Recording & Wave Editing Basics

Recording Basics

  • Determine the characteristic of the record:
    • Atmo -> STEREO
    • Sound object -> MONO
  • Choice of the microphone 
  • Optimal time and location for recording
  • Allow enough time!
  • Take into account cutting when recording
    • If you think the sound is over, count on 3 again ...
  • Recorded distance influences character of the recording (and level!), keep recording distance and angle constant over takes -> consistency
  • Correct recording level: plan enough headroom (in relation to the expected dynamics of the signal)

Wave Editing

Basic

  • Denoise (Edit > Noise Reduction / Restoration > Noise Reduction (process) or cmd/ctr+shift+p)
  • Cut at zero-crossing (Edit > Zero Crossings > Adjust Selection Inward (Shift+i) or Adjust Selection Outward (Shift+o))
  • (Convert to mono (Edit > Convert Sample Type or: shift+T))
  • Normalize to -2db (Effects > Amplitude and Compression > Normalize (process))
  • fade-in / fade-out if abrupt start or end of sound

Further options

  • Edit individual sample points (via HUD)
  • Leveling
  • AMP (amplifier) envelopes
  • Filtering (high-pass, low-pass, bandpass), equalizing
  • File formats, sample rate / bitrate set
  • File management: naming, export multiple


File formats / Save

  • Formats: Uncompressed (PCM, eg in aiff or wav container), lossless (eg in flac, apple & wma lossless) / lossy Compressed (eg as mp3, ogg, wma, mp4)
  • Sample rates: 8 - 192khz 


Tips for naming files

For a soundlibrary, terms make sense that characterize the sound in general, eg. according to material and "morphology" of the sound. So you can find the sounds again. Examples:

  • “beer_can_metal_impact_sharp_long_resonance”
  • “fingernails_scratching_wood_dull”
  • “small_tonal_ding_glass_repeated”

If you have a concrete, known process, e.g. a coffee machine or a kitchen blender, etc. then it is worth saving the whole noise under this name, and adding any qualities (eg coffe_maker_steamy_sharp_hiss ")

If you have a sound that is (kind of) similar to the sound of a motor or something else concrete, so where a "purpose" is audible, then that could also be in the name, but not only.

Sometimes it makes sense to make a note about the recording technique, especially when creating variants, eg:

  • _closeup
  • _distant
  • _stereo
  • _….