. The Set Value dialog box will close, and the volume will adjust accordingly.

5. Click on the envelope disclosure triangle. The track’s envelopes will disappear.

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Adjusting Pan Using Envelopes As mentioned in Chapter 11, “Laying Down the Tracks,” panning refers to how audio is balanced and heard between left and right speakers. Similar to the volume envelope, you can set a pan position both manually and precisely by following the steps in this section.

Setting the Pan Level Manually Using Envelopes By dragging the pan drag handle, you can manually control and set a track’s pan position. The following steps will outline the manual method of pan control.


2. Click and drag the pan drag handle up or down. When dragged up, sound will gradually increase from the right speaker. When dragged down, sound will gradually increase from the left speaker.

3. Click on the envelope disclosure triangle. The track’s envelopes will disappear.


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Setting the Pan Position Precisely Using Envelopes Like with volume, you can be a lot more precise when setting a pan position by entering an exact value for the pan envelope point. If there’s a precise pan position you want to use, you can enter it directly by following these steps.


2. Control + click on the pan drag handle. The Pan Drag Handle contextual menu will appear.

3. Click on Set Value. The Set Value dialog box will appear.

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5. Click on OK. The Set Value dialog box will close, and the pan position will adjust accordingly. 6. Click on the envelope disclosure triangle. The track’s envelopes will disappear.

NOTE The minimum pan value is –100 with sound coming entirely from the left speaker. The maximum pan value is 100 with sound coming entirely from the right speaker.

Working with Envelope Points You can shape a track’s sound by inserting and manipulating points along its envelope. Each envelope begins with a drag handle and runs horizontally throughout the project. Where you place them and what you do with the points along the envelope can create some incredible sounds and effects. The following steps will show how you can create, select, and move points along an envelope.


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Creating Envelope Points Envelope points are easy to add—all it takes is a doubleclick.


2. Double-click on the envelope at the position where you want to add an envelope point. A point will appear on the envelope.

Moving Envelope Points Once you’ve created envelope points, it’s just as easy to move them. You can move them up or down to change their value, or right or left to change their position in the Timeline.

1. Click and drag an envelope point downward. The point will move down and display its new value.

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2. Click and drag an envelope point to the right. The point will snap to the nearest snap point and move to the right.

Inserting Values for Envelope Points If you wanted to insert a new envelope point at a precise value position, you could do so using Soundtrack’s contextual menu controls. There, you can also set an envelope point to the value of one of its neighboring points on the envelope.

1. Control + click on the envelope point. The Envelope Point contextual menu will appear. 2. Click on Set Value. The Set Value dialog box will open.


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4. Click on OK. The Set Value dialog box will close, and the envelope point will adjust accordingly.

5. Control + click on the envelope point. The Envelope Point contextual menu will appear.

6. Click on Set Value to Previous Point. The envelope point will change to the value of the preceding point in the envelope.

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Selecting Envelope Points Depending on the actions you are trying to perform, it may be necessary to select one or more envelope points. The following steps will show how you can select points on the envelope.

1. Click on an envelope point. The envelope point will darken and be selected.

2. Click on another envelope point while simultaneously pressing the Shift key. All adjacent points between those two points will be selected.

3. Click on an empty area of the envelope. The points will become deselected.

4. Click on an envelope point. The envelope point will darken and be selected. 5. Click on a non-adjacent point while simultaneously pressing the Command key. Only those two points will be selected. 6. Click on an empty area of the envelope. The points will become deselected.


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Nudging Envelope Points You can move envelope points in a more precise and controlled way by nudging them along the envelope either by pixel or gridline increments. The following steps will demonstrate nudging using the menu method.




4. Click on Nudge Right. The envelope point will move one pixel increment to the right.



7. Click on Shift Left. The envelope point will shift or move left by one gridline.

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Copying and Pasting Envelope Points Just like audio clips, you can copy envelope points and paste them where you’d like in the envelope. The following steps will show how you can do this.



3. Click on Copy. The envelope point will be copied.

4. Click in the desired spot on the envelope where you want to paste the envelope point. The playhead will move to that location. 5. Click on Edit. The Edit menu will appear. 6. Click on Paste. The envelope point will be pasted into the envelope.


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CAUTION Pasted envelope points will replace and delete any points that exist in that same location.

Deleting Envelope Points Once you’ve moved, copied, and nudged your envelope points, it may become necessary to delete a point or two within the envelope.


2. Click on the Edit menu. The Edit menu will appear.

3. Click on Delete. The envelope point will be deleted.

4. Click on the envelope disclosure triangle. The track’s envelopes will disappear. TIP You can also delete envelope points by selecting them, then pressing Delete on the keyboard.

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Working with Envelopes at the Project Master Level In the previous sections, we looked at working with envelopes on an individual track-by-track level. The master envelopes work the same way that track envelopes do, except they modify and effect all the tracks in a project—shaping the overall sound of the composition.

Viewing Master Envelopes You can view the master envelopes in the lower region of the project workspace, below all the tracks in a project. There are two different ways of accessing them. Follow these steps to display the master envelopes for a project.

1. Click on View. The View menu will appear. 2. Click on Show Master Envelopes. The master envelopes will appear just below all the tracks in the project.

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The second method for displaying master envelopes involves using contextual menus.

1. Control + click in an open area just below all the tracks in a project. The Master Envelope contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Show Master Envelopes. The master envelopes will appear just below all the tracks in the project.

Hiding Master Envelopes To save valuable screen real estate, you may want to hide the master envelopes once you’ve finished working with them. There are two different ways of doing this, both of which are shown in the following steps.


2. Click on Show Master Envelopes. The master envelopes will disappear from the project workspace.

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The second method for removing or hiding master envelopes involves using contextual menus.

1. Control + click anywhere in the master envelopes area. The Master Envelopes contextual menu will appear.

2. Click on Hide Master Envelopes. The master envelopes will no longer be displayed.

TIP You can also display and hide the master envelopes for your projects by clicking on the Master Envelopes button in the project workspace’s Toolbar.

13

Understanding and Using Effects

Soundtrack includes a wide variety of plug-in effects contained in folders from Apple and Emagic. Effects can be used to further modify and polish individual tracks and projects by offering a comprehensive library of choices to pick from. Add that professional edge to your masterpieces by applying effects like echo, reverb, and distortion to change and enhance your project’s musical character. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Open and close the Effects window Add effects to your project Use effects presets Adjust effects parameters Automate parameters Reset effects to their default settings Bypass and remove track effects

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CHAPTER 13: UNDERSTANDING AND USING EFFECTS

Opening the Effects Window In order to access the library of effects, you must first open the Effects window. Effects can be applied to individual tracks or to an entire project. There are several different ways of accessing the Effects window that will be covered in this lesson.

Track Effects You can really change the mood and sound of your tracks by applying different effects. The following steps will detail different ways of displaying the Effects window for individual tracks.


2. Click on Effects. The Effects window will open. TIP Optionally, to open the Effects window, you can click on the Show Effects button in the track’s control area.

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3. Click on the Show pop-up menu. The Show pop-up menu will appear.

4. Click on a track name. The track’s name will be displayed in the pop-up menu.

Master Effects Master effects are applied to an entire project’s sound and not to individual tracks. The following steps will show you how to access the master effects for your project.


2. Click on Effects. The Effects window will appear.

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3. Click on the Show pop-up menu. The Show pop-up menu will appear.

4. Click on Master Effects. Master effects will display in the pop-up menu.

TIP Optionally, you can access the Master Effects window by Control + clicking below all the tracks in the Timeline and selecting Show Master Effects from the contextual menu that will appear.

TIP Command + E is the keyboard shortcut combo to open the Effects window.

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Sizing the Effects Window Like many of the windows in Soundtrack, you have complete control over how the Effects window appears. When I work with the Effects window, I like to see all the effects at once without having to scroll. By manipulating the resizing controls, you can enlarge or reduce the size of the window to your liking.

1. Click on Emagic. A list of effect choices will appear in the Effects list. You will also notice that you have to scroll through the list to see all the effects.

2. Click and drag the resizing handle bar downward. The mouse pointer will change to a double-sided sizing arrow.

3. Release the mouse when the scroll bar next to the Effects list disappears. You can now see the entire list of effects for your preferred category without having to scroll.

4. Click and drag the corner resizing handle down and to the right. The Effects window as a whole will enlarge.

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Adding Effects to Your Project Now that you’ve found the window containing the effects, let’s go ahead and add one to a track in a project.

1. Click on the Show Effects button. The Effects window will open. 2. Click on a category. The category will be selected.

3. Click on an effect. The effect will be selected. 4. Click on the Show pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear, giving you the option to choose whether this effect should be applied to a track in your project or as a master effect.

5. Click on a track name. The selected track will be displayed in the pop-up menu.

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6. Click on the Add Effect button. The effect will be added to the Effects Parameter window.

7. Click on Play. The track will play with the new effect applied.

TIP You can also add effects to the Effects Parameter window by double-clicking the desired effect in the Effects list.

