08 JANUARY 2018

written by Mike

MY CURRENT DAW SETUP

I get asked a lot about my workflow and what exactly I am using to produce Casefile and other projects. I’ve already explained the way I work in my book “How to Start a Podcast” however, I’m always on the lookout for the improvement and I update my system as often as I can.

In my opinion, it’s important to shake it up every few months. Otherwise, there is no progress.

When I was a student, I used many different audio sequencers with multiple plugins. If there was a new demo, trial version or a deal – I wanted it. I wanted as many as possible.

The truth was, I never used 90% of them, I was a classic example of a hoarder. I think that the more ‘stuff’ – equipment, gear, options we have, it gives us an illusion of choice. The more we have, the more we can do, right?

It may be true in some instances, but when it came to sound production, I realised that the old Pareto’s rule was on the point. The so-called 80/20 rule indicates that usually, 20% of tools bring 80% of results.

A few years ago I sat down, and I wrote down what exactly I am using for work, how and why. I decided to simplify my system and my workflow radically; I wanted to learn few tools inside-out – to become an expert.

By limiting my choices I wanted to be free of the illusion, and only if I needed something else, to add it to the existing selection. So far it worked. My system and tools are very few, but high quality.

Let me go through the list with you.

Hardware

Computer

My primary tool is surprise surprise, a computer. At this moment in time (January 2018) I’m working on 27 inch iMac with upgraded RAM. The screen is enormous and the processing power more than enough to handle my workload. Apple systems are more expensive than Windows but most audio industry professionals use them. Therefore I followed the same rule at home. Of course, select what you feel is most viable for you – for example, video game sound designers work almost solely on Windows.

Listening

I’ve owned a pair of Adam A5X speakers for a few years now. They sound great, and I know them well. Apart from listening to music during work I use them to reference the mixes.

For podcast mixing I use headphones. The leading pair is Sony MDR-7506, amazing closed-cup phones with a clear sound, perfect for editing. I also have a range of earphones – from very cheap ones to a decent pair. Most people listen to music/podcasts on their earphones so I make sure my final masters sound good on them.

Audio Interface

Recently I bought a small Audient iD4 interface. Not only it’s a fantastic tool for production, but it also has a control surface functions. The main volume knob can be used for controlling various aspects of the audio sequencer. I’m using it for volume automation during a mix. I’m planning on buying a proper control surface for mixing in the future, but I want to hone my craft by using just one knob – limiting my choice again.

Software

Pro Tools

I’ve used many different sequencers in the past but in my quest to minimalist workstyle I’ve decided to focus on just one. Avid Pro Tools is a standard in music and post-production industry, so it was quite clear that it was the one I needed to stick with. I knew that the MIDI functions are not the best, but it was much easier to learn how to use PT for everything rather than using multiple sequencers to do the work, as I’ve done in the past.

iZotope

Plugins were the central area where I had to downgrade. I’ve used iZotope’s tools when I worked at the movie studio, so I knew these were top quality. I’ve deleted all of my 3rd party plugins and started using only iZotope products.

I currently use Neutron, Ozone and Alloy. (I also have Eventide Ultraverb on dialogue tracks for reverb).

Spectrasonics

When it comes to composing music, especially inside your DAW, the choice is limitless. There are so many synths and virtual instruments that for the rest of your life you could be learning a new one each week (*not official stats, but there is a lot of them!).

At some point, I decided to get rid of most of the ones I had, also deleting a 500GB Kontakt library and just stick with one company – Spectrasonics. At the moment of writing this paragraph I only use two synths from them, Omnisphere 2 and Keyscape.

Do I wish I had more options, for orchestral sound or bass? Yes, and I will expand in the future. However, for now, these two synths are more than enough to produce good work.

Limitation is freedom. It sounds so paradoxical, but in podcast production it is true. By freeing ourselves of choice paralysis, we are free of anxiety and burdens that come with limitless options.

