Post Mixing, Editing & Design

Dialogue Editing & Audio Sweetening

A Note on Editing for Different Applications:

Apps, ADR and video game content are treated differently than documentary and film/video content.

With App audio, I aim for it to sound like it were in a vacuum, pristinely clean. Video Game and ADR is similar, as I will add wanted effects afterward.

With film/video audio the audience accept some ambient noise. In narrative works, the goal is to minimize it and replace it with a desired ambience. Documentary works are more forgiving and the task is to make sure the audio pops. In either case, the goal is to minimize noise but maintain that the audio lives in the space that we see on screen. In some cases, I know that sound design or music will hide imperfections. Audio is edited with the mix in mind. Sometimes this means treating it with the App/ADR approach, others it is about reduction and balance.

Each audio edit is entirely dependent on what is possible with the given recording weighed against what the desired output is.

► Click for A/B tracks and use headphones for proper critical listening.

Marketing Video

Audio Issues: Dialogue was captured in a very noisy environment. The voice has a harsh edge and seems to be clipped – likely from bad gain settings or possibly running audio directly into noisy camera preamps or using lower quality microphones.

Sweetened Dialogue: The edginess and clipping have been removed and the background noise reduced, but not entirely. This is primarily because I knew the noise could be covered up by a music track. No use wasting time at something that is easily hidden, risking potential tonal destruction and artifacting.

Final Mix: Mixed with the music bed the piece sounds clean and the voice sounds smooth.

Phone App Trivia [for a San Francisco Tech StartUp]

BEFORE

Audio Issues: Constant electrical buzz crossing 20+ tonal frequencies, loud noise floor from the room, pops, clicks, edgy sound from poor recording technique and possibly hard compression.

AFTER

Sweetening: While it’s been softened to feel less aggressive, some of the edginess remains from the original recording technique. Given its output for a radio-esque format intended for car listeners, this is acceptable for the market audience.

Podcast & Radio

Sound Design