Audio

In order to navigate a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), you will need to familiarize yourself with terminology and procedures. Some of these terms will be for more advanced mixing, but you should still familiarize yourself with them so you can know what you’re doing at any given time (i.e. not touching anything you don’t understand, using a tool and thinking you are doing one thing but actually doing another), and in the event that you become comfortable with the basics and want to venture further into editing and mixing.

Each DAW will be set up differently, depending on what you end up choosing. There are some that are more suited for beginners (i.e. Garageband) and some that are for professionals (i.e. Pro Tools), but they all have the same basic abilities, and the more advanced your DAW is, the more you can do with it. To get ideas on what DAW you might be comfortable with, look for tutorials to see what you can do with them.

[Check out the editing and mixing audio terminology page for specific terms that you will encounter in this section that tells you what you can do when editing and mixing audio.]

The process is different depending on what you are wanting to do and what you are working with. There are free editors out there, so if you are needing something that is free, try and find the best one, or try the free trials that are available of more advanced software. If you find yourself becoming interested in doing more, don't be afraid to try different products to find the one that is best for you. You may need to purchase something, but if you feel it is something that you will continue using, go for it.

The process can be as simple as trimming a file or adjusting volume to completely changing the the quality of the recorded sound or putting different tracks/takes together. There are courses available for just about anything, free trial classes and extras that you can check out, or simply go to YouTube for free videos and tutorials or step-by-step directions from professionals and amateurs.

Here is an example of a channel on YouTube that is filled with tutorials and resources on recording and mixing (mostly for contemporary, but the basic concepts will be the same across areas).

It is important that you are able to navigate your DAW, and knowing what tools are available for you to use. They will vary depending on how advanced or how high quality the one you have is, and if you have an external mixer/control center or if you are using a mouse.

Each DAW will have its own keyboard shortcuts for things like trimming, and you will need to familiarize yourself with these as soon as you can. If you have a tablet, you will have to know if there are any shortcuts or limitations from your tablet that you wouldn't have on a computer.

The basics of what you can do include panning, adjusting levels, moving regions (drag), adjusting speed, looping (cut/copy and paste or extending sections), and trimming. Some more advanced things you can do include quantizing (fixing timing), equalizing (EQ), adding reverb, and compressing.