The correct mindset for post-processing - sound better series - part 3

In the last two posts of this Sound Better series, I discussed what to do before recording and what to do during recording.

There is no escaping from following those practices. If you ignore those basic things, you are guaranteed to get poor-quality audio.

In this post, I will discuss what to do after recording. After we record our voice, there are mainly two types of things we do.

1. We clean up the audio (copy, paste, delete)

2. We process the audio (apply audio effects)

The reason for the audio clean-up is self-explanatory. We do it because we correct some recording mistakes like repeating words, repeating sentences, long pauses, filler words (uhh, umm), etc.

But why do we process the audio? Why not record audio with an ideal volume level so we do not have to post-process it?

I will not go into detail about the actual audio-processing technique today. In case you are looking for a step-by-step guide on audio processing, please watch this video: https://youtu.be/X8rAllhTUCg

I will mainly discuss why we need audio processing or the actual purpose of audio processing.

It is important to realize the purpose of audio processing. Otherwise you will look for a magic solution that does not exist.

No matter how good your recording setup is or how good your voice acting is, there will always be some room for improvement.

Processing elevates the quality of recording from its current level. That means whatever quality recording you have, audio processing will improve it further than its current position.

This improvement through processing always has some limitations. Some limitations are due to the technology and how the audio works.

But the main point is that you will always get some improvement from your original recording, provided that you follow a proper process.

If you have a bad-quality recording, it will become bearable. If you have a good quality recording, it will become better.

But there is another purpose of audio processing. It is to remove some anomalies from the recording.

Let’s discuss some of the anomalies.

The first issue is the audio volume. It is recommended that the peak volume does not cross -3 dB in most cases.

However, achieving that peak does not mean every audio part is equally comfortable to listen to.

Processing allows us to take down too loud talks or bring up the quieter talks. Only 1 audio effect is not sufficient to achieve this goal.

We mainly use Normalize and Compressor audio effects to manipulate the volume level.

Another anomaly is the white noise or hissing noise. Other loud noises are out of the question, as they should not be in the recording.

Different software has different capabilities for removing the white noise. Though I am using the word “removing“, it should be “reducing”.

Audio Software does not remove the noise; it reduces the noise so that it becomes less noticeable.

Waves Clarity Vx and Supertone Clear are the best plugins for reducing white noise. However, these plugins may not always work with Audacity.

Third-party commercial plugins do not officially support Audacity, so some of them work, and some of them do not.

If you use paid software like Adobe Auditon, these plugins work well with it. For Audacity, it is a different story, and I will talk about it in a later post.

Noise and loudness are the basic issues that need to be solved through audio processing.

There are other anomalies like mouth clicks or sibilance that could take some help from audio processing.

I am focusing only on the basic voice improvement in voice recording. There are some fancy audio effects that have different use cases.

In basic audio processing, there is one thing that voice-over artists need to know. It is the EQ or equalisation.

EQ can shape a voice recording to its purpose. For example, when you need a clear & crisp sounding voiceover, you need a specific type of EQ.

For a radio announcer, you will need another type of EQ. For audiobook narration or podcasts, there will another type of EQ.

EQ processing is quite a bit advanced topic, but it is an integral part of professional voice over.

Overdoing EQ also destroys perfect-sounding voice-over.

So, if I summarize the motivation behind audio processing, it will become like this:

1. Fix loduenss

2. Reduce noise without degrading original audio quality or tone

3. Fix specific issues like mouth clicks, sibilance, plosives, etc. (the fewer of these issues your original recording has, the better)

4. Shape the tone of the voice through EQ to elevate its purpose

On my YouTube videos, I focus mainly on point 1 and point 2. Because those are absolutely necessary and beginners can follow the process.

For point 3, you will need a better understanding of the audio. I hope to post detail emails on those issues later.

Point 4 is actually quite advanced level, so either take help from an expert or learn it properly.

If I sum up all the talks I gave above, your target of audio processing is to make the sound a bit better than the original recording.

Do not aim too high through processing because it has limits. If you understand the limits of processing and keep them in mind during your editing, you will get great-sounding audio.

If you try too hard with processing, the audio can become quite bad.

Proper processing also does another job. It points out the issues you have before recording and after recording.

A properly processed audio is like great feedback about your recording setup and your voice acting.

Many radio and TV professionals fail in the personal voice-over business due to a lack of proper processing knowledge.

If you aim high in your voice-over career, you must have to rely on good processing.

I will end this post with a comparison. Let me ask you a question.

Let’s assume two people have excellent voices. Everyone is telling them to be in voice-over as they have great voices.

Both of them asked for the saved voice-over audition. They go in the same studio and use the same equipment for recording.

Person 1 sends the audition as it is in the original recording. Person 2 processes the audio to proper loudness and proper EQ.

Who would win the audition? Who would get the job?

Now imagine the same competition in audiobook narration, content creation, podcasts, etc.

Voice recording with proper processing always gets ahead.

In my next post, I will discuss some details of actual processing.

In case you are looking for built-in macros (Audacity) with ideal processing, you can check these 11 Macros. These are great for learning, too. If you analyze a macro, you will get an idea of how audio should be processed for different purposes.

For similar presets in Adobe Audition, check the Pre-built Adobe Audition Presets.