Changing an Audio Level
Just because you can play an audio file on cue doesn’t mean that it’s the correct volume for the moment. Some audio files are louder than others. Some moments call for quieter music in the background.
QLab can quickly and easily help you adjust, set, and save audio levels. To make this change, click on your audio cue and go to the Audio Levels tab. Here you’ll see a series of faders, we’ll cover what all these do in other lessons, but for now all we care about is the Master Fader which controls the overall volume of this one cue, not all the cues in your cue list, just this one.
If I hit GO, the cue will play and select the next cue; but I want to listen to this one and adjust the volume; so instead I’m going to press V for preView. You’ll see that the playhead stays on this cue.
Once the audio is playing we can see the faders metering the audio output. If I want to lower the volume, I can simply lower the master fader. If I want to raise the volume, I can raise the master fader. Easy as that. Lower it all the way and I can stop the output all together. Notice, while I make these changes, the meters also adjust.
Personally, I like to type numbers in the box rather than use the fader. I’m a little crazy like that. I just hate decimal points. I love whole numbers. So here I can type 0. This means “No change to the original volume of the audio file”. A -20 means 20 decibels quieter than the original volume of the audio file. A +6 means 6 decibels louder than the original recording. Typing “-INF” or typing a blank value will take the volume all the way out.
Once I stop the audio cue and come back, the value I chose stays which means I can set the volume in rehearsal and trust that it’s going to be perfect during performance.
Assignment:
Add an audio cue to a new or existing workspace. Play the audio cue and adjust its volume.
Were You Listening?
How do you take the volume all the way out on an audio cue?
Answer
Type -INF on the master fader or enter a blank value.