Post production is another umbrella term that is used to define various processes in the domain of sound. In general, post production is quite self-explanatory. Something that is done afterwards after the initial recording, collecting or creating of desired sounds and musical tracks.
Post production means compiling, editing and mixing sounds together. It is the process by which all the elements are put together in the desired form, so that the product sounds as good as possible and serves the intended purpose.
Here are some typical workflows of post production:
Sound Design and Post Production for a Promotional Video Series
A customer ordered sound design for a series of videos. Each video had an individual sound design, feel, rhythm, and length. Although some had recorded dialogue and some had location sound here and there, I created custom sound content for each of them.
Depending on the video, the biggest part was usually played by the post production. There were tasks like noise reduction, creating artificial acoustics for indistinct sound ambiences, clarifying dialogue recorded with the camera microphone, and of course, mixing the material in a theatrical, trailer-like format.
Check out these cases in my portfolio.
Editing and Mixing a Record
I was asked to produce an album for a band. I noticed quite quickly that it seemed to be an album that would need to be measurably built up in post production. So I suggested that I could be in charge of mixing as well. My production hunch was right, as many parts were created in DAW (digital audio workstation): vocal overdubs, effects, beat and synth programming, re-amping, sampling/looping, etc. The list of typical modern studio techniques goes on. Along came basic editing: choosing takes, fine-tuning vocals and strings, timing in precise rhythmic elements and so on. These are things that are not meant to be noticed.
What is meant to be heard is the original sound and feel of the band. In mixing, the essence of the band was refined and boosted, yet the feel of the live studio performance was maintained.
The album was mastered by a dedicated mastering engineer. This is what I always suggest, as nothing beats another pair of fresh ears combined with the knowledge of modern music distribution specifications.
Check out the case in my portfolio.
Mixing (and little bit of producing) a Record
A singer/songwriter, who had recorded his own vocals, produced some other instrumental tracks and done some mixing already (pretty good work, have to say) asked me for further mixing and “a little help with production.” Actually, this is a very typical assignment for me.
The session was sent to me online, and I did some slight editing and tuning. I replaced the slightly unnatural sample-based strings with a new (still sample-based) string arrangement and mixed the song together.
A Wide Range of Processes
I do lot of single post production tasks, like mixing, finalizing (“light mastering”), noise reduction, editing, tuning, etc. I produce synchronized soundtracks for video and film and even fix noisy or muddy on-location recordings of theatre performances. Whatever the material, I make it sound as good as possible.
Aave Sound | Joonas Outakoski 