Working with Effects Chains You can apply as many effects as you’d like to a track or project and create an effects chain. Soundtrack reads the effects in sequence, therefore making their order important. In this section, we will look at creating an effects chain and reordering the effects within that chain.

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1. Choose more than one effect from the Effects list. The effects will be selected.

2. Click on the Add Effect button. Additional effects will be added to that track’s Effects Parameter window, creating an effects chain.

3. Click and drag the desired effect to a new order position. A black line will highlight the target destination for that effect.

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4. Release the effect. The sequence of effects in the effects chain will be updated.

Using Effects Presets Each track has parameters and controls that allow you to make changes to how that effect will work. There are so many parameters that it would be impossible to cover them all in this book. Instead, we will look at preset effects, in which all the parameter work has already been done, and apply them to a track.

Using the MatrixReverb Effect The MatrixReverb effect sustains sound longer than normal, as if the sound was bouncing around a large hall or auditorium. You will notice an extensive list of factory preset options for the different environments available. The following steps will show you how to apply this effect to a track in a project.

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1. Click on the Show Effects button. The Effects window will open.

2. Click on the Apple category. The Apple category will be selected.

3. Click on the MatrixReverb effect. The MatrixReverb effect will be selected. 4. Click on the Show pop-up menu. The Show pop-up menu will appear. 5. Click on a specific track. The track will be selected.


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6. Click on the Add Effect button. The MatrixReverb effect will be added to the Effects Parameter window.

7. Click on the disclosure triangle. A list of parameters will appear.

8. Click on the Factory Presets pop-up menu. The Factory Presets pop-up menu will appear.

9. Click on a preset. The preset will be selected and applied to the track automatically.

10. Click on the disclosure triangle. The list of parameters will close.

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Using the MultibandCompressor Effect The MultibandCompressor is a complicated way of saying volume control. Simply put, this effect reduces the level of any audio signal exceeding a set threshold volume. You set the volume threshold or limit, and this effect will do its best to keep audio signals below that level. Factory presets for this effect are also included, and there are four to choose from. Let’s go through an example using this effect.

1. Click on the Show Effects button within a track’s header information area. The Effects window will open. 2. Click on the Apple category. The Apple category will be selected.

3. Click on MultibandCompressor. The MultibandCompressor effect will be selected.

4. Click and drag the effect to the Effects Parameter window. A black line will appear, providing a visual guide for effect placement.


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5. Release the mouse and drop the effect in the Effects Parameter window. The MultibandCompressor effect will appear in the list.


7. Scroll down if necessary. More of the effect’s parameters will come into view.

8. Click on the Factory Presets pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

9. Click on a preset. The preset will be selected and applied to the track automatically.

10. Click on the disclosure triangle. The list of parameters will close.

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Adjusting the Effects Parameters As mentioned previously, there are so many effects and parameters that it would be very difficult to include them all in this chapter. Instead, let’s take a look at how you would go about adjusting the parameters and controls for an effect that you want to apply to a track or project.


2. Click on Emagic. The Emagic category will be selected.

3. Click on Bitcrusher. The Bitcrusher effect will be selected. 4. Click on the Add Effect button. The Bitcrusher effect will be added to the Effects Parameter window. 5. Click on Advanced. The Bitcrusher dialog box will open.

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6. Click and drag the downsampling slider to the right. The slider will move to the right. Downsampling sets the sampling rate of the output signal. By default, full sample rate is selected, but you can drop the sampling rate to 1/40 of the original if needed.

7. Click on the Close button. The Bitcrusher dialog box will close. 8. Click on the disclosure triangle. The list of parameters will open and display the changes made.

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Automating Parameters In Chapter 12, “Working with Master Settings and Envelopes,” we looked at automation through the use of envelopes. When applying effects to tracks or projects, you can have part of an effect or an entire effect displayed as an envelope in the Timeline. This allows you to automate how and when that effect comes into play during the course of your project.

1. Click on the disclosure triangle. The list of parameters will open for that effect.

2. Click on an Automate parameter check box. A check will be placed in the check box.

3. Click on the Show/Hide Envelopes disclosure triangle. The track’s envelopes will appear.

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NOTE Note that all the effects applied to that track with automation enabled are displayed as an envelope. See Chapter 12, “Working with Master Settings and Envelopes,” for more information on how to manipulate envelopes.

Resetting Effects to Their Default Settings Once you’ve modified the settings for an effect, you may want to reset the parameters to their original state. Follow these steps to get things back to when you started.

1. Click on an effect in the Effects Parameter window. The effect will be selected.

2. Click on Reset Effect. The effect’s parameters will be reset to their original factory defaults.

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Bypassing Track Effects There will come a time when you may want to review your project without all the effects you’ve applied. The following steps will show how you can disable or bypass effects when playing a project.

1. Click on Play. The project will play. 2. Click on the Bypass Effects button. The effects will be disabled.

TIP Optionally, you can Control + click on an empty area of a track with an effect and click on Bypass Effects from the contextual menu that appears.

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Removing Effects If your desire is to remove rather than bypass an effect, you can just as easily do so by following these steps.


2. Click on an effect in the Effects Parameter window. The effect will be selected.

3. Click on the Remove Effect button. The effect will be removed from the Effects Parameter window.

Closing the Effects Window There are several different ways to open the Effects window; however, there is only one way to close it.

1. Click on the Close button. The Effects window will close.


14

Exporting and Saving Your Work

Once you’ve hammered a composition together, you may want to share your project with others, move it to another computer, or further modify it in another application. All of these actions require either exporting or saving your project so that everything gets to where it needs to go safely, and in one piece. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Export your project as a mix Export tracks Save your project and its associated files Reconnect audio/video files Export your projects to QuickTime

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CHAPTER 14: EXPORTING AND SAVING YOUR WORK

Exporting Your Project as a Mix When you export as a mix, you are saving your project as one complete file. Using this method, you are not producing several different files but rather one output in an *.aiff file format. If your project includes video, exporting as a mix will not include the video, but can include that video’s audio track if required. You are given the option to include the video’s audio during the export process.


2. Click on Export Mix. The Export Mix dialog box will open.

TIP If you want to include your video’s audio track in the exported mix, simply remove the checkmark from the Mute audio track from video check box.

3. Navigate to the location where you want to export your mix. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list.

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4. Double-click on the Save As text box entry. The cursor will blink repeatedly in the text box.

5. Type a name if required for the exported mix. The new name will be displayed.

6. Click on the Bit Depth popup menu. The Bit Depth pop-up menu will appear. When exporting, audio is captured or recorded using number strings of varying lengths—the longer a string, the more detail will be captured, creating a better sounding file. This number string is called the bit depth.

7. Click on a Bit Depth value. The Bit Depth value will be selected.

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8. Click on the Sample Rate pop-up menu. The Sample Rate pop-up menu will appear. Sample rate represents the number of times per second that samples are taken. The higher the sample rate, the better sounding the file will be on export.

9. Click on a Sample Rate value. The Sample Rate value will be selected. 10. Click on Export. The mix will be exported.

NOTE If the options for Bit Depth and Sample Rate do not appear in your Export Mix dialog box, you may not be running the latest and greatest version of Apple Soundtrack. Visit Apple’s Soundtrack support page for more information.

CAUTION Although sound will be improved considerably when using high values for both bit depth and sample rate, your project file size on export will be much higher.

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11. Click on the Finder icon. The Finder window will open.

12. Navigate to the location where you exported the mix. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list. Note that your project has been exported as one file with the extension *.aiff.

Exporting Tracks When you export your projects using this method, you end up with an individual file for each track in your project. If you’ve created a project that includes five tracks and you export your composition using the Export Tracks option, five *.aiff files will be created to represent each track in that project.

Exporting Single Tracks By default, if you don’t select a specific track to export, the Export Tracks feature will export all the tracks in the project. The following steps will show you how to export a single track to the *.aiff file format.

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3. Click on Export Tracks. The Export Tracks dialog box will open.

4. Navigate to the location where you want to export the tracks. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list. 5. Click on the Output dual mono files check box if required. A checkmark will appear in the Output dual mono files check box. If this option is enabled, two files will be created for each track, one for the left speaker and one for the right.

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TIP The benefit of exporting as tracks rather than as a mix is that you will have much more control and flexibility later if your composition requires further editing or mixing in another application.

6. Click on Export Tracks. The selected track will be exported to the *.aiff file format.

Exporting Multiple Tracks The Export Tracks feature can be set up to export only certain tracks by simply selecting them in the Timeline. Using the methods learned in Chapter 11, “Laying Down the Tracks,” let’s go ahead and select multiple, non-adjacent tracks to export.

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2. Command + click on other tracks in the project. Multiple tracks will be selected.

3. Click on File. The File menu will appear. 4. Click on Export Tracks. The Export Tracks dialog box will open.

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5. Navigate to the location where you want to export the tracks. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list.

6. Click on Export Tracks. The selected tracks will be exported.


8. Navigate to the location where you exported the tracks. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list. Note that each track has been exported as an individual file with the file extension *.aiff. The *.aiff file is given the same name as the exported track.

