Audio Editing Tips

AUDIO EDITING TIPS

A couple things to keep in mind when Editing your Audio pieces:

• Prioritize the person's voice - we want to be able to hear what they are saying! Don't overpower with music and sound effects (SFX). 
• Please don't use wall to wall music - although this may be part of the YouTube aesthetic, please don't play music throughout your piece - our ears will get tired and bored. Music can be such a powerful tool when deployed at the right time, but if you use it the whole time it loses it's potency.
• For this project, make sure you use non copyrighted music.
• Please no wall to wall talking - make sure there are pauses for the listener to digest what your subject is saying. You can use pauses to help create rhythm in your piece and underline important points that you want to make sure the listener understands. This is a great time to use your ROOM-TONE.
• Use ambient sounds and effects to evoke a location or a mood. Feel free to get weird and associative with what is being said (i.e. maybe a dripping tap if someone is feeling bored). What I like to do is listen to the entire piece through and write down sounds or locations that I may associate with what the person is saying (without thinking too much about them) and then I go and try to find the sound in the freesound.org library. The results can be interesting (and if they don't work you can always get rid of them). 
• You may want to start with a hook - something to get the listener interested right away - you don't necessarily need to start with "My name is ___________" 
• To smooth an edit, try a very small cross dissolve (1-3 frames).