Roley's Audio Workflow

The Bluejacket Creative

Before we get started, I want to make it absolutely clear that when you're starting out, your audience is going to forgive your audio quality is not exactly up to par if your message is on point. That said, as you start to get serious about podcasting, you're going to want to work on your craft. In this case, it means getting into some post-production to mitigate any of the backgrounders noise, removing filler words, and improving the sound of your voice.

I'm going to go through the steps I am currently using to tweak my voice in Adobe Audition. In my workflow, there are four steps.

First, I equalize the sound. I do this by going to the Effects Menu, then Filter and EQ, then select the Parametric Equalizer. I use the Loudness Maximizer from the Presets menu and I make no changes, just click Apply.

Next, we need to normalize the sound. Go back to the effects menu, select Amplitude and Compression, and select Normalize (process). Place a check in the box for Normalize to, and select the radio button for percentage. I find that easier. I like to normalize it around 95 percent, but I decided, in the end, to do 94.9 because that's a radio station around here, and I can remember that. Then, place a check in Normalize all channels equally, and click apply.

Then we need to add in a noise gate and a little compression. We do that by going to effects, then Amplitude and Compression, and select Dynamics. We'll do the noise gate first. The basic function of a noise gate is to eliminate sounds below a given threshold and allows sounds that cross that threshold through. Very useful if your recording environment isn't optimal. Place a check in the Autogate box, play your sound file, and use the mouse to rotate the threshold amount. I'd start at about -40db, and move towards zero. This is a little bit of trial and error because the closer you get to zero, you'll see the red indicator step over words. That means that those words won't be heard when you apply the gate. You want just enough gating to leave your dialogue intact, but close the gate thereafter. You can also adjust the release tuner to hold the gate open a bit longer before closing. Play with this until it sounds right to you.

Next, place a check in the box for the Compressor. A compressor is a way to adjust the dynamic between the quietest someone speaks compared to the loudest they speak. In this case, the threshold is the point where the compressor kicks in and drags back anything louder than that. The ratio is how severe the compression is. Attack and release are how fast the compressor kicks in and then subsides. Again, a lot of this is going to be trial and error, but the point is to set these so it's not harsh and sudden.

Once you have this to your liking, click apply.

Then, we're going to adjust the loudness. In this case, I like to use the Match Loudness Function. Go to Effects, and Match Loudness. The Match Loudness panel will open over on the left-hand side. Drag the file you're working on from the files panel to the Match Loudness Panel. In the settings, set the Match To Drop down to the ITU-R selection. Your target loudness should be -16 LUFS with a tolerance of .05, and a Max Peak True Level of -1. Click Run and the file will process to the correct sound level. Finally, SAVE THE FILE. If there's an asterisk to the right of the file name, you need to save it before you lose your changes. PLEASE DO THIS, DON'T COUNT ON ADOBE TO AUTOSAVE FOR YOU.

As a rule, I generally take my finished mix down the file and run it through Match Loudness again to make sure my finished product is at -16 LUFS. You'll want to make sure that your finished podcast is at the same standard. That way, in a perfect world, your listener won't have to turn up the volume to hear your podcast and then get their ears blown off by the next one.

Now I know that this is a little weird to follow in audio but fear not. I'll be posting a video on my YouTube Channel of this process, and a little something extra, using this very episode.