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Saving Your Work—Revisited In Chapter 4, “Working with Project Files,” we tackled the topic of saving your projects. If you recall, when you save a project in Soundtrack, only “pointers” to all the media files you are using are saved, not the actual files. If by chance a media file is removed from your system, the project will no longer play properly. To overcome this potential problem, Soundtrack offers features that find and reconnect lost files, as well as save options that allow for the media files to be collectively saved with the project.

Collecting Audio Files/Video Files With this feature enabled, all the media files used in a project will be saved together into one project file. This is especially useful if you plan on sharing the file with others, or moving the project between computers. In this section, we will look at enabling the Collect Audio Files feature and disabling the Collect Video Files option.

CAUTION Video files are notoriously large; to conserve hard drive space, it may make more sense not to include them when saving project files.

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2. Click on Save As. The Save As dialog box will open.

3. Click on the Collect Audio File check box. A check will appear in the check box. All files including video will be collected and included in the saved project.

4. Click on the Collect Video File check box to disable this feature. The checkmark will disappear from the check box, and video will not be saved with the project.

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5. Navigate to the location where you want to save your project. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list.

6. Double-click on the Save As text box entry. The name will be selected.

7. Type an alternate name, if required, for the project. The new name will be displayed. 8. Click on Save. The project will be saved.


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Reconnecting Audio/Video Files When you open a project, Soundtrack automatically looks for the referenced media files on the system. If a media file used in your project has been deleted or moved on your computer, Soundtrack will display an Alert message that states it cannot find the file. The project will not play without first selecting from three different options. The following steps will detail the different options available within this message dialog box.


2. Click on Open. The Open dialog box will open.

3. Navigate to a project where a media file has been moved. The project will be selected.

4. Click on Open. The Can’t Find File Alert window will appear.

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5. Click on one of the following options in order to proceed: • Skip File. Select this option to skip locating this file and open the project anyway. • Find File. By selecting this option, a dialog box will open allowing you to locate the missing file and then reconnect it to your project. • Cancel. By selecting this option, the project will not be opened at all.

6. Click on Skip File. The project will open. Note that any file reported missing by Soundtrack will appear in the Timeline with its title highlighted in red.


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8. Control + click on a red highlighted missing audio file. A contextual menu will appear.

9. Click on Reconnect (missing file’s file name). A dialog box will appear, allowing you to locate the missing file on your computer.

10. Navigate to the missing file’s location. The file will be selected.

11. Click on Open. The waveform in the Timeline will return to its original color, and the file will be reconnected.

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13. Control + click on the missing video in the video track. A contextual menu will appear.

14. Click on Reconnect Offline Source. A dialog box will appear, allowing you to locate the missing video file on your computer.

15. Navigate to the missing file’s location. The file will be selected. 16. Click on Open. The video in the video track will return to its original color, and the file will be reconnected.

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CAUTION The solution is only temporary when you use the Video and Audio panes to reconnect lost files. To permanently locate and reconnect lost files within your projects, you must use the dialog box shown in step 5. Choose the Find File option and locate those missing files that you want to reconnect to your project.

Exporting to QuickTime QuickTime is a common video file format developed by Apple. Many of the video files found on the Internet are stored in the QuickTime format which is *.mov. QuickTime movies typically require a special viewer program for playback. Soundtrack offers the option to export your projects that include video to this popular format.


2. Click on Export to QuickTime. The Export dialog box will open.

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3. Navigate to the location where you want to export your QuickTime movie. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list.

4. Click on the Save As text box entry. The cursor will blink repeatedly within this text box.

5. Type a name, if required, for the QuickTime movie file. The new name will be displayed. 6. Click on Export. The project will be exported to QuickTime.

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8. Navigate to the location where you exported the QuickTime movie. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list.

9. Double-click on the QuickTime movie file. The QuickTime Player will open.

10. Click on the Play button. The movie will play.

11. Click on the Close button. The QuickTime Player will close.


15

Working with Other Applications and Formats

In Chapter 14, we looked at exporting and saving our projects to formats recognized by other applications. In this chapter, we will take that concept one step further by exploring the potential interactions between Soundtrack projects and popular formats and applications such as MP3, Flash, Final Cut Pro, and audio CDs. In this chapter, you will learn how to: Convert Soundtrack files into MP3s Convert your MP3s into Soundtrack files (*.aiff) Export video from Final Cut Pro 4.0 Import audio CD tracks Score Flash projects

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CHAPTER 15: WORKING WITH OTHER APPLICATIONS AND FORMATS

Converting Your Soundtrack Files into MP3s You’ve slaved over a musical masterpiece. You’ve saved the project in Soundtrack. What next? How can you get your projects out there for the masses to see and hear? One way is to convert your Soundtrack projects to the MP3 file format. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to do this automatically in Soundtrack, but you can use iTunes, which ships free with MAC OS X.

1. Create or open an existing project. The project will be the active file in Soundtrack. 2. Click on File. The File menu will appear. 3. Click on Export Mix. The Export Mix dialog box will open.

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5. Click on the Save As text box entry. The text cursor will blink repeatedly.

6. Type a name, if required, for the exported mix. The new name will be displayed.

7. Click on Export. The mix will be exported.

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8. Click on the iTunes icon. The iTunes application will open. NOTE If iTunes is not available on your system, simply visit Apple’s website where you can download it for free. The web address for the free download is http:// www.apple.com/itunes/.

9. Click on the Finder icon. The Finder window will open. Shrink the Finder window sufficiently enough so that you can see the iTunes application behind it. 10. Navigate to the location where you exported your mix. The files in that folder will be displayed in the file list.


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11. Drag the exported mix to the Source window in iTunes. The mouse pointer will change to a green circle with a plus sign in it.


12. Release the mouse button. The exported mix file will be dropped in the Sources window in iTunes.

13. Click on iTunes in the title bar of the window. iTunes will become the active window.

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14. Click on iTunes. The iTunes menu will appear.


16. Click on Advanced. The Advanced options will be displayed. 17. Click on Change. The Change Music Folder Location dialog box will open. Here, you will select where you want your MP3 conversions to be saved.


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18. Navigate to the location where you want your converted MP3s to go. The files in that folder will be displayed.

19. Click on Open. The Change Music Folder Location dialog box will close.

NOTE Depending on your version of iTunes, dialog boxes and options may differ from what you see here. The version used for this book is 4.0.1. To get the latest version of iTunes, visit http:// www.apple.com/itunes/.

20. Click on Importing. The Importing options will be displayed.

21. Click on the Import Using pop-up menu. The pop-menu will appear.

22. Click on MP3 Encoder. MP3 Encoder will be displayed in the pop-up menu.

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NOTE In this same window, you can choose instead to convert your Soundtrack mix to a WAV file. This is an uncompressed audio file format created by IBM and Microsoft. It is known as being the standard audio file format used in Windows-based systems.

23. Click on OK. An Alert message may appear, warning you that you are changing the iTunes Music Folder location.

24. Click on OK. The Alert message will close, and another message may appear.


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25. Click on No. The Alert message will close, and iTunes will not reorganize all your music to this folder location.

26. Click on your mix file in the Source window. The mix file will appear in the playlist window.

27. Click on the mix file in the playlist. The mix file will be selected.

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28. Click on Advanced. The Advanced menu will appear.

29. Click on Convert Selection to MP3. A bell will chime, and the conversion will begin. Depending on your preference settings, you may also hear the project playing as it is being converted.

30. Click on iTunes. The iTunes menu will appear. 31. Click on Quit iTunes. The iTunes application will close.

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32. Click on the Finder icon. The Finder application will become the active program.

33. Navigate to the specified MP3 conversion location using Finder. The converted MP3 file will be displayed in the folder list.

34. Click on the Close button. The Finder application will close.

Converting Your MP3s to AIFF Files for Use in Soundtrack If you’re anything like me, you probably have a lot of MP3s on your system already. You may even want to use them in your Soundtrack projects. Unfortunately, Soundtrack does not import MP3s directly, but you can use iTunes to convert them to a format it does recognize—*.aiff files.

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1. Click on the iTunes icon. The iTunes application will open

2. Click on iTunes. The iTunes menu will appear. 3. Click on Preferences. The Preferences window will open.

4. Click on Importing. The Importing options will be displayed. 5. Click on the Import Using pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear. 6. Click on AIFF Encoder. AIFF Encoder will be displayed in the pop-up menu. 7. Click on OK. The Preferences window will close.

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8. Click on the desired MP3 to convert to AIFF. The MP3 file will be selected in the Playlist window.

9. Click on Advanced. The Advanced menu will appear.

10. Click on Convert Selection to AIFF. A bell will chime when conversion completes. Depending on your preference settings, you may also hear the project playing as it is being converted.

11. Click on the Finder icon. The Finder application will become the active program.

12. Navigate to the specified MP3 conversion location using Finder. The converted MP3 file will be displayed in the folder list.

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13. Click on the Close button. The Finder application will close.

