Audio editing tips from Todd Cochrane, host of Geek News Central and CEO at Blubrry/RawVoice:
Audio recording is not complicated, what can get complicated and time consuming is editing audio. The goal in recording audio is to not have to edit. That said, some folks really get wrapped around the axle and spend hours editing.
Before you decide that you have to edit every small mistake in your recording, just know it’s not fun. Having recorded thousands of podcast episodes, my editing is limited to about 3 minutes: making sure the audio levels are correct. I’ll share with you some audio editing basics.
1. I purchased decent gear in the beginning to make sure that the recording itself would not be hindered by low-quality gear. If you choose audio recording gear from our recommended list, that is a great first start.
2. I have never removed, coughs, ahhhs, and’s, hmmm, etc. Good show preparation will help you have a clean flow of content. I have also found that running a camera and recording yourself will help you become a better podcaster as editing video is ten times worse than editing audio.
3. If you cannot live with the ahhhs and hmmms editing is really no different than working in a Word document. You find the segment you want to cut, just like Word you highlight and delete it. If you want to insert something you forgot you record a new clip and copy and paste. Each software package will have its own menu layout but they all are pretty much run home to mama and have the same interface.
4. The most important thing in editing the audio is to make sure that the audio levels are no more than 0db as you will cause clipping on most media players. What I have used as a rule of thumb and believe me everyone has an opinion on this but I level my audio so that it is around -3db. Most of the software packages will have a leveling tool that will assist you in getting the audio levels correct.
5. The goal you need to keep in mind is to focus on the content, do not focus on the editing. If you become an editing ninja your significant other will thank you and your spare time with not get eaten up with you sit there and edit.