multimediaaction.com

Audio

The wise saying in the building industry is “measure twice, cut once”. In the multimedia & film industry the saying isn’t so pithy, but it’s just as fundamental: “Audiences may tolerate poor image quality; but they will never tolerate poor audio.”

Many videographers are so obsessed with visuals that sound becomes an afterthought. Yet analyse any popular movie and listen to the care that’s lavished on sound. You simply can’t get a top quality result on your production without a top quality audio track.

The fastest way to improve your video ? Get a decent microphone. If you’re using the video camera’s onboard mic then your sound is always going to be poor. And if you do invest in a shotgun mic don’t make the mistake of thinking that it “zooms in” on sound – it doesn’t. A shotgun mic will pick up more sound in the direction of the shotgun, and less in surrounding areas, but that’s all. It doesn’t zoom.

Good quality sound can set the scene, tell the story, guide the viewer in their emotional response to the visuals, add dynamic punch, and even tie together otherwise conflicting imagery.

Soundtracks often precede the video. Ever notice in movies and interviews that a change of sound happens a few seconds before the video scene changes ? There’s lots of subtle differences between the sound and video tracks in professional productions. Next time you watch your favourite TV show try to spot a few.

Want another example of the power of sound ? Then switch off the sound on a TV show and watch the actors in silence. It can be almost painful sometimes to see just how wooden and ridiculous some actors appear without all the support from well recorded dialog, mood music and effects.

Let’s go back one step further: What’s the difference between a static page of photos and an unfolding multimedia narrative ? It’s the addition of audio.

We have years of experience in sound, working in the music industry as a composer and engineer. We can create a custom music track; enhance and repair inferior recordings; or create an audio “stinger” for your brand.

We have tracks ranging from Chopin covers to Middle Eastern Duduk solos, and from hard rock and doof-doof to gentle choral hymns. Here’s a few samples:

Dreaming (from Chopin)