14. Click on the Close button. The iTunes application will close.

TIP If you’ve lost your way and can’t find the converted file, simply follow the steps from the previous section, “Converting your Soundtrack files into MP3s,” to locate the music folder location in iTunes.

NOTE If you wanted to use an *.aiff file in Soundtrack, access the file from the File Browser in the Media Manager. Drag the file across to the Timeline as you would any other file, and it will be added to your project.

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Exporting Video from Final Cut Pro For those of you who are Final Cut Pro users, you will likely want to export your video projects into Soundtrack. Luckily, Final Cut Pro has a built-in export feature for Soundtrack users that makes this function extremely easy.

NOTE Final Cut Pro 4.0 ships with Apple Soundtrack included. When you buy Apple Soundtrack as a stand-alone application though, it does not include Final Cut Pro.

1. Launch the Final Cut Pro application. The application will open.

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2. Create or open an existing project. The project will be the active file.


4. Point to Export. The Export submenu will appear. 5. Click on For Soundtrack. The Save dialog box will appear.

6. Navigate to the location where you want to save the file. The files in that folder will be displayed. 7. Double-click on the Save As text box entry. The name will be selected.

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8. Type an alternate name, if required, for the project. The new name will be displayed.

9. Click on the Include pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

10. Click on Audio and Video. Both audio and video from this Final Cut Pro project will be exported to Soundtrack. You can choose to export only the video or only the audio as well.

11. Click on the Markers popup menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

12. Click on Audio Scoring Markers. Audio scoring markers will be exported to Soundtrack. Audio scoring markers from Final Cut Pro will appear orange in Soundtrack.

13. Click on Save. The project will be converted for use in Soundtrack.

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NOTE To view the exported video in Soundtrack, access the file from the File Browser in the Media Manager. Drag the file across to the Timeline as you would any other file, and it will be added to your project.

14. Click on Final Cut Pro. The Final Cut Pro menu will appear.

15. Click on Quit Final Cut Pro. The application will close. Perform any necessary Save operations if prompted.

Importing Audio CD Tracks I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked by fellow Soundtrackers how to import audio into Soundtrack from music CDs. There are two different methods you can use, both of which are detailed in the following lessons.

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Using Media Manager The most straightforward method to import audio is using the Media Manager. Right from within Soundtrack, you can pull up the music files on an audio CD and drag them into the Timeline. Follow the steps below to access files on an audio CD for your Soundtrack projects.

1. Insert your audio CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive. A CD-ROM will appear on your desktop.

2. Launch Apple Soundtrack. The application will open.


4. Navigate to the location of your audio CD. The contents of the CD will be displayed in the name list.

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5. Click and drag an audio file from the CD to the Timeline. The audio file will appear in the Timeline.

6. Release the audio file. The audio file will drop into a track in the Timeline.

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Using Finder You can also access the files on your audio CD through the Finder window and drag them to your project directly— bypassing the Media Manager completely.

1. Click on the Finder icon. The Finder window will open over the top of Soundtrack. Shrink the Finder window sufficiently enough so that you can see your project’s Timeline in Soundtrack.

2. Navigate to the location of your audio CD. The contents of the CD will be displayed in the name list.

3. Click and drag the desired audio files from the CD in Finder to your Timeline in Soundtrack. The mouse pointer will change to a green circle with a plus sign in it.

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4. Release the audio file. The audio file will drop into a track in the Timeline.

CAUTION If you are having any problems performing either of the methods listed, you most likely have an earlier version of Soundtrack. Visit Apple’s website and download the free update file which will bring your version of Soundtrack to 1.2. With this update installed, direct access to audio CDs from within Soundtrack will be possible without any issues.

Creating Music for Flash Projects Soundtrack comes in handy when working with Flash projects. If you’ve created a snazzy Flash file and you need that perfect score to put the finishing touches on it—look no further. Flash and Soundtrack work well together, and the steps below will show you exactly how.

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Flash to QuickTime The first steps involve launching Flash on your system and exporting the Flash project in a format Soundtrack understands and recognizes. Once the Flash file is converted to a QuickTime movie (*.mov) format, you can open the file in Soundtrack and create a score.

NOTE This section assumes you have Flash MX 2004 installed on your system. To download a free 30-day trial version of this application, visit Macromedia at http:// www.macromedia.com/software/flash/.

1. Launch Flash. The Flash application will open.

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2. Create or open an existing project. The project will be the active file.


4. Point to Export. The Export submenu will appear. 5. Click on Export Movie. The Export Movie dialog box will open.

6. Double-click on the Save As text box entry. The name will be selected. 7. Type an alternate name, if required, for the project. The new name will be displayed. 8. Click on the Where pop-up menu. The pop-up menu will appear. 9. Click on the location where you would like to export this file. The folder location will be selected.


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10. Click on the Format popup menu. The pop-up menu will appear.

11. Click on QuickTime Video. QuickTime Video will be selected.

12. Click on Save. The Export QuickTime Video dialog box will open.

13. Select from the options displayed and click on OK. The dialog box will close, and the Flash project will be exported to a QuickTime movie file.

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Soundtrack to Flash Once you’ve exported the QuickTime video from Flash, you will need to import the movie into Soundtrack, score the project, and return it to the Flash designer for review. The following will outline the steps required to complete this round trip process.

1. Launch Apple Soundtrack. The Soundtrack application will open.

2. Click on the File Browser pane. The File Browser pane will come to the front. 3. Navigate to the location of your exported QuickTime movie. The contents of that folder will be displayed in the name list.


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4. Drag and drop the QuickTime movie into the Timeline. The video will appear in the Video pane.

5. Score the video. A musical score will be created for the video.


7. Click on Export Mix. The Export Mix dialog box will open.

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9. Click on the Save As text box entry. The text cursor will blink repeatedly.

10. Type a name, if required, for the exported mix. The new name will be displayed. 11. Click on Export. The mix will be exported. Now, the resulting *.aiff file is ready to be sent off to the Flash designer for his final review.

A

“Building the Machina” Loop Tutorial In this tutorial, we will cover: Indexing media files Searching and moving media files to the Timeline Resizing clips Working with tracks Customizing the user interface Working with envelopes Applying effects Converting to MP3

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APPENDIX A: “BUILDING THE MACHINA” LOOP TUTORIAL

You are about to embark on a mission—a mission to build the Machina. “Building the Machina” is the name of an original loop composition that I created using Apple Soundtrack. Put all the lessons you learned to practice by completing this tutorial and creating your first musical masterpiece. Along the way, feel free to improvise and make the music your own. The steps listed are simply guides and attempt to bring together many of the lessons contained in this book.

NOTE All the audio loops and one-shots used in this tutorial are located on the Loops CD that ships with Soundtrack and will not require any additional downloads or purchases.

Indexing the Soundtrack Loops As stated in Chapter 5, “Managing Your Media with the Media Manager,” it is important that the loops required for this tutorial are indexed and recognized by the Media Manager’s search database. If you haven’t done so already, the following steps will guide you through this process.


2. Click on Setup. The Setup dialog box will open.

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3. Click on the Add Directory (plus sign) button. The Open dialog box will open.

4. Navigate to the Documents folder on your hard drive. If you installed the Apple Loops to your hard drive, you will see a folder named “Apple Loops for Soundtrack” in the file window.

NOTE If you didn’t install Apple Loops for Soundtrack to your hard drive, use your CD-ROM location instead of the Document folder on your hard drive.

5. Click on Apple Loops for Soundtrack. The folder name will be highlighted.

6. Click on Open. The directory will appear in the Setup dialog box.

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7. Click on Index Now. The Index Now button will fade while the directory is indexed.

8. Click on Done. The Setup dialog box will close. The loops on the Apple CD-ROM are now available to the search database.

Saving Your Work Before we begin searching for clips, let’s save our work so we can name the project.


2. Click on Save As. The Save As dialog box will appear.

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3. Navigate to the appropriate directory location. The directory’s contents will be displayed in the file list.

4. Save the project as Building the Machina. The file name will appear in the Save As text field box.

5. Click on Save. The project will save.

Searching for Clips Let’s get right into the project and find those clips for the Building the Machina composition. We will search for a total of four audio files. Using different search refinement techniques, we will locate those files, preview them, and review their file information.


2. Click on the Buttons View icon, if it isn’t already selected. The display will change to show a collection of keyword buttons, such as Piano, Organ, and Guitars.

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3. Click on Ensemble. The search results box will become populated with ensemble loops and sound effects.

4. Type the word looping in the Refine Search text field box and press Return/Enter on the keyboard. The search results box will update to show a refined list of choices, all containing the word “looping.” 5. Click on the Name header. The list of Looping Music Bed choices will reverse into a descending order. 6. Scroll through the list of choices until you come to Looping Music Bed 40.aiff. The list of choices will scroll downward.

7. Click once on Looping Music Bed 40.aiff. The file will immediately preview and play.

8. Click on the Additional Info arrow, if it isn’t already enabled. Additional information about this file will appear.

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Dragging Clips to the Timeline Now that you’ve searched and located one of the media clips we will be using in this tutorial, you are now ready to put it into action by dragging it to the Timeline into its own track.

