133 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
133 lines
4.8 KiB
Markdown
+++
|
||
title = "Further region operations"
|
||
description = "Pitch-shifting, normalizing and other operations on regions in Ardour"
|
||
chapter = false
|
||
weight = 6
|
||
+++
|
||
|
||
In this section you will learn a few more things you can do with regions.
|
||
|
||
Right-clicking a selected region reveals a context menu. The first item
|
||
in the menu (labeled with the region's name) contains a large sub-menu.
|
||
All of these operations are also available from Ardour's main *Region*
|
||
menu.
|
||
|
||
This section describes a few of the most commonly used operations
|
||
accessible from these menus.
|
||
|
||
{{< figure alt="Region menu" src="en/ardour7-region-menu.png" >}}
|
||
|
||
**Play**
|
||
: Play back from the beginning to the end of that region (**H** shortcut).
|
||
|
||
**Tag**
|
||
: Give a region some meaningful tag, e.g. "Good" that helps distinguishing it
|
||
from others in the _Regions_ list
|
||
|
||
**Loop**
|
||
: Set the loop range to fit that region's duration, and start looping it right
|
||
away.
|
||
|
||
**Rename**
|
||
: Change a region's name.
|
||
|
||
**Properties**
|
||
: Lots of information on the region, plus the ability to change its gain.
|
||
|
||
**Position**
|
||
: Among other options, in this sub-menu you will find the _Lock_ toggle box: it
|
||
locks the region so that it cannot be moved or trimmed. It can still be split,
|
||
however, and the resulting regions will be unlocked.
|
||
|
||
**Edit**
|
||
: This submenu contains useful tools such as _Pitch Shift_ (**Alt+8**) and
|
||
_Reverse_ (**Alt+4**). _Pitch Shift_ alters the pitch of a region without
|
||
changing its duration. _Reverse_ makes the region play backwards.
|
||
|
||
**Gain**
|
||
: Has useful options such as _Mute_ (**Alt+1**), _Normalize_ (**Alt+3**),
|
||
_Boost Gain_ (**Alt+6**), and _Cut Gain_ (**Alt+7**).
|
||
|
||
**Duplicate**
|
||
: Includes _Duplicate_ (shortcut **Alt+D**), _Multi-Duplicate_, and _Fill Track_.
|
||
These were explained in detail in the
|
||
[Working with Regions](../working-with-regions) chapter.
|
||
|
||
**Loudness Analysis**
|
||
: Estimates loudness of a region in LUFS, as well as _Peak_ and _True Peak_
|
||
values.
|
||
|
||
**Spectral Analysis**
|
||
: Window displaying the overall frequency content of the region.
|
||
|
||
Feel free to explore by yourself other submenus not mentioned above. Many of
|
||
them are mirrors of the options you find under Ardour's *Region* menu. Below we
|
||
go into a bit more details on some of the most useful functions.
|
||
|
||
## Pitch Shifting
|
||
|
||
The _Pitch Shift_ (**Alt+8**) function alters the pitch of a region without
|
||
changing its duration. The function applies a pitch-shifting algorithm to
|
||
create a new audio clip based on the source clip.
|
||
|
||
The _Pitch Shift_ window allows the user to specify the amount and direction of
|
||
transposition desired. The window includes a _Preserve Formants_ option. When
|
||
pitch shifting by large amounts, the preserve formants option can give results
|
||
that sound slightly more natural, particularly when used on vocal material.
|
||
|
||
{{< figure alt="Pitch Shift" src="en/ardour7-pitch-shift-window.png" >}}
|
||
|
||
## Normalize
|
||
|
||
The _Normalize_ function (**Alt+3** shortcut) non-destructively boosts the level
|
||
of the selected region so that the _peaks_ are at 0 dB or less. When
|
||
normalizing to 0.0, the region will be as loud as possible while avoiding
|
||
clipping. Sometimes you may find useful to normalize a region to a value less
|
||
than 0, such as -1.0, -3.0, or -6.0 decibels, so it doesn't become too loud.
|
||
|
||
{{< figure alt="normalize" src="en/ardour7-normalize-window.png" >}}
|
||
|
||
Two other useful gain operations for regions are _Boost Gain_ (**Alt+6**) and
|
||
_Cut Gain_ (**Alt+7**), both incrementing gain by 1dB upwards or downwards.
|
||
Be sure to try them out.
|
||
|
||
## Reverse
|
||
|
||
The _Reverse_ (**Alt+4**) function reverses the selected region of audio, in
|
||
effect causing it to play backwards. Reversing a region creates a new audio
|
||
file "behind the scenes".
|
||
|
||
## Operations On Two Or More Selected Ranges
|
||
|
||
If more than one range is selected, the operation will apply to all of them (for
|
||
example, _Normalize_, _Reverse_, etc.)
|
||
|
||
### Combine
|
||
|
||
Some operations from the context menu will only become available when two or
|
||
more regions are selected. For example, let's take a look at the _Combine_
|
||
function, under the sub-menu _Edit_. First we select two adjacent regions:
|
||
|
||
{{< figure alt="combine" src="en/ardour7-region-combine-1.png" >}}
|
||
|
||
Then we choose _Combine_ from the right-click context menu, or from Ardour's
|
||
main menu `Region > Edit > Combine`:
|
||
|
||
{{< figure alt="combine 2" src="en/ardour7-region-combine-2.png" >}}
|
||
|
||
As a result, the selected regions are combined into one. This is particulary
|
||
useful when you have found an exact sequence of regions that works just as you
|
||
want, and then you would like to copy and/or move the whole sequence as group.
|
||
|
||
Notice that the resulting combined region has the word "compound" attached to
|
||
its name.
|
||
|
||
{{< figure alt="combine 3" src="en/ardour7-region-combine-3.png" >}}
|
||
|
||
## Continuing
|
||
|
||
In the following chapter, we will learn a bit more about the powerful
|
||
tools Ardour has available by changing **Edit Modes**.
|
||
|
||
Next: [CHANGING EDIT MODES](../changing-edit-modes)
|