The Editing Mantra: LISTEN
Adapted from Ric Viers’ The Sound Effects Bible. Run every sound effect you edit through these six steps, in order.
- L - Listen critically
- I - Identify clicks, pops, and errors
- S - Signal process (EQ and compression)
- T - Trim/crop the file
- E - Examine fade-ins/fade-outs at the zero line
- N - Normalize/name file
1. Listen critically
Play the file and really listen. Does it sound good? If the recording itself is poor, delete it and record again; no amount of editing fixes a bad source. If it’s good but has problems, the next steps handle them.
2. Identify clicks, pops, and errors
Find the clicks and pops. You can locate the offending waveforms and delete them by hand, or run a noise reduction tool over the file.
3. Signal process (EQ and compression)
EQ out unwanted noise and balance the spectrum. Compress if the dynamic range needs taming.
4. Trim/crop the file
Cut the silence off the head and tail, and cut anything that doesn’t belong in the final effect.
5. Examine fade-ins/fade-outs at the zero line
Fades must start and end at the zero line, or you’ll get clicks on playback.
6. Normalize/name file
Normalize peaks to -0.5 dB. Exception: ambiences and sound beds shouldn’t be that hot; peaks between -18 dB and -6 dB are fine there. Then name the file descriptively and embed metadata with useful keywords so you can find it again.