1. Click and drag Looping Music Bed 40.aiff to the project Timeline. As you enter the Timeline, the mouse pointer will turn into a green circle with a plus sign in it.


2. Release the mouse and drop the file into the empty track called “untitled Track 1” at the beginning of the Timeline. The track name will update to Looping Music Bed 40 and a waveform for the loop will appear in the Timeline.

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Sizing the Clip As detailed in Chapter 8, “Making the Audio Clips Yours,” let’s resize the Looping Music Bed 40 clip so that it plays three times.

1. Position your mouse pointer over the right edge of the Looping Music Bed 40 clip. The pointer will become a Clip Resizer.

2. Click and drag the edge of the clip by two full loop segments to the right. The Looping Music Bed 40 clip will play a total of 3 times.

NOTE Each repeating segment is represented by notches at the top and bottom of the loop.

TIP Make sure that the Looping Music Bed 40 clip begins at the very beginning of the Timeline. If it doesn’t, feel free to move it into position. Don’t worry—all three segments will move as one into position.

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269

Customizing the Track Information Let’s personalize the track information so that it’s easier to work with—especially once other tracks are added into the mix.

1. Click on the Track icon. A gallery of track icons will appear.

2. Click on a keyboard icon. The keyboard icon will replace the original track icon.

3. Triple-click in the Track Name text field box. The current name will be selected.

4. Rename the Looping Music Bed 40 track to Mission Beat. The name field will display the new name.

5. Press Return/Enter. The new name will be applied to the name field.

270


Time Markers In Chapter 10, “Making Your Mark with Markers,” we worked through lessons on how to insert and set different types of markers in your projects. For this tutorial, we will insert time markers to mark the different starting positions for the remaining audio clips you will be dragging in from the Media Manager. Let’s insert three time markers at the 6, 10, and 20 second positions in the Timeline and name them appropriately.

TIP Each notch in the Timeline ruler represents one second of time. Throughout the tutorial, I will be asking you to position items at a specific time in seconds along the Timeline. When in doubt, simply click on the Timeline ruler and note the Time in Seconds position in the Time Display area of the project workspace. From there, you can adjust the position accordingly.

1. Click anywhere within the Timeline ruler. The Playhead will move to that position.


3. Click on Insert Time Marker. A time marker will appear in the Timeline.

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271

4. Control + click on the time marker. A contextual menu will appear.


6. Type 06.00 in the Time field entry box. The Time field entry box will display 06.00.

7. Type MM6 in the Marker Name field entry box. MM6 (Media Monosyn 6 sec) will be displayed in the Marker Name field entry box.

8. Click on OK. The Marker dialog box will close and the time marker will move to its new location and a title will appear.

272


Tasks to Complete Use what you learned in the previous lessons to complete the following assignments:

TIP Pssst. Remember, you can quickly add time markers by pressing the letter M on your keyboard once you’ve clicked in the area of the Timeline where you want it to be inserted.

Markers 1. Insert and name new time markers at the 10 and 20 second positions in the Timeline, naming them MM10 and MM20, respectively.

2. Insert a new time marker at the 12 second mark in the Timeline and name it Mbeat12.

3. Insert a new time marker at the 8 second mark in the Timeline and name it Synth8.

CAUTION HELP! You may have noticed that some of the marker names are disappearing or truncating due to limited space in the Timeline. No problem—simply zoom in until the titles are visible again. To zoom in, click and drag the zoom slider to the left.

TASKS TO COMPLETE

273

Search, Resize, and Drag Clips 1. Search for the following media clips using the following search refinement hints and drag them to the specified marker locations in the Timeline. • Media Monosyn.aiff. Located in the Synths keyword category. Drag three instances of the Media Monosyn.aiff to one new track in the Timeline. Position them with their starting points at the MM6, MM10, and MM20 marker locations.

• Machine Beat.aiff. Located in the Electric keyword category. Drag one instance of Machine Beat.aiff to one new track in the Timeline. Position the clip’s starting point at the Mbeat12 marker location. Resize the clip so it plays a total of five times.

274


• Synth 02. Located in the Synths keyword category. Drag one instance of Synth 02 to one new track in the Timeline. Position the clip’s starting point at the Synth8 marker location. Resize the clip so that it plays eight times.

TIP Remember—when searching, if you do not find the media file you are looking for, you may have to click on the forward arrow to page through the collections of clips within that keyword category.

How Are We Doing So Far? Once you’ve completed these tasks, go ahead and play this work in progress.

HOW ARE WE DOING SO FAR?

275

1. Click on the Go to beginning button. The Playhead will move to the beginning of the Timeline.

2. Click on the Play button. The project will play.

TIP To get a real feel for this creation, make sure that the Looping button is enabled in the Transport controls. With this feature activated, the loop will automatically repeat when played.

3. Click on the Stop button. The project will stop playing.

276


Working the User Interface (UI) In this part of the tutorial, we will clean up and modify the user interface so that it is easier to work with. To begin, now that everything is in place, let’s hide the time marker lines in the project to avoid cluttering the UI. We will also modify the track heights and zoom levels for this project.

1. Click on View. The View menu will appear. 2. Click on Show Marker Lines. All marker lines will disappear from the Timeline.


4. Click on Fit in Window. The project’s track contents will zoom accordingly to fit in the window.

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277


6. Point to Track Height. A submenu will appear.

7. Click on Small if it isn’t already selected. The track heights will adjust accordingly.

Master Fade Away Catchy title! This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. In this section of the tutorial, we will look at applying a fade in and fade out effect to the overall project. Working from many of the lessons learned in Chapter 12, “Working with Master Settings and Envelopes,” we will create this effect by manipulating the volume envelope at the master level.


2. Click on Show Master Envelopes. The master envelopes will appear just below all the tracks in the Timeline.

278


3. Double-click on the volume envelope at the two second mark in the Timeline. The playhead will move to the two second position and an envelope point will appear.

4. Control + click on the envelope point at the beginning of the volume envelope. A contextual menu will appear. 5. Click on Set Value. The Set Value dialog box will open.

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279

6. Type –10 in the envelope point value text entry field. The text entry field will update to display this new value.

7. Click on OK. The Set Value dialog box will close and the envelope point will drop to –10 decibels. You have now successfully created a fade in for this loop. Let’s continue and create a fade out effect for the end of this loop composition.

8. Double-click on the volume envelope at the 22 second mark in the Timeline. An envelope point will appear.

TIP Depending on your zoom setting, you may have to scroll to the right in the Timeline to see the 22 second marker.

280


9. Double-click on the volume envelope at the 24 second mark in the Timeline. The playhead will move to the 24 second position and the envelope point will appear.

10. Control + click on the envelope point at the 24 second position. A contextual menu will appear. 11. Click on Set Value. The Set Value dialog box will open.

12. Type –10 in the envelope point value text entry field. The text entry field will update to display this new value. 13. Click on OK. The Set Value dialog box will close and the envelope point will drop to –10 decibels.

TASKS TO COMPLETE

281


15. Click on Show Master Envelopes. The master envelopes will close.

Tasks to Complete Use what you learned in the previous lessons to complete the following assignments.

1. Click on the disclosure triangle of the Mission Beat track. The envelopes for that track will appear.

282


2. Create a fade effect for this track by inserting envelope points at the following locations and setting the volume accordingly: • Insert an envelope point at the 12 second mark, set volume level to –14 decibels • Insert an envelope point at the 16 second mark, set volume level to 1 decibel • Insert an envelope point at the 20 second mark, set volume level to –25 decibels • Insert an envelope point at the 22 second mark, set volume level to –6 decibels

3. Close or collapse the envelopes view for the Mission Beat track.

How Are We Doing So Far? You’ve come this far and you are doing great. Go ahead and take a listen to your budding masterpiece. Listen for the fade in and fade out effects you’ve created along the way!

Applying Effects In Chapter 13, “Understanding and Using Effects,” we learned that using effects can be really easy and also have some exciting results. In this part of the tutorial, we will apply an effect from some of the presets available to some of the tracks in this loop arrangement.

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283

1. Click on the selection area (three vertical dots) of the Synth 02 track. The track will darken to show it is selected.

2. Click on the Show Effects button. The Effects dialog box will open.

3. Click on Apple. A list of Apple effects will populate the effects window.

4. Click on MatrixReverb. MatrixReverb will be selected.

5. Click on the Add Effect button. The effect will be added to the Effects Parameter window.

284



7. Click on the Presets pop-up menu. The Presets pop-up menu will appear.

8. Click on Cathedral. Cathedral will be selected and applied to the track automatically.

9. Click on the disclosure triangle. The list of parameters will close. 10. Click on the Close button. The Effects dialog box will close.

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285

11. Click on Play. The loop will play with the effect automatically applied.

12. Click on the Bypass Effects button for the Synth 02 track. The effect will be temporarily disabled to give you a better idea of what the track originally sounded like.

13. Click on the Bypass Effects button again. The effect will be reactivated for that track.

14. Click on the Solo button for the Synth 02 track. The track will play on its own without any of the other tracks in the project.

