Audio Formula Help - F.A.Q.


What are Layers?
How Do I Find and Download Music?
How Do I Use The Mixer?
What is Program Management?
How Do I Customize the Audio Formula Layers?
What Do the File Names Mean?

What are Layers?

Audio Formula Layers are musical elements that can be recombined in different ways. Keep It Simple at first!  Start with a QuickMix (highlighted in Blue with a checkmark icon), which is a fully mixed piece of Music. Then choose the right EndResolve for your QuickMix. If you need greater flexibility, choose some other Layers as well: a Rhythm (Triangle), a Pad (Diamond) and a Music (Square). A Flourish Layer (usually grouped in separate collections) can add sound FX for picture transitions.

Here's the Audio Formula "Golden Rule:" Mix together any single Rhythm (Triangle), with a single Pad (Diamond) and a single Music Layer (Square) derived from one Collection, and you'll get a cool music piece. It just works.  Using the possible combinations of these Layer types in your personal editing program, you can get a LOT of musical variations from any Collection. You can audition, on-line, your Audio Formula Layer Combinations in the Mixer (more on that in the Mixer tutorial).

Another Layer type (brand new to Audio Formula) is called a "BreakOut" Layer. Breakouts are meant to be "standalone" (not played simultaneously in the timeline with other music tracks) and can be most anything that  complements the Collection with more Creative options. Breakouts can be Intros, transitional sections, a musical "breakdown" (such as a Bass and Drums Vamp, for example) or wild, sonic sound sculpture that contrasts to everything else---just for fun!

How Do I Find and Download Music?

From your Studio Library Page, you can browse for music by Genre (click on the desired category and you'll get links to Collections that contain some of these styles); also you can scroll through the Collection list with descriptive titles and then click on the desired link. Press the "play" buttons to audition music (streamed live) and press the "stop" button to stop playback and move on to audition the next piece.

Another more creative way to find music is to click the "Search" item within the Studio Library tab and initiate a keyword search. As you type in letters, you'll get a list of search keywords that may take you down some interesting paths. Once you press the Search button, a list of music layers are returned; the source Collections are highlighted in blue on the left side of the list. Once you hear some music that's in the ballpark of what you want, click on its Collection Link and Listen further.....start with the "QuickMixes" (full mixes of music) that are highlighted in blue - look for the QuickMix checkmark icon...

Once you have found your music, click the download link for the desired audio file format. The download links are located on the right side of a displayed layer. Save the files where desired......

How Do I Use The Mixer?

The Audio Formula Mixer Utility provides a way to audition Layer Combinations online in real time. It’s also a way that you can share your musical ideas with friends and collaborators.

When you are browsing through and previewing the Layers of a Collection, you’ll notice a small mixer icon on the Layer display with an arrow pointing either upwards or downwards. If the arrow is pointing down, then that Layer can be added to the Mixer: simply click this icon to place the layer into your Mixer. If the arrow points upward, then that Layer is already in your Mixer; clicking the icon will remove the Layer from your Mixer. By clicking the Mixer icon on a QuickMix Layer the associated Music, Pad and Rhythm Layers (listed in the “purple frame” connecting these Layers to the QuickMix) will be automatically added to the Mixer.

After you have added the desired Layers from a Collection to your Mixer, you can open your Mixer by clicking the Mixer icon located in the upper right section of the menu on the top of any AudioFormula page. Your Mixer will open in a new window and you will see the Layers you’ve added listed in the bottom section of the Mixer screen. The Layers are listed in order by Collection, Function, and Title. Remember the Audio Formula Golden Rule: any combination of a single Music, Pad and Rhythm Layer from one Collection will sound great. Your Mixer is the place to try out different Layer combinations to find just the sound you are looking for!

In your Mixer, begin by dragging and dropping the desired Layers into the channels: there are six Mixer channels available and each one can hold a different Layer. You’ll hear a “pop” sound when a Layer has finished loading into a channel. In the beginning you may want to set all but one of the channel volume levels to zero; then bring one channel up at a time either by dragging the volume slider with your mouse or by pressing the “fade in” button on the desired channel. Press the “Play” arrow button on the master channel to begin playing all the layers in all channels. Once playback has begun you can fade in some of the other channels containing Layers of different types---just make sure only one Rhythm, one Pad and one Music Layer from the SAME Collection are heard simultaneously. Listening to multiple Layers of the same function, such as two Rhythm Layers, may yield undesirable results - but feel free to experiment. As you fade in and out different Layer channels, you’ll find the changes in Musical feel and style to be significant (and sometimes radically different). Other options available include a mute button (“M”) and a Solo button (“S”) for each channel, and a “Pan” (controlling the left and right side position of the Layer’s sound) that you can experiment with.

