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Editing tools
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By Jonathan Halls When I started my audio training, as a radio guy about 20 years ago, I was taught the craft of audio editing. In those days, if I wanted to shorten an interview or remove a word or two, I would physically cut the tape. If you've worked in the analogue days of radio, you'll remember. We had a cutting block, cinagraph pencil, razor blade and splicing tape. We'd listen to the tape using a method called scrubbing, mark the bit of tape with the pencil, then use the cutting block to guide the razor through. I still have fond memories because it was such a clean way of editing. Although we all have memories of losing three inches of tape on the cutting room floor. (Interestingly, I always found what I was after. Perhaps I was just lucky.) Digital editing Well today we don't use tape. Like everything else in life, it's been computerized. And despite taking some of the romance out of this tradition, computerizing editing has made it more powerful. Editing software packages display a visual image of the tape in your screen. Usually it stretches from left to right. I always tell people I'm teaching to imagine it is simply the old quarter-inch tape, stretching from left to right. The good news in the new approach to editing is that the computer also gives us a visual representation of the sound. This is the wave form. When you have a recording that has been made with relatively little noise in the background, the wave form looks a bit like a string of beads. Each sound - such as a word or noise - looks like a bead on the string. (You may need to magnify or de-magnify your view on the software package to see this.) Seeing the wave form and being able to recognize individual sounds and words by the "bead on the string" enables us to cut the audio with incredible precision. The additional benefit of software packages is they include controls like graphic equalizer, compression and other effects. In the 'good ol' days' we had to have special boxes for each of these functions which were expensive. Now we can do everything in the software. (Amazing stuff for those of us who worked in the analogue age, forgive my reminiscing.) Commercial editing packages There are loads of software packages you can buy to do audio editing. Some of the best known ones include Adobe Audition, Sony Sound Forge and Pro tools. All of these are excellent and will give you everything you need if you are a professional broadcaster. My experience working in British broadcasting for the past decade is that many broadcasters will opt for Audition. (It used to be known as Cool Edit until Adobe bought it.) Although Sony says their Sound Forge is the software package of choice for broadcasters in the the US. I guess it doesn't really matter what package you use - the important thing is to develop the skills to edit properly. It's a bit like driving a car. Some people prefer a Chevy while others prefer a Toyota. What's important is that you know how to drive and you drive well. Knowing how to drive an editing package comes with practice and expert feedback. I find this very important when teaching people how to edit - especially complicated edits. Editing also requires the skills of editorial judgment. When I teach editing, I generally use Audacity. Audacity Audacity is a free editing tool built through open source software. You can download it for free. Now I know the saying that there's no such thing as a free lunch, but Audacity truly is a great editing package that is free. Sure you can donate to their project - a worthy cause. But they're not going to hate you if you don't; in fact, I'm sure they'll be pleased you chose their package. You can download Audacity by going to their site. Simply click on the link below. Audacity has just about everything you'll ever need to do audio editing on your computer. The basic functions of cut and splice along with a whole range of special effects to improve your audio quality. We've put together a number of practical articles on how to do basic cut and splice editing. Because Audacity is free and we think it's great, we've used Audacity and its functions as examples. However, you can take what you learn from these articles and apply them to other editing packages by some simple trial and error. Remember, editing ultimately is not about the package you use to edit. It's about the content. That means your audio content will never be much good unless you exercise good editorial judgment and then combine the good practical skills of using the software. Good luck and have fun! More links
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Text copyright © 2006,2007,2008 Jonathan Halls. All rights reserved. Website copyright © 2008 Talkshow Communication Ltd and Licensors. All rights reserved.
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