Audio is a very fickle thing.
Set up the mic, hit record and then………stuff happens.
In the century since audio recording was invented audio disasters have conspired to make it difficult for all those who wish to use archive or freshly recorded audio.
Sometimes I have less control of the audio as its part of the video. I concentrate on the shot and hope the sound is ok. Once it was a dedicated cameraman and soundman. Now mobile phones with high quality picture and every chance of the audio going wrong.
Audio post budgets have shrunk again and again and frequently the chances of getting 100% quality audio are not a certainty. Professional audio recordists, if they are hired, are put under pressure. Stuff happens, and the professionals use all their expertise to make sure they get a good take. Sometimes there is only one chance and there is the hope problems can be sorted out during post production. Sometimes the best visual has unusable audio and the director has to choose second best.
Music recording is always trying to get the performance. Gremlins and just bad luck conspire otherwise.
Similarly you may have a special occasion such as a wedding and the special moments are destroyed by camera clicks, mobile phones or other intrusions.
Audio repair, restoration and mastering is our business with 40 years of experience covering from wax, vinyl and tape right up to all modern media formats. I have built up the experience of all the old analogue cleanup methods and also utilise the latest source separation techniques to carve out something usable from the worst of audio nightmares.
Mics that get bumped, covered up, rustled, battery going flat, not connected properly, too far away, grossly overloaded, along with unwanted traffic, jets, engines, electrical interference, crowds, sirens, mobile phones, GSM interference, cameras clicking I like to rescue the desired audio and leave all the bad stuff in the bin.
This same approach is also taken for recovering audio from the past, old tapes, shellac or vinyl discs in order to return it to its pristine state.
What type of audio material can I clean-up?
- Any digital or analogue source.
- All professional digital file formats WAV AIFF AAF OMF BWAV FLAC etc.
- Audio from a video file taken with a camera or mobile phone
- Podcast material
- Unique social occasion audio such as weddings
- Seminar recordings
- Conference audio
- Audio for Youtube videos
- Audio from old videos VHS, Betamax, Hi8
- Old reel-to-reel tapes, cassettes, DAT and Mini Disc
- Vinyl, wax or shellac discs.
Let’s work together
If you have some audio that you would like to use in a project but you think its too bad, send me a snippet of the worst problems and I'll let you know if it's usable.
If you have old tapes or videos please feel free to contact me so I can work something out.