Task 2 – Guidebook
DAW Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) is an application for recording, editing and mixing music and audio. Some examples of DAWs include Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, GarageBand, Ableton Live, and Studio One, among others. The benefits of this application are, it helps the people in the industry of music, editing etc. It would be really difficult for them if they didn’t have this application as it helps them organise their product. Without this application, the sound may have poor quality as you won’t be able to edit out any white noise. I believe that if a person would want to use this, they would want to use a Mac computer. The reasons for this are, Macs are better for recording studios and are more efficient for this type of application. Many artists and people in this industry, may get annoyed with the loud fan in a PC computer. DAW software compared to a mixing desk is quite different. DAW is more practical than a mixing desk as you are not able to save any of your work, which then makes it unreliable to the user. Also, people may notice and experience that mixing desks are more complicated then DAW software. This is because there is a range of different buttons that may be confusing. DAW software is cheaper than a mixing desk. DAW software costs around £200, whereas a mixing desk costs around £2000.
Mixing Desk A mixing desk (mixing console) is an electronic device for combining sounds of many different audio signals. Mixing desks are used in many applications, including recording studios, sound editing, nightclubs, broadcasting, television and film post-production. An example of a mixing desk is the sound craft EPM8 8channel Mixer which cost around £160, which is the cheaper mixing desk. The advantage of this mixing desk is that it is fairly straight forward to use, and it is quite affordable. A hobbyist or professional can get the hang of a mixing desk quite quickly with it not being too complicated. However, it can be difficult to set up if you don’t know what you’re doing. A mixing desk is very specific, which means it has very high outcomes. This type of mixing desk includes, headphone slots, fading and has very good audio. On the other hand, this mixing desk is not made for lip syncing as it doesn’t have visual guidance. Macs are more efficient when it comes to mixing desks. You will have better audio as it has stereo surrounded sound.
If a professional was to have this type of equipment, they would have a fully soundproof recording studio, separate mixing desks, as well as a PC. This is the complete opposite to a novice. A novice will have no soundproof and will have white noise in their recordings. Also, they wouldn’t have any mixing desk and might use a movie maker on the PC. Some features are; Inputs (this is where the audio sources are connected), EQ (this allows you to change the frequency curve of a sound) and mute (this allows you to mute individual channels) Channels (The channel is the basic ‘unit’ of the mixer. It is also the reason that many are intimidated by the mixer, as the channel controls are repeated many times over the mixer surface) Inserts (It is a connection that allows a piece of equipment to be plugged in directly after the input) Gain (It controls the input level of each individual channel)
Cut The cut tool will be on nearly every editing software. For example, Logic. It will look like scissors and this allows you to cut up any pieces of audio that you might not want or might need to move. It is a very important tool that many editors will need. However, sometimes if you don’t cut out specific parts of audio out, you can ruin the audio you have produced. This determines how much audio is going to be played and listened to. It also determines how your finally product looks like. You want it to sound perfect so cutting audio is very important.
Join The join tool allows you to join any separate audio to become one long audio. This will cut out all of the silence and will allow the audio to flow better. This is effective because you don’t want to have any pauses in between sounds so joining the audio together prevents that, and makes it sound more professional. This can also save you from recording anything again because they weren’t together. This saves time when editing, and many editors need a lot of time to edit content. However, if this procedure is not done correctly, then you might cut the wrong section out or place it incorrectly. This will then affect the end product. Cut And Paste
To do this procedure, you need to highlight the text or image you want to cut and paste. When you highlight it, you need to right click to be able to press the button. The benefits are you don’t need to re-write the text and you are able to just copy and paste it. This saves a lot of time because copying is a lot quicker then typing by hand. This is done in documents when people copy and paste from one document to another. However, some people may copy and paste in sound editing. For example, in Logic people are able to copy and paste sound which is effective for them because editors will record sound and can easily copy and paste it into Logic. In sound editing, editors don’t have a lot of time meaning copying and pasting saves them a lot of time. You can use the keyboard shortcuts which allow you to copy and paste text. This will reduce time in your editing or writing. The keyboard shortcuts will be different on different computers. For example, on Macs they can be customised per editing programme, and on a PC, they become general and not specific per programme.
