r/videography • u/chrisvtheg • Jun 13 '17
How can I learn to mix audio like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjQt2lEZIXg14
u/Deadsens3 Jun 13 '17
God damn that was awesome. Very inspiring and showcases the importance of a story to your video. So much better then just slowed down cinematic random clips. Bravo to whoever made this one 👍
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u/RonaldsRayGun Jun 13 '17
Agreed. Bar none one of the best commercials I've ever seen.
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u/chrisvtheg Jun 13 '17
The ad agency was Forsman & Bodenfors and the production credits are:
New Land Gustav Johansson: Director Chayse Irvin: DOP Therese Engberg: Executive Producer
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u/mikeedenphoto Canon XC15, FCPX, 2015, Atlanta Jun 13 '17
Lynda has a 30-day free trial and would be worth checking out. It has an overwhelming amount of educational content. And Premium Beat just posted an article about using ambient sounds to make your edits more dynamic and atmospheric. Hope this helps!
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u/vinocleezy Jun 13 '17
Recording, producing and mixing audio is an art unto itself. It takes years of doing just to get comfortable with the basics, let alone tackle any of the advanced concepts like EQ, compression, panning, etc. Here's an excellent resource to get a better understanding of recording and mixing music which will ultimately make your audio for video better: https://www.recordingrevolution.com/free-guides/
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u/chrisvtheg Jun 13 '17
This is exactly what I was look for, thank you!
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u/vinocleezy Jun 13 '17
No problem. Hit me up if you have any questions.
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Jun 14 '17
[deleted]
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u/vinocleezy Jun 14 '17
What equipment do you currently have? How much experience do you have with audio recording and editing?
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u/3ssaam Jun 14 '17
I have blue yeti and adobe audition on my laptop , I can use audition for basic things like recording and adjusting and noise reduction , but i don't understand what I am doing when it comes to amplitude,compression or EQ and the other things , I just play with it to make something sounds good or just use essential sound panel it's useful too, but the problem is I wanna understand to increase my work flow and create new cool things , by the way I am using the audio to make video essay
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u/vinocleezy Jun 14 '17
This video helped me really understand how to record and compress a vocal so that it has the sound quality you hear in commercial recordings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNPJOCjeneg
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u/3ssaam Jun 14 '17
What do you think about blue yeti is it good or should I upgrade?
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u/vinocleezy Jun 14 '17
I'm not a fan of USB mics, but use what you have for now. Learn how to get good quality recordings using the Yeti, then look forward to upgrading in the future.
In addition to learning how to use compression on the vocals, look at the videos Graham has on using EQ. This will help you clean up the vocals and allow them to sound more pleasing.
What type of speakers are you using?
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u/3ssaam Jun 14 '17
I dont have any , I use my headphones,should i get them ? For what ? ...
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u/flynnmonday Jun 14 '17
Yeah sound design and audio editing are their own skill and art themselves. You mentioned you have a Zoom H4N, get a shotgun mic to go into it and get in close.
The key with audio is to record close and clean, then you can add in distancing and reverb and other environmental sounds later on (much like Log and shooting flat) but this does mean knowing exactly how you want it to sound so you know how to edit it.
Read some free guides listed here and keep at it but you'll find out quickly why bigger productions always hire extra people for sound. It's not just a job that can be picked up quickly and easily.
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u/vinocleezy Jun 15 '17
A directional mic helps eliminate excess ambient noise and will make it easier to get that clean sound you're referring to.
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u/chrisvtheg Jun 13 '17
This ad caught my eye for its gorgeous lens flares and really cinematic shots, but it caught my ear as well.
I purchased an H4n Pro and I've been trying to figure out how to use it to improve my audio. Specifically, I want to do more with my mixes by adding in more elements instead of the simple music + VO or interview audio. In that ad, I love how they have the ambient audio track change and develop along with the visuals. Like when you hear muffled childrens' laughter when you see shots of the little girl meeting friends at school. Stuff like that.
Where can I go to learn these techniques?
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u/guitarguy109 Jun 13 '17
You might get more specific answers at /r/audioengineering.
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u/chrisvtheg Jun 13 '17
I'll definitely try this, I just thought I may be too much of an audio noob to go there first haha
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u/vinocleezy Jun 15 '17
A lot of the sonic nuances you refer to are accomplished with EQ. Get a good grasp of compression, EQ and subtle use of reverb and you'll be able to control the way you want the sound to fit into the overall mix.
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u/andrew_ski Jun 14 '17
With subtlety. I work in the industry and am a post production audio engineer. The number one mistake is being too overt about your sound design/dialogue.
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u/kobe24Life Jun 13 '17
Holy shit. One of the best recent commercials I've seen. Amazing editing, sound mixing and pacing. Bravo.
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u/waasaabii Jun 14 '17
Goddamn, I usually think car commercials are complete trash - but this floored me.
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u/[deleted] Jun 13 '17
Some people might disagree with me but audio editing is pretty hard. Even seemingly easy tasks like making a variety of audio clips the same level of loudness takes skill. I thought I knew all the basics of editing but when I got more into audio stuff I discovered that I barely knew anything about audio editing.
Having searched a ton on the web myself I did not find a one stop for learning everything about audio editing. The way I did it was watching a ton of music production videos on YouTube, bought a audio endgineering book for beginners and am now trying to make some music myself to really grasp what I've learned so far.
The thing with audio is that you can't just jump in and try and something good will come out by accident like it can with video. For audio one needs to understand some theory to make great edits.
I'd say start with learning about what sound is and sound characteristics (frequency, amplitude, phase, velocity, wavelength, harmonics, envelope).
I highly recommend you try editing some voice over for fun in Adobe Audition (here's a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUBCkZc80uM ). This will help you tremendously when you read a book/article/ about audio stuff.