Regions

What are regions?

Regions are used for dividing a sound file into separate named sections. Regions are very useful for quickly locating a specific section of your sound file, and with regions defined, it's easy to play a specific part of you sound file with just a click.

The boundaries of regions are marked by vertical black dotted lines through the soundwave. In addition, there is a small pointer, called a Region Tag, at the top of each boundary line.

Although you don't know it, you have already seen regions, in the "tutor1.wav" file. Remember how one section was labeled "Silence," the next was labeled "Wow," and so on? Take a look:

How do I
create a region?

To create a region, follow these steps:

1) Select the section of the soundwave that you want to define as a region. (Note: Regions can overlap each other.)

2) Pull down the Special menu and select Regions List -> Add:

The Add Marker/Region dialog box will appear:

3) Type a name for the region in the Name field.

4) Click the OK button. You're done!

You can view the Regions List, which shows all of the defined regions, by pulling down the View menu and selecting Regions List:

Clicking the small button to the left of a region name plays that region.

How do I
edit a region?

You can use the Region Tags to make changes to a region. Keep in mind that if one region ends and another begins at the same point, the region tags are overlapping, so make sure you have selected the correct one for your purpose. When you point to a tag and pause, a small message will pop up telling you which region the tag belongs to.

To move an endpoint of a region, simply drag the region tag to the desired position.
To select a region, double-click on one of its region tags, or right-click on one of its region tags and choose Select from the menu that pops up.
To delete a region, select it and press the Delete key, or right-click on one of its region tags and choose Delete from the menu that pops up.
To change the boundaries of a region so it is defined as the current selection, right-click on one of its region tags and choose Update from the menu that pops up.
To open the Edit Region/Marker dialog box and change the settings for the region, right-click on one of its region tags and choose Edit from the menu that pops up.

You can also use the Regions List to make changes to a region.

To select a region, click on its name in the Regions List.
To delete a region, click on its name in the Regions List and press the Delete key, or right-click on its name and choose Delete from the menu that pops up.
To change the boundaries of a region so it is defined as the current selection, right-click on its name in the Regions List and choose Update from the menu that pops up.
To open the Edit Marker/Region dialog box and change the settings for the region, double-click on its name in the Regions List.

Practice

To practice, open one of the sound files you created in Lesson 4, Recording. Add a couple of regions to your file, then view the Regions List. Play the regions using the buttons in the regions list, then experiment with the region tags and the Regions List until you are comfortable with how they work.

Revised, March 2002