How Can Audio Engineering Help Journalists?

In the realm of sound, audio engineers, often referred to as sound technicians, play a pivotal role. From live venue spectacles to immersive video game experiences and pristine studio recordings, these professionals are the creators of various forms of sonic mastery. Across various specialties like live venue sound engineering, video game sound design, and studio recording, audio engineers share a common thread: proficiency in utilizing audio engineering software.

Whether they are orchestrating the sonic landscape of a bustling concert, fine-tuning the ambiance of a cinematic piece, or editing a hard-hitting interview, their technical prowess ensures every auditory detail exudes excellence. Under the umbrella of audio engineering, there are many ways to use those skills, and some of these skills are actually pretty useful for journalists.

With the field being quite broad, comprising careers ranging from sound designers to movie theaters, live theater, broadcasting, among many others, the same base skill set is usually needed. These skills are recording, editing, mixing and mastering. 

Recording is the jumping off point of the audio engineering process. The initial phase in crafting a completed musical composition or any other form of audio involves either recording sound or capturing audio data. This could entail using recording instruments or even vocal audio for a podcast interview or other piece that requires audio, often accompanied with video. 

Editing skills are immediately put to use after the recording phase is done. This phase is a much longer process if working on a project that involves music, as opposed to vocal audio, since this is the phase where different effects would be inserted into the track to attain the desired results in tone involved in the project.

The mixing process involves balancing all of the layers of the piece using methods like adjusting the lows, mids, and highs, and adjusting the panning. In terms of music, tools such as these along with parts of the software such as compression and reverb, are used to turn the piece into something that is solid and cohesive enough to be professionally released. If editing a podcast or a filmed report in the field, the focus would mostly just be on adjusting the audio levels so the voices are clear and adding a layer of music when needed within the intro and outro.

Mastering involves putting everything together after the mixing is finished. It is the final phase of balancing everything involved within the project. The ultimate goal in this phase is to ensure that this piece of audio will sound the same with every conceivable playback system, guaranteeing that the quality is consistent regardless of the playback system used.

Journalists can leverage audio engineering techniques to enhance the quality and impact of their storytelling. Since one of the career paths under audio engineering is radio broadcasting, it goes to show how these skills can be utilized for purely vocal audio and interviews that journalists conduct. Podcasts can be filmed and then edited on software such as Ableton and Adobe Premiere Pro. Videos and audio can be trimmed using the software and all of the mixing needed is also at the journalists’ fingertips. They can use the panning tool to see to it that the voices are heard evenly in both ears if the listener were to use headphones. If a report is done out on the field, journalists can also use a tool called “gate” that cancels out any unwanted background noise to make for a much cleaner sound.

Journalists do have the option of hiring others to fulfill these tasks, but it is far preferable to learn the skills themselves and reap all the monetary and experiential benefits. Embracing these skills not only enriches the journalistic process but also opens the door to greater creative independence and professional versatility.