15. Click on the Solo button again. The rest of the tracks will resume play.

286


Tasks to Complete Use what you learned in the previous lessons to complete the following assignment:

1. Apply an Apple effect to the Machine Beat track. Use the MultibandCompressor effect, with a factory preset of your choice.

2. Use the Bypass Effects and Solo features to better determine which effects work and which effects don’t.

Mission Accomplished! The loop is now complete. Play the loop a few times so that you are able to tweak and mix where required to get it just right. Give yourself a pat on the back! You’ve just created your first loop called “Building the Machina.”

Share the Music In order to share this finished masterpiece with all your friends, you may have to convert it to an MP3 file format. Based on lessons learned in Chapter 15, “Working with Other Applications and Formats,” we will first export the project as a mix (*.aiff) and then using iTunes, convert the file to an MP3.

SHARE THE MUSIC

287


2. Click on Export Mix. The Export dialog box will open.


4. Click in the Save As text box entry. The text cursor will blink repeatedly.

5. Type Building the Machina. The new name will be displayed.

6. Click on Export. The mix will be exported as Building the Machina.aiff.

288


Tasks to Complete Use what you learned in Chapter 15, “Working with Other Applications and Formats,” to complete the following assignment:

1. Launch iTunes. 2. Convert Building the Machina.aiff (from the previous lesson) to an MP3.

B

Review Questions You’ve Been and Answers Framed Questions 1. What is the name of the central location of the user interface where you search for, preview, and access the audio and video files you will be using for your projects?

2. In what area of the user interface do you arrange all the audio and video files from the Media Manager to form a musical soundtrack?

3. How can you set Soundtrack’s startup behavior to launch and automatically open the last project you worked on?

4. What feature can you use to return to the last saved version of a project?

5. What feature exists in the Media Manager that allows for quick access to files you specify?

6. How do you add directories to the Search Database in the Media Manager?

290

APPENDIX B: REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

7. Name two ways you can refine your searches in the Media Manager.

8. What happens when you drag a media file to the Timeline and drop it just below all existing tracks in the project? 9. From where can you select all occurrences of a specific clip?

10. Which video formats does Soundtrack support? 11. What feature in Soundtrack allows you to move a clip incrementally, either by pixel or gridline? 12. What is the difference between a loop and a one-shot? 13. What is the name of the feature that allows you to isolate a portion of the Timeline that you want to play?

14. What does snapping mean? 15. Why are time markers used? 16. What color is the end-of-project marker? 17. Where do you have to click in order to select a track? 18. How can you add your own custom track icons? 19. What feature allows you to isolate and play only one track while the others are silenced? 20. How is a fade-in and a fade-out effect created? 21. What does tempo mean? 22. What kind of envelopes allow for complete control over an entire project’s properties and volume?

ANSWERS

291

23. What kind of file is created when you export your project as a mix?

24. To what movie format can you export your projects that contain video?

25. Which application can you use to convert your projects to MP3s?

Answers 1. The Media Manager is the part of the user interface in which you can preview and access media files in Soundtrack.

2. The project workspace is the part of the user interface where you arrange your compositions using the media files from the Media Manager.

3. Access Soundtrack’s Preferences dialog and click on the General pane. From within this pane, you can set Soundtrack’s startup behavior to always open the last project you worked on when the application is launched.

4. The Revert feature allows you to quickly return to the last saved version of the project you are working on.

5. The Favorites pane allows you to quickly assign quick links to your favorite files in the Media Manager. Using Favorites saves you the time of having to search through your directories looking for files.

6. Click on the Setup button in the Media Manager to index any directories you want to add to the Search Database.

7. You can refine your searches by accessing the Time Signature and Scale Type pop-up menus within the Search pane in the Media Manager.

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APPENDIX B: REVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

8. A new track is created automatically for the media file, below all the existing tracks in the project.

9. In the project workspace, click on the Audio pane. From within this pane, Control + click on the audio clip you want to search for and select the Select All Occurrences Of option. 10. Soundtrack will support QuickTime-compatible file formats. You can insert QuickTime (.mov) or MPEG-2 (.m2v) video files into your projects. 11. You can move clips incrementally either by pixel or gridline by using the Nudging feature. 12. A one-shot is a type of audio clip that doesn’t repeat or loop. One-shots are typically sounds that are better off not looping, like a car crash or a vocal. A loop is an audio clip that repeats.

13. Creating Playback regions allows you to restrict playback to a specific part of the Timeline. 14. The Snap feature makes it easier for you to position or place clips at precise locations on the Timeline. Snap functionality is much like a magnet built into the Timeline. Depending on the elements you deem as magnetic, audio clips will automatically stick or be drawn to them.

15. Time markers are used to mark events or key scene moments in your video. 16. The end-of-project marker is colored red. 17. To select a track, you must click on the selection area on the left side of the track. The selection area is depicted by three dots lined up vertically.

ANSWERS

293

18. Using Finder, drag and drop your image onto an existing track icon in Soundtrack. The track icon will be replaced with your custom image.

19. The Solo feature allows you to play a track on its own by automatically silencing all the other tracks in the project.

20. Fades are created using the volume envelopes for tracks.

21. When you set the tempo for an overall project, you are in fact setting the speed at which music is played. Tempo is typically designated in beats per minute (bpm).

22. Master envelopes provide complete control for an entire project’s properties and volume.

23. When you export your projects as a mix, the resultant file is in an *.aiff format.

24. You can export projects as QuickTime movies if and only if your project contains video.

25. By first exporting your project as a mix (*.aiff ), you can then convert the file to a MP3 using Apple iTunes.


C

Additional Online You’ve Been Resources Framed The Internet is full of incredible resources for Apple Soundtrack users. There are several discussion groups, thirdparty websites, and Apple’s corporate site that can help build on what you’ve learned in this book. This appendix lists some of my favorite resources for additional learning, as well as support offerings for Apple Soundtrack.

NOTE Website URLs included in this chapter were accurate at the time of printing. These sites are subject to change as updates occur.

296

APPENDIX C: ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES

Apple User-to-User Forums Apple’s site offers a discussion board on which you can ask questions and get help from thousands of Apple Soundtrack users across the world. If you want to read what other users have to say, this discussion board is the place to be to learn about the product. You can access the Apple Soundtrack discussion board at the following location: http:// discussions.info.apple.com/soundtrack/. To participate in the discussions and post your own comments, you will have to register and log in. Otherwise, you can browse the messages on the discussion board as a guest.

FINAL CUT PRO FORUMS

297

Final Cut Pro Forums For those Final Cut Pro “Soundtrack” users, Apple also offers a discussion group in which you can find information or ask questions about these two products and how they work together. You can access the Final Cut Pro forum from the following location: http://discussions.info.apple.com/ finalcutpro/.

298


Soundtrack’s Support Page If you ever have any problems with the software or need to download the latest updates, visit Apple Soundtrack’s support page. There, you will have access to frequently asked questions, patch updates, and some documentation. You can access Apple Soundtrack’s support page from http://www.apple.com/support/soundtrack/.

KEN STONE’S FINAL CUT PRO WEBSITE

299

Ken Stone’s Final Cut Pro Website This website is an incredible resource for Soundtrack and Final Cut Pro users. Ken Stone provides quick reference guides, tutorials, and reviews to help you further your learning and go even deeper into the applications. The site is constantly updated with new information, so dig deep and you’re sure to find something useful. Visit Ken Stone’s site at http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/ fcp_homepage_index.html.

300


Soundtrack Lounge Picture a cool place for Soundtrackers to hang out, talk, and share music. This site has it all. From discussion groups to the latest news, this website offers registered users everything that is Apple Soundtrack and Garageband. I even posted some of my own Soundtrack music to their site to share with the masses. Visit the Soundtrack Lounge and get yourself an account at http://www.soundtracklounge.com/.

SOUNDTRACK LOUNGE’S LINKS PAGE

301

Soundtrack Lounge’s Links Page You can also visit Soundtrack Lounge’s Links page for more fantastic online resources for Apple Soundtrack. Some of these links will take you to places where you can download additional loops, read music news, and join discussion boards. Visit http://www.soundtracklounge.com/links.php for more information.


