Sound Editing and Mixing

-Sneha Bhati
Introduction

Editing and mixing of sound

– the two processes which together go by the name ‘PostProduction’.

The name post-production is because these two stages come invariably after the production stage i.e.
recording of a programme. Except in very simple cases, post-production is a necessary stage in radio
programme production to give your programmes the necessary completeness, technical quality, richness and
professional finesse.
Need for post production
You may wonder why at all post-production is required. Usually, recording stage alone will not give you the
final product if your aim is to get a good quality professional programme with all ingredients in place like
background music, sound effects, multiple voices in proper balance, aesthetic transitions between sound clips
etc. And that is where post-production chips in.

Post-production, refers to works carried out after the recording process (production) is over. Post-production is
essential to remove any imperfections or defects contained in the recording either by oversight of the recordist
or by performers / artistes.

Broadly speaking, post production helps us improve our final audio programme in two ways:

1. By eliminating / minimizing unwanted sounds and unwanted portions of the recording.

2. By enriching the recording with the addition of proper music, sound effects, and enhancing the recorded
sound for improved clarity (in spoken word programmes) and richness (musicals etc).
Sound Editing
Sound editing essentially consists of removing unwanted portions in the recorded material and adding some
new ones. Gone are the days when one used to record audio on analog tape or spool and edit the programme
by transferring it to another tape. Now we all record audio on digital equipment and save audio as discreet
files. It is these files that one trims and arranges them in an order to produce a programme.

Some feel that the final shape of the programme is decided right at the time of scripting. If one has done
proper research and has come up with a good script, recording is likely to be done appropriately. If recording is
done appropriately, editing becomes easy.

If you have recorded your programme:

● Using the right microphone

● By ensuring that the recorder/ microphone is at the right distance from the talent
● By maintaining the right audio levels

● And saved your recordings properly and have a backup of the same

Then you have made your editing process much easier and simple. However, you will agree that not all programmes
are recorded in a linear fashion. Most programmes, be it on the field or in the studio, are recorded in a nonlinear
fashion. That means recordings are mostly based on the availability of talent and the studio. However, since the audio
clips are not going to be in the order of playback or there may be bits that need exclusion, one needs to edit them. All
it requires is trimming parts of unwanted audio and arranging them in the desirable order for broadcast. One edits to:

● Join pieces of audio to create meaningful audio

● Omit portions of audio that are considered unwanted, irrelevant, distracting or of low quality

● Increase or decrease the duration of a programme

● Direct the listener’s interest from one aspect of the programme to another

● Reveal information in stages

● Give desired shape and structure to the programme.

● Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR):Also called re-recording or dubbing, this process involves
completely replacing the audio recorded on location with the same script of dialogues / spoken words
recorded afresh in the studio. Usually, ADR is a process practiced in the film industry, and only occasionally in
video production, but not in radio. In the radio context, since there is no accompanying picture recording, it is
better to record the location sounds (ambience) separately and dialogue separately, and finally mix them in
suitable proportion at the post-production stage. Of course, this method is adopted only if you are faced with
excessive noise in outdoor situations (e.g., railway platforms, a busy market area, a construction site at which a
road roller or a concrete mixer are operating).

● Sound design: In sound design we try to enhance the originally recorded audio with audio filters (frequency
manipulation devices), and special effects as may be required (glass breaking, footsteps, gun shots etc), so that
such sounds are reproduced more emphatically than by recording them on the spot. Such special effects are
available as off-the-shelf material in the market. They can also be downloaded from the internet.