Stereo Field A stereo field is a group of sounds that are put together that make a stereo field. It consists of placement from left to right and front to back. When you mix a song, you can set your instruments wherever you want them on the “stage” that's created by your listeners' speakers. This is achieved by using two or more independent audio channels through a configuration of two or more loudspeakers, in such a way it creates the impression of sound being heard from various directions, as in natural hearing. It is used in sound editing because it makes music sound better. This is because there are many instruments used. The advantages of this is, it has better EQ decisions, there is less ear fatigue, there are more accurate balancing of instruments and there is easier positioning of instruments. However, this software can be really complicated and difficult to use if it’s not used correctly. It can potentially mess up your work. A hobbyist and professional will use a stereo field because they are more perfectionists and organised than a novice. A novice will not have advanced procedures like this.
Mono
Mono (Monophonic) describes a system where all the audio signals are mixed together and routed through a single audio channel. Monophonic is music consisting of a single vocal part, and it is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. It can be reproduced through several speakers, but all speakers are still reproducing the same copy of the signal. The advantages of monophonic is that it will sound the same anywhere you stand. In a band situation, you will want different speakers for different instruments and this is what you will expect with monophonic. However, the disadvantages of this procedure are it doesn’t have a reverb on a stereo sound, and it doesn’t produce a sense of place. This may be frustrating to some of the users. The difference between a monophonic and stereophonic is for stereophonic, it is way more difficult to edit. However, it does create a sense of space where monophonic doesn’t.
Stereo A stereo is a sound that is directed through two or more speakers so that it seems like the sound surrounds the listener and to come from more than one source. An example for this will be a stereophonic speaker. Stereo recording is a technique involving the use of two microphones to simultaneously record one instrument. The mono signals from each microphone are assigned to the left and right channels of a stereo track to create a sense of width in the recording. This is aimed at a narrow audience and can reach as many people within the audience wherever you go. This is a cheaper option, unlike others. The benefits of stereophonic are, the position of the sound can reflect its visual positioning and it creates a sense of space. Also, a mixture will then mix it in a stereo styled way. If you’re in a very large stereo concert outside, you will have monophonic speakers because you can’t control the sound outside. However, a gig inside will have a stereo speaker placed evenly that will have sound throughout. It is more organised.
Soundbite
Soundbite is a short sentence or phrase that is easy to remember, often included in a speech made by a politician, repeated in the media. Soundbites are usually used to engage the interest of the listener and or viewer. They are important in broadcasting as they help communicate emotions and ideas to the listeners and or viewers. Soundbites are widely used by media organisations in news broadcasts and documentaries.
Fader A fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. It is a device or control for varying the volume of sound, the intensity of light, or the gain on a video or audio signal. Each channel has its own fader that adjusts the volume of its channel signal, before it is sent to the next stage (subgroup or master mix). It allows the user to control the volume. A professional editor will reorganise all the clips so that they are equal before they enter a master timeline. After this, consistent control will take place. They will use this for films, so that a character will sound the same throughout the film. A recorded song may gradually reduce to silence at its end (fade out) or gradually increase from silence at the beginning (fade in). A professional will make sure everything is in the correct order before they start to do anything, whereas a novice will go straight in without checking any of the sliders.
Automation An Automation is the use or introduction of automatic equipment in a manufacturing or other process or facility. Automation or automatic control is the use of various control systems for operating equipment such as machinery. It allows the console to remember the audio engineer's adjustment of faders during the post-production editing process. The curves are in colour and points on top of the audio and MIDI regions across the whole track. It displays the curve that the editor would want to work on and choose between track based and region-based automation. This helps the fading and an advantage to this is that it fades out any white noise however this procedure can be challenging to master.
