If you are a Mac user and want to make ringtones, transfer old cassette tapes or albums onto your computer, create a podcast or do just about any common audio editing task, Amadeus Pro is a good option. No previous audio training is necessary, but you will need to be familiar with VoiceOver commands. The software is very accessible through its menus and keyboard commands.
Amadeus Pro can be purchased in the Mac App Store or through HairerSoft's website for $59.99. If you purchase it from the App Store, Amadeus Pro will automatically appear in the Applications folder. If downloaded from the HairerSoft website, the file must be moved from the Downloads folder to the Applications folder. For this article Amadeus Pro version 2.2.1 and OS X El Capitan were used.
Configuring Amadeus Pro
In the General tab of Amadeus Pro's Preferences, select "From Insertion Point" from the pop up menu for what to do when no content is selected. The next choice is what to do when content is selected. Choose "Play selection" from the pop up menu. The next option is to allow the Space Bar to rewind sound. This should be unchecked. There are options to open a new document on start-up and start recording immediately, both of which should be checked. The final control in the General tab is "Length of edit preview." Select "2 seconds." This will let you hear the sound two seconds before and two seconds after an edit. This is the longest time offered for that control.
The Sound tab has two options: Input and Output. In the Input tab there is a table that lists all the input devices connected to your computer. By default the Mac's internal microphone is selected. If a USB microphone or other device is hooked up to your computer, it will also be listed in the table. When recording, select the device you want if it has not already been selected.
The Output tab's table lists all devices that emit sound. By default the Mac's internal speakers are selected. If headphones are plugged in, they should appear in the table and already be selected.
The next section in the Sound tab is "Default format for new files." There are three choices that you will need to make. The first setting is sampling rate. This refers to how many samples of the sound the computer takes per second of sound. Use the pop-up menu to select 44100 HZ. The next pop-up menu is for selecting bit depth. Bit depth refers to how the sound is encoded. Select 16 bit. This combination will produce a CD quality recording. The final option is how many channels to be used. The pop-up menu offers two options: stereo and mono. In most cases you will want to choose Stereo.
The Menus
Amadeus Pro has File, Edit, and View menus. There are additional menus including Selection, Sound, and Tracks. If there is a keyboard command for a task, VoiceOver automatically reads it.
The Insertion Point and Play Head
The insertion point and play head are very important concepts in Amadeus Pro. The insertion point moves as sound is recorded. This is similar to how the insertion point moves in an app such as TextEdit. The play head moves while sound is playing. Therefore, they may not always be together. When doing basic editing, it's important to move the insertion point to the play head. In other words, the insertion point needs to be where you want the edit to begin. The task can be accomplished either through the Select menu or by typing Command + Y. VoiceOver will say, "Move insertion point to play head."
Making a Recording
If the box in System Preferences labeled "Create new sound document at start up" is checked, a new document will be displayed when Amadeus Pro is launched. If the box is not checked, use the standard Mac command Command + N to open a new sound document. Also use this command if you've been working on other files and are now ready to start a new document.
Unless another device, such as a USB microphone, has been selected, the Mac's internal microphone will be recording. Press Command + R and Amadeus Pro will start recording. For practice, speak a few sentences including some mistakes. This will provide material for practicing basic editing techniques. When recording is finished, press the Return key. Listen to the recording by pressing the Space Bar. The Space Bar stops and starts playback. At this point the insertion point is not in the same location as the play head. If you are working with a file and want to start playback from the beginning of the file, press the Tab key. Move to the beginning of the file with Option + Home and to the end of the file with Option + End. If you want to get somewhere other than the beginning or end, type Command + G. A dialogue box will open where you can enter the time in the file you want to go to.
Basic Editing
When editing a file, Amadeus Pro needs to know which part should be deleted. Markers are used to accomplish this task. If the part to be deleted is at the very beginning of the file, play the file till the exact edit point is located, then do the following.
- Type Command + Y to move the insertion point to the play head. This step is extremely important.
- Type Command + Left Arrow to extend the edit to the previous marker. Although a marker wasn't placed at the beginning of the file, the file beginning is automatically a marker. The same is true for the end of a file. Use Command + Right Arrow to extend to the file's end.
- Press the spacebar to hear what text has been selected for deletion.
- Press the Delete key and the selected content will be gone.
- Command + Z will undo the edit.
If a different edit is required, you'll need to set a marker. There are several ways to do this. My favorite way is to type the letter P wherever you want to place a marker. This will put the marker where the play head is located. Unfortunately, VoiceOver will not say anything, but it works. All markers can be deleted by going to the Select menu and choosing "Clear All Markers." Delete sound in the middle of the file by doing the following:
- Locate the beginning of the edit and type the letter P.
- Continue playing the file until you get to the end of the part to be edited.
- Type Command + Y to move the insertion point to the play head.
- Type Command + Y to select to the previous marker.
- Type the letter E to hear how the file will sound with the edit.
- You can adjust the length of the edit with the A, S, D, and F keys. The A and S keys will affect the beginning of the edit and the D and F keys will affect the end of the edit. The A key will expand the edit while the S key will make the edit smaller. The D key will make the edit smaller and the F key will expand it. How much each key adds or removes from the sound will be dependent on the zoom ratio. Zoom out using the = (equals) sign and zoom in using the − (minus) sign. VoiceOver will say "zoom out" or "zoom in" respectively. If you zoom in, the unit of movement will be smaller and if you zoom out the movement will be larger.
Saving the Recording
Most of the Save dialogue is the standard Mac format including the file name, tags, and location. Toward the end of the dialogue is a button to choose file format. Amadeus Pro has its own format, but it can only be used in Amadeus Pro. The MP3 format is universal. Other options include Apple's M4A and WAV formats. The WAV format uses a lot of disk space and the M4A file can only be played on Apple devices. As a general rule, I use MP3. There is an option in the format menu to save the file as an iPhone ringtone. Once the ringtone is created, import it into iTunes. Sync your phone and the ringtone should be on it. Next is a "Settings" button where parameters such as sampling rate and bit rate can be changed. Bit rate is the amount of data transferred in a specific amount of time. Usually this is seconds. A higher bit rate means better sound quality. iTunes music streams at 256 kbs while some music files have a bit rate of 128 kbs. At the end of the dialogue are the buttons to "Cancel" and "Save."
Metadata
Metadata is information about the file, such as a song's title, artist, genre, etc. iTunes and similar programs use metadata to sort the file. Although it is not necessary to add it, the information may be useful at some time. Type Command + I to open the metadata dialogue. There are five tabs. Select the Metadata tab and fill out whichever edit boxes you feel are necessary.
Conclusion
Amadeus Pro is a very powerful audio editor. This article covered the basics. The program provides very good accessibility and there are many keyboard commands. Although it is expensive, if you're planning on doing a lot of audio work, it's a good investment.
Resources
In the March 2015 issue of AccessWorld, Jamie Pauls reviewed Jonathan Mosen's book, Become An Amadeus Pro Maestro. This book is definitely worth considering if you want to learn more about Amadeus Pro
The team at Blind Abilities has been producing an excellent series about Amadeus Pro. Visit and activate the Demo link. There will be information about the podcasts when the new page loads.
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