{fh2000000Audio{fh20060C0Works
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The sample editor that I got with my sampler was a load of turd, so I've wanted a decent sample editor for ages. Before, if I wanted to edit samples I'd cut them up to the right length with !PulseP (supplied with my sampler), then if needed I'd under-sample the sample to half its frequency (and size) but only if the edited sample sounded OK at that frequency. I'd then save the sample in Armadeus format (the other possible format is Tracker but !PulseP doesn't save in the 'standard' Tracker format). Having got the sample to the right size, I'd load it into !APTracker2 (A freeware Tracker editor) and then I could do various effects on the sample, but the only one that proved effective was the 'Boost sample' effect which made the sample louder. There are more sample editing tools in APTracker but I could never really get them to work properly.
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There are many other freeware offerings that offer sample manipulation with such effects like echo, boosting and volume fade in/out, but they all lack something. But really you can't complain for something that's free! Of course you could buy _Digital Symphony_"Features.DSymTut1" which costs roughly the same price (as AudioWorks) and as well as sample editing it offers the ability to create songs with the samples you create, which is what a lot of you will be using a sample editor for. Of course there are many good reasons for buying Audio- works. The effects are of high quality and are applied very fast. You can Amplify, Centre, Echo, apply an envelope, extend, filter (high/ low pass), ramp, re-sample, reverse and silence.

Amplify allows you to amplify the sample by a percentage of the original or 'to the maximum'. I assume to the maximum is the loudest it can get before you get added noise. Centre allows you to shift the sample up or down in the sample window which I can't see much point in.

Echo adds the best echo effect that I've heard on an Arc, it allows you to enter the 'Delay' time in seconds between each echo and the attenuation i.e. how much quieter the echo is than the original. When you add echo to a sample it should make the sample longer so that you hear the whole of the effect, but most other sample editors don't have this. With AudioWorks however, you have the option of extending the sample.

Envelope is an interesting effect. It allows you to add an amplitude envelope, a stereo effect or a pitch bend to the sample. Amplitude envelope alters the volume of the sample, so a simple dot in the middle of the waveform would fade the volume in and then fade it out. Stereo effect applies the envelope to stereo samples to shift the stereo position or right. Lastly, a pitch bend er, bends the pitch! Extend allows to adjust the length of the sample either by an amount or to an amount.

Filter allows you to cut out frequencies below or above a specified value. Ramp is simply a fading in or out effect to apply to the sample using a set shape. Re-sample is very useful. I have been using !PulseP which could only re-sample by x2, x3, x4, x5 under and over but AudioWorks allows you to re-sample to any value. Reverse simply reverses the sample and Silence clears selected areas of the sample.

One effect I would like to see added to AudioWorks is "time stretching". This is a process of re-sampling the sample to a different time length, but doesn't alter the pitch of the resultant sample. This is very useful for drum-loops which are say 140bpm and you need a 148bpm loop; playing the sample at a different frequency wouldn't sound right, but with time stretching it would sound normal.

Once you've finished editing your sample you can save in AudioWorks, Datavox, Arm- adeus, ARMovie, Microsoft WAVE, Voice Module or Raw data. And you can load in any of these (obviously) as well as rip samples from various Tracker format files.

Rating: 9/10
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Product: AudioWorks
Price: 57.57
Availability: All Acorn 32-bit computers
Contact: Computer Concepts (01442) 63933

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