LEARN HOW TO RECORD, EDIT & PRODUCE GREAT AUDIO!

Learn how to record audio voice tracks, build your own studio, use effective audio production techniques and create audio information products and podcasts

If you create audio information products, produce audio in a corporate environment, run a small recording studio, create podcasts, or record audio for video; this site will help you learn and develop the art of making great sounding audio tracks.

Our focus is how to record, edit and produce a voice track, and the tools, techniques and skills you need to produce high quality audio products and productions efficiently. No matter what your experience level, you'll find articles, reviews, how-to's, books and tutorials to help you create excellent audio products. We'll share our recording studio secrets gathered from over 30 years experience as producers of audio training, promotion, and information products.

Editing & Production

Editing, processing and the addition of music and sound effects adds greatly to the professionalism and effectiveness of your creations. This section covers all the techniques that will enhance your productions and put them on a par with other professionally produced programs. We’ll also discuss how to fix problems that may have been introduced in the recording process.

CD Format Standards

 Editing & Production, Product Development
Jan 092011
 

You should be familiar with Compact Disc standards so you know where to search on the web when you need specific technical information on CD recording.

There are quite a few CD formats that have been developed over the years; here is a brief description of them. If you need more information, search for the term on the web – there is a wealth of information there.

Red Book – This was the original standard created by Sony and Phillips in the 1980’s. This is still the universal standard for CD Audio and is the standard on which all the others are built.

Yellow Book – This was the original data Format standard developed by Phillips and Sony in 1983. This was a very general spec that evolved into ISO-9660, the HFS format for Macintosh , and hybrid HFS-ISO.

ISO 9660 –  This is a standard CDROM file system that allows CD compatibility independent of platform. This standard was written by an industry group named High Sierra, and was issued in 1988.

There are several levels to ISO-9660. In level 1 the filenames are in the 8.3 format. (No more than 8 characters in the name followed by a three character suffix). All characters must be capitalized; directories can have a maximum of 8 characters and no more than 8 nested directory levels. Use this level for compatibility with MSDOS and old versions of Windows.

The specifications for levels 2 and 3 allow file names up to 32 characters long.

CDROM-XA – This format based on the Yellow Book (XA being short for Extended Architecture) allows for new types of sectors to display data, graphics, audio and video at the same time. CD, Photo CD, Video CD and CD Extra are outgrowths of this standard.

Joliet – This is an extension to ISO 9660, developed by Microsoft, which allows the use of Unicode characters in the file names. These are need for international use. File names up to 64 characters in length are permitted.

White Book – This standard was created to allow the playback of interactive disks on players that support the green Book and CDROM-XA standards. This standard is commonly used for the creation of Video CD disks.

Green Book – The Green Book standard was developed in 1991 for CD -I (CD Interactive)

Orange Book – This is the most recent standard that defines the specifications for CD recorders and media.

Mixing Music In Sound Forge

 Editing & Production, Music & Effects, Podcasting, Sony Sound Forge
Jan 092011
 

Sony Sound Forge is a two-track editing program, so mixing is trickier than with a multi-track program. Here’s a simple way to do it. In general, for opening music, the usual procedure is to let the music play at full volume for 6 – 10 seconds – I usually let a musical phrase complete, then [READ MORE...]

Getting the Correct Volume On Your Audio Files

 Audio For Video, Editing & Production, Podcasting, Web Audio
Jan 092011
 

Getting the right volume level on your finished recordings is important because you want your customer to hear your recordings at about the same level as other commercially produced recordings, and you don’t want him or her to be constantly reaching for the volume knob when playing your product. While not difficult once you get [READ MORE...]

Using Music & Staying Legal

 Audio For Video, Editing & Production, Music & Effects, Podcasting, Web Audio
Jan 092011
 

Music can add a lot of perceived value to your production, but to avoid trouble, you must be aware of copyright issues. Here’s how to do it legally. Background and open/close music is a good way to enhance your production and make it sound more professional. If you are creating a product for sale, distribution [READ MORE...]

7 Tips to Better Web Audio

 Editing & Production, Web Audio
Jan 092011
 

Producing audio for the web is a tradeoff between download speed and quality. Follow these steps to optimize your Internet audio. One of the major considerations for putting audio on the web is the download time, especially for those without broadband connections. Audio formats that compress the file, like MP3 and Windows Media have been [READ MORE...]

Be Ruthless In Your Editing For Better Content

 Editing & Production, Oral History, Podcasting, Web Audio
Jan 092011
 

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter…” – Mark Twain There’s a lot of wisdom in this quotation that’s attributed to Mark Twain and it applies quite well to audio editing. If you’re editing only to fix retakes and remove breaths and other noises, then you need to rethink your [READ MORE...]

Using The Right Tools

 Editing & Production, Equipment, Recording Techniques, Software Tools
Jan 092011
 

Did you ever tighten a screw with a nail file or drive a nail with the backside of a pair of pliers? If you have, then you’ll recognize the value of having the right tool. But, overkill may be just as bad. Cutting a 2×4 with a serrated bread knife might be difficult, but doing [READ MORE...]

Copyright © 2012 by Norwest Communications Inc. Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha