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Digital Audio Tracks


Digital audio tracks let you store audio data as digital sound values rather than as musical symbols.

A digital audio track works like a recording tape that you can include in a musical document and on which you can record whatever you want for subsequent playback.

The number of digital audio tracks in a document is unlimited. Furthermore, you can use both regular staves (playing on digital or MIDI output) and digital audio tracks in the same document.

Note: Digital effect processors can also be applied to digital audio tracks.

Digital audio tracks enable you, for example:
  • To add your own voice, or an instrumental part played by you, to your document.
  • To record a song from an audio CD, erase the singer's voice, and replace it with your own.
  • To import samples in different formats (AIFF, WAV, MP3, SND) for inclusion in your tunes.
  • To export the end product in any of the most common digital file formats and create your own audio CDs.
  • etc...
In this chapter we will see how to configure your computer and the basics of editing digital audio tracks.


Summary

Setting up memory

Setting up digital input
Acquiring and importing digital data
Validating
Editing
Hints and tips


Setting up memory

Digital audio tracks are stored by Melody/Harmony in 44 kHz, 16-bit, mono (CD quality) format.
A stereo recording will be split into two digital audio tracks, one for the left channel, the other for the right channel.

This means that for one second of stereo recording, 176400 bytes (172 Kb) will have to be stored.
A five-minute tune in stereo will thus use about 50 Mb of memory.

This huge quantity of data will be managed as temporary files on your hard disk or, if you wish and have sufficient memory, in RAM.  

The way the program manages digital audio tracks can be set in "Configuration>Global Setup>Digital".

It is important to adjust these parameters to suit your computer hardware, in order to gain the fastest possible access to digital audio data.When replaying, Melody/Harmony must be able to read the digital data at 172 Kb/sec.

The first value to adjust is the transfer buffer size. This memory is used for sound output and for copy operations when editing. The higher the value, the faster load, save, conversion and cut/paste operations will be. This memory is a part of your application's private memory allocation. An optimal value is from 512 to 1024 Kb.

You can select the temporary files location. Temporary files are used to store tracks, as well as for "undo" operations while editing. Available disk space of at least 100 Mb is recommended, even more if you are working on large files with a large number of undo levels (see global setup).
If you have several hard disks or several partitions, select the fastest or the emptiest. It is recommended that you defragment this disk frequently to optimize transfer speed. (See your computer manual.)

Use Temporary memory: if this option is selected, the program will store as much data as possible in temporary memory (RAM) before using the hard disk. If you have a large amount of memory (more than 64 Mb), it can drastically improve processing speed.

To help you to optimise the settings of these parameters for your computer's particular specifications, the "Check my computer" button starts a test procedure and displays the result.



Setting up digital input

Recording sources can be, for example, an audio CD in the CD-ROM drive, or a microphone plugged into your computer.

Note: The recording source (microphone, CD player, Aux, etc...) is not selected in Melody-Harmony, but by using the standard system tools (Audio mixer on the PC, "Sound" control panel on the Macintosh).

The "Configuration>Digital input configuration" menu defines how Melody/Harmony acquires data from the selected audio source.

If a digital input is selected and receives data, the green gauge (on the left of the window) should move.

Input can be made in mono or in stereo. When stereo input is selected, two digital audio tracks will be created, one below the other. The first one is the left channel, the second one the right. If you are recording from a microphone, there is no point in selecting "stereo".

The gain (only available on some computers) can be adjusted: this is the amplifying factor, automatic or manual, applied to the input audio signal.

The input delay allows you to compensate for your computer's processing time, because there can be a delay between the time that an audio signal is provided to the computer and the time that the corresponding digital data are made available by the analog-digital converter.
Melody/Harmony automatically sets a base delay that is dependent on the digital output parameters you define (see the digital output setup window). The input delay is then added to or subtracted from this base delay.
For example, if you record your voice on a digital audio track while music is playing, a delay of a few milliseconds between the recorded voice and music can occur when the item is replayed.