Sound editing, in other words, enhances the quality of originally recorded material by removing unwanted
defects as well as by adding additional sounds as per programme needs.
The process of editing
Making a radio programme involves a process of including several components like interviews, narration,
appropriate music and sound effects etc. And most times, these components are recorded at different points
of time. For example, the narration for a programme may be recorded after the interviews have been
recorded. The music may be sourced or scored at a later date while all the sound effects may be sourced and
kept in a folder ready for editing. However, all of these need to be organised in order to make it an interesting
programme. One needs to do the following before actually editing the programme:

1. Transcribe the recordings (the process of listening the recording and writing on paper)

2. Do a paper edit (the process of striking out ‘unwanted portions’ from the recordings

3. Keep them ready for reference before actually sitting down to edit
All editing is done using software on a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). A DAW, put simply, is a computer with a
sound card that is capable of processing audio and outputting it in the form of digital files using a software solution as
an interface. We will learn more details about using software to edit our programmes. But before that, it is important
to understand that irrespective of the software used, all digital editing involves the following procedures:

1. Importing audio files

2. Juxtaposing, rearranging and trimming the files

3. Applying effects to audio (where necessary)

4. Outputting the edited programme as a composite audio file

Before proceeding to the actual process of audio editing, it is important for us to understand some concepts.

Earlier, editing used to be tape-to-tape, i.e. audio used to be recorded on an audio tape and then transferred in bits
and pieces onto another tape. If one had to add music and sound effects etc, this meant that the edited audio would
have to be married to music and sound effects once again in order to complete the programme. This not only was a
laborious process but also resulted in what is known as generation loss. Generation loss refers to the loss of audio
quality on subsequent copies. Therefore, if we have copied portions of desired audio onto another tape, it will be the
first generation copy which would be slightly poor than the original. If one had to then marry this clip with music and
sound effects, the subsequent copies would be poorer in quality. However, digital editing is a solution to generation
loss. The quality of the audio remains the same even after editing it several times. Whatever be the number of copies
one makes without compression, the audio quality remains the same.
Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)
A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is a computer software which is designed to record, edit, mix and playback audio files.
Technically, a DAW is more than just software; depending on the context, DAW is also understood to include the
corresponding hardware such as the computer running the software and associated interfaces that help route the audio
signals into/ out of the computer. In professional audio studios as well as for domestic laptop-based set-ups, DAW is the main
software in use these days.

Today’s computer and audio recording/ editing software come with a mixing console, plugins, effects, surface controls etc.
that help in completing everything from recording to post-production right on the computer. Requirements of a digital audio
workstation include:

● A high end processor (the i-series Intel processors works well)

● A system cooler

● Random Access Memory (RAM) anywhere between 2-4GB. More the merrier.

● Hard disk with capacity ranging between 500GB to 1TB

● USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports to import and export audio from the system

● A pair of good speakers to monitor audio

● A good sound card

A sound card is a peripheral that is connected to a computer. Most computers come with some form of a basic sound
card to edit and playback audio. So how does one identify if a computer has a sound card? If your computer has inputs
for a mic and a headphone on the back of the CPU (Central Processing Unit), your computer has a sound card. It must
be noted that while some cards only playback audio but ‘duplex’ sound cards also enable audio recording. Most
high-end computers come with a sound card mounted on its motherboard. A sound card also acts as an analog to
digital convertor (ADC). It converts analog signals coming from your microphone into bits to be recorded/ stored on
the computer. This means you can essentially connect an analog player to the computer and it will digitise the audio
using a suitable software interface. It also has a digital to analog convertor (DAC) to output the digital signal through
speakers that essentially throw out analog signals.

DAWs come in a wide range of configurations. At the simplest, a DAW can be a single software program on a laptop. A
more advanced DAW can be an integrated stand-alone unit for professional use and a still more advanced DAW can
be a highly complex configuration incorporating several components controlled by a central computer. As computer
power increased over the years, DAWs too evolved into more and more complex systems which are favored for
high-end applications, while simple DAWs too are in demand for low-cost productions of consumer use.
Components of DAW
In the beginning, an integrated DAW used to contain a mixing console, control panel, audio converter and data storage in a
single device. As personal computers (PCs) became more powerful to be able to run DAW software, such stand-alone
integrated units gave way to PCs with inbuilt DAW software, a popular example of which is Orban Audicy – a standard
production tool at radio stations worldwide.

