After recording a fair amount of raw audio intended for sound effects then it is time to edit these recordings. In order to edit your recordings well use an audio editing software that provides, eqs, normalization, fade ins/outs, and the ability to cut. Useful freewares can be found on the web and there are a plethora of digital audio workstations (DAWs) for sale that will allow you to edit.
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. First, normalize each track before editing it. This function increases the highest existing amplitude of the .wav file to the highest possible amplitude, meaning simply that it makes the .wav files as loud as possible.
2. Next, cut out unwanted frequencies that degrade the quality of your sound by using eqs. For instance, an unwanted air conditioning sound may be interfering with a bird chirp. To get rid of the unwanted AC simply apply a high pass filter around 2,000 Hz which will kill the AC noise but preserve the higher frequencies of the bird chirp.
3. When your sound is normalized and cleaned up with eq find a clean beginning point to the sound and either create a fade-out or more desirably let the natural reverb ring out for 1-2 seconds.
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. Increase your content holdings even further by using pitch shift. For example, a person's laugh can be pitch shifted down to create a deep giant's laugh or pitch shifted up to create a little child's laugh.
A little knowledge of the ins and outs of audio editing combined with the above tips will allow you to easily create professional sounding effects that can be licensed time and time again by multi-media editors and producers.
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. First, normalize each track before editing it. This function increases the highest existing amplitude of the .wav file to the highest possible amplitude, meaning simply that it makes the .wav files as loud as possible.
2. Next, cut out unwanted frequencies that degrade the quality of your sound by using eqs. For instance, an unwanted air conditioning sound may be interfering with a bird chirp. To get rid of the unwanted AC simply apply a high pass filter around 2,000 Hz which will kill the AC noise but preserve the higher frequencies of the bird chirp.
3. When your sound is normalized and cleaned up with eq find a clean beginning point to the sound and either create a fade-out or more desirably let the natural reverb ring out for 1-2 seconds.
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. Increase your content holdings even further by using pitch shift. For example, a person's laugh can be pitch shifted down to create a deep giant's laugh or pitch shifted up to create a little child's laugh.
A little knowledge of the ins and outs of audio editing combined with the above tips will allow you to easily create professional sounding effects that can be licensed time and time again by multi-media editors and producers.
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