Tips on Editing Sound Effects for a Sound Effect Library
Editing your raw audio recordings into professional quality sound effects is the step that takes place after the initial recording period. Hunt down an audio editing software that has eqs, the ability to cut audio, normalization, and fade in/out capabilites. You may use either a freeware readily found online or purchase one of the many digital audio workstations (DAW) available on the web.
The first step in editing your sounds is to import all of the various raw .wav recordings into your software. This can be done one at a time but for efficiency I usually import 40 audio tracks at once and then solo each track, in other words muting all but one tracks. Once you’ve imported all of your tracks and you are ready to edit and bounce your edits down to completed sound effects. These following tips should help ease your experience and provide the best sound effects possible.
1. Use normalization on each recorded sample first. Normalization increases the amplitude of each .wav file, in other works amps the volume as loud as can be.
2. Second, use eq to cut out any unnecessary frequencies that may interfere with the quality of your sound. For example, you may have a recording of a bird chirp which also has an outside air conditioning unit humming mixed into the sound. To fix this problem, you can cut out all frequencies below 2,000 Hz which will take out the AC but keep the bird’s higher tones.
3. Once you’ve gotten a strong and clean as possible .wav file find a good starting point that beings clean and create a nice ending either through a fade out or even better letting the sound fade out itself giving 1-2 seconds of air after the sound effect for the natural reverb to ring out.
4. Create a stereo 48k 24bit .wav file of your recording for video editing purposes. This quality of file is highly valued by individuals and libraries that license sound effects and will earn good money.
5. By creating multiple versions of each recording you will increase the number of your products and thus the value of your library. For example, if you have a sequence of 20 firework explosions, create sound effects for one explosion, two explosions, five explosions etc while cutting and switching the order of explosions each time. Using this method, you can readily get 50 or more products from this one recording of fireworks.
6. You can further increase your number of effects by using pitch shift or other filters on each sound sample. For instance, the sound of a stream can be pitch shifted up to make it sound lighter and less tumultuous and pitch shifted down to make it sound larger and deeper.
With a little knowledge of audio editing, simply follow the above advice to transform your audio samples into professional quality sound effects for licensing in media productions.
Filed under: Arts & Entertainment