Podcaster Resources

Ask How to Audio Drama: Let’s Get Loud

August 18, 2020 11:01 am

This week in How to Audio Drama, we’re answering reader questions about loudness, how to start editing audio, and how to get over intra-show jealousy.

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Ask Wil a Question

How do you know if your audio is loud enough? Or equalized at all?
Probably Too Quiet

Hey, Probably!

I get this question all the time, so you’re definitely not alone here. For podcasts, the standard metric we use is Loudness Units Relative to Full Scale, of LUFS. LUFS are just a way of measuring the “loudness” of a podcast instead of just thinking in terms of decibel. The current industry standard is for your audio to hit -16 LUFS. Whatever software you use to edit should have the ability to export or match the loudness of your audio to -16 LUFS.

But when it comes to your audio being equalized, I think what you mean is your audio being normalized. Audio normalization is the process that decreases the loudness between your audio’s loudest and quietest moments. Some audio purists are anti-normalization, but in my opinion, it’s the quickest and easiest way to make sure your audio has a uniform volume–which also makes it more accessible! I usually normalize my audio, then match it to -16 LUFS.

I’m currently in the process of writing my own audio drama which is going all well and good. I’m worried about if I actually choose to produce it later on. My main concern is with mixing, music, sound, all that. I’d love any tips you can give to a complete amateur.
Lost in My Head

Hi, Lost!

Boy howdy, have I been there. I’ll be going into all of these concepts much later on in the How to Audio Drama series, but here’s a quick and dirty list when it comes to the audio:

Listen to some of your favorite audio dramas really closely. Take notes on everything you hear.
Do the same for films and TV shows! All of the sound effects are added in post by a sound designer. What do you hear? When?
Get several sets of ears listening to your drafts. Ask if any of the levels are too high or inconsistent.
Listen to your mixes on more platforms than just good editing headphones. Play your mix on your laptop speaker, on cheap headphones, and in your car.
Look into the deals at sound libraries like A Sound Effect, and subscribe to its newsletter. They often have completely free sounds you can use!
If you use sound libraries like FreeSound, make sure to filter the results for licenses like Creative Commons 0 to make sure you won’t have copyright issues.
If you do noise reduction on a file too much, your audio will sound really sharp and harsh! Try to do noise correction as sparingly as possible while also achieving a clean sound.
Get weird, man. If something just isn’t sounding right, throw something wild into the mix and see how it goes. Even choosing something at random might at least spark inspiration.

I hope that list helps!

Hi, I’m wondering if you have any advice as to how to deal with intra-show jealousy/comparison. I have trouble with constantly comparing myself to other writers and actors on the show, and find for my own mental health, I can’t listen to any part of the show. This makes me feel guilty, especially because I know how hard everyone is working on the project. Any advice on how to lessen/get rid of this?
Struggling in Self-Esteem

Oof, Struggling, I’ve been there.

So, off the bat, I think this is something that would be best brought to a therapist. I’m a big believer that therapy is something everyone should do, especially because I think we all have moments like this. I’m not a therapist, but I am happy to give advice that’s helped me.

In my experience, jealousy is rarely about someone else doing well. It’s usually actually about feeling like we aren’t doing well enough. I see a lot of advice on jealousy that says you should just be happy for your friends, and that’s true, but I think you need to do some work internally about being kind to yourself.

First, I think you should try to define what success feels like to you. When I first started making VALENCE, I had several numbers in mind that would make me feel like we were “successful.” Every time we hit one of those numbers, my brain immediately invalidated the feeling of success and set a new, much higher number. I think that’ll probably go on forever–and that’s why I try to really savor the qualitative moments of success, not the quantitative. Now, for me, success feels like the rush of warmth when a cast member thanks me for how I wrote a scene. Success feels like giggling with a listener who makes a silly joke about the show. Success feels like a kind review someone leaves.

I think it might be good for you to do the same, and I think it might be good for you to think about why you’re being so hard on yourself. Remember that you’ve made something, and that’s huge! You are, right now, where someone else wishes they could be. You are doing what someone else wishes they could. I want you to try to look up to yourself as much as you look up to your peers, and I don’t want you to judge yourself more harshly than you would judge your friends.

Be kind to yourself, Struggling. You’re doing great. When you’ve learned to honor your journey where it is right now, I think that jealousy is likely to melt away, like it did for me.

How to Audio Drama is our weekly column documenting every piece of information you’d need to start your own audio drama (aka fiction podcast). The series can be read in full, or read volume by volume. You can use our table of contents to find each How to Audio Drama installment, and you can submit questions to our monthly How to Audio Drama advice column.