Digital Audio Editing- Cool Edit Pro

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Digital Audio Editing-Cool Edit Pro

• By Kimberly Ginsbach
• CSCI 30

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Definition

• Audio Editing
• process of taking recorded sound and changing it
  directly on the recording medium
• (from Wikipedia)

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History

• Middle part 20th century
• Magnetic tape recording
• Reel-to-reel tape machines
• Edits made with straight razors and special tape-
  cut

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History (ctnd)

• Late 1980s, early 1990s
• Microcomputer technology
• Digitize recordings
• Edit on hard disk
• Earliest program
• Wave editor called Sound Designer
• by Digidesign

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Cool Edit Pro

• By Syntrillium Software- created 1995 to produce
  creativity enhancing software products
• Cool Edit Pro
• Digital audio workstation package
• 2002 lastest version 2.0

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Applications

• Studio recording
• usually used to complement hardware, for use on
  the road, or by groups on a budget with little
  technological abilities
• ex Phunk Junkeez
• Poor MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface),
  though improved in latest version

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Applications (ctnd)

• Radio
• major presence
• used at some major stations
• Examples
• Sportstalk 980 in DC
• WFAN in NY

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Features

• Digital editing
• Mixer window
• Sound files over 20 formats
• Windows PCM (.wav) better quality
• mp3PRO (.mp3) compressed, easier to transmit and
  store, but lower quality
• Next/Sun (.au ), Diamond Ware Digitized (.dwd),
  Windows Media Audio 8 (.wma), etc.

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Sound Levels

• Normalizing proportionately increasing the sound
  intensity of a file to obtain maximum quality
  without any distortion
• Important to ensure that a sound file reaches its
  full potential audio output
• When creating multiple tracks, normalizing allows
  all tracks to sound the same
• Example making a CD

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Sound levels

• Boost/Reduce Volume increase or decrease the
  sound volume on a entire file or of a highlighted
  section of a file by a set decibel value
• Limits fluctuations in volume within a sound file
  or track
• Ensures that every sound bite is audible
• Cosmetic feature- improves the natural
  fluctuations of sound

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Editing

• Cutting highlighting allows to cut pauses
  between speech or music, remove excess material,
  and tighten a file, improving quality and
  decreasing file size
• Noise reduction useful in recordings to minimize
  background noise and improve quality of sound in
  foreground
• Fade in/Fade out allows progressive increase or
  decrease in volume at beginning or end of track
  or segment

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Mixing

• Up to 128 tracks
• Allows user to place multiple sound files
  together to create a single blended track
• Example playing a sound clip of a homerun by the
  Mets, with music mixed in the background- called
  a music bed

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2003 Adobe Takeover

• May Adobe Systems Incorporated acquired
  technology assets of Syntrillium Software
• August Re-branded release of Cool Edit Pro as
  Adobe Audition
• April 19th, 2004 Adobe Audition 1.5
• Cool Edit Pro last version still preferentially
  used over Adobe Audition 1.5 (blog)

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Other Software

• Dalet Digital Media Systems by Dalet
• used in radio broadcasting
• more advanced functions
• used by NPR
• used by XM Satellite Radio
• ProTools by DigiDesign
• more use in music industry
• excellent with MIDI files, integrates well with
  hardware that connects instruments to computer

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Ethical Issues

• In radio respect principle that the intention of
  a statement must never be altered
• Possibility of changing what people say
• doctor a recording
• zooming in to the 1/1000 s makes it easier to
  make editing seamless and undetectable
• FCC guidelines increased pressure to comply with
  strict standards of decency since technology
  enables to clean up pre-recorded material
  efficiently

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Sources

• http//www.forestpro.net/Johnny5/cool-edit-pro-20.
  htm
• http//www.prosoundnews.com/stories/2002/january/0
  104/0104.4.shtml
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio-editing
• http//nfo.zackdesign.biz/wp/index.php?p41
• http//bg.mixonline.com/ar/audio_phunk_junkeez_rel
  y/
• http//www.computermusic.co.uk/reviews/cool/cool.a
  sp