Friday, August 26, 2011

Dialog is key

In any good radio or TV soundtrack, the key to a great mix is getting the dialog recorded well. Having dialog with great "presence" allows the other elements (music and effects) to be mixed louder.

Presence makes a recording sound professional, and generally, dialog recorded in a studio will have great presence. However, dialog recorded in the field may have issues that can make the presence less than ideal.

Short of ADR, the simplest thing that will improve dialog presence is to add high-end EQ. Much like adding the "Sharpen Filer" in Photoshop, adding high-end EQ increases the dialog clarity and makes it sound more like the mic had been in the correct spot.

Another helpful step would be to mute all the dialog tracks, except for the one where the actor is speaking (assuming that each actor had been recorded to a separate track). This will eliminate any bleed.

Although doing these things won't fix a bad recording, they will usually improve it. Once the dialog presence is increased, the music and effects can be mixed louder, and the overall track will sound significantly better.

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