Reading and Writing: 

7 Secrets for Getting Pro Sounding Vocals on Home Recordings: As I dive into week two of creating my first podcast, I read about how to get great sounding vocals in home environments. This article was very informative since this was an area I was nervous about. Even though I don’t have all the pro equipment, I still wanted to produce a well sounding podcast. As the article mentions creating your own home studio can produce some great results!

One of the first tips they listed was to choose a bedroom as your recording story. This is because inside this room is usually a mattress, blankets, and curtains. All items that are good sound absorbers. This is important because you want your voice to sound clear and professional, avoiding any reflecting, which will sound like echoes and reverberation. Better recordings means less editing later.

In addition to room sounds, having your mic positioned correctly can make a huge difference. Since this is my first time using a mic for recording, I know I will have to do a few tests just to find out how close I should be to it and what it picks up. Playing around with position and distance can give different sounds and each mic will be different.

Warming up and doing a few takes will also help make the recordings go smoothly. Especially with the more detailed part of your podcast. Once your relaxed, it will get easier to record those longer segments. Just remember to label all your different tracks to make it easier once you start editing. 

Editing Audio for Video: Getting to know the lingo and the right editing process can be helpful when working in video editing programs. That’s where the article Sound Advice came in handy. It helped me learn that A-roll is the primary footage in the video, B-roll is supplementary footage, and insert edits (or “C”) is when a new video clip is inserted into the timeline between other footage.

The best tip from this article was how to start editing. They explained to try and assemble the story’s beginning, middle, and end by working with the audio first. This will help you get your story aligned, and don’t worry, you can add in the video after.

When editing, you will need to overlap some clips, and it’s best to leave a few frames (usually 15) on each end of the clip. Then add in some fade-ins and fade-outs. This helps get rid of any audio from talking over the next clip. Once you have successfully done this with the entire audio, replay the track from the beginning, listening for any rough transitions or audio glitches.

Also be sure your volume is consistent throughout. While this is an easy change if needed, it is something to listen for on all clips. While some may resort to using plugins to smooth out the sound, one trick is to lay in background music under your video. This works because it draws the listener away from the “error” while also setting the mood.

Once your video is in, you may decide you need some transitions between video clips. Luckily, modern editing programs have presets that help with this too. Cross-dissolve is one effect that can be put in between two clips and works for almost every video. A flash transition or fading are other options. With these tips in mind, your project is sure to stand out professionally. 

Research to Inform: 

Below are some videos that inspire me…

One commercial that has memorable audio and video is Intel’s “best invention ever” from 2010. It stands out to me because it combines selling the product with great sound effects. While the main conversation between workers fills us in on Intel’s new processing chip, we also hear the background noise of the cafeteria and robot noises as the robot approaches. It’s impressive because the robot has no lines in the commercial but rather shows their “feelings” through sound effects -with low toned mechanical sounds as it skirts away. Only through these audio cues do we know how the robot felt, completing the story line. Adding onto this clever commercial is Intel’s “sound mark” at the end, which is called the “bong”. While it’s a simple music tune, the sound is also catchy and has helped the brand standout. Without any words, the melody gives you an upbeat feeling, where the possibilities are endless with Intel’s products.

The Hersey Kiss Christmas commercial is nostalgic and timeless. I chose this video because it’s now considered iconic yet doesn’t involve any actors. The video shows the kisses ringing to match the melody that is playing, so audio and video work together to make this masterpiece. Not only do you have a classic Christmas song playing via bells, but the kisses are red and green for the holidays, with one silver guy who seems to act like the conductor of the group. We get no commentary, just an animated version of Christmas bells. But what I love is the last red Hersey’s Kiss vibrating as it hits the last note and the sound effect it makes at the very end: “phew”. With this one liner, we get a sense of an orchestra preforming that is charming and emotional. Very much the opposite of typical Christmas advertising, which is usually trying to sell you something. The music here has made the ad standout and the last few seconds helped it become nostalgic.

My third choice that combines great audio and video is the trailer for Matchstick Men. The preview starts out with somber music playing and a few scenes showing Nicolas Cage’s ticks and compulsive habits. Showing his not so glamorous life. Then after a quick cut of scenes, the tempo of the music changes and we are shown the other part of his life – his con artist life. With the change of the music, we instantly know that this part is much more interesting and risky. Combining the fast-paced melody with quick clips of him conning is then slowed back down as they introduce his daughter into the preview. Here we are shown clips of them bonding and then working together, an unexpected turn. What makes this trailer stand out is the way the music and scenes change three separate times to give us a full breakdown of the plot. While there are a lot of different pieces to this story, this short preview shows us all angles of Nicolas Cage’s character. Changing our perception of him with each cord change. The music here elevates the scenes and gets us to feel.

Create:

This week, I finished recording and editing my first podcast. Now that the finished project is uploaded to Sound Cloud, I can say that I am very happy with the finished piece. It covered a topic that I was really interested in and followed closely. So, creating enough content for the first episode was easy.

I was able to record on the Mini Mic Pro: Lavalier Mic which did a pretty good job. I only had to adjust how close I was to the mic, doing one or two tests before actually recording. It was here, I realized that I would have multiple takes and that I would need to splice and cut audio to help make it flow better. It wasn’t until I got into Adobe Audition that I realized it’s not as simple as it sounds. I initially had to remove a few misspoken words but also splice clips in half where I wanted extended pauses (something I didn’t think about when I was recording).

Adding music and sound effects was the most enjoyable part for me, because it really helped me hear the piece with more character and helped the storytelling. The intro music is probably my favorite part, and I had the most fun tweaking it to sound like a breaking new story.

I hope my podcast brings awareness to the topic and is enjoyable to all who listen. You can hear it below, enjoy!

Music and sound effects credits:

Breaking news intro music by humanoide9000 — https://freesound.org/s/760770/ — License: Attribution 4.0

02 Eerie dark by Mr.Rascal242 — https://freesound.org/s/830255/ — License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

museum hall big echo +group.aiff by kyles — https://freesound.org/s/51775/ — License: Creative Commons 0

Gasp! by ZerOcarina — https://freesound.org/s/232263/ — License: Creative Commons 0

Ambience Bus Terminal Hallway.wav by tweeterdj — https://freesound.org/s/29636/ — License: Attribution 3.0

Till-Gong-Bike remixes of kiddpark’s Freesound #201159.wav by Timbre — https://freesound.org/s/404028/ — License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Cash Register by kiddpark — https://freesound.org/s/201159/ — License: Attribution 4.0horror gate.aif by Tomlija — https://freesound.org/s/109710/ — License: Attribution 3.0

chill background music #4 by ZHRØ — https://freesound.org/s/817498/ — License: Attribution 4.0