Audio editing equipment is essential for producing professional-sounding music, podcasts and voiceovers. Free editors like Audacious can get you started, while premium editors such as Hindenburg offer special benefits geared specifically toward interviews or Audiate with transcription-based editing capabilities.
Adobe Audition features high-quality tools and features like MIDI support, advanced equalization tools and noise reduction options as well as powerful mixer and routing options.
Compression
Compression is the audio editing process which reduces dynamic range by attenuating louder sounds while amplifying quieter ones, and is an indispensable tool in any audio editor’s toolkit. By applying compression with precision, music and voice tracks can become far more professional sounding, without ever turning muddy. When used tastefully however, compression can even out the volume across an entire mix without making it sound muddy; but misusing compression may completely ruin it and turn your track into an absolute mess – so before using compression in videos it is vitally important that you fully comprehend its workings before applying it in videos containing music or voice tracks or both!
Threshold, Ratio, Attack and Release settings in your compressor dictate how aggressively it compresses your track. A higher threshold setting means compression will only apply when signal levels reach a high enough level; lower threshold settings result in more frequent but less intense compression applications. An aggressive attack time could produce harsh compression effects; slower attack times allow the compressor to “ease into” compression to create more natural results.
Release settings determine how quickly a compressor will release pressure once peak has passed, to avoid overstaying its welcome and creating distortion. A fast release can create an eye-catching effect while slower ones hold on longer to smooth out transients of percussive instruments like drums.
Parallel compression is an alternative to serial compression that involves mixing an uncompressed version of a track with compressed ones to achieve an overall more balanced sound. It can be especially effective on vocals and guitars.
Downward compression (or “limiting”) reduces the volume of sounds that exceed a specified threshold while leaving quieter ones unaffected. It is frequently employed in vocal mixes to highlight vocalists more prominently while music production utilizes it to reduce sibilance; broadcasting/advertising uses it to enhance clarity and consistency for their voiceovers/spoken word recordings.
If your ratio is set too high, it may cause the soft parts of your audio signal to be compressed unnaturally, leading to unintended vocal sibilance or pumping noises from pumps in music or drums. For spoken dialogue purposes a 2:1 to 4:1 ratio would work best while 8:1 might work better for music or drums.
EQ
Equalization (EQ), one of the most frequently employed audio processing techniques, allows users to adjust and balance frequencies within sounds to remove undesirable characteristics such as tinniness or harshness from them. By cutting out certain frequencies while increasing others simultaneously, an EQ sculpts a track into its ideal shape and tone.
An effective equalizer (EQ) can help eliminate offending sounds and improve the quality of a mix, but overzealous use can have adverse effects. Too much frequency-cutting may create unwanted noise that’s hard to control.
An EQ control on a mixer typically features several filter types, including high-pass and low-pass filters that can block out or pass specific frequency ranges; band-pass filters (high, medium or low pass); band-notch and peaking filters are also used to isolate specific frequency bands for additional shaping capabilities; choosing the appropriate filter type is paramount when crafting tracks to perfection.
Equalizers (EQs) come equipped with anywhere between four and 30 frequency bands. While some EQs simply divide the audible spectrum into bass, mid, and treble regions, more advanced units allow users to customize amplitude, center frequency, bandwidth of each individual frequency band – making it easy to pinpoint problem frequencies and correct them for a smoother, more balanced sound.
There are various approaches to equalizing a song, but the key component in doing so is not changing its basic essence. Too much treble could make your recording sound unnaturally polished while too much bass could give your track a cheap and synthetic vibe.
To avoid this pitfall, listen carefully when tweaking EQ parameters and take your time when making changes. Once you get the hang of it, start experimenting with more creative adjustments that will add extra life and depth to your recordings; perhaps adding an upper midrange boost may add warmth and full-bodied qualities that really add character.
Effects
Compression is a must in any audio editing system, as it helps balance out volume levels between louder parts of a recording and quieter ones by decreasing louder ones while amplifying quieter ones. Furthermore, compression reduces unwanted noise by cutting specific frequencies out. Used effectively, compression can drastically improve mix clarity while breathing new life into previously boring recordings.
Equalization (EQ) is an integral component of sound production suites. Utilizing parametric EQ, you can highlight or attenuate specific frequencies by adjusting settings – for instance boosting low frequencies to bring up bass while cutting high frequencies to remove unwanted buzzing or static. An EQ also helps you achieve the right feel to a track by emphasizing specific instruments or vocals while suppressing unwanted background noise such as traffic or beeps from forklifts.
Delay is another essential effect for producing quality mixes, giving the impression of space by repeating an audio signal that was delayed in time. It can be used to create various effects like chorus and reverb, depending on its length and repeat rate. Different kinds of delays exist with differing features such as how many times each delay cycle repeats the original signal.
Other common effects include modulation, which alters the phase of an audio signal to produce ringing or vibrating effects like those seen with flanger effects. Panning effects allow us to reposition sound placement within stereo or multi-channel mixes in order to create sweeping effects while preventing muddiness or masking of voices.
Other popular effects include distortion, which adds noise and harmonic overtones to sound, and filtering, which enhances or attenuates certain frequency ranges of a sound. High-pass filters can reduce low-frequency noise such as traffic or static, while a low-pass filter helps protect equipment by attenuating frequencies that may damage it. Finally, time manipulation effects like tempo adjustment make music tracks play faster without altering their pitch; these features are especially helpful when combined with voice tracks where speeded-up tracks can match spoken words rhythmically.
Audio Tracks
Your audio editing software has various tracks you can use to store and play back events known as clips, which contain continuous pieces of audio such as recordings or background songs. Clips can be moved along the Timeline as well as between tracks using drag. Digital audio tracks store sound data as digital values rather than musical notation – meaning any number of them may exist in one document as well as automation tracks that automate channel parameters or effect settings.
An audio editing software can help remove distracting sounds such as hisses, hums, or background noise; add depth and character to recordings by minimizing or increasing specific frequencies; as well as provide quality assurance by testing using an audio test track or recordinger. Once all is completed, make sure all recordings are free from errors or defects before moving forward with production of quality audio productions.
Most audio editing programs provide an array of mouse tools that allow you to access and manipulate an audio region in the Audio Track Mixer, Source Monitor or Program Monitor. Some tools can even adapt their function depending on context; clicking an audio region opens a menu giving options such as trimming, grabbing or erasing that selection.
As part of your recording and processing setup, each audio track can have different output settings such as mono or stereo output settings. Each audio track also can feature its own mix channel or multiple mixes for sequenced tracks as well as its own pan/balance setting.
Create either a standard track that can accommodate either mono or stereo clips, or an adaptive track that enables flexible mapping from source audio channels to output channels – perfect for multicam sequences or working with merged clips.