Index A About This Mac dialog box, 3 active project, locating, 53 Add Directory button, 263 Add Effect button, 200 Adobe Acrobat, 30 .aiff format, 214, 218, 221 MP3 files, converting, 243–246 Alias for Soundtrack, creating, 14–16 Apple Loops for Soundtrack indexing, 263 installing, 10–14 Applications icon, launching Soundtrack with, 18–19 audio files. See also clips; playhead; recording audio clipping, 88 collecting audio/video files, 222–224 Favorites, moving files from, 72–73 File Browser, moving files from, 70–72 Finder, moving files from, 75–76 preferences, setting, 84–87 reconnecting audio/video files, 225–229 Search pane, moving files from, 74–75 Timeline, moving to, 70–76

Audio pane, accessing clips from, 76–78 audio scoring markers from Final Cut Pro, 249

B beats markers to beats, assigning, 137–138 of search result, 67 Time/Beats displays, moving playhead with, 117–118 Beats ruler, 90 Before You Install Soundtrack icon, 4–5 bit depth for exporting mix, 215–216 Bit Depth pop-up menu, 215–216 Bitcrusher effect, 206–207 Bypass Effects button, 285 bypassing track effects, 210

C Cathedral effect, 284 check boxes, 23 clipping, 88 clips. See also Machina tutorial; tracks all occurrences of clip, selecting, 77 Audio pane for accessing, 76–78 copying clips, 104

304

INDEX

deleting clips, 109 duplicating clips, 102 multiple clips, 103 file information, accessing, 112–113 horizontally displaying, 127 joining clips, 108 moving clips, 99–101 multiple clips, selecting, 98 names, shortening, 133 nudging clips, 100–101 one-shot, converting loop to, 110 overwriting clips, 99 Paste Repeat feature, using, 105–106 pasting clips, 104 replacing selected clips, 78 resizing clips, 101–102, 273–274 single clips, selecting, 98 splitting clips, 106–107 Timeline, adding clips to, 76–77 transposing audio clips, 164 Undo/Redo, using, 111 Close button, 24 closing Effects window, 211 projects, 54 collecting audio/video files, 222–224 Columns view button, 64 for search, 65 command button, 24 commands, 20–22 arrow next to, 21 contextual menus, 22 copying clips, 104 envelope points, 188–189

D deleting. See also tracks clips, 109 effects, 211 markers, 142–143 playback regions, 123 Search Database, directories from, 62 destination volume for Apple Loops for Soundtrack, 12 for Soundtrack, 7 dialog boxes, 22–24 pop-up menus, 23 directories. See searching downloading Flash, trial version of, 255 iTunes, 236 latest version of Soundtrack, 254 downsampling, 207 drag and drop clips, moving, 99–100, 267, 273–274 envelope points, 183–184 Timeline, audio files to, 72 Drawer icon, 31 duplicating clips. See clips duration markers. See markers

E Easy Install setup process, 8 effects. See also effects parameters adding to project, 198–199 bypassing track effects, 210 chains, working with, 199–201 deleting effects, 211 Machina tutorial, applying effects in, 282–285 master effects, 195–196 Matrix Reverb effect, 201–203

INDEX

MultibandCompressor effect, 204–205 presets, using, 201–205 resetting effects to default, 209 track effects, 194–195 effects chains, 199–201 Effects Parameter window, 199 deleting effects from, 211 Matrix Reverb effect, adding, 203 MultibandCompressor effect in, 204–205 effects parameters adjusting, 206–207 automating parameters, 208–209 default, resetting effects to, 209 Effects window closing, 211 opening, 194 resizing, 197 ejecting Soundtrack CD-ROM, 9 ellipsis (...), commands followed by, 21 Emagic, 197, 206 end-of-project marker, 144–145 envelope points, 182–189 copying, 188–189 creating, 183 deleting, 189 inserting values for, 184–185 moving, 183–184 nudging, 187 pasting, 188–189 selecting, 186 envelopes. See also envelope points automating effects parameters, 208–209 hiding master envelopes, 191–192 manually setting pan level, 180 volume, 178 master envelopes, 190–192 in Machina tutorial, 277–281

305

pan, adjusting, 180–182 precisely setting pan position, 181–182 volume, 179 at track level, 177–182 viewing master envelopes, 190–191 volume, adjusting, 178–179 existing projects, opening, 50–51 exiting Soundtrack, 28 Export Mix dialog box, 214–217 Export Tracks dialog box, 218–221 exporting. See also Flash projects; importing; tracks .aiff files, converting MP3 files to, 243–246 bit depth default preferences, 177 Final Cut Pro, video from, 247–250 Machina tutorial for, 287 mix, project as, 214–217 MP3, converting Soundtrack files to, 234–243 to QuickTime, 229–231

F fade in/fade out. See also envelopes; master envelopes Machina tutorial, working with, 277–281 recording preferences, 85 Favorites audio files, moving, 72–73 existing track, moving audio files to, 72–73 locating files with, 57 File Browser, 56–59 .aiff files, accessing, 246 audio files, moving, 70–72 Favorites, locating files with, 57 Final Cut Pro, viewing exported video from, 250 previewing files with, 58–59

306

INDEX

recordings, accessing, 89 Timeline, moving audio files to, 70–72 video files to Viewer window, moving, 79–80 File Information dialog box, 112–113 Final Cut Pro, 144 exporting video from, 247–250 Find File feature, 226 Finder audio files, moving, 75–76 importing audio CD tracks with, 253–254 Timeline, moving audio files to, 75–76 Finder icon, 15 launching Soundtrack with, 18–19 Flash projects, 254–260 design review, returning project for, 258–260 downloading trial version of Flash, 255 importing Flash movie to Soundtrack, 258–260 QuickTime, converting Flash file to, 255–257 folders saving projects in, 46 versions of project, saving, 47–49 frame by frame, moving playhead, 119

G Global Timeline view, 130–131 gridline increments for envelope points, 187

H hard drive recording audio and, 87 space requirements for, 2 heights. See track heights help, 29–41 index for, 32 late-breaking help, accessing, 34–36

linked topics, accessing, 32 online support, 36–38 Soundtrack Help, 30–34 hiding. See showing/hiding hints of search result, 67 horizontal scroll bars, 25

I IBM WAV files, converting Soundtrack file to, 240 icons Alias for Soundtrack, creating, 14–16 track icon, customizing, 156–159 images for track icon, customizing, 157–159 importing. See also exporting audio CD tracks, 250–254 Finder, importing audio CD through, 253–254 Flash movie to Soundtrack, 258–260 Media Manager, importing audio CD tracks with, 251–252 index for help, 32 indexing loops, 262–264 Insert Beat Marker option, 138 Install Soundtrack icon, 5 Installer utility, 2 installing Apple Loops for Soundtrack, 10–14 Soundtrack, 4–9 tutorials for Soundtrack, 39–41 iTunes .aiff format, converting MP3 files to, 243–246 downloading, 236 Soundtrack files to MP3, converting, 234–243 versions of, 239

INDEX

307

J

M

joining clips, 108

Mac OS X, 2 Machina tutorial, 261–288 customizing track information, 269 dragging clips, 267, 273–274 effects, applying, 282–285 exporting mix, 287 fade, working with, 277–281 indexing loops, 262–264 Looping Music Bed choices, 266 markers, adding, 270–272 master envelopes, working with, 277–281 playing work in progress, 274–275 resizing clips, 273–274 saving work, 264–265 searching for clips, 265–266, 273–274 time markers, inserting, 270–271 Timeline, dragging clips to, 267 UI (User Interface), working with, 276–277 Macromedia, 255 manuals, 29–30 markers. See also time markers beats, assigning to, 137–138 deleting markers, 142–143 duration markers manually moving, 146 precisely moving, 146–147 preferences, setting, 148 end-of-project marker, 144–145 Final Cut Pro, audio scoring markers from, 249 lines, displaying, 136 Machina tutorial, inserting markers in, 270–272 manually moving markers, 140–141 duration markers, 146 moving markers, 140–142 naming markers, 139–140

K key default preferences, 176 project key, setting, 173 of search result, 67 keyboard shortcuts, 21 audio tracks, deleting, 166 for beat markers, 138 Effects window, opening, 196 for exiting Soundtrack, 28 markers, moving between, 144 for time markers, 138 tracks, adding, 151 for Undo/Redo, 111 for zooming in Timeline, 128 Keyword button, 63 keywords for search, 64

L late-breaking help, accessing, 34–36 launching Soundtrack, 18–19 layouts changing, 26–27 Global Timeline view and, 130 Layouts submenu, 26–27 linked topics in help, accessing, 32 .LOOP files, 45 Looping Music Bed choices, 266 loops. See also Apple Loops for Soundtrack; Machina tutorial indexing loops, 262–264 one-shot, converting loop to, 110 transposing audio clips, 164 lost files, reconnecting, 225–229

308

INDEX

playhead to marker, snapping, 143–144 precisely moving markers, 141–142 duration markers, 146–147 preferences, 136–137 duration marker preferences, setting, 148 snapping, 133, 137 playhead to marker, snapping, 143–144 titles, displaying, 136 master controls. See also envelopes effects, 195–196 key, setting, 173 overall project controls, adjusting, 170–175 preferences, setting, 175–177 sample rate, setting, 175 tempo, setting, 170–171 time signature, setting, 172–173 volume, setting, 174 Master Effects window, 195–196 master envelopes. See envelopes Matrix Reverb effect, 201–203 Media Manager, 20. See also clips; Favorites; File Browser; tracks hiding, 130 importing audio CD tracks with, 251–252 indexing loops for, 262–264 previewing files with, 58–59 showing/hiding, 27 menus contextual menus, 22 pop-up menus, 23 video tracks, deleting, 168 working with, 20–22 microphone, selecting, 84 Microsoft WAV files, converting Soundtrack file to, 240 mix, exporting project as, 214–217 mouse pointer, 71, 237