Any computer-based DAW has the following four basic components:

● a personal computer (PC)

● a sound card (also called audio interface or audio converter)

● an audio editing software

● One or more input devices for modifying/ adding musical note data.

The PC houses the sound card as well as the software. It also provides the processing power to carry out audio editing and
mixing functions. The sound card converts analog audio into digital form and vice versa. It also helps in further processing of
the audio. The software enables control of all hardware components and acts as a user interface for recording, editing, mixing
and playback.

Simple smart phone-based DAWs (also called Mobile Audio Workstations - MAWs) are also in popular use - especially by
journalists - to record and edit on location.
Functionality
While, in principle, DAWs can be designed with any user interface, they are in practice usually based on a multi-track
tape recorder layout so that sound engineers and music artists who are familiar with tape recorders can easily adapt
themselves to the DAWs. This is the reason why DAWs incorporate the standard layout of tape recorders e.g. ‘Play’,
‘Rewind’, ‘Record’ and also track controls as well as a mixer and waveform display.

Single-track DAWs display only one sound (either mono or stereo) at a time, whereas multi-track DAWs facilitate
operations on multiple tracks simultaneously. Like in a real mixing console, each track in a DAW will have controls to
adjust volume, stereo balance etc. Further, software plugins also can be used to process the sound on individual
tracks.

DAWs can perform all the functions of traditional tape-based studio setups and much more, and with better quality.
Therefore they succeeded in replacing the latter almost completely. One very useful function that a DAW contains,
and which a tape-based system does not, is the ‘undo’ function. The ‘undo’ function enables you to cancel your earlier
editing (or other operation) and restore the original recording instantaneously without any loss of quality. With this
facility at your command, you have the creative freedom to experiment with an edit operation, listen to the output
and, if found unsatisfactory or if you change your mind, ‘undo’ the same, restore the original audio track, and perform
a different edit. This process can go on any number of times.
DAWs also have automation facility performed through ‘envelopes’. ‘Envelopes’ are interactive graph lines or curves
seen on the computer monitor which contain adjustable markers. By creating and adjusting these markers along the
graph line or control event, you can define the desired output (say, change of volume) over time.

Software plug-ins was mentioned earlier. A large variety of plug-ins are available for use with DAWs and each of them
offers its unique functionality and application. These functions include equalization, distortion, resonators,
synthesizers, compressors, chorus, limiters, etc. and by using them you can manipulate the recorded audio in terms of
its pitch, tone, speed and modify it into something very different sounding.
Open source softwares

There are several audio editing software solutions available in the market. Some of them can be downloaded
from the internet and are free to use. Some are open source too. This means that one gets access to the
programme files and one can make changes to the way the software operates (this, of course, is possible only if
one has programming capabilities). Then there are licensed packages.

Many open source softwares which can be downloaded free of cost are available to work as DAWs. Audacity,
Rosegarden, FluidSynth and TiMidity are some prominent examples. Audacity is particularly popular for
podcast applications and is also used widely by visually challenged operators due to its keyboard interface.
Software Interface
As mentioned earlier there are several audio editing solutions. For purposes of this unit, we shall consider Audacity,
the most popular open source software available. Audacity is available on the internet, free to download.

Like most other software solutions, Audacity too is menu driven and easy to use. To the top left, you will find the
Menu. Next to the Menu you will find the Tool Box. The Menu has tools to edit, apply effects etc. The tool box has
buttons that one can use to select, increase/ decrease the audio levels, move around audio clips etc. Below the Menu
are the Pause, Play, Stop, Record buttons etc. The software also displays the microphone and the speakers being used
by the computer to record and for monitoring purposes. One can adjust the input levels using the microphone slider
in the interface. Immediately below all of these is the timeline. The timeline is where one actually sees the audio clips
imported into a project. The audio clips are represented on the timeline in the form of waves to enable easy editing.
Using the Edit toolbar, one can either zoom in to a particular word to execute editorial decisions. To the left of the
timeline is the Audio Track Window. The details of each audio file imported into Audacity is represented in this
window-whether it is a mono or stereo track and the bit rate at which it is recorded.
Editing Audio
As mentioned earlier, digital audio editing entails the following steps: 1.
Importing audio clips 2. Arranging clips on the timeline 3. Cutting,
applying effects, transitions 4. Finalizing for output. When you open
Audacity, it is ready to import files into a project. The first step will be
to import a file and save the project with an easily identifiable name.

