Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Audio production and
advanced editing techniques and
why they're important.
Let's talk about it.
Hey podcast enthusiast contentcreator, welcome to the Pod
Sound School podcast.
This is Studio Steve, althoughI'm kind of transitioning now
into Steven, but I really neededan alter ego to be comfortable
showing my face on YouTube atfirst, but now the name Studio
(00:21):
Steve feels a little bitridiculous.
If you've been listening to thispodcast for a long time, you
know that we have really retiredthis podcast and moved to
another podcast, the ContentJefe podcast.
You can find a link to thatpodcast right where you're
listening to this one.
However, we also like toexperiment and pop in here every
so often to make updates tothis podcast, and you will also
(00:43):
find here, right where you'relistening, all of our past
episodes.
And this podcast was really ourbaby.
It will always be very specialfor us, so we keep it hosted
here so that you can listen toour back catalog.
And now things at Content Jefe,our new podcast, have changed,
where Veronica has really takenthe lead and is really moving
forward as the main host of thatpodcast.
(01:03):
So I thought this would be agreat place for me to pop in
periodically to talk about mypassions in an audio only format
and to really get into theweeds of really what started Pod
Sound School to begin with, andthat was this desire to improve
the audio of our podcasts.
I noticed when I was gettinginto podcasting years ago that a
(01:23):
lot of indie podcasts soundedlike trash.
Well, nowadays, fast forwardsix, seven years, things have
gotten a lot easier in terms ofaudio production, and it brings
up a lot of questions now whenit comes to audio production and
advanced editing techniques orprocessing techniques like
compression and EQ and de-essingand noise reduction.
With the new advancements in AIand all these new tools that we
(01:46):
have, are those things reallyvalid or worth your pursuit in
time to learn and to master sothat you can improve the audio
of your podcast?
Or really is it just kind ofputting some foam up in your
room, using a nice podcastmicrophone and pressing one of
these magic buttons?
And really I have to say, themagic buttons are getting pretty
(02:07):
magic and, in particular, whatI'm talking about with magic
buttons is one magic buttoninside the application Descript
which is really making someamazing advancements, especially
for independent podcasters, andthat's the studio sound button.
There's also something similarbuilt into Adobe and in Premiere
or even in Adobe Audition, it'scalled the Essential Sound
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Panel, and within that panelthere is a podcast voice preset
that uses a combination of thesame standard effects that have
been used for years forbroadcast and podcast voices and
that really is a collection ofthe same effects that you see
across the board.
Compression, and by that we meandynamic range compression, eq,
(02:49):
de-essing, noise reduction, andthat's about it.
Oh, also limiting, which isanother type of compressor, and
that's kind of our final mastereffect that we do Now.
Normalizing has been somethingthat a lot of people have been
using for a long time and that'sbecome standard across the
board too.
Descript will automaticallynormalize your audio when you
pull it in there.
A lot of editing applicationsare doing that now, and since
(03:11):
loudness standards have beenimplemented on huge platforms
like YouTube and Spotify,everything seems to be kind of
automatic in terms of thatcompression and noise reduction
and general EQ.
And if you're doing contentcreation YouTube videos, podcast
episodes and you're creatingyour own content independently,
(03:32):
well, there's tools now that youcan just press magic buttons
and you'll sound like aprofessional.
So that begs the question for anaudio guy like me, who, if you
didn't know, I come from a longbackground of audio production
and that's really what I spentthe early part of my life
obsessed with.
Does that mean that all of whatI've learned is kind of no
longer relevant, or am I like atravel agent?
(03:54):
Or is there still a place tounderstand the complexities of
these audio production tools?
And is there still a place foranalog audio?
Or is that really just foraudiophiles and those who like
to collect things and rememberthe way that tape sounded?
I'm not really precious aboutthe way that tape sounded,
because I also remember howtapes had to be rewound.
(04:15):
So my real answer to thisquestion is really it is still
incredibly valid and important,especially when it comes to
higher production projectstelevision, big projects with
big budgets, film, obviously,and music production, especially
(04:36):
sound design, all of thoseareas of study and professional
areas of working.
Yes, you're going to need tohave a profound understanding of
audio production recordingfundamentals and these
processing tools that I justmentioned.
You have to have that level ofcontrol, very detailed level of
(04:57):
control and parameters of everyitem of your audio mix.
When you're working at thatlevel but many of us are not
working at that level we justneed to record our voice
professionally while we'restaring into a camera and then
give it a preliminary or decentedit so that we can at least get
some content out there andstart building influence for
(05:17):
ourselves online.
And that's really what we wantto urge people to do is not get
so hung up on all of the audioproduction fundamentals.
And yes, that's coming from anaudio guy who started a company
six years ago with my wife tohelp people improve their audio.
Well, now AI is really going tohelp you improve your audio.
More than an understanding ofdynamic range, compression or EQ
(05:39):
will ever help you to improveit, and there's now can be more
of a focus on creativity andreally putting yourself out
there, stepping into thespotlight and spending your time
getting better at the craft.
That is going to give you theinfluence that you deserve, the
attention that you deserve onwhatever your pursuits may be.
(06:00):
So thanks for tuning in.
I will keep these episodesbite-sized.
I will talk about conceptsaudio production specifically,
but maybe even video production,the crazy amalgamous world that
is content creation andpodcasting, and this new digital
economy, the attention economy,content marketing, all of this
(06:21):
fun, crazy, creative stuff thatwe get to get our hands dirty
with.
So I hope you come back everyweek, so I hope you come back on
a regular basis to our contentand that you stay creative.
You stay inspired and full ofvitality and ready to take
what's yours.
Talk to you later.