Here is a simple method to get the right value for the input delay:

  1. Make an empty document of about twelve bars.
  2. Enable the metronome in the "Play tools" palette.
  3. Start recording and directly record, with a microphone, the metronome sound emitted by your computer loudspeakers for two or three seconds.
  4. Add the result to your document.
  5. If your input delay is correctly set, the metronome clicks will occur precisely at the beginning of each bar.
  6. If clicks fall a little bit early (on the left of the bar line) increase the input delay and retry.
  7. If clicks fall a little bit late (on the right of the bar line) decrease the input delay and retry.
Your digital input is now set up.
If you change the digital output parameters, it may be necessary to perform this setup again.



Acquiring and importing digital data

 
Note: To record a digital audio track, display the "Recording tools" palette ("Windows" menu). Then select the input type(s): digital and/or Midi. Please note that these two kinds of input can be selected at the same time, enabling you to record what you are playing on an electronic keyboard while singing into a microphone.
Note to Windows users: Before starting a digital recording, you must select a digital input device in "Configuration>Hardware configuration".
There are several ways to include a digital audio track in a musical document.
  • Importing an existing digital sound file
  • From the File menu, select "File>Import>" then a file format from: Wave, Aiff, MP3 or Macintosh sound resource. Next select an existing file on your hard disk and click OK. A new document will be created, with as many digital tracks as there are channels in the file (one for a monaural file, two for a stereophonic file).
     
  • Adding a track to an existing document
    • Adding the content of a digital sound file to the document:
    • Select "Edit>Digital audio track>Import". The selected audio file in Wave, Aiff, Mp3... format will be read and added to the existing document as one or two digital audio tracks.

    • Acquiring sound data from a digital input:
    • Click on the record icon in the "Record tools" palette or select "Edit>Digital audio track>Start-stop recording".
      The tune starts playing and recording begins. The sound source can be a microphone (sing or play an acoustic instrument) or an audio CD (start CD play from your operating system control panel). To stop recording, click on the icon again.
      Data will be added as one or two tracks to the existing document. If no document is open, a new one will be created.

    • Acquiring from the Karaoke window:
    • Start Karaoke, then click on the record icon and sing into the microphone. Your voice is added to the current document as a digital track.
  • Adding data to a digital audio track
    • Create a new staff (Staves>Add staff) and change its type to "digital audio track" (Staves>Change type). Then perform the following:

    • Adding data to an existing digital audio track from an existing digital sound file:
    • Click where you want the sound to be inserted in the digital audio track. Then select "Edit>Digital audio track>Import". Data read from the file in Wave, AIFF, MP3 ... format will be added at the cursor position.

    • Adding data to an existing digital audio track from a digital recording:
    • Click where you want the sound to be recorded in the digital audio track. Select "Play selection range" mode in the "Play tools" palette. Click the record icon. Click this icon again to stop recording.
  • Converting a regular staff into a digital audio track
  • Change the type of an existing staff to "Digital audio track". The musical notes belonging to this staff will be converted to their digital sound values.
       
      Note to Harmony users: You can convert a digital track to notes using the script "Digital sound>Digital to notes"


    Validating

    After each digital data recording or import, a window opens. This displays the digital data and timing. This window can also be used during score editing: select an area on one or two digital tracks and select "Edit>Digital audio track>Edit selection".

    Several editing modes are provided and can be selected by the icons below the digital sound graph:

    • Change mode (pencil): when active, you can change sound samples by clicking on their graphic display.
    • Zoom mode (magnifying glass): increases (mouse click) or decreases (Shift + mouse click) display zoom for the sound graph. The scroll bar sets the beginning of the viewing area.
    • Select mode (lasso): clicking on the sound graph will set the selection range. The selection range is also displayed in numerical form on the left as data sample numbers together with locations in minutes, seconds and hundredths of a second.
    The “Actions” pop-up menu provides commands to be applied to the selection range: cut, paste, erase, add ...

    Working area:
    The working area is defined by a starting and an ending location.
    All data within the working area will be applied to the digital track when validating.  Data outside the working area will be ignored.

    When the editing window opens:
    If you imported a digital sound file, the working area is maximal: it includes all the data you may edit, i.e. all of the loaded data.
    If you edited a part of an existing digital audio track, the working area is maximal: it includes all the data you may edit, i.e. the content of the selected range of the document.
    If you recorded a sound, the working area starting point is set at the first piece of data recorded when the music started playing. In some cases, you can expand the working area to show data recorded just before the music started (see below).