Remember to ‘import’ audio files and not ‘opening’ them. Opening

audio files will only open new projects and do not serve our purpose.
Repeat this process with the audio files that you wish to edit into the
programme.

The next step is to arrange them in a desirable order. Arranging them

simply means that you move them around to a suitable place in the
programme so that they play back when required. Figure:1 shows audio
clips imported into Audacity and arranged in the desirable order. It also
displays the status of an audio file—whether it is mono or stereo. While
a mono audio clip has just one track, a stereo clip has two tracks.
The name of the clip and its status is displayed in the window to the left of each audio clip imported into the
programme. The play head, a vertical line or the cursor indicates the exact portion of the clip that is being
played. Typically, an audio editor uses the top level tracks for all the voice tracks (narration, dialogue, vocals in
a song etc). This could include one or more tracks. The next level track/s are used for music and the lower
levels for sound effects.

For example, if your programme is a feature, one would include the narration in the first track, the interviews
in the second track, the music bits in the third track, the ambience sound in the fourth track and the sound
effects in the fifth track. This is not a rule but a standard procedure to make things simpler. The next step is to
select a portion of an audio clip in every track and remove unwanted portions. This is done by selecting the
unwanted portion and applying the desired edit. Having edited out the undesirable portions, one proceeds to
apply the necessary effects and transitions. It must be remembered that while effects are applied to a clip,
transitions are applied between two clips.
Basic Edit Tools
Irrespective of which software one uses, and while it is rather difficult to provide details of editing tools offered
by each software solution, there are some tools that are common to all of them. Let us examine some of them
for the purposes of editing audio. Most of these tools can be accessed from the Menu on the top of the display.
It is also advisable that we know some keyboard shortcuts to make editing easier.

Cut: As the name itself suggests, this edit tool is used to extract a portion of a clip. The software enables this
portion to be stored in the temporary memory so that one can paste it on another place on the timeline. The
shortcut for this on a Windows machine is CTRL+X

Copy: This tool is used to copy a clip or a portion of it from the timeline so Sound Editing and Mixing that it can
be pasted elsewhere. On many systems, this is also achieved by the keyboard shortcut CTRL + C.

Paste: This tool is used to paste a clip that is in the temporary memory of the computer at a desired place on
the timeline. The shortcut is CTRL + V.

Split: This tool is used to divide an audio clip on the timeline into two parts. Having done this, the practice is to
drag the desired portion of the split clip and place anywhere else on the timeline.
Move: This command is used to change a clip’s position on the timeline. In most cases, this is achieved by
simply ‘dragging-and-dropping’ the clip to its new position with the mouse. It is normally denoted by the
symbol <->.

Reduce or increase volume:One can either increase/decrease the audio level of the entire programme on the
timeline or select individual clips to increase/decrease their audio levels.

Fade in and fade out: Fade in/out are two transitions that one uses mostly at the beginning and end of the
programme respectively. When editing a lengthy programme, it is possible that one uses these transitions to
denote a shift from one sequence to another.

Cross fade: Another useful transition tool is the cross fade. In this case, the audio clips are overlapped.
However, while the audio level of the preceding clip goes down the audio level of the succeeding clip goes up.
This is also used as a transition between two sequences.

