This trick works best if the edit is masked by scene sound or music. Simply select that part of the waveform, delete it and shuffle the edit together. In an audio editor, zoom in on the waveform in question - the plosive is usually larger and has a different shape than the word it’s attached to. There are a couple ways to fix plosives if they make their way onto your recording. See P-pops and other plosives by Jeff Towne on Transom Place the mic out of the pop zone, just off to the side of the mouth. They work best for mildly distorted audio.
Note: This can be a drastic change and should be applied carefully.įor an approach that can yield better results (but likely requires expert help), try audio restoration software like Izotope RX or the fix tools in Adobe Audition. Lower the frequency on the filter until just before the audio starts to become muffled. That said, using a low-pass filter can sometimes minimize the severity of the problem.
Begin with the first piece of equipment in the chain (the one closest to your source) and work backward to the last, adjusting the level of the offending piece of gear to compensate.ĭistortion is usually not fixable once recorded (unless it’s phone tape - see sidebar). If distortion appears in a chain of multiple pieces of audio equipment, check for proper level in each piece of equipment. Keep an eye on your levels while recording - you may have to adjust them to maintain proper headroom. In a digital field recorder, for example, targeting -15dBFS will likely give enough headroom for a typical conversation in a quiet room. Make allowance for the louder peaks of laughter/excitement/scene sounds that occur between the consistent level of conversation and 0dBFS (known as headroom). Set your recording levels conservatively.
Think you can recognize the sound of distortion? Take our audio quiz and find out! This issue often happens during recording (although it can happen during mixing, too).
You may have set the levels too high or not accounted for a sudden increase in volume. The audio may sound like it is “breaking up.”ĭistortion occurs when audio levels exceed the capabilities of your equipment or software. You might describe distortion and clipping as sounding crackly, fuzzy, overloading or staticky. These issues occur while putting the finishes touches on a piece.īefore you make any decisions about audio based on this guide, have a conversation with your management, production and engineering teams to learn the preferred approach in your organization.Ī field recorder with levels peaking at 0dBFS and the “OVER” light on. These issues pop up at your desk, cutting the piece together. These issues occur while recording in a studio or gathering audio in the field.
The guide has three main sections: Recording problems
If you do anything with this guide, learn how to recognize and prevent each problem. It can be difficult and time-consuming to fix problematic audio once it’s recorded. The term “garbage in, garbage out” is common in the audio world because it’s true. Preventing audio problems is one of the keys to ensuring quality productions. Watch this recorded webinar about common audio problems. NPR Training’s Rob Byers and two NPR audio engineers took audio production questions during a reddit AMA. Before you start here, learn how to identify bad audio and take our audio problems quiz. It’s a great reference guide for anyone who works with audio, from new producers to seasoned veterans. This post will help you identify problematic audio, prevent the most common problems and recognize when it’s time to call for help. We need to be able to spot problems and identify them to before they impact quality or snowball into larger technical problems. Ear training, the practice of learning how to recognize certain sounds, is a must for audio producers.