First Ventures in Sound Design
First Studio Recording
My first assignment involved learning how to record with a dynamic microphone inside a studio setting. Our instructor walked us through the basics of managing our vocal delivery before any editing even begins. This includes how to control volume, tone, and clarity so the raw recording already sounds clean.
At first it was challenging because the Adobe Audition would not let me hear myself in real time while recording. Instead, I had to rely on watching the soundwaves and the levels on the dial to make sure my voice was being captured properly. It felt strange at first, but it also pushed me to really pay attention to my breathing, distance from the mic, and overall vocal control.
I also learned essential mic techniques to reduce the amount of editing I would need for later. For example, I had to be mindful of plosives that create unwanted bursts of air in the microphone. Overall, the experience taught me not just the technical side of using a dynamic microphone but also how intentional I need to be with my voice before hitting the “record.”
Adding Sound Effects
This project was my first attempt at incorporating sound effects, so I approached it cautiously, especially since my voice is more feminine than what I’d envision for a car dealership commercial. My instructor pointed out that I accidentally changed one of the words in the script while recording – something I did not even notice I had done. I also recognize that I used fewer sound effects, but I believe that sometimes less is more. I wanted the message to come through clearly without overwhelming the listener, even though it meant the final product felt a bit simpler than I initially intended.
Producing a radio commercial from scratch
Working on my Vancouver Canadians assignment quickly proved to be challenging as I did not have much background noise to work with. It meant that I would struggle to edit the pacing since my audio lacked any stretches of silence for me to space out my phrasing in post. As a result, I could really hear very light cuts in the audio.
Throughout the entire editing process, I relied heavily on my headphones despite our instructor’s lesson to listen to sounds in different ways, not just on headphones or speakers alone. This experience really hammered in the importance of recording high-quality audio from the start and being intentional about how I listen, compare and refine sound during the editing stage.
Listen to each step in my creation of the Vancouver Canadians commercial:
First things first, I used a dynamic microphone to record and save a Mono track with Audition.
Before any sound effects, I had to make sure the vocal track is polished and ready. In this step I removed breaths, used effects to improve it with effects processing such as Condenser and Dynamics. Now I’m ready to add music and sound effects to the track.
For music, I added “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” as well as some baseball sounds from licensed resources, and adjusted the timing of my voice for better flow along with the music.
I didn’t realize that some sound effects were louder than the rest of the audio. My instructor’s feedback helped me see the difference once I heard it on speaker.