Beyond the typical editing features of cut, copy and paste users will often want to perform various other operations on specific sections of audio. Common operations include having the ability to modify the volume, fade in or fade out, mute and reverse audio. The Acoustic Labs Multitrack Recorder fully supports these features and additional operations - all of which can be accessed via the pull down menu system (visual aid item #1) by selecting the "Tools" pull down menu. To the right is a visual aid that shows the "Tools" pull down menu activated and displays the various features available.

The "Insert Silence" tool can be used to insert any amount of silence to any one of the eight tracks. By selecting this option from the "Tools" pull down menu the "Insert Silence" dialog box will appear. The user is given the option of selecting where they wish the silence to begin - either at the "Tracker Position" (also known as the "Tracker Bar") or at the "Begin Marker" if this marker has been set. The amount of silence to insert can be entered manually in the "Length of Silence" edit box. The amount of time to be entered can be done so in three different units: "Time" which is a minute, second, millisecond format, "Beats" which corresponds to the current tempo set for the project (See Project Settings) or "Samples" which is the total number of stereo samples you wish to enter. Once you have entered in these settings simply press the "OK" button and the specified amount of silence will be inserted.

One of the most common tool operations utilized is "Adjust Volume". This tool can be used to increase or reduce the volume of a highlighted section of audio, a section of audio selected between markers or the entire track that is currently being viewed. By selecting the "Adjust Volume" option from the "Tools" pull down menu system the "Adjust Volume" dialog box will appear as shown on the right. At the top of the dialog box you'll notice the option to select which sections of audio to apply the volume adjustment to: Highlighted Section, Between Markers or the Whole Track. Notice that if a highlighted or marker section does not exist, these options will be disabled.

After selecting which section of audio you wish to modify you can then set the left and right sliders to whatever level you wish. By moving the sliders for either channels you'll notice that the percentage value changes. This volume percentage is in relation to the existing audio. For example, if you change the level to 50% this will cut the volume level in half. If you set the percentage level to 200% this will double the volume level. If the volume level is set to 100%, there will be no change in the audio level.

One other option available while adjusting volume is the ability to "Lock Left and Right Channels". If this option is selected, percentage levels for both channels will be set identically no matter which slider channel's value is adjusted. This makes setting identical volume levels for both channels easier as you will only have to modify the value for one channel. If this option is not selected you will notice that each channel's slider and percentage value moves independently. This is necessary when you wish to adjust only one channel's volume.

The "Fade In/Out" option is very similar to adjusting the volume except that it allows for a "Starting Volume Level" and an "Ending Volume Level". The volume percentage is in relation to the existing audio. For example, if you change the level to 50% this will cut the volume level in half. If you set the percentage level to 200% this will double the volume level. If the volume level is set to 100%, there will be no change in the audio level.

When applying the fade tool to audio, the beginning audio adjustment will be whatever percentage level is given as the "Starting Volume Level". As the fade tool is applied to the section of audio, there will be a linear transition to the "Ending Volume Level". For example, if you wish to fade out a highlighted section of audio from its normal level to silence, first click the "Highlight Section" radio button. Then adjust the "Starting Volume Level" to 100% for both channels and adjust the "Ending Volume Level" to 0% for both channels and click OK. The result of this will be a steady transition from normal volume level to silence in the highlighted section.

One other option available when adjusting values using the Fade tool is the ability to "Lock Left and Right Channels". If this option is selected, values for both channels will be set identically no matter which slider channel's value is adjusted. This makes setting identical volume levels for both channels easier as you will only have to modify the value for one channel. If this option is not selected you will notice that each channel's slider and value is set independently. This is necessary when you wish to set different values for the right and left channels.

The "Mute" operation is used to silence existing audio. This operation is rather easy to use as there are only two settings - which section of audio you wish to apply the mute operation to, and which channels you wish to apply the operation to. Like most other tools, the Mute operation can be applied to any highlighted section of audio, a section of audio located between markers or the entire track. When specifying which channels you want to mute simply check whichever channels you wish. Selecting the "Left Channel" check box will mute the left channel and selecting the "Right Channel" checkbox will mute the right channel.

The "Reverse" operation is used to reverse existing audio so that on playback the audio will play backwards. This tool is often useful in developing creative audio mixes. The dialog box interface is very similar to that of the "Mute" operation. There are only two settings - which section of audio you wish to apply the reverse operation to, and which channels you wish to apply the operation to. Like most other tools, the reverse operation can be applied to any highlighted section of audio, a section of audio located between markers or the entire track. When specifying which channels you want to reverse simply check whichever channels apply. Selecting the "Left Channel" check box will reverse the left channel and selecting the "Right Channel" check box will reverse the right channel.

When editing audio, being able to switch what audio data is located on the left channel with what is located on the right channel is a necessary feature at times. This can be done using the "Swap Left and Right Channels" operation. This operation is very easy to use as only one setting is needed - which section of audio you wish to apply the operation to. Like most other tools, the swap channels operation can be applied to any highlighted section of audio, a section of audio located between markers or the entire track.

The "Copy Channels" operation is used to copy data from one channel to the opposite channel - in other words, you can use this operation to copy what is on the right channel to the left channel, or copy what is on the left channel to the right channel. This can be very useful when you have a mono recording which only has audio on one channel and you wish to make the recording stereo. The copy channels tool has two settings - which section of audio you wish to apply the operation to, and which channels you wish to use as the source and destination. Like most other tools, the operation can be applied to any highlighted section of audio, a section of audio located between markers or the entire track. There are two options available when selecting the source and destination channels: "Copy Left Channel to Right" or "Copy Right Channel to Left".

The "Tools" menu also allows options for importing audio files and mixing down projects to audio files or a given track within the project. Importing an audio file will insert the selected file at the tracking bar's position for the currently viewed track. This procedure is no different than importing an audio file using the "Open" option from the "File" pull down menu. This operation is explained in full in Section 4: Opening and Importing Wave and MP3 Files.

The "Mix Down to File" feature can be used to mixdown an audio project to a Wave or MP3 file. Either one of these operations is identical to saving a project using the "Save" or "Save As" options located on the "File" pull down menu and explained in detail in Section 4: Saving Wave and MP3 Files. The "Mix Down to Track" option will allow you to combine multiple tracks into one mixed track. This is very useful when you want to make more tracks available. For example, if you've recorded audio on all eight tracks and you wish to record additional tracks, you could mix down any completed tracks to one single track. In this example, assume that tracks one through four are completely recorded and need no additional editing. You can mixdown tracks one, two, three and four to track one. Track one will now contain all the mixed audio of tracks one through four. Tracks two, three and four will now be available for new recordings.

The image on the right shows the "Mix Down to Track" dialog box. Simply select which tracks you want to mix down as the source tracks and then select a single target track. Note that due to the large amount of audio processed in the Mix Down to Track operation an undo operation cannot be applied. It would always be a good idea to save the project first before doing a mixdown just in case you need to revert to the prior version.