This way of thinking does not apply to every aspect of our life, however, think about your work, day to day life and habits. Maybe some areas would be much better and more comfortable if you set some boundaries and rules?

The decision is up to you.

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10 DECEMBER 2017

written by Mike

AUDIO RESTORATION

AND PODCASTING

I want to give you a short intro to audio restoration, what I use it for and how you can use it for podcasting.

There are different kinds of audio restoration jobs – you can use it to ‘clean up’ sound for a court, forensic and police needs. You could restore sound from old movies and bring it up to today’s standards and digital formats.

When something is poorly recorded – noisy, distorted, has a lot of hiss or background noise – you can clean it all up with audio restoration plugins.

What I found is that most content creators who don’t dabble in sound, don’t really pay much attention to it. Let’s leave to the side directors and professional producers, but instead talk about amateur or up-and-coming creators.

It can be a lecture recording, a course, a YouTube video or an independent film. More than likely the issue of sound is left to the end, and only after the recording is done, the producers get the full picture – and it doesn’t sound right.

Fortunately, with today’s technology, not all is lost, and a lot of bad recordings can be salvaged and fixed-up to the decent level. Audiobooks, podcasts and radio dramas are a bit different. It’s all about sound so fortunately the quality isn’t left behind. However, especially for new producers, the beginning will be far from perfect.

It’s usually a cheap USB mic and a spare bedroom that acts as a recording studio and with that comes a range of problems.

But what can you do to fix them?

There are different processes that you can apply to the audio in post-production such as:

Noise reduction

Noise reduction will reduce the background hiss and the constant noise-induced with the pre-amp. It’s the best tool to make the recording sound more professional. However, if you apply too much of reduction, you will the recording sound dull. The hiss usually sits in the higher frequencies so when you cut it out, you will cut the presence – the air that comes with it.

Click removal

The are many different kinds of clicks that can occur during the recording, but the most frequent ones will be mouth clicks and lip smacks. Of course, you can try to manually draw them out, but having a process that gets rid of them automatically will save you a lot of time. The thing to watch out is the transients. You want to reduce the clicks but don’t want to get rid of naturally clicky letters such as ‘k’ or ‘t.’

Pop removal

Even with the pop shield, which should be mandatory during the recording, there will be low-frequency pops that will make it. To get rid of them the best way is to apply a pop removal process. A typical low-frequency cut will also get rid of sounds that suppose to be there, that add the bass to the recording, the emphasis on the voice. Pops are much harder to draw out so you will be much better off using the removal effect but be careful – set the strength too high and you will make the voice sound thin.

De-Esser

‘S’ sounding words and letters are hardest to control, especially if you are dealing with a naturally harsh sounding voice. The best solution is to test and choose a right microphone for voice but for new podcasters that is not always possible. Second best thing is to use EQ and a notch filter to get rid of these frequencies. The third thing is to use De-Esser plugin. It works as a compression, reducing the volume of the ‘s’ sounds, don’t overdo it as you will hear the effects straight away.

You can also use the automation and gain control to lower the words and letters manually, but that takes a lot of time to do.

These are the most common processes, there are a lot more advanced effects that can help to restore and clean up the audio, but start with these and move to the other ones when you are comfortable with the basics.

But where can you get them?

Unfortunately, most sequencers do not come with a range of useful audio restoration effects. The one that I know that has them is Adobe Audition. I cannot vouch for the effectiveness of the software as I don’t use it myself. However, I did hear a lot of good things about it so maybe download a trial version.

The ones I use are the top of the market products from iZotope – RX to be exact. These are costly tools but are the best to do the job and all professionals, especially in post-production work, use them.

Don’t despair though. Download the trial version and start learning, before I invested in iZotope products I used the demo versions for a long time – they come with few limitations but if you are able to work with that, only then make the decision to upgrade to the next level.

If you are still at school, you can also email guys from the iZotope and last time I checked they give 50% discount for students.

Of course, I’m sure that there are other solutions available on the market. Do a diligent research, try out trial versions wherever you can and get to work!

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