Jason Levine – Healing People Daily with the Power of Digital Video & Audio

Hello, my friends. In this excerpt, we'll continue the vocal treatment process and focus on using the Analog Delay effect in Adobe Audition 3. This particular analogue-modeled effect is one of my favorites, as it makes it very easy to genuinely mimic the classic, retro sound of old-school tape delays (think Echoplex, or even a Revox A/B-77) and easily customize the repetitions/feedback, delay times, and 'trash' (ie, frequency degradation) of the echoes it produces; it's also very lean on the processor, so you can use multiple delays without adversely affecting realtime performance. If you're looking for a great way to stylize your vocals, this effect will do the trick.

Analog Tape Delay on Vocals in Adobe Audition 3 from Jason Levine on Vimeo.

Part 3 is underway: stylizing the overall mix with equalization, so stay tuned!

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Hello again, my friends! This post will pick up where the last video left off, having just pitch-corrected a lead vocal. In this 3-part series, I'll start by taking you through the process of Submixing in Adobe Audition 3. Following the bussing of background vocals, I'll show you how to apply compression and reverb on the lead vocal, and use the same settings (as a rack preset) on the 'bussed' backgrounds. Incidentally, because compression is *always* one of the hottest topics, I will follow up with a separate video on using only the compressor (possibly for drums/bass, etc)...but this will give you a taste!

SubMixing w/Compression & Reverb for Vocals in Adobe Audition 3 from Jason Levine on Vimeo.

Also, since we're talking about the making of Johnny Encore's Chromakey You, I thought it only fitting to present the finished music video here, for the first time, in stereo *and* HD. Enjoy...

Chromakey You by Johnny Encore from Jason Levine on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for Part 2, coming shortly...

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Hello again, my friends! In this video, I've taken a section from Short and Suite, Episode 3 and the making of Johnny Encore's "Chromakey You". Here, I'll take you through the process of using Audition 3's native pitch correction tools to not only correct, but also process and stylize a vocal (if, that's what you're looking to do) a-la, the infamous (and now, all too common) Antares Auto-Tune. I also explain some of the key differences between a seamless/unnoticeable correction, and today's more common, over-processed, 'pitch quantized' sound...

Pitch Correction (and 'Auto-Tuning') in Adobe Audition 3 from Jason Levine on Vimeo.

As always, if you want to see the full episode, check out Short & Suite at AdobeTV.

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey there, friends! I just wanted to write a quick post and apologize to anyone who's left comments over the last few months. Unbeknownst to me, when we made a recent move to a different Moveable Type version (and apparently a new server) somehow, my 'Junk Filters' went into chaos mode and simply began junking EVERY comment! I had no idea this was happening, and *only now* decided to have a gander at my 'junk' folder (as it seemed to be rather full). Lo and behold, dozens of comments, legit ones (ie, not spambots!), just sitting there! ;(

...and here I thought people just didn't feel like leaving comments anymore! ;P Well, I do apologize, but I think I've managed to restore them all now. I'll start replying to all as soon as I can.

Thanks again, and thanks for reading!

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Hello again, my friends! In my continuing effort to bring you shorter and sweeter training excerpts from our AdobeTV series, here's yet another video from Season 1, Episode 1.

This particular video shows you how to remove the infamous 'popping P' from a voice-over or vocal delivery. Effectively, this quick 2-minute tutorial highlights the usage of the FFT filter, an extremely flexible tool in Audition's already complex arsenal of equalization options. This one is particularly great for quick V.O. fixes as there are many presets to get you started, pointing you in the right direction for tackling everyday problems.

Removing Plosives with Adobe Audition 3 from Jason Levine on Vimeo.

More to come, so stay tuned!

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hello, my friends! Over the past few months, I've received a great number of questions (through the blog or via Twitter) with regard to audio post-production techniques. Largely, they've dealt with the basics (ie, noise reduction, hum removal, hiss reduction, pop removal, normalization) and as such, I decided to re-edit some of our Short & Suite episodes from AdobeTV, creating short training movies for each specific workflow in question.

I'm going to attempt going thru the entire first season and 'cherry pick' some of the highlight workflow features, largely based on the questions I've received. Here's a 5 minute tutorial (from Short & Suite, Episode 1) on removing hum/noise from a vocal or voice-over using the Spectral Frequency Display and Audition 3's unique Noise Reduction filter...

Noise/Hum Removal in Adobe Audition 3 from Jason Levine on Vimeo.

Please let me know your thoughts on this concept. Naturally, if you want to see more (as well as the entire video creation process with my colleague Karl Soule) be sure to tune in to the full episodes on Adobe TV.

Here's a direct link to Short & Suite, Episode 1

In the meantime, I'll be continuing to cut-up and produce even shorter and sweeter edits from the series, in an effort to get the information to you quickly and concisely.

Until next time,

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hello, my friends! I'm just back from my brief tour in the UK, and this time the focus was around Universities, broadcast and industry clientel, and a special appearance at the FCPUG Supermeet in London, reprising my performance from the 'meet' in Vegas during NAB.

This time around, my colleague Michael O'Neill joined me at the event, and I took the stage in the early evening to an enthusiastic capacity crowd. As in Vegas, the session was titled Sharing the Love - FCP & CS4, and I did indeed share it 'round, getting some great responses from the crowd.

My intro slide, snapped by Michael from the audience

Just about to begin, standing on stage, snapping with the iPhone

Prior to the Supermeet, Michael and I spent several days visiting Universities in the South of England, focusing on workflow and integration between CS4 and FCP, as well as Avid Media Composer integration and even mentions of incorporating ProTools into a CS4 project. What was especially cool about these visits is that we got a chance to show-off performance from the latest MacBookPro 8GB laptops, as well as the newest Intel Nehalem Workstation (similar to the one I used at LLB a few months back). Once again, the Nehalem processor continues to WOW people (even primarily Mac-based set-ups) and in conjunction with the supah-speedy MBP 17", it's a true one-two performance punch, for both online and offline production.

And, in case you thought that Universities still have basic 'Broadcast Journalism' majors (well, I 'sort of' though that!) here's a list of what you might be studying at Falmouth U. Where was this stuff when *I* was in school? ;)

Falmouth University Media Degree Programs

With that, my friends, I'm going back to the studio to 'shed' and work on some new materials for upcoming Adobe TV episodes. I've also got a few musical creations in the works, so perhaps I'll post some 'in-progress' versions, if anyone has any desire to hear them. And, since a few people asked where they can get a 'proper headshot', here's the one I used at the SuperMeet (and will likely update my Twitter account with).

Healing People Daily, with my hair down...;)

Until next time,

Blog on.

Posted by Jason Levine at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)