Jason Levine – Healing People Daily with the Power of Digital Video & Audio

To be clear, you don't have control over each individual channel on the interleaved file. All channels are treated globally, as one. If you're looking to do that type of granular editing/cleanup/mastering, you'll want to use Audition 3. (note: Audition 3 will allow you to extract the six mono streams from the interleaved WAV file and place them on separate tracks in the multitrack view)

However, in most cases, the need to 'master' a finished 6-channel file is simply because you need to top & tail the beginning and ending, perhaps do a trim or an edit, make a selection and Ripple Delete, and add some final 'punch' to the overall sound, without destroying the attenuation relationships between Front/Rear and Center/SUB-LFE channels. This is where Soundbooth shines.

Fig.1: Switching from Separated to Layered Views

Fig.2: Making Selections, Trimming & Adding Fades

As you look at the pics above, what's really nice about the layout is that you can clearly SEE all 6 channels. You also have the option to show all channels in a layered fashion, but really, aside from being cool visually, this view doesn't do much for me. ;) (Fig. 1)

Using the fade handles on either end of the file, I can construct nice, smooth fade-ins/fade-outs...again, something that is often overlooked when the finished audio is exported. Need to trim? Grab the trim handles. Need to make a selection in the middle of the mix and delete across all six channels? Again, easy. Select->RtClk->Cut or Delete. And the best part? Whether you're working in Mono, Stereo or 5.1, the workflow for editing in Soundbooth CS4 remains the same. The point is simply this: anyone can perform some basic editing on multichannel files. Anyone. (Fig. 2)

The next cool editing element here is the ability to work spectrally. Yes.

Fig.3: Making spectral selections across all channels with the Lasso Tool

Either by choosing 'Remove a Sound' from the Tasks Panel (or simply adjusting the view by using the divider in the Edit Window) you can make spectral selections (with lasso, marquee tools) and boost/cut, heal or delete across all channels, very quickly. (Fig. 3) This has SAVED ME a few times, where someone had a persistent 50Hz Hum across ALL channels (*being present in the Front channels, it was naturally accentuated in the LFE channel) and I was able to easily repair it. Same for using Noise Reduction directly. You can perform a Noise Reduction process (with or without taking a Noise Print) and very quickly restore your audio. This is wickedly cool, and though you're likely to only use this a few times (and definitely to be used SPARINGLY) it can make a significant difference to the overall sound, and really bring things back to life.

But the best part I've saved for last, and that revolves around basic mastering. Now again, when you're dealing with Multichannel Audio, mastering is an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT beast from mastering Stereo. That being said, simply by using some familiar processes (namely, the former 'Louder Button', and the Hard Limit feature), this will allow you to pump the overall dB level (by a uniform amount) while maintaining the careful balance between all channels. (Fig. 4)

Fig.4: Mastering Processes** and Noise Reduction via the Menu

**though 'Normalize' is unavailable in this menu, the nature of using 'Make Louder' has changed slightly since CS3. In CS3, is the very first time it is implemented, it will perform a straight normalize to -0.3dB. Each subsequent usage would begin to apply a Hard Limiter. In CS4, it simply skips normalize and Hard Limits +3dB each time it is used, still maintaining a ceiling of -0.3db

Typically, you'll have an 8-12db drop on the rear channels, and anywhere from 12-20dB attenuation on the LFE channel. By choosing "Louder" from the Processes Menu, this analyzes ALL channels, and at first pass, will simply NORMALIZE. (again...this refers to CS3 behaviour). The nice thing about this is that it's not going to suddenly make the LFE(sub) channel -1dBFS. (as mentioned, the LFE is often down around -20/-14dB). No, instead it's going to find the loudest peak (which will likely be in the FRONT channels) and raise everything up to the ceiling (which is -0.3) Of course, you can hit LOUDER again (or hard Limit) and it will do just that, apply a Hard Limit, but keep the relationships in tact. (reiterating: CS4 skips the normailze step, and immediately applies the hard limiter at +3b for each subsequent use). Granted, if you overdo it (ie, too many times) the gap between attenuated Sub Channel and Front channels will narrow...so be careful. And *if* you are going to do this, be sure to have your monitoring set up so that you're hearing what you're doing. You DO NOT want to produce a multichannel export with your sub channel having an RMS level of -4dB (or something like that). Not only will you likely harm your sub, but whomever is the recipient of your DVD, etc, won't be happy...unless they like the sound of over-modulated sub-sonic mess! lol

Fig.5: On-Screen Splitting of the Editor & Spectral Views

Lastly, no matter what you're looking to do, one of the coolest features (reminiscent of the UI advances made in Dreamweaver CS4, allowing side-by-side Code & Design views) is that you have the ability to work in *both* views simultaneously (the editor and the spectral view), making changes and taking full advantage of large screen resolutions. Again, depending on the nature of your work, sometimes it's much easier to spot problems or anomalies in one view vs. the other; so this handy little UI element makes the 'visual' experience of mastering in SBCS4 even better, and more familiar for non-audio professionals. (Fig. 5)

And with that, I believe we're done! I'll be showcasing this very process on the road in upcoming seminars throughout the Nordics and Germany (stay tuned for Tour Dates, coming soon). If there's anyone out there who wants to give this a try, let me know about it! I'd love to hear what you were able to come up with. Also, I was thinking of posting a small, Multichannel file for people to download (so that you can try it for yourselves; in case you're not already working in surround). If this is something you might be considering, let me know, and I'll either post or send a file to you directly.

Until next time, my audio-loving friends...

Blog on.