When we started working on EXPRESS CHANGE, I soon realised that Apple’s native GarageBand software was not going to be good enough for the purposes of this project. I have done a bit of music home recording with GarageBand over the years, and it does some things very well — but it’s also terribly frustrating in other areas, and sometimes it simply fails outright.
I am editing my documentary film myself and have worked with Adobe for a few years now. I am quite familiar with their Premiere Pro editing software and feel at home using it. My first thought was to use Premiere Pro simply as an audio-only tool for the podcast — it has its own mixer and effects rack built in, and I have been doing a fair share of rough audio editing for my film projects on it. So that’s a solution that could work. But then I thought Adobe must have its own standalone audio solution based on the same technology. And indeed, in the bundle I am subscribed to anyway I found Adobe Audition.
I did hit a couple of issues when I started working with Audition (I still don’t quite understand how it manages files, for instance). But overall, it’s been a really pleasant experience learning to use it. And that is largely due to Mike Russell. He runs an audio/video production YouTube channel that I can really recommend. His videos are short and sweet, and his on-screen personality is friendly and engaging. Even before looking for help with specific things on YouTube, Mike’s videos helped me get a handle on Audition overall, get set up with the basics on how to process audio for a podcast, and understand the essential tools. I can very much recommend the channel for anyone wanting to get into audio production with Adobe Audition.
When it comes to the finer points of, say, how to use compression, I now stray far and wide on YouTube. Mike is not necessarily your guy when you want to dig deep on something, or truly understand the nuts and bolts of a thing. But he’ll always give you an accessible jumping off point to find your path, to then go off on your own adventure.
So, a thank you to Mike’s channel — I don’t think we’d be making EXPRESS CHANGE quite the way we are without it. (And no, I am not paid to say this. I really mean what I am writing.)