The guide will cover the basics of editing a podcast. We will cover different effects and editing techniques that will help your podcast sound better. The most commonly used software is Adobe Audition. You can also use a free audio-editing software, like Audacity.
NormalisationÂ
Normalisation is pretty straightforward. It normalises an audio to a defined loudness so that the loudest parts of the audio do not cross a certain defined point. This is different from compression because it adjusts both the loudest and quietest parts of the audio equally.
- Click on Effects > Amplitude and Compression > Normalise.
- Normalise To defines the point where the loudest part of the audio will not cross. It is recommended to apply normalisation both before and after effects like compression and equalisation to always have a good starting point and ending point for your audio editing.
- Normalise to negative 6 decibels before an effect, then do an effect, and then renormalise to negative 6 decibels.
- Then, after all of your editing is complete, normalise to negative 3 decibels.
Noise reductionÂ
This can be helpful if you have unwanted noise in your audio. Most audio-editing software has some form of noise reduction.
- Click on Effects > Noise Reduction/Restoration > DeNoise.
- At the top, there are presets for Light Noise Reduction and Heavy Noise Reduction. You can also use the slider at the bottom to apply a certain amount of the effect to the clip. You can also determine what frequency ranges you want the effect to be applied to. This is if the noise is only in the high, mid, or low frequencies.
- Click on the Output Noise Only button. This will let you play the audio clip and only hear what the effect is deleting or removing from the audio. Then, adjust the amount and focusing.
- Unclick the Output Noise Only button and apply the effect.
Another tip is to apply noise reduction before normalisaing and compression. This makes it so the effects will not be applything themselves to any type of noise. If there is still any residual noise at the end, apply another light round of noise reduction to clean everything up.
CompressionÂ
Compression is a way of taking the loudest and quietest parts of your audio and bringing them closer together. This is done by establishing a level where the compression effect will kick in, known as a threshold, and how much it will compress the louder parts beyond that set amount, making the louder parts closer to the quieter parts. This helps make everything easier to hear and understand.
- Go to the Effects tab.
- Click on Amplitiude and Compression > Single-band Compressor.
- Threshold is when you want the compressor to kick in. Ratio is how much it will compress the audio above the threshold. The larger the ratio, the more compression. Attack and Release is how fast it will react and keep the effect going as the audio crosses the threshold.