Undo: This is perhaps the most used tool by beginners! This command helps one to undo any mistake in terms
of applying an edit or a transition on the clips. The keyboard shortcut is CTRL + Z. One can also redo a
command should you change your mind about what you’re doing. The shortcut is CTRL + Y
Proprietary Softwares
There are many proprietary softwares for audio post-production work. They offer some unique and special features,
in addition to standard facilities, which can be very handy for professional studios. Sound Forge is one such software
which is in wide use in the audio world. In the following sections of this unit let us look at this software and its
features in some detail, so that we may gain a better understanding of this software, and this in turn can help
understand easily any other software that you may be required to handle later on. Features like Cut, Copy, Paste, etc.
are common to all editing softwares. In addition, the following features are noteworthy in Sound Forge:

● Nondestructive editing ●Tabbed docking windows

●Plug-in manager ● Looped playback mode

● Customizable DX Favorites menu ●Play as sample mode

●Updated Play bar ● Play Plug-in chainer mode

● Multi-task background rendering ●Customizable tool bars

● Customizable zoom settings

●Preview feature
Different Toolbars
Sound Forge offers many different tool bars and you can choose tool bars of your interest to be displayed on the
screen, so that the screen is not cluttered with many of them which you may not use. Desired tool bars can be
selected from the menu bar. The more popular tool bars are the following:

● Standard Tool Bar: This tool bar displays standard buttons like cut, copy, paste, mix, fade, undo, re-do, etc. and for
opening an existing sound file, create a new file, saving a file.

● Transport Tool Bar: This tool bar provides buttons similar to a typical tape recorder, e.g. Play, Record, Pause,
Rewind, Fast Forward etc. Other buttons like Loop, Go to Start of Audio, Go to end of Audio are also provided.

● Navigation Tool Bar: This toll bar contains Marker In and Marker Out buttons which can be used to mark some
desired portions during recording or playback, so that they can be copied or deleted later. Various Zoom buttons and
Cursor buttons are also provided in this tool bar.

● Process Tool Bar: Process buttons like Crop/Trim, Volume Increase/ Decrease, Fade-in/ Fade-out, Equalizers, Time
Stretch/ Compression are provided in this tool bar.

● Effects Tool Bar: Chorus, Echo, Acoustic Mirror, Noise Gate, Amplitude Modulation, Wave Hammer and such other
special effects are provided in this tool bar.

● Tools Tool Bar: This tool bar provides buttons for burning a CD or DVD, transfer of audio content from CD/ DVD to
mix with some other audio, Spectrum analysis/ synthesis and standard 1 KHz tone for measurement purposes, etc.
Editing Features
In this ppt., several technical terms referring to button names, features etc. were mentioned. The meanings of these
terms are given below:

● Undo and Redo: These two commands are especially useful to beginners. If some mistake is committed in the
operation, you can immediately ‘undo’ and get back the original version without any damage. ‘Redo’ reverses the
‘undo’.

● Cut and Copy: Cut button removes the selected portion of audio from the audio file, whereas Copy button copies
the selected portion to the clipboard for later use without removing it from the original file.

● Process: It provides useful presets to meet normal requirements and also allows your own settings to be included in
the presets. Preview function which you may use to listen to an edit before actually implementing it.

● Channel converter: This feature enables you to covert mono into stereo and vice versa. It can also be used to
interchange left and right channels or inter-mix them for special results.

● Equalizer: This function changes the frequency response of the system so that desired portions of the audio
spectrum can be boosted.
Graphic equalizer allows you to select narrow portions of the spectrum Sound Editing and Mixing as per your
precise need and manipulate them for precise boost/ attenuation. Paragraphic equalizer has independent
filters whose center frequency, bandwidth and attenuation can be adjusted by you. Parametric equalizer gives
you a choice of filters e.g. Low pass, High pass, Band pass and Band stop.

● Acoustic Mirror: This facility can be used to simulate specific acoustic environments such as a concert hall,
temple interior, old gramophone record and so on.

● Amplitude Modulation: This can be used to apply a sinusoidal or square wave shaped gain pattern to the
input audio. Can be used to create special effects.

● Chorus: This effect simulates the presence of several of the same musical instrument (say, violin). It works by
incorporating minute delays and modulating the delay times.

