Working on a podcast, video, or some on-air segment that’s pre-recorded? Here are a list of things you should always check off before airing and/or uploading a clip.

This assumes you have a relatively basic understanding of audio. If not, there are some brilliant tutorials out there – we’ll be writing some of our own guides soon!

Pre-production check-list:

1. Your microphone is close to the source. But not too close – nobody should be making out with the mic. 10-20cm is a good distance.

   If this isn’t particularly easy to achieve, have a listen before you record. If you don’t, it’s almost impossible to remove them in post. So plug in a pair of headphones, and ensure:

   • The target isn’t drowned out by the background noise. If you can’t check, go somewhere quiet.
   • The target isn’t echo-ey (the bathroom effect). Is their speech nice and clear?

     If any of the above are true, move the microphone closer.

2. Ensure that you’ve got enough microphones. Try and get the Zoom, not the Tascam, as this lets you plug in more mics. Make sure:
   1. You have a different microphone for everyone talking. For instance, your interviewee has a handheld (with better quality), and you have the portable recorder
      OR
   2. You have the one microphone closest to your interviewee. You can always re-record your questions later on, but obviously not theirs.
3. If outside, you have a windshield on your microphones to prevent that yuck whooshing sound.
4. Check the levels before you record.
   1. When your guests speak, the level ideally shouldn’t go above 75% on the VU (volume unit) meter.
   2. It shouldn’t be normally below 40%, as for technical digital recording reasons your quality becomes lower & noisier.
5. Record phone calls using the unit in the studio, not off a mobile phone. Cell tower quality is really poor.
6. If you’re shooting video:
   1. Avoid using just the shotgun microphone on your camera. The audio from these is almost always unusable. Give your presenter a handheld, use a clip-on/wireless mic, or find a boom operator.
   2. If covering an event, ask the organisers ahead of time if they can provide you with an audio feed. The Union are usually willing to do this. You can probably plug the XLR directly into your camera.

 

Once you have the audio back in the edit suite, import it into Audacity and split all the tracks into mono. This’ll make mixing easier.

Post-production checklist:

1. The overall levels are OK. The volume shouldn’t go between loud and quiet across different segments. You can apply some compression to achieve this, or use Audiomatic on your final mix to master the audio.
2. Speech isn’t panned to the left or right. Put on a pair of headphones – if one of your ears receives special treatment, ensure the audio tracks are split to mono.
3. The average volume of your clip, in Audacity, sits at about 80% height on the blue wave form (or, when you play it, doesn’t go above -4 on the green meters). Try to avoid red vertical lines, as these represent clipping (which your audience can hear as distortion).

You can fix some of these issues using Audiomatic – an internal tool we built specifically to help you do this with minimal effort. If you’re not an Insanity member, you can achieve a similar effect using Stereo Tool and the Syrtho preset – our tool is just a shortcut for this.