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NewsForge | Mastering podcasts with Audacity

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Open source software makes podcasting easy -- too easy. Listening to a playlist of first-timer podcasts can leave your ears ringing from sudden changes in playback volume. The problem is audio mastering. Recording sound is simple, but mastering that sound -- compressing volume differences, maintaining a decibel ceiling, and similar operations -- is anything but. Fortunately, an open source tool offers everything you need for mastering podcasts and other spoken-word recordings. Audacity is well-known among podcasters on all platforms for its ability as an editor; here are some tips and tools for mastering and adjusting volume, aimed at podcasters, but they could apply to anyone who needs to produce a spoken-word recording under less-than-perfect conditions.

Highlighted by stormgrass

Find and remove noise in your recording environment

Among podcasting sins, too much background noise is near the top of the list. To test for noise in your environment, use Audacity to record a sample of dead air. Then, highlight the sample and click Analyze -> Plot Spectrum. The graph you see reveals the decibel level of the ambient noise in the room.

My home office, where I record all of my podcasts, shows a noise level of about -60db. This has been fine for my purposes. A bare minimum is -50db, but even that can be audible. If your environment shows a higher reading, shush any noise makers and try another sample. Common culprits include fans, central air, and, unfortunately, desktop computers.

Highlighted by stormgrass

Audacity is well-known among podcasters on all platforms for its ability as an editor; here are some tips and tools for mastering and adjusting volume, aimed at podcasters, but they could apply to anyone who needs to produce a spoken-word recording under less-than-perfect conditions.

Highlighted by jimblodget

Audacity is well-known among podcasters on all platforms for its ability as an editor; here are some tips and tools for mastering and adjusting volume, aimed at podcasters, but they could apply to anyone who needs to produce a spoken-word recording under less-than-perfect conditions.

Highlighted by jimblodget

Open source software makes podcasting easy -- too easy. Listening to a playlist of first-timer podcasts can leave your ears ringing from sudden changes in playback volume. The problem is audio mastering. Recording sound is simple, but mastering that sound -- compressing volume differences, maintaining a decibel ceiling, and similar operations -- is anything but. Fortunately, an open source tool offers everything you need for mastering podcasts and other spoken-word recordings. Audacity is well-known among podcasters on all platforms for its ability as an editor; here are some tips and tools for mastering and adjusting volume, aimed at podcasters, but they could apply to anyone who needs to produce a spoken-word recording under less-than-perfect conditions.

Highlighted by ummchen