.mov format, 229–231, 255 MP3 Encoder, 239–240 MP3 format .aiff files, converting MP3 files to, 243–246 location for saved files, 238–239 Soundtrack files to MP3, converting, 234–243 MultibandCompressor effect, 204–205 multiple audio takes, saving, 94 multiple clips, selecting, 98 multiple projects, switching between, 53 multiple takes, recording, 90–95 muting on previewing files, 59 tracks, 162

N names clip names, shortening, 133 for exported mix, 215 for markers, 139–140 MP3, names for files converted to, 235 tracks, naming, 153–156 new projects, creating, 44 nudging clips, 100–101 envelope points, 187

O one-shot, converting loop to, 110 online support, 36–38 Open Recent list, 52 opening Effects window, 194 existing projects, 50–51 recently saved projects, 52 option button in dialog boxes, 23

INDEX

P Page Down icon, 31–32 for late-breaking help, 35 pan controls minimum/maximum pan values, 182 for tracks, 162–163 passwords for Apple Loops for Soundtrack, 13 for installing Soundtrack, 5, 8 Paste Repeat feature for clips, 105–106 pasting clips, 104 envelope points, 188–189 pdf files of Soundtrack tutorials, 40 pixels, nudging envelope points by, 187 playback regions adjusting, 122–123 creating, 121–122 deleting, 123 playhead default position of, 116 frame by frame, moving, 119 manually moving, 116–117 marker, snapping playhead to, 143–144 splitting clips with, 107 Time/Beat controls, moving with, 117–118 transport controls, using, 120–121 pop-up menus, 23 preferences. See also markers audio file recording preferences, 84–87 master control preferences, setting, 175–177 Timeline preferences, working with, 132–133 Preferences dialog box, 23–24 presets for effects, 201–205

309

Preview viewer, 30 video files, moving, 81–82 previewing audio files, 58–59 audio takes, 92 with Media Manager, 58–59 Project pane, 24 Project Workspace, 20 projects. See also effects; envelopes; Flash projects; master controls bypassing track effects, 210 closing, 54 collecting audio/video files, 222–224 existing projects, opening, 50–51 exporting project as mix, 214–217 key, setting, 173 multiple projects, switching between, 53 new projects, creating, 44 opening, 50–52 recently saved projects, opening, 52 reconnecting audio/video files, 225–229 sample rate, setting, 175 saving, 45–50, 222–229 startup behavior for, 44–45 switching between, 53 tempo, setting, 170–171 time signature, setting, 172–173 volume, setting, 174

Q QuickTime format exporting to, 229–231 Flash file to QuickTime, converting, 255–257 support for, 82 upgrading to newest version, 16

310

INDEX

R RAM requirements, 2 reconnecting audio/video files, 225–229 recording audio accessing recordings, 89 multiple takes, recording, 90–95 preferences, setting, 84–87 previewing takes, 92 saving multiple takes, 94 sessions, 86 single take, recording, 87–89 snapping, setting, 93 Waveform Display window, 92–93 Recording pane, 24 Redo for clips, 111 Remove Effect button, 211 replacing selected clips, 78 resizing clips, 101–102, 273–274 Effects window, 197 reverb effect, 201–203 revert feature, 49–50

S Safari menu, 38 sample rate default preferences, 177 downsampling, 207 for exported mix, 216 project sample rate, setting, 175 Save As command, 47–49 Save As text box, 46 Save dialog box, 45–47 on exiting Soundtrack, 28 saving. See also recording audio on closing projects, 54 collecting audio/video files, 222–224

Machina tutorial work, 264–265 multiple audio takes, 94 projects, 45–50, 222–229 reconnecting audio/video files, 225–229 revert feature, using, 49–50 versions of project, 47–49 Scale Type menu for search, 65–67 scroll bars, 25 Search pane, 60–67 audio files, moving, 74–75 Timeline, moving audio files to, 74–75 searching, 60–67 adding directories to Search Database, 60–61 deleting directories from Search Database, 62 Favorites, locating files with, 57 with File Browser, 56–59 Machina tutorial, clips for, 265–266, 273–274 narrowing search, 67 refining the search, 65–67 with Scale Type menu, 65–67 Soundtrack Help contents, 30–34 with Time Signature menu, 65–67 views, changing, 63–65 selecting. See also clips envelope points, 186 microphone, 84 tracks, 151–152 semitones for audio loops, 164 Sessions Location path, 86 Set Value dialog box, 184–185 shortcuts. See keyboard shortcuts Show/Hide Envelopes disclosure triangle, 208–209 Show Marker Lines option, 136 Show Marker Titles option, 136

INDEX

showing/hiding master envelopes, 191–192 Media Manager, 130 Menu Manager, 27 single take, recording, 87–89 Skip File feature, 226–227 sliders, 24 Snap To value, 133 snapping. See also markers default snapping behavior, 132 playhead to marker, 143–144 temporarily disabling, 125 with Timeline, 124–125 in Waveform Display window, 93 Solo button, 285 soloing tracks, 162 Song Duration dialog box, 147 sound controller, 85 Soundtrack Alias file, 16 Soundtrack Loop Utility, 2 Special Characters features for track names, 154–155 spell checking tracks, 155–156 Split View pointer for Timeline, 129 splitting clips, 106–107 Timeline in two, 129 startup behavior, modifying, 44–45 submenus, 21 switching between projects, 53 system requirements, 2–3 Installer package checking for, 6

T tempo default preferences, 176 default tempo, restoring, 171 Global Timeline view of, 130

311

project tempo, setting, 170–171 of search result, 67 text boxes, 24 Text Tool mode for help, 32 Time/Beats displays, moving playhead with, 117–118 time markers adding, 138–139 Machina tutorial, adding in, 270–272 time signature, 65–67 default preferences, 176 project time signature, setting, 172–173 Time Signature menu for search, 65–67 Timeline. See also clips; playback regions; playhead; tracks audio files, moving, 70–76 clips, adding, 76–77 deleting clips with, 109 Favorites, moving files from, 72–73 File Browser, moving audio files from, 70–72 Finder, moving audio files from, 75–76 Global Timeline view, 130–131 Machina tutorial, dragging clips in, 257 preferences, working with, 132–133 Preview window, moving files from, 81–82 Search Pane, moving audio files from, 74–75 snapping with, 124–125 splitting in two, 129 Track Height controls, adjusting, 126 video files, moving, 79–82 zooming in and out, 127–128 Tooltips, viewing, 41 track heights adjusting, 125–126 default track height, setting, 133 Track Icon grid, using, 156

312

INDEX

tracks, 70. See also track heights adding tracks, 150–151 bypassing track effects, 210 deleting audio tracks, 165–166 video tracks, 166–168 effects, 194–195 envelopes at track level, 177–182 existing track, moving audio files to, 72–73 exporting, 217–221 multiple tracks, 219–221 single tracks, 217–219 icon, customizing, 156–159 images for track icon, using, 157–159 importing audio CD tracks, 250–254 menus for deleting video tracks, 168 multiple tracks exporting, 219–221 selecting, 152 muting, 162 naming tracks, 153–156 order of tracks, changing, 160 pan controls, working with, 162–163 rearranging track order, 160 selecting, 151–152 single tracks exporting, 217–219 selecting, 151 soloing tracks, 162 special characters for names, 154–155 spell checking tracks, 155–156 Track Icon grid, using, 156 transposing audio clips, 164 volume, working with, 160–162 transport controls, 120–121 transposing audio clips, 164

tutorials installing, 39–41 Machina loop tutorial, 261–288

U UI (User Interface), 19–20 dialog boxes, 22–24 layouts, changing, 26–27 Machina tutorial, working with, 276–277 menus, 20–22 scroll bars, 25 working with, 20–25 Undo/Redo for clips, 111 upgrading Mac system, 2 QuickTime version, 16

V versions. See also downloading; upgrading of OS X, determining, 3 vertical scroll bars, 25 video files. See also Final Cut Pro; playhead collecting audio/video files, 222–224 exported mix, including audio in, 214 exporting from Final Cut Pro, 247–250 File Browser, moving files from, 79–80 menus, deleting video tracks with, 168 Preview window, moving files from, 81–82 reconnecting audio/video files, 225–229 time markers, adding, 138–139 Timeline, moving files to, 79–82 tracks, deleting, 166–168 View menu, Layouts submenu, 26–27 Viewer window deleting video tracks with, 166–167 File Browser, moving files from, 79–80

INDEX

views and viewing master envelopes, 190–191 searching files, changing views while, 63–65 Tooltips, 41 volume envelopes, adjusting with, 178–179 Global Timeline view of, 130 MultibandCompressor effect, 204–205 project volume, setting, 174 track volume, adjusting, 160–162

313

W WAV files, converting Soundtrack file to, 240 Waveform Display window, 92–93 Web sites for help, 36–38 for QuickTime version upgrades, 16

Z zooming controls for, 127–128 for late-breaking help, 35


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