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Audio: Hearing... Visually! (page 2)

Give it a Look

Obviously, we can't address every possibility in the limited space of this article. That means it's up to you to open up some files and experiment with your newfound capabilities. Don't be afraid to mangle some audio in the process. You'll soon see the power and limits of editing audio visually. Along the way, you'll uncover new and quicker ways to edit. You may even find a unique sound signature for your next video production. In any case, audio spectrograms offer another powerful tool for your editing arsenal. By the way, if you still want to send that $19.95, make your check payable to Save the Spectrograms.

Contributing Editor Hal Robertson is a digital media producer and technology consultant.

Sidebar: Visual Analysis

If your audio editor doesn't offer all the cool editing tools, that's okay. You can still learn a lot from viewing audio recordings with the spectrum view. As an experiment, open a familiar audio track from your MP3 collection, something you know inside and out. Zoom in on the timeline until 10 or 15 seconds are visible on the screen. Play the track and watch the frequency display as it scrolls by. It should be easy to visualize the beat, vocals and that amazing guitar solo. Working with a familiar piece of audio will prepare you to see the sound in your production recordings.

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