Once you’ve made the perfect mix, you can save it as a file for others in your studio to access; your Mix file can also be associated with a Scene (see the Program Management FAQ). To save your mix simply click the ‘Mix’->’Save As’ menu item located in the upper left corner of your Mixer. You can load your saved mixes by clicking ‘Mix’->‘Load’. That’s all there is to it! Have fun!


What is Program Management?

Program Management is an efficient, flexible and creative way to manage music for different scenes in a multimedia production. A producer can create programs and scenes, then associate Music Layers with scenes while browsing through Layers ; saved Mixes can also be associated with scenes. An AV editor can then access this information from a remote location, as long as both editor and producer share the same Audio Formula Studio.

To use Program Managment, first click on the Program Management item in the Studio Library tab. Create a "Program" using the "create  program title" dialogue on the right side of the Browser screen. Then click "edit" to create "scenes" within that program.

After the Program and Scenes have been created, Layers can be added directly to scenes while browsing any Collection: click on the "Add Scene" button in the Layer display; a drop down menu will appear that guides you to available scenes. You'll then find that these Layers are listed with that scene in the Program Management Area. After you return to Program Management, press the Scene Edit button, and the associated Layers will appear, ready to audition and / or download directly into the edit bay.

Saved Mixes can be associated with a Scene as well. While in "edit" mode for any scene in  Program Management. The "add saved mixes" dialogue can be accessed at the top of the "Scene Edit" page.

Using Program Management,  editors, producers and clients can communicate their ideas instantly and flexibly from distant locations.


How Do I Customize the Audio Formula Layers?

Keep It Simple! Remember even a single QuickMix provides lots of options: usually different endings are available and the length can be customized as well. If you want to further customize the music…..

For Looping, Cutting and Pasting Audio, follow Three simple rules.

(1) For any given video segment, use Layers from the same Collection (except Flourish* Layers).

(2) Start the Music, Pad, Rhythm and / or QuickMix Layers at the SAME point on the timeline.

(3) Use multiples of the Edit Block time (you’ll see it in the Layer filename) as a basis for cut and paste edits, applying these edits to ALL the aligned Collection Layers in that segment. The Edit Block time can be entered as a “nudge” movement forwards or backwards through the timeline, usually with a simple keyboard command. Edit Blocks must be measured from the beginning, end or from any previous Edit Block cut in the Layer.

Example: If a Layer is listed with a “3s15f3_5” Edit Block time, then move along the timeline, from the beginning or end of the file, in increments of 3seconds 15 frames. In other words, every 3.5 seconds or 7 seconds or 10.5 seconds or 14 seconds, etc., you’ll find a perfect loop or cut and paste point in the music. Edit Blocks are a power feature of the AudioFormula music format.

Because Music is dynamic and by its very nature not uniform ( i.e., good Music may sometimes change in unpredictable ways---otherwise it would be rather boring!), you may find it necessary to apply a cross fade between audio splice points occasionally. However, if you begin your EditBlock cuts measured from PRECISELY where the file begins or ends, your edits will be seamless the vast majority of the time.

One essential guideline: review the Layer Functions (see the What Are Layers? FAQ). Combine Layers and create different colors by using your volume editing tools in your DAW. Mix. Match. Score.

*Flourish Layers are intended to function as accents for picture hits and transitional sound fx. Flourishes are usually found in separate Collections, such as “Stingers Collection.”


What Do the File Names Mean?

A lot of useful information can be seen about the Layers directly in your Edit Bay. Using this information can help you edit music faster and be more creative in your workflow---especially when working with multiple audio tracks. A typical file name for a Layer is given in the example below:

ELECTDSeuroQUI3s15f3_5Hs

...let's break this down...

ELECTDS euro QUI 3s15f3_5 H s


This is from the “ElectroMoods” Collection; the Layer (named “euro”) is a Quick Mix (“QUI”), based on an edit block of 3 seconds and 15 frames (3.5 sec) at a high intensity level (i.e., very active); this is a stereo file (“s”).

This naming system gives you the ability to manage several Layers at a glance (keeping Layers from one collection in alignment, for example) and can help you easily construct the “Intensity” of the music texture. When the Music needs to be more “busy” to support a scene, try bringing up the volume for Layers that have a High (Active) Intensity level. When the Music needs to layback a bit, bring up the Medium(M) or Low(L) intensity layers.