Quick Guide to Audio Editing & Mixing

Quick Guide to Audio Editing & Mixing

Site: Community Media Training Organisation Course: Features & Documentary Production Book: Quick Guide to Audio Editing & Mixing Printed by: Giordana Caputo Date: Monday, 21 July 2014, 1:37 PM Table of contents

1 Audio Editing & Mixing 2 File Formats & Other Tech 3 Listen and Log 4 Use an Edit Plan 5 Back it up 6 Mix Well 7 Keep it real 1 Audio Editing & Mixing

Seamless audio editing and mixing is a skill that comes with practice and time.

There are so many editing programs out there, some of which are free like Audacity and others which are used by the pros, like the appropriately named Pro-Tools.

As the saying goes, 'a poor worker blames his tools', which kinda contradicts the other saying of a 'worker is only as good as his tools' but whatever, down with gender-specific cliches, what really matters is geting your head around the basic principles of editing:

File formats & techy stuff

Listen & log

Use an edit plan

Make back-up copies (Crtl Z/Undo)

Mix well

Keep it real 2 File Formats & Other Tech

You don't have to be a sound engineer to edit audio, but some basic theory can help you get the most out of your recordings.

If you haven't downloaded and played with Audacity yet, do it now- it's freeware and its fun!

They also have a great tutorial that can be applied to almost any editing software as it covers the basic theory:

Digital Audio Theory

And if you are a real rookie, it takes you through the basics here:

Editing for Beginners- Audacity

1. Introduction to Editing... 2. Cut, Copy & Paste 3. Silence, Duplicate and Split 4. Splitting and Submixes

Check out all their tutorials here

And if you want a little bit more in-depth info on sound theory, this resource from JISC Digital Media includes definitions and a glossary of terms:

An Introduction to Digital Audio

Tips from the pros:

An audio file format is a special container for storing audio data on a computer system.

There are 3 kinds of formats:

Raw or uncompressed audio formats, such as WAV, AIFF and AU

Lossless compression formats. These use data compression algorithms that allow the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data. Formats include Apple Lossless (ALAC) and lossless Windows Media Audio (WMA)

Lossy compression formats. This method compresses data and then decompressing it retrieves data that may well be different from the original, but is close enough to be useful in some way. Formats include MP3, Vorbis, lossy Windows Media Audio (WMA) and AAC.

The MP3 has become the ubiquitous file format. A team of European engineers invented it and it became an ISO/IEC standard in 1992. Since then, it has become the pre-eminent format because its codec (compression – decompression) provides a final output at least one fifteenth the size of the original with little audible quality loss.

There are many different file formats for storing audio data, and they are described in the file name by their extension: FORMAT EXPLANATION EXTENSION

WAV Microsoft wave audio file .wav

AAC A newer MPEG sound format .aac

OGG Ogg Vorbis .ogg

MP3 MPEG-1 Layer III .mp3

WMA Microsoft wave audio file .wma

AIFF Audio Interchange File (Mac) .aiff

3 Listen and Log

Logging notes are a comprehensive set of notes describing your audio material.

It's a great ideal to listen back to your audio straight after you record it, firstly to make sure it worked and secondly to note down the times when something really jumps out at you as a good quote.

Detailed and accurate notes will make writing your production script much easier.

Steps for logging tape:

• Listen to the material straight through a first time jotting down as much as you can without stopping the tape. Leave lots of blank space that you can go back and on a second listening fill in more information.

• On the second listening make a note of the time of where interesting points are made and add extra detail.

• The third time you listen to the tape, go to sections that were particularly interesting. Fill in the specifics of what was said. Stop, play and rewind the recording to write down the first and last words of what you want to keep noting where they occur in the recording.

• When listening to your longer interviews, use your list of interview questions to assist you in structuring your logging notes.

Tips from the pros

NPR & BBC Producer Scott Gurian explains the difference between logging and transcribing tape, "...The way I log tape is to note any significant conversations, quotations or segments of ambience with just a few, descriptive words or parts of a quote that will help me remember that segment later on. I often use abbreviations and my own style of shorthand to avoid writing out whole sentences."

Read his other tips on logging and why transcribing can be really useful here. 4 Use an Edit Plan

An editing plan helps make the editing process faster.

Have a complete editing plan written out before you begin.

You may change it but it's better to start out with a basic direction in mind.

It will save a lot of time in the long run.

Your plan is based on the original audio file.

Don’t cut this one up.

Keep it and copy the segments that you decide to use and paste them into a new file.

Edit plan step-by-step

Complete a comprehensive logging of the recording Note on your Edit Plan, the start point of the various parts that you wish to cut out. Listen for any noticeable variations in the background noise Consider how the segment will fit into your overall piece

Edit Plan Sample

Filename: Banana.wav

Title: Interview with the Dusty Bananas

Date: 30/5/2014

Speaker/Performer(s): Barney from the Dusty Bananas and Jon Brown

Producer: April Turner

Segment Counter Time (start) First and Last Words Duration Number and comments

Starts:// “Welcome to the program, when did you start recording 1’12 – cut my first 1. the first album?”// “It was a process that.. 40 secs question, brilliant Ends: and we just knew that we’d hit the bigtime..” response. 2. Starts:“here is a song// (Cough) Excuse me //called…” 0.10 secs 2’02 – cut cough

Ends: “..it was called “Peel” from the album Unzip the Yellow”//

Starts: “We can’t wait to get to Queensland..”

