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.
Open your audio software and import all of your new raw .wav recordings. Take a large batch of 40 or so .wav files to import and solo each track, thus muting the others, as you work on each file one by one, though you may of course choose the less efficient method of importing one at a time. At this point you can begin editing your recordings and then mix them into finished sound effect products. The advice that follows provides useful information on creating the most valuable sound effects possible from you .wav recordings.
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. 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. 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. Bounce your sound down to a 48k 24bit .wav file for video editing. 48k 24bit are high quality files that are valued by sound effect libraries and licensees who pay good money to use sound effects in their productions.
5. In order to increase your amount of products make as many versions of each recording as possible. For example, if a recording has a cat meowing 25 times, make sound effects with one meow, two meows, 5 meows, 8 meows etc. while changing up the combination of meows. This process will easily give you 50 or more sound effects from one sequence of cat meows.
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 some prior knowledge of audio editing, one can follow the above tips to take raw audio recordings and create professional quality sound effects that can be licensed for profit to media creators.
Open your audio software and import all of your new raw .wav recordings. Take a large batch of 40 or so .wav files to import and solo each track, thus muting the others, as you work on each file one by one, though you may of course choose the less efficient method of importing one at a time. At this point you can begin editing your recordings and then mix them into finished sound effect products. The advice that follows provides useful information on creating the most valuable sound effects possible from you .wav recordings.
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. 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. 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. Bounce your sound down to a 48k 24bit .wav file for video editing. 48k 24bit are high quality files that are valued by sound effect libraries and licensees who pay good money to use sound effects in their productions.
5. In order to increase your amount of products make as many versions of each recording as possible. For example, if a recording has a cat meowing 25 times, make sound effects with one meow, two meows, 5 meows, 8 meows etc. while changing up the combination of meows. This process will easily give you 50 or more sound effects from one sequence of cat meows.
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 some prior knowledge of audio editing, one can follow the above tips to take raw audio recordings and create professional quality sound effects that can be licensed for profit to media creators.
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