Sound Forge 8 Power!: The Official Guide

449 Pages·2005·20.05 MB·English

by  Scott R. Garrigus

S o u n d
F o r g e 8
®
P O W E R !
THE OFFICIAL GUIDE
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Scott R. Garrigus
© 2005 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights reserved. No part of this Publisher and General
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To my brother Mark for all of his love and support. His courage and
determination to continue life’s battle, despite sometimes overwhelming odds,
has provided me with an inspiration beyond any I could have found on my own.
I love you bro!
Foreword
Scott Garrigus begins this book with a chapter on the Sound Forge legacy in the world of audio
production. Acknowledging its impact on PC-based audio editing, Scott rightfully first examines
the changes Sound Forge software brought to the industry, and its effects on audio production.
Sound Forge software has been dubbed “the standard” in PC-based audio editing, and to fully
understand the product, the reader should also understand its history.
It wasn’t very long ago that Sound Forge software was a popular independent shareware
application, out to prove that the PC could be a valid platform for audio editing. It successfully
made its case. With an intuitive Windows-based interface, Sound Forge software made the
process of audio editing direct and understandable. Behind that interface Sound Forge software
added features and functionalities that made it the most powerful tool in its field. The combination
of elegance and power proved irresistible; Sound Forge software became the professional’s
tool of choice for audio editing on the PC. You’d be hard-pressed to find a well-equipped studio
without it.
Innovation continues. Now in version 8, Sound Forge software builds upon its award-winning
functionality, delivering an expanded feature set that secures its reputation as the application
used most often for editing, recording, effects processing, and streaming media creation. Sound
Forge 8 software offers advanced features such as application scripting, VST effect support, ASIO
driver support, and batch converter functionality.
In this book, Scott Garrigus addresses how to get the most out of Sound Forge 8 software
and its newest features. From the basics of audio editing to advanced audio manipulation
techniques, Garrigus demonstrates how Sound Forge software can meet all of your audio
editing requirements.
Sound Forge software became #1 in the industry by doing what it does better than any other
program: It provides a comprehensive set of tools designed to make you more productive. If
it’s audio, Sound Forge software can handle it. Sound Forge 8 Power! is your guide to this
powerful technology.
Curt Palmer
Chief Technologist, Sony Pictures Digital Inc.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all my music technology friends who take the time to visit my Web
site and to read my ramblings in the DigiFreq newsletter each month. The
DigiFreq family is now over 18,000 strong!
Thanks to all the Sound Forge users whose dedication and support helped
to make this book possible.
Thanks to all my friends over at Sony (Michael Bryant, Rick Hoefling, Joel
Gilbertson White, and others).
Thanks to Marta Justak, Todd Jensen, Kelly Robinson, Mark Garvey, Kristin
Eisenzopf, and the rest of the Thomson Course Technology publishing team.
Thanks to my friends and neighbors Ron, Claire, Ellie, Vinnie, Ron Jr.,
Mandy, and Rita for all your love and support.
Thank you to my family and to God for providing me with encouragement
when I need it the most.
And thanks to Figaro, the best cat in the world, who turns 19 this year.
We’ve been through a lot together, little buddy, and you’ve taught me
many things about life.
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About the Author
www.garrigus.com
Scott R. Garrigus has been involved with music and computers since he was
12 years old. After graduating from high school, he went on to earn a B.A.
in music performance with an emphasis in sound recording technology at
UMass, Lowell. In 1993, he released his first instrumental album on cas-
sette, entitled “Pieces Of Imagination.” In 1995, he began his professional
writing career when his first article appeared in Electronic Musician mag-
azine. In 2000, he authored his first book, Cakewalk Power! This was the
first book to deal exclusively with the Cakewalk Pro Audio, Guitar Studio,
and Home Studio software applications. Since then he has authored a
number of other titles including Sound Forge Power!,SONARPower!,
SONAR 2 Power!,Sound Forge 6 Power!,SONAR 3 Power!, and SONAR
4 Power! Today, Garrigus continues to contribute articles to a number of
print and online publications. He also publishes his own music technology
e-zine, called DigiFreq (www.digifreq.com), which provides free news, re-
views, tips, and techniques for music technology and home recording users.
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Contents
TABLE OF
CHAPTER 1 MIDI and Digital Audio Basics .........................................................1
What Is MIDI? ..........................................................................................................1
What Is Digital Audio? ............................................................................................2
So, What’s Really the Difference? .........................................................................4
Quiz ..........................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2 Getting Started with Sound Forge 8 ...............................................7
What Version of Sound Forge Do You Have? ......................................................7
Get the Latest Product Update ...............................................................................7
A Quick Tour of Sound Forge .................................................................................9
Audio Files ..........................................................................................................9
Workspace ......................................................................................................10
Data Window ..................................................................................................10
Menus ...............................................................................................................11
Record Dialog Box ..........................................................................................12
Spectrum Analysis ...........................................................................................12
What’s New in Sound Forge 7 and 8? ...............................................................12
A Basic Studio Setup .............................................................................................14
Computer .........................................................................................................14
Sound Card ......................................................................................................16
MIDI Interface ..................................................................................................18
Microphone .....................................................................................................18