Ends “…it is seriously, the best record we have ever made. Thanks 2’30 – add track in under 3. 58 secs //James..er.//Jon” this section

Download the Edit Plan Template here 5 Back it up

Digital audio editing is based on the concept of non-linear editing, meaning we can access any part of the recording at any time and manipulate it without having to listen from beginning to end, it's a total time-saver!

But it can also mean we can screw-up and cut and delete things we didn't mean to.

Hence the importance of good file management and back-ups and the amazing power of CRTL Z or UNDO!

Good file management

When working with programs like Audacity & Pro-Tools we can use non-destructive editing, which means the audio edits that you perform will not alter the original audio file that is stored on your hard drive.

Most audio-editing programs use session files, these are files which 'reference' audio files and the changes we make to them without actually altering the original file.

So you have to 'mix-down' in order to actually make the changes to the audio file.

Nondestructive Editing means that as you are working on your sessions, you:

Use less disk space Can create multiple arrangements and edits without copying audio files Edit without concern for altering the original recording

This is really handy, but can take some getting used to, just remember you need to save the session file AND the audio files to your back-up, so that when you open it again all the bits and pieces are there for the session file to access.

It's important to make sure you name and save your files in a manner that will make sense to you and anyone else who might want to access them.

Using words like FINAL aren't always helpful, it's better to number versions sequentially and keep all files in the one folder.

Get into the habit of backing this folder up, either to a thumb-drive or the cloud.

If you do decide to work on the acutal sound file rather than a session file, start out by making a copy of it and naming it RAW AUDIO, that way if you do make mistakes, need to copy sections or re-edit you will always have the original file.

And use CRTL-Z or UNDO to your heart's content, they really help when you nip something just that bit too tight, or cut the quote instead of trim it!

6 Mix Well

Mixing skills take time to master and training your ear to hear what works well.

Mixing, like edting, should be smooth, seamless and completely invisible to our audience.

We don't want anything to distract from our content!

There are few tricks to a smooth mix:

1. Record plenty of 'atmos' or 'room noise'

You can use atmos to blend sections of interviews together, match up sections and segue into narration

2. Use music and SFX

Music is a great tool for smoothing out edits, covering changes in recordings and of course creating atmosphere - more on this in the next module!

3. Slow fade

Using a super-slow fade in/fade out or crossfades in your mix can make all the difference to the profressionalism of your piece. If you're going to use a fade make sure you have heaps of lead-in and lead-out time, you can copy and paste tone to make it longer for a really smooth crossfade that never actually dips in amplitude. Try not to fade out voices, unless its for a special effect, instead do a slow cross fade to atmos/music/background. Think of your fades as literally smothing out the surface of your audio, so everything maintains the same audio-level and blends elegantly.

4. Let it breathe

Pace, pause and timing are really important in your mix. You might be tempted to cut everything really short and do quick crossfades, but always think of the listener! In features and docos we are presenting a lot of in-depth information and we need to give our listener time to catch up, think and reflect on the points. So we need to make space for that, not heaps, but some natual pauses, some short segues and non-jarring transitions.

5. Mastering

It'd be rad if we all had sound engineers to master our final sessions to broadcast quality standard, but the reality is we don't all have that luxury in community radio. If you do have a sound tech at your station, ask them for some tips on using the 'master' track, compression and EQ (equalisation) on your piece. There are some really simple tools in all audio editing software that you can use to boost the quality of your final mix. Read this great processing guide from Transom.org's Jeff Towne here for some basics. And this section on Voice Processing is also super helpful.

Tips from the Pros

Jeff Towne is the resident mixing guru at Transom.org and he says, "Achieving proper levels when recording and mixing is one of the most fundamental tasks in audio production, yet it remains confusing to many producers. There’s a good reason for that: there is a dizzying array of standards, often in conflict with one another. Adding to the confusion, there’s no single answer for what the “correct” audio level is, but understanding the most common norms is very important. Independent producers and reporters are increasingly responsible for creating the final audio product, whether it’s a podcast, a short feature, or a complete radio program."

Read his simple how-to on levels here

This is a great guide to mixing basics in Pro-tools from Transom.org 7 Keep it real

Your first and final consideration when it comes to edting is keeping it real.

You have an ethical obligation to your subject and your listener to ensure that everything you present is true, accurate and in context.

So think carefully about your cuts and whether 'cleaning' something up might actually change the context.

Use your scripting to fill in the gaps when the tape is not up to scratch, or go back and re-record.

If you're troubled by anything get your EP to listen to your raw audio or check with your interviewee on any sections you think might be ambiguous.

Keeping it real also means not over-editing your piece.

In features and docos we have much more time than if we are simply using a short grab for news purposes.

So try to maintain some of the natural sound of your interviewees, if they have quirks of speech and turn of phrase keep some of it, not every um, ah and pause, but those bits that make them sound human, add to the drama or tension and give the listener pause.

Voices and speech communicates so much about a person, not just what they say, but how they say it!

Tips from the pros

Okay so some of this will make you cry, but it really demonstrates the power of pause and voice:

Siobhan McHugh interviewed Vietnam War correspondant Jan Graham, have a listen to the three 3:22 minutes of tape here, it's barely been edited- (content warning)

The rest of her article is here

Living Outback is a project from PBA FM in Adelaide and the Community Radio Network which looked at contemporary issues facing rural and remote communities

This powerful piece aired as a section of the Shattered Lives program (content warning)

2:12