    The commands "Crop" and "Show all" in the “Actions” menu change working area boundaries. “Crop” sets the working area to the current selection range, “Show all” sets the working area to the whole sample.

    If several digital audio tracks are included in the document:

    You can select which existing track data will be applied to, or create a new track. If the data is in stereo, it will be applied to the selected track as well as the next one.
    If you recorded data from a microphone or an audio CD:
    When the window opens, the recorded data are displayed. Since there can be a delay between the start of recording and the start of tune playing, data can exist before the first displayed location. By default this is not shown. To view it, select "Actions>Show all".
    If you have stereo data (audio CD, file import...):
    You can:
    • keep the left and right channels. Each channel will be applied to a different track. Left track panning will be set to left, right track panning to right.
    • mix the left and right channels to get a single monaural track.
    • mix the left and right channels to remove the singer's voice. This is useful in order to replace the singer's voice with your own.
    If you add data to an existing digital audio track:
    You can select whether the data will be inserted at the current location, added to (mixed with) the existing data, or used to replace it.
    If a locking point is set on the target track:
    You can select whether the application of data observes this locking point or not. (See the "Editing" section below for an explanation of locking points.)


    Editing

    General points
    All the usual editing operations like cut, paste, erase... can be used on digital audio tracks.

    There are however some peculiarities. For instance, the add operation mixes the clipboard content with the current selection range.

    Specific operations dedicated to digital audio tracks: amplify, fade, mirror... can be selected from "Staves>Digital audio track". These operations apply to the current selection range. They are detailed below.

    Tip: The "Staves>Digital audio track" menu can be displayed by right-clicking on a digital audio track (Alt+Click on Macintosh).
    Locking points

    Locking points are specific to digital audio tracks. They are designed to protect an area of data from being moved or altered while performing insert or delete operations: no operation performed before a locking point can affect data located after it.

    A locking point is shown by a red vertical line. You can add a locking point anywhere on a digital audio track by using "Edit>Digital audio track>Add locking point". When applying data to a track, a locking point is automatically added to the start of the modified area. To delete a locking point, use the delete tool (lightning bolt).

    Specific actions
    These actions perform logical operations or modify data within the selection range.

    Seek zero crossing: The starting and ending points of the selection range will be set to the nearest zero crossings of data. This facilitates the isolation of a sound in a set of data, and avoids "clicks" when the selection range is pasted elsewhere in the track (provided the insertion point is also a zero-crossing).

    Horizontal mirror: The selected data is inverted top to bottom (i.e. positive amplitude becomes negative and vice-versa).

    Vertical mirror: The selected data is reversed left to right (i.e. is played backwards in time).

    Amplify: The selected data is amplified by the specified percentage. A ratio below 100% will decrease volume. The "Normalize" option sets the highest sample amplitude value in the selection range to the specified percentage of the maximum digital value.
    Normalize to 100% amplifies the sound to the maximum value that is possible without the onset of data loss due to digital clipping.

    Fade: Sound fade in or fade out. The fade can be linear or logarithmic.

    Center zero: The average value of data in the selection range is set to zero.

    Precision editing
    If you wish to edit part of a digital audio track (or a complete one) more precisely, select the area you are interested in, then "Staves>Digital audio track>Edit selection". If you select more than one track, editing will be performed in stereo.

    Hints and tips

    Karaoke and re-recording:

    It is possible to start a microphone recording from the karaoke play window.This lets you record a digital audio track containing just your voice. After having validated this track, you can replay the tune to hear your voice added to the music. At this point you can record your voice again and add it to the existing track. And so on ...

    Playing problems:
    If, when playing, an alert tells you that the music cannot be played properly, ensure that the hard disk on which temporary files are stored is not full or fragmented. Free up some space or start a defragment operation if necessary.

    Singer's voice removal problems:
    In some cases, the singer's voice cannot be be removed properly. This is particularly likely to occur when importing an MP3 file, and is due to the information loss inherent in the  MP3 format.
    It can also occur in pieces where the singer's voice is not stereophonically centered.
     
     



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