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Audio Production Explained in Simple Words
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Audio Production Explained in Simple Words
So you want to know more about audio production? That’s great, as award winning audio
production pros, we can tell you all about it.
Audio production is all about recording audio and optimizing it in all sorts of ways including editing. While it may sound straightforward, there is a lot more to it than one might think.
“Audio production” is a broad phrase encompassing various tasks to enhance audio. As you would
know, awesome visuals are just half the story. Stellar audio is equally vital if not more so. Hence,
audio production is at the core of video games, podcasting, films, music, and more.
Now for the details. Here is what award winning audio production entails.
Songwriting
Songwriting is central to audio production. All other processes that follow depend on this first step.
Why? Because no amount of audio editing can fix a subpar song.
Hence, amazing songwriting is the foundation of a really good piece of audio. Just use simple
instruments and your voice to try out the song. If the song does not evoke a strongly positive
response, then it's back to the drawing board – you will need a better song that moves people.
Arranging
Arrangement starts with songwriting. In simple terms, it is about giving structure to your song. For
example, you decide
- how long the intro will be and what it will sound like
- what instruments will be used
- where these instruments start playing during the song
- instrumental breaks – where they begin and how long they last
- how the tempo will rise and fall
- how long the ending will be and what it will sound like
Hence, arrangement is a key part of the songwriting process.
This phase often involves teamwork between the producer, composer, and artist.
Recording
After you hit upon a fabulous song, it's time to record your masterpiece. This is where the song
comes to life.
The mic will come into play to record your priceless voice. Depending on the nature of the song, you
may decide to use certain musical instruments. Of course, synthesized instrumental audio created by music software is now widely prevalent. Quite often, you will need a combination of the two – actual
instruments and music software for award winning audio production.
Recording in this day and age is a fascinating fusion of “old school” musical instruments (think
drums, pianos, guitars, and all that jazz) and “cutting edge” modern software. It's amazing how the
confluence of the old and new can lead to irresistibly catchy music.
Even with the advent of incredibly sophisticated software (including AI-powered music apps!)
instrument-playing skills are far from obsolete. Even with AI disruption and software upheaval,
skilled musicians are still very much in demand.
So apps and AI can't replace people. Not in the music industry at least. Now that’s empowering and
reassuring.
Recording need not be done in one fell swoop. For certain parts of your soundtrack, you will want to
play and record the music again separately. Hence, for optimal quality, recording can be an iterative
process and can be done in steps.
The arrangement can change while the recording phase is in progress. Hence, you can see that audio
production is not linear – some parts can and often do overlap.
Editing
You have guessed it right – editing means improving what you recorded. Editing and recording can
be iterative. For some parts, you will want to record again, edit it, and see how it comes out.
Editing can be done in different ways. For example, you may want to add in some delay, reverb, or
chorus to your vocalist’s performance. Or perhaps you may want to change the beat of the drums to
be perfectly in sync with the rest of the track.
There is a lot you can do by way of editing. For example, you can throw in crossfades, change
pitches, splice together instrumental pieces, and make sure that all instruments and tunes are in
perfect harmony.
Thanks to versatile music editing tools that have a full gamut of features, editing audio is now more
convenient than ever.
Mixing
Mixing can be particularly rewarding. For this is where you turn a fairly good track into professional-
grade audio. Unsurprisingly, it is at the core of award winning audio production.
It is here that you use techniques like delay, reverb, compression, EQ, and others to make all tunes
and instruments complement each other perfectly.
One of the key goals of mixing is to make sure that listeners can clearly discern each instrument. The
beauty of great mixing is that it empowers listeners to relish individual instruments that they love
while also allowing them to enjoy the whole track.
A sign of good mixing is that the end product will be quite different and much better compared to
the unmixed audio. Think of it as polishing a piece that has gone through the aforementioned steps.
Balancing is one of the core aspects of mixing. All different tracks must have the right volume level
so that not only are they individually audible, but the whole mix sounds nicely balanced. There is a
lot more besides.
Mastering
Last but not the least is the magic of mastering. It may be an arcane and esoteric art for many, but for accomplished audio professionals, it comes naturally.
Mastering is where you add finishing touches to your song so that it sounds truly captivating. When
done with mastering, your track should sound great on all formats and playback systems. Most
importantly, it should jive well with the rest of your album.
It entails aspects like compression, limiting, equalization, sequencing, format conversion, noise
reduction, dynamic processing, and so on.
Bottom Line
As the award winning audio production company In Madison, WI,
Having consistently produced soundtracks for TV programs, radio spots, advertising audio and so
much more since 1985, you can expect us to be on top of our audio production game.
We provide the full spectrum of services for everything audio, from voice recording, to sound design,
to mixing and the list goes on. Whatever you have in mind concerning audio, rest assured we can do
it with flying colors.
