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There are almost 40 million YouTube channels in existence. The competition is tough, and you have to be better. With many YouTube channels, the focus is on shooting videos. You may have the best camera for YouTube, but the audio is just as important. If the audio does not match the visual quality, your audience will become distracted and disinterested. To have a successful YouTube channel, you will need to learn how to use good audio creatively.
Experiment with Microphone Placement
As a YouTuber, you typically have lots of video gear. Having a sufficient amount of audio equipment is just as important. You need to understand that even if you have the best camera for YouTube, the audio from the camera’s microphone isn’t good enough to record great audio. While the video quality of mirrorless cameras may produce fantastic footage, the sound is not exceptional. If you have a mirrorless camera or a pocket cinema camera such as the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, they all have an external mic input that you need to use. Start by placing a shotgun mic on your hot shoe and plug it into the external mic input. Doing this alone will significantly improve the quality of your audio. Shotgun mics are inexpensive and easy to use.
Are you looking to improve your audio even more? Place a boom mic above the scene you are recording. Boom mics are great because they will pick up voices clearly and have little ambient noise. Boom mics are not expensive, but sometimes may require an external recorder. External recorders are used to record the audio separately from your camera. The benefit of doing this is that you have one recording of sound from the shotgun mic on your camera and another set of audio from the boom mic. If you are starting out, this is an excellent method because you can hear the differences in sound each mic records and have different options when you are editing the audio.
There is another alternative for those who can’t place a mic above your subject, as with vloggers and other one-person videos. You can use a wireless lavalier mic that attaches to the talent’s shirt or collar. Wireless lav mics produce amazing sound quality for relatively little money. All of these options are affordable ways to improve your audio quality. Lastly, great sound is not just about the hardware you have, but also where you place the microphone. Get creative trying different microphone placement, and you’ll be amazed at how much better your audio will get.
Record Each Person Separately
Having multiple microphones on each scene is beneficial for numerous reasons. First, you get cleaner audio when each person is recorded separately. The sound received for that person is dialed-in directly to their microphone and how they sound. In theory, this means that each person’s voice in the scene should be clean and clear. Having clean and clear audio makes a video much more viewable and gives it a more polished finish.
Another benefit of having multiple microphones is that you have backup audio on hand if a microphone becomes muffled or has too much ambient noise. For example, if you are trying a dolly shot on set, you may hear some noise from the dolly on one of the audio files. The good thing about having multiple microphones in use while shooting is that you can overlay the sound from another microphone and eliminate that noise.
Lastly, it is good to have backups on hand for both audio and video files. Even the best camera for YouTube can malfunction, and you could lose files. An external microphone can have malfunctions just as easily, and you could lose your audio from that device. Having a backup is a solid habit to develop.
Record Using High-Res Audio Files
There are many different audio file types. Some have a higher resolution than others, and those are the ones you should choose. The highest resolution audio files are 24bit 96kHz WAV or AIFF. Recording for 16 bit 44.1kHz will give you ok results, but recording in 24bit 96kHz resolution can make a significant difference in your sound quality. So if you want to record like the pros, use at least 24 bit 96kHz WAV or AIFF files. The difference between high-resolution audio files is mostly in frequency. 96kHz gives you a little more high-end information to work with. When recording, you should use the best quality your gear can provide you. Buy cables that are top of the line, invest in high-quality microphones, and don’t settle for lower quality equipment.
Clean Up Your Audio Files
Having clean audio tracks will make your videos stand out. There is always ambient noise in the background of audio tracks that can be cleaned up. The good news is there is software that can remove some of the ambient noises. These programs take away unwanted noise without harming the files. The software analyzes the different frequencies of sounds in an audio track, then removes them accordingly. It makes it easier to focus on what you’re trying to hear. Audio track noise cleaning is helpful in podcasting situations where background noise can be distracting. The software also helps enhance the quality of the tracks so you don’t have to worry about echoes and other noises that may make it difficult for viewers to understand what they are hearing. You want your videos to stand out from the rest, and audio track noise-cleaning will help with that.
In Conclusion
There are many ways to improve your audio quality, but the most important is using high-resolution files and good equipment. Like most skills, getting great audio for your videos will take time and practice. Don’t hesitate and experiment with different microphones and mic positions. Once you have great audio, clean up any noise or echoes with software. It will make all the difference in sound clarity. Follow these tips to produce excellent videos.
