132 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
132 lines
4.6 KiB
Markdown
+++
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title = "Further region operations"
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chapter = false
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weight = 6
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+++
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In this section you will learn a few more things you can do with regions.
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Right-clicking a selected region reveals a context menu. The first item
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in the menu (labeled with the region's name) contains a large sub-menu.
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All of these operations are also available from Ardour's main *Region*
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menu.
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This section describes a few of the most commonly used operations
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accessible from these menus.
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**Play**
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: Play back from the beginning to the end of that region (**H** shortcut).
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**Tag**
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: Give a region some meaningful tag, e.g. "Good" that helps distinguishing it
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from others in the _Regions_ list
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**Loop**
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: Set the loop range to fit that region's duration, and start looping it right
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away.
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**Rename**
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: Change a region's name.
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**Properties**
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: Lots of information on the region, plus the ability to change its gain.
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**Position**
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: Among other options, in this sub-menu you will find the _Lock_ toggle box: it
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locks the region so that it cannot be moved or trimmed. It can still be split,
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however, and the resulting regions will be unlocked.
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**Edit**
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: This submenu contains useful tools such as _Pitch Shift_ (**Alt+8**) and
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_Reverse_ (**Alt+4**). _Pitch Shift_ alters the pitch of a region without
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changing its duration. _Reverse_ makes the region play backwards.
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**Gain**
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: Has useful options such as _Mute_ (**Alt+1**), _Normalize_ (**Alt+3**),
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_Boost Gain_ (**Alt+6**), and _Cut Gain_ (**Alt+7**).
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**Duplicate**
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: Includes _Duplicate_ (shortcut **Alt+D**), _Multi-Duplicate_, and _Fill Track_.
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These were explained in detail in the
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[Working with Regions](../working-with-regions) chapter.
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**Loudness Analysis**
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: Estimates loudness of a region in LUFS, as well as _Peak_ and _True Peak_
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values.
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**Spectral Analysis**
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: Window displaying the overall frequency content of the region.
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Feel free to explore by yourself other submenus not mentioned above. Many of
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them are mirrors of the options you find under Ardour's *Region* menu. Below we
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go into a bit more details on some of the most useful functions.
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## Pitch Shifting
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The _Pitch Shift_ (**Alt+8**) function alters the pitch of a region without
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changing its duration. The function applies a pitch-shifting algorithm to
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create a new audio clip based on the source clip.
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The _Pitch Shift_ window allows the user to specify the amount and direction of
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transposition desired. The window includes a _Preserve Formants_ option. When
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pitch shifting by large amounts, the preserve formants option can give results
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that sound slightly more natural, particularly when used on vocal material.
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## Normalize
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The _Normalize_ function (**Alt+3** shortcut) non-destructively boosts the level
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of the selected region so that the _peaks_ are at 0 dB or less. When
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normalizing to 0.0, the region will be as loud as possible while avoiding
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clipping. Sometimes you may find useful to normalize a region to a value less
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than 0, such as -1.0, -3.0, or -6.0 decibels, so it doesn't become too loud.
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Two other useful gain operations for regions are _Boost Gain_ (**Alt+6**) and
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_Cut Gain_ (**Alt+7**), both incrementing gain by 1dB upwards or downwards.
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Be sure to try them out.
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## Reverse
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The _Reverse_ (**Alt+4**) function reverses the selected region of audio, in
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effect causing it to play backwards. Reversing a region creates a new audio
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file "behind the scenes".
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## Operations On Two Or More Selected Ranges
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If more than one range is selected, the operation will apply to all of them (for
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example, _Normalize_, _Reverse_, etc.)
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### Combine
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Some operations from the context menu will only become available when two or
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more regions are selected. For example, let's take a look at the _Combine_
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function, under the sub-menu _Edit_. First we select two adjacent regions:
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Then we choose _Combine_ from the right-click context menu, or from Ardour's
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main menu `Region > Edit > Combine`:
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As a result, the selected regions are combined into one. This is particulary
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useful when you have found an exact sequence of regions that works just as you
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want, and then you would like to copy and/or move the whole sequence as group.
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Notice that the resulting combined region has the word "compound" attached to
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its name.
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## Continuing
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In the following chapter, we will learn a bit more about the powerful
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tools Ardour has available by changing **Edit Modes**.
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Next: [CHANGING EDIT MODES](../changing-edit-modes)
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