Things to Remember

There are a number of points to take away from this chapter regarding setting up, recording in, and playing out audio with Premiere Pro.

When setting up, use the Sound and Audio Devices Properties to adjust the incoming and outgoing volume levels for the default audio and additional audio interfaces with your system. If you are trying to use a 5.1 multi-channel surround sound system, be sure the interface supports ASIO and be sure you have properly mapped your speakers in the Audio Output Mapping preference. To access additional settings proprietary to the device, click the ASIO settings button with the default device set to the device in your Audio Hardware preference.

If you are doing voiceovers for home videos and your own projects, there is no need to shell out $1000 for a condenser microphone. A dynamic microphone from your local music store (or the web) is totally reasonable. When purchasing your microphone, check if it requires a pre-amp. If it does, see if you can get the mic with a 1/8" plug adapter; that way you can use the pre-amp of your default audio device.

If you want to record higher quality audio or have a specific task in mind, research the condenser or ribbon options. At the end of the day, if you only need to record a few things, you can always rent a good microphone and return it once your work is complete. Again, verify the pre-amp, phantom, and battery power needs for each microphone.

When listening to your audio, have the best and worst scenarios readily available. For example, I have a television with a mono speaker as my worst listening environment. On the flip side, a sensitive pair of big snug headphones allows me to block out all other sound and focus on the audio. For the best in speakers, I have surround speakers properly placed and positioned so that the sound is accurately distributed. At the end of the day, not all of us can afford a sound-tight room and precise JBL speakers, but given the portability of Premiere Pro, you could achieve a decent amount of work at home then bring your project into a professional studio to finish the job.

Finally, one last thing my mentor always said was that the audio coming out of your system can only be as good as the audio coming into it. Meaning, if you have a poor quality recording, there's a lot you can do to fix it, but it will never compare to a crisp, clear, and full-bodied original recording.

In the next chapter, you will dive into recording an actual voiceover. In later chapters, you will cut it up, clean it up, and then fix it up to make it sound as good as possible.