So don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Music for Video Editing – the Best Resources Revealed
Music for Video Editing – the Best Resources Revealed
Where exactly can you find great music for video editing? As a video editor extraordinaire, you must
have a repository of fine music at your disposal. This way, you can conveniently extract amazing
audio from these wonderful resources and enhance your videos like never before.
Here are the top resources that give you access to music for video editing.
Hagger Audio
Starting with the very best, let's talk Haggar Audio.
Hagger Audio is not just another audio site. It’s a phenomenon. It is the go-to site for the music
cognoscenti who desire nothing short of the very best in music. Since 1985, it has been the
renowned home of music for video editing.
Its illustrious founder is award-winning maestro Rob Haggar for whom creating captivating music is
second nature courtesy of his passion and prowess for great music. With around 4 decades of rich
experience, a long list of delighted clients, and multiple accolades to his credit, it's safe to say that he
is right up there with the very best in the business.
Music lovers admire how Rob can mix, edit, and master good music tracks for an end product that
sounds just right for their videos.
Sure, you can get “good enough” generic music for free from several sites out there. But if you want
extraordinary premium music that syncs in perfect harmony with your video, then Hagger Audio is
the place to be.
ccMixter
The free music site ccMixter is the platform where you can find plenty of Creative Commons licensed
music. Here, vocalists upload their voice tracks, musicians provide their own music tracks while DJs
mix both of these for interesting songs.
The feature-rich site helps you to find music in different ways. You are free to browse for music
according to style, instrument, genre, and so on. Also, there is a search bar to narrow your search.
Plus, there is the “tag search” page where you will find a comprehensive list of music genres to
navigate more easily towards your required music.
You will need these search and navigation features since there are tens of thousands of music tracks
to choose from. SO finding one that is closest to your needs can be a daunting task.
Hence, overall, ccMixter is a good platform to find music for video editing.
Incompetech
Although Incompetech may not host the full spectrum of music genres, it still is a good resource for
royalty-free tracks. Composer Kevin MacLeod has created this site to make available thousands of
songs and sound effects for free.
The site has a neat and clean interface that feels highly intuitive. Hence, it is user-friendly which
makes it easier for you to locate your required music. It achieves this by allowing you to search
music by popularity, mood, length, topic, genre, and so on.
YouTube Audio Library
There is a good chance that you may want to upload videos on YouTube. If so, then you can try out
the streaming service’s own platform to find your music for video editing.
In YouTube’s Audio Library, you can apply filters like license type, duration, mood, instrument, genre
and so on to narrow down your search. Besides royalty-free music, this site gives you access to
thousands of sound effects for free.
Free Music Archive
Free Music Archive boasts a lengthy list of music clips from enthusiasts, artists, and radio stations
among others. Also called FMA, this is one site where you can find free music for videos.
FMA assists you in your quest for music through numerous genres and subgenres. You can also
search by license types as well as attributes like clip length, song title, and so on.
There is one thing to take note of though. Not all music here is Creative Commons. While most songs
are royalty-free, the license for some permits only personal use like downloading and hearing. So
double-check just to make sure.
Jamendo
Jamendo offers two types of licenses for its music clips – Creative Commons and Jamendo Licensing.
To find free music for video editing, Creative Commons is what you need. However, Jamendo-
licensed music is not free.
Another big downside is that you can't search by license type. So finding free music is time-
consuming. You will have to open each song page individually to find Creative Commons music.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud needs no introduction since it is one of the most well-known music-sharing platforms
that boasts a massive library of over 125 million songs.
Unfortunately, many songs have “All rights reserved”. While some songs have the Creative
Commons license, most of them are not free music for video editing.
Thankfully, filters are available to find free music. Not only can you navigate according to license
type, but you can also search according to genre, subgenre, and other categories.
Bensound
Besound is where you can find royalty-free tracks for animations, websites, and videos. Here you can
select tags to search according to popularity, genre, upload date, and more.
Unfortunately, many songs have the no-derivatives CC license. That is, you can't remix, edit or
modify these songs in any way.
Wrap Up
While the internet abounds with free music, it is still generic stuff. You are on your own if you want
music for video editing that is customized and personalized for your unique requirements.
Thankfully, there is an easy solution for this.
For truly customized music that jives well with your video, Hagger Audio is the way to go.
Thousands of happy clients, and numerous awards later, Rob Hagger, founder of Hagger Audio is the
biggest name in the game. Clients admire Rob’s great taste in music and his ability to mix music
tracks that resonate perfectly with their videos.
Looking for mesmerizing music that complements your video brilliantly? Your quest ends here.
Hagger Audio can do it for you just as it has done so for countless pleased clients since 1985.
Whether it is music for video editing or any other audio need, feel free to reach out. We would love
to hear from you and create the ideal music mix for you.
Contact us today.