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
 - _….
 
, multiple selections available,