Colour Coding Clips
Colour coding clips is a very good system to have and can help people out tremendously. It helps separate different sections of things. It helps the editor be more organised with their work space and layouts. This makes their job a lot easier than having everything looking the same. A novice will not colour code anything and will keep everything looking the same. They are not organised and will try to rush everything. They may also only have a couple of clips, instead of a whole bunch for different products. A hobbyist will have a few colour clips but won’t go into too much detail. A professional will have as many clips as they need and will make sure they are as organised as they can be. They may have folders to put different documents in and it might make the procedure easier for them. By not doing this procedure, it will make it longer and difficult for the editor in the end.
Clippings This tool will be found in Logic. Clipping is a form of waveform distortion that occurs when an amplifier is overdriven and attempts to deliver an output voltage or current beyond its maximum capability. Clipping may be described as hard, in cases where the signal is limited at the threshold, producing a flat cutoff; or it may be described as soft, in cases where the clipped signal continues to follow the original at a reduced gain. EQ Equalisation (EQ) enables you to adjust the volume level of a frequency within a sound which in turn allows you to cure a sound of its imperfections. Equalisation means tone control. Equalisers are used in recording studios, radio studios and production control rooms. They are used in instrument amplifiers to correct or adjust the response of microphones, instrument pickups, loudspeakers and hall acoustics. The reason why professionals use this is to help frequencies. This will help get rid of any white noise. However, this can be quite complicated to use and sometimes won’t get rid of the noise. This procedure will work better on a MAC computer as it has better screen quality, and Macs are bigger than a PC.
Insertion Of Spaces In-Between Dialogue
We insert space between dialogue to create a pause and this allows people to catch their breath and space the text, so it’s not piled all into one. It helps create better dialogue and makes things sound better. Use of breathing spaces in editing to replicate the true essence of a professional to elevate an extent to which overlapping syllables and words would take place for lip syncing editing within the media artefact, hence the recording and the editing follow different techniques. If the media product is imagery of someone speaking, the voice actor will need to learn it and multiple recording will be required. If the media product was of a slow speaker, it would take less recording of the voice actor speaking and a greater time of editing. There will also be fades going in and out.
Naming tracks and clips This procedure is very important because it allows the user to see what the tracks are named without getting confused. This makes the process of editing sound much quicker, as you are able to see what they are called before playing them. A novice will not name any of their clips and will leave it how it is. They also wont colour anything to make them different. They wont care if anything is in order or not. A hobbyist will have a sporadic naming system. They will make sure that then names for each sound make sense to them, and they add colour. They will have everything in order. A professional will have a standardise naming system. This is specific for different studios. They will make sure that everything is in order, named correctly and colour coordinated.
Review recorded material before using it This procedure is one that everyone should follow because listening back to your recorded materials means you are able to hear if there are any mistakes, or if you need to add anything in. This would be done before using it in a song, film or project. If you ignore this procedure, you may jeopardise the project you’re doing and it can have a negative effect. One way of reviewing recorded material is to have fresh ears to listen to it. A novice will not listen with fresh ears, and will not look over their final product. A hobbyist will look over their product and will do so until they’re happy. They may get someone to listen over it. Finally, a professional will review the product until the client is happy. They will get as many fresh ears to listen to it and will review as many times as they want. They may even start editing the material after reviewing it.
Dragging or importing of selected clips to audio timeline
This procedure is done so that the clips are in the correct position and that the audio flows properly. A novice will use a singular track, and will put them in order. They wont look at the clips carefully to see if they need to be in a different order. A hobbyist, will use multiple tracks and might name them. They would name them so it makes it easier for them to find whilst editing. A professional will do the same. They may use a colour coding system, which helps differentiate the clips from each other. They may also use multiple editing platforms to produce singular tracks. They would want everything to be as highly standard as possible.