Speakers ..........................................................................................................18
Finding Help When You Need It ..........................................................................19
Quiz ........................................................................................................................20
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER 3 Customizing Sound Forge 8 ...........................................................21
General Options ....................................................................................................21
Splash-Screen ..................................................................................................21
Program Close Confirmation ..........................................................................22
Textured Background .....................................................................................23
Windows XP Theme Support .........................................................................23
File Associations ....................................................................................................23
The Workspace .....................................................................................................24
Colors ...............................................................................................................25
Toolbars ...........................................................................................................26
Data Window Layouts ....................................................................................30
Window Docking and Stacking .....................................................................32
Keyboard Shortcuts ........................................................................................36
MIDI Settings .........................................................................................................41
Setting Up Your MIDI Ports ............................................................................42
Audio Settings .......................................................................................................43
Temporary Storage Folder .............................................................................43
Record and Playback Settings .......................................................................45
Other Performance Optimizations ................................................................50
Quiz ........................................................................................................................51
CHAPTER 4 Working with Audio Files ..............................................................53
Understanding Audio File Formats ......................................................................53
Dialogic VOX (.VOX) ......................................................................................54
Intervoice (.IVC) ...............................................................................................54
Audio Interchange File Format AIFF (.AIF/.SND) .........................................55
MP3 Audio (.MP3/.MPG/.MPEG) .................................................................55
Ogg Vorbis (.OGG) ........................................................................................56
NeXT/Sun (.AU/.SND) ....................................................................................56
RealMedia (.RM) .............................................................................................56
Sound Designer 1 (.DIG/.SD) .........................................................................56
Video for Windows (.AVI), QuickTime (.MOV), MPEG-1 & 2 (.MPG) ........57
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CONTENTS
Microsoft Wave (.WAV) .................................................................................57
Windows Media Audio/Video (.WMA/.WMV) ...........................................57
RAW File (.RAW/*.*) .....................................................................................57
Perfect Clarity Audio (.PCA) ...........................................................................58
Opening Audio/Video Files .................................................................................58
The Explorer Window .....................................................................................61
File Crash Recovery ........................................................................................65
Creating New Audio Files ....................................................................................66
Saving Audio/Video Files .....................................................................................67
File Save Templates ........................................................................................70
Working with Projects ..........................................................................................85
Create a Project File ........................................................................................85
Render a Project File .......................................................................................85
Quiz ........................................................................................................................86
CHAPTER 5 Getting Around in Sound Forge ....................................................87
The Current Position ..............................................................................................87
Show Me the Current Position .......................................................................88
Set the Current Position ..................................................................................90
The Transport Menu ..............................................................................................93
Go To Start .......................................................................................................93
Rewind .............................................................................................................93
Forward ...........................................................................................................93
Go To End ........................................................................................................93
Markers, Oh My! ...................................................................................................94
Make Your Mark(ers) .....................................................................................94
Edit the Markers ..............................................................................................96
Navigate with Markers ..................................................................................98
What About Regions? ...........................................................................................99
Make Your Regions ........................................................................................99
Navigate with Regions .................................................................................106
Saving and Loading Markers and Regions ................................................107
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