But that doesn’t mean your sound doesn’t matter.
Even the most beautifully shot, 4K-resolution video won’t fully satisfy if your sound is bad. Nothing kills the mood faster than bad audio.
Lucky for you, audio recording and post-production is easier than ever. There are tons of DIY tools you can use for cheap or free to improve the sound quality of your videos.
And if you really wanna step it up, a small investment in your sound is sure to pay off down the line.
Let’s break it down.
Audio engineering, at a high level, comes down to three steps:
- Recording
- Mixing
- Mastering
Steps 2 and 3 are often lumped together as “post-production.” Basically it comes down to 1) recording the audio to a hard drive (or tape, if you’re old-school) and 2) playing with the levels and adding effects to make it sound better.
Step 1 – Recording
If you don’t get this right, nothing else will matter.
There’s a (kinda rude) phrase used by audio engineers the world over: “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” What that means is that you can’t fix a bad recording (or a bad mix – more on that later).
So if you’re only gonna pay attention to one part of this article, make it this one. If you don’t record properly in the first place, there’s no saving your audio after the fact.
First up: your room. Start by eliminating any background noise that could cause distractions, like fans or A/C or anything that produces noise. If you live near a busy street, consider closing your windows to keep the traffic noise out. Any possible way you can eliminate distractions is a bonus here.
Second: the gear. You need a decent microphone, and you’ll want a covering for it that will dampen background/ambient noise. These are referred to (somewhat crudely, I might add) as “deadcats,” ‘cause they look like a floppy boneless sleeve of fur. Gross, I know. But they’re effective.
For microphones, you’ll probably want what’s referred to as a Shotgun Mic. These help eliminate background and ambient noise, and focus the recording on the action. You can either mount it to your camera, or get a separate boom or mic stand for it.
Sennheiser makes a great-quality mic at around $200.
And here’s a full kit, including mic and deadcat, for $150.
Wondering what they sound like? Check this video for a detailed comparison.
You might wanna look into a boom mic stand as well, if you’re not gonna attach it to your camera.
Step 2 – Mixing
Mixing means blending the levels of your different audio sources to even them out.
However, if you recorded with just one microphone, you only have one audio source.
Chances are, for your purposes, you only needed one mic. You’re not making a record here, so you didn’t need to mic all the different instruments and sources in your studio.
So that means you don’t really need to mix your audio.
One thing you should do before you move on to mastering your film audio is make sure that the overall levels are OK. By that we mean, make sure your audio isn’t peaking over recommended levels.
Take a look at the audio track in your video or audio editing software. You’ll see little peaks and valleys on the audio track, showing how loud/intense the audio is in each section.
Next to your audio levels, you’ll have a meter showing how loud each section registers at. This is measured in dBFS, or Decibels Relative to Full Scale.
For best results in the next production stage (mastering), you want your audio to peak at around -6 dBFS. All that means is looking at the loudest part of your video, and making sure it sits at around -6 dBFS on the decibel meter.
Step 3 – Mastering
Mastering is the final polish given to audio production that makes it sound “professional” or radio-ready.
It might be overkill for the average video production, but if sound is an important part of your video (like, for example, an ASMR video), this is absolutely worth doing.
You have a few options:
- Do it yourself.
- Pay someone to do it.
- Use an instant mastering service.
Honestly, learning to master your own audio is so complex, that it’s probably not worth doing unless you have dreams of becoming an audio engineer. If you really wanna give it a shot, here’s a good introductory guide.
Paying someone to do it is a more realistic option for most people. This can cost anywhere from $5/video to $10,000/video, but for your purposes you’ll be fine with a service from Fiverr.
The fastest, easiest and cheapest way to do it will always be with an instant mastering service. These services sometimes catch criticism for being of a lower quality than a professional human mastering engineer, but you’re not producing an orchestral concept album – you just need your moans to sound clear and crisp.
So my recommendation is you use an instant service. The #1 ranked service is LANDR Audio, but there are other ones out there too if you wanna shop around.
Once you’ve recorded, mixed, and mastered your audio, you’re all set. Your audio is gonna sound so crisp and clear that you’ll be up for a sound design award at next year’s AVNs. ;)
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