Effects

To apply an effect, select a portion or all of the wave form which is to be effected. Note that effects invoked from the menu use the default settings while effects invoked for the toolbar provide a property window to adjust the parameters of the effect. When stereo files are loaded, effects can be applied to either track individually or both tracks simultaneously. For details of how to select one track or both tracks, see Mouse Operations.

The Volume Effect from the toolbar displays a window that facilitates increasing or decreasing the amplitude of selected samples. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

From the main Effects menu the same effect can be applied at a fixed plus or minus 20%.

The Fade In effect reduces the amplitude of the left side of the selected range of samples (from) in proportion to the right side (to). For example if the range is set from 0 to 100 the left side of the selection will fade from no amplitude (completely silent) to full amplitude of the original sound on the right. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

The Fade Out effect reduces the amplitude of the right side of the selected range of samples (to) in proportion to the right side (from). For example if the range is set from 100 to 0 the left side of the selection will have full amplitude while the right side will fade to silence. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

Normalize increases the gain of all selected samples to a maximum level as determined by the "Normalization coefficient %" setting. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

Invert Tracks inverts the waveform of the selection. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

The Flanger produces a ghosting effect around the phase of the audio frequencies in the supplied signal. The name comes from how the effect was produced on big tape reels whereby the flange of the reel was tapped to slow down a copy of the signal hence produced phasing effects in the output. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

The default setting produce a minimal effect. Results vary depending upon the source sound.

The Delay Effect (echo) produces a secondary delayed signal that can be mixed into the the input signal with three parameters: Delay time, mix depth and feedback gain.

When invoked from the main Effects menu the default values of 120 ms delay, 50% mix depth and 10% feedback gain are used. When invoked from the toolbar the property window is displayed.

The Delay Time parameter represents the time in milliseconds between the first iteration of the original input signal and the subsequent delay (echo) signals. The minimum setting is 100 ms and maximum is 1/2 second.

The Mix Depth parameter controls the relative amplitude of the input signal in relation to the delayed signal. Theoretically, a mix depth setting of 0 would produce no delayed signal at all while a setting of 100 would produce no input signal. The adjustable range of the Mix Depth parameter is between 20 and 80. As a general rule the default setting of 50 (an even 50:50 mix) produces the best results.

The Feedback Gain parameter controls the amplitude of the tinny sounding, secondary feedback within the echo.

You will need to experiment a bit to understand exactly how this effects works within your project.

The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

Vibrato is a smooth and repeated changing of pitch up and down from a sustained tone. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

Insert Silence creates a new block of silent samples at the cursor position equal to the time set on the slider. This effect is available only from the toolbar and is not available when an array of samples is selected.

Make Silent reduces the selected waveform to zero amplitude. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected.

Remove Silence based upon the amplitude and duration of a signal. If the selection, or any portion of it, is above this given threshold for longer than the attack time it will be considered valid and will not be removed.

The point at which the signal falls below the Threshold decibels for a period of time longer than the Attack Time is the beginning of the detected silence.

The point at which the signal is above the Threshold for longer than the Release Time is the end of detected silence. 

For high quality audio without any significant ambient noise the dB Threshold value should be set lower (-60dB).  For audio with more transients the value should be set higher (-30dB).

Use higher Release Time values to ignore short periods of audio (like clicks, static, or other noise). Setting this value too high (above 200ms) may cause short words to be skipped.

Attack Time should always be set to a lower value than Release Time.

Stretch or Shrink 20%

Stretching makes the audio run time longer and lowers the overall pitch. Shrinking makes the clip shorter and the pitch higher. Old time radio stations and juke boxes often turn up playback speed by 20% to increase the tempo and get more plays per hour so you may find your favorite "oldies" sound more like you remember by shrinking the clip 20%. The effect is only available when an array of samples is selected. To change the pitch without changing the play time use the Pitch tool in the toolbox.

Pro Tools Effects - (Available only in the Pro Version)

The Amplifier consists of an Expander and a Compressor module which are opposite effects.

The Compressor is basically a variable gain device, where the amount of gain used depends on the level of the input. In this case, the gain will be reduced when the signal level is high which makes louder passages softer, reducing the dynamic range. This effect equals dynamic volume regulator.

The Expander is a type of dynamic processor. As the name implies, it increases the dynamic range of a signal such that low level signals are attenuated while the louder portions are neither attenuated or amplified.

Envelope This tool gives you control over which parts of the audio data array are amplified or inverted (negative values), and by how much.

The Chorus effect is so named because it makes the recording of a vocal track sound like it was sung by two or more people singing in chorus. This is achieved by adding a single delayed signal (echo) to the original input.

This effect differs from the Flanger in that the delay times in a Chorus are larger than in a Flanger, usually somewhere between 20 ms. and 30 ms. The Flanger's delay usually ranges from 1 ms. to 10 ms.

Add Noise (Dithering) adds a very small amount of sound to an existing sound segment in order to mask unwanted sound.

The Pitch effect shifts the frequency spectrum of the input signal. It can be used to disguise a person's voice, or make the voice sound like "chipmunks" or "Darth Vader". The Pitch effect can also be used to create harmony in lead passages, although it is an "unintelligent" harmonizer.

Shifting the Rate to lower percentages (from 1 to 99) increase the pitch. Higher percentages (above 100) lowers the pitch. Unlike shrinking or stretching, the Pitch effect preserves the original tempo.

Trim the sound file or selection by setting the amplitude of the silence threshold in db (from -92 db to 0) and the fade time in milliseconds.

Reverse takes no parameters; it simply turns the sound around, back to front.

Resample takes the single parameter "sample rate" and then recalculates  the existing audio data  array using the new sample rate.