1. A method for processing an audio signal in an audio processing apparatus, the method comprising: receiving the audio signal and a parameter, the parameter indicating a location of an auditory event boundary, wherein an audio portion between consecutive auditory event boundaries constitutes an auditory event; and applying a modification to the audio signal based in part on an occurrence of the auditory event, wherein the audio processing apparatus is implemented at least in part in hardware and the parameter was generated by monitoring a characteristic of the audio signal and identifying a change in the characteristic.