What is it exactly that brings a web video to life? Most of the time it’s not the footage, the voice over or the audio mix alone, but rather the combination of these that creates a real impact.
Even so the importance of the audio production is often overlooked. Sometimes because of tight deadlines, other times due to limited budget. And that shouldn’t have to be the case, because nowadays audio production can be fast and doesn’t have to break the budget.
In my new video, I let you see how we approach it at Voicebooking:
Audio mixing. What exactly does an audio engineer do to help you bring your production to life? You have music, you have a voice, here and there some sound effects, and together that all needs to create an explosive mix. And the other extreme is that you don’t do a thing. Like now. But then the unity of your mix seems to be gone. You really have to do your best to hear what the voice is saying. Or you just set the music a bit lower. But then the magic of the mix is totally gone. What do audio engineers do to make a truly awesome mix?
Editing and using an Equalizer
First they remove any loud breathing from the audio, so that it doesn’t get in the way. And the volume can be increased to make the voice more easily understood. Then, an equalizer goes over the whole thing. Not just to make the voice sound smoother, but also to boost the frequencies that will make the voice easier to understand. How much you use it depends on the voice in question and the studio in which it was recorded.
Music tracks
Next, they use some tools to make the voice sound fuller. In case there’s some distortion on a word, like ‘here!’ Then they will fix that. ‘Here!’ Then the music. First they choose the best parts of the music so that the music track matches with the script.
Frequencies
Afterwards, it’s important that the frequencies that make the voice clearly understood don’t get in the way. Then they use the fader on the voice a little too. As far as finding the right sound effects goes, sometimes they find them on the internet. But many technicians make the sound effects themselves.
At the end of the music track in this case, we are using a nice whoosh and a heavy reverb. Nice. And there you have it. In this way the audio engineer uses a variety of tools to ensure you that your mix is optimised for all devices.
