During his presentation at PAB2006, Bruce Murray (Zedcast) introduced his concept of Blevis-ian editing. It was a great summary of the steps that go into recording, organizing, editing, processing and producing audio (and I was flattered by the title). Since this presentation, I have been asked by many people how I edit my various Podcasts. Over the next week or so, I will explain in conceptual-terms (that is, I won’t explain in terms of specific software) how I edit my Podcasts, and I will provide screen captures and audio samples where possible.

The audio-fundamentalists will tell you that the best edits are the ones that the listener cannot identify. In the Podcasting world, we can be a lot more forgiving than that because most Podcasters don’t have the background, experience and tools to be so accurate. In my opinion, it isn’t that difficult. Most Podcasters just don’t know how easy it is to edit, and they also don’t realize that they already have the tools; tools such as Audacity, Garage Band and Cubase SX3. With a small time investment, and a little patience, your edits can go unnoticed. The more you do it, the better you become.

In simple terms, I do two types of edits.

The Clean Edit is one in which two audio segments are spliced together to create a single, seamless flow of audio. This type of edit is effective when I work with audio recordings that have little or no background noise. It is also important that the audio of interest has a consistent sound and presentation. For instance, if I’m working with spoken-word recordings, I want the speaker’s voice to have a consistent:

• volume (how loudly the individual is speaking);
• presence (the perceived proximity of the individual’s mouth to the microphone);
• inflection (how the individual uses emphasis and sing-songiness in their voice); and,
• energy (how excited or passionate the speaker is with their words).

If there is no consistency, the listener will notice a sudden change in the speech which will give away the edit.

The Blended Edit in one in which two audio segments are mixed together to create a single flow of audio; sometimes seamless, sometimes not. This type of edit is effective when I work with audio recordings that have substantial background noise (e.g. static, fans or air movement) or activity (e.g. restaurant, city street or party). Many people don’t realize that during a one minute recording of the ambient noise in a room, the qualities of the sound will evolve as the time elapses such that the volume, presence and energy of the ambient noise at the start of the recording could be very different just seconds later, and substantially different by the end of the recording. Using a Clean Edit here will expose the difference while a Blended Edit will sneak it in.

In part two, I will explain how I do my clean edits.