● Echo: Also known as ‘Delay’, this effect allows you to add controlled echo to input audio to make it rich and
lively.
Equalizing and Sound Mixing
This is the final stage in the audio programme production process. In professional audio situations sounds pertaining to
different musical instruments in an orchestra and the singers’ voices are all recorded on separate tracks which are
independent of each other, though the musical performance itself (containing all these instruments) happens at one time.

Recording the same as a single track containing the total audio will not give professional quality output in most cases. Single
track recording may lack sound balance among the several instruments and perhaps also the required perspective (i.e. spacial
relationship among the sound sources). The latter is very important in stereo programmes which should enable the listener to
understand which sounds are coming from the left / right sides and which from the centre. Therefore professional
programme production prefers recording of multiple sounds on independent tracks and then mix them (i.e. combine them)
with proper relative levels, so that all the individual instruments are clearly heard in proper balance. The mixing process will
also take care of the left / right differences in the contents of the mixed audio so that the final output is made stereo-ready.

The mixing stage, while very important for musical programmes, can be useful for spoken word situations as well. For
example, radio dramas or quiz programmes need background music to enrich the dialogues, or to enhance the mood or to
heighten suspense or to suggest time of the day. Adjusting the voice levels of different actors may also be needed so that they
all are heard at the desired loudness. These things can be achieved at the mixing stage so that the final output comes out as
an integrated and aesthetic blend of all components in the audio programme.
Audio Output
Having edited your audio programme, it is now time to export the audio to suit different purposes. There are a
number of file formats in which audio can be exported. The most popular file formats, both open standard and
proprietary, are as follows:

● wav - standard audio file format used mainly in Windows PCs. Commonly used for storing uncompressed (PCM),
CD-quality sound files, which means that they can be large in size - around 10MB per minute of music. It is less well
known that wave files can also be encoded with a variety of codecs to reduce the file size (for example the GSM or
mp3 codecs).

● mp3 - the MPEG Layer-3 format is the most popular format for downloading and storing music. By eliminating
portions of the audio file that are essentially inaudible, mp3 files are compressed to roughly one-tenth the size of an
equivalent PCM (uncompressed) file while maintaining decent audio quality. This reduces the file size to a great
extent. As a result, Mp3 files are popular for streaming on the internet and for storage purposes.

One can export a finished programme using the File tab from the Menu. Care must be taken to choose the right
bitrate, which determines the size of the file and the audio quality. In general, bigger the file size, better the audio
quality. The following table should give you an idea of the quality of audio compressed at different bitrates and their
file sizes. All file sizes mentioned below are approximates only.
Meta Tagging
What is data tagging? We all give names to our audio files. However, when there are audio files on the same topic (say
there are 200 programmes on environment or 2000 songs of a local folk artist), how does one narrow down the
search to a particular file? The solution is meta data tagging. So what is meta data tagging?

Simply put, it is data that describes other data. Metadata can be used to describe digital files such as videos, images,
documents, audio files and more. Digital files and assets are given value by the metadata that describes them – not
only by making it possible to locate and repurpose them, but also to ensure others who wish to use or license an asset
can find out where it originated from.

Most times the metadata entries that your audio editor provides are good enough and are searchable. It is searchable
more easily when the metadata itself can be exported as a separate file. For example how does one go about adding
metadata to an audio file when using Audacity?

Here are some simple steps to follow:

1. Import your audio into Audacity

2. Click ‘File’ and then ‘Open Metadata Editor’

3. Enter the metadata. One can also add other fields to customize the data to be available.
Export the file. The file is then exported along with the metadata. So, how does one know the metadata has been included in
the file? One way of finding out is to right click on the file and clicking properties. Then click on the ‘Details’ tab in the
properties window. If the metadata has been entered, you will find it in there.

When such and more detailed information about an audio file are available, searching for it becomes easier. Although there
might be more than one file on the topic, it is easier to narrow down to the file at least.

It is worthwhile to add as many details as possible soon after editing in the audio editor itself, so that the file becomes more
searchable.

The typical details one would want to enter as meta data are mentioned in Sound Editing and Mixing the table below:
Thank You