Music & Audio
Voice overs, mixing, and audio gigs from Buxonline freelancers, starting at just $1.
About music & audio
Music and audio work covers the creation, manipulation, and refinement of sound for a wide range of purposes: recording instruments and voices, composing original pieces, mixing tracks so every element sits clearly in the final balance, mastering audio so it translates consistently across playback systems, designing sound effects for film or games, editing dialogue for podcasts, and restoring or cleaning up poor-quality recordings. The work might involve a single vocal take cleaned and levelled for a voiceover, a full orchestral arrangement recorded across multiple sessions, or layered sound design that gives a virtual environment its sense of place.
What separates competent audio work from poor work often comes down to listening environment, monitoring accuracy, and understanding how frequencies interact. A mix that sounds clear on studio monitors may turn muddy on earbuds if low-mid frequencies mask the vocal, or brittle on a phone speaker if harshness around 3kHz wasn't tamed. Good practice means checking work on multiple playback systems, using reference tracks in the same genre, and knowing when to use compression, EQ, reverb, or automation to solve a problem rather than simply applying effects. Mastering requires a different skill set again: preparing audio so it meets technical delivery standards for streaming platforms or physical formats, ensuring consistent loudness across an album, and making sure nothing distorts or clips.
File formats, sample rates, and bit depth matter throughout the process. Recording at 24-bit / 48kHz is common for video work, while 24-bit / 96kHz might be chosen for high-resolution music projects. Lossy formats like MP3 or AAC are fine for distribution but destructive for editing. Professionals typically work in WAV or AIFF, then export compressed versions only at the final delivery stage.
Guides related to music & audio
Music & Audio — questions and answers
- What sample rate and bit depth should audio be recorded at?
- Recording at 24-bit depth captures far more dynamic range than 16-bit, giving headroom before clipping and preserving detail in quiet passages. Sample rate depends on purpose: 44.1kHz suits music distribution, 48kHz aligns with video standards, and 96kHz or higher is chosen when heavy processing or pitch-shifting is planned. Higher rates increase file size and processing load without audible benefit in many contexts.
- How does mixing differ from mastering?
- Mixing balances individual tracks within a song or project—adjusting levels, panning, EQ, compression, and effects so each element occupies its own space and the whole piece feels cohesive. Mastering takes the finished stereo mix and optimises it for distribution: adjusting overall tonal balance, controlling dynamics, setting final loudness to match streaming or format standards, and ensuring consistency across multiple tracks in an album.
- Can you fix timing or pitch problems after recording?
- Yes, within limits. Timing can be adjusted using tools that shift audio regions or apply time-stretching, though extreme corrections introduce audible artifacts. Pitch correction tools like Melodyne or Auto-Tune can adjust individual notes, but heavy correction often produces a processed sound. The quality of the original recording determines how far you can push these fixes before the result sounds unnatural.
- What does 'stems' mean when delivering a music project?
- Stems are grouped submixes of a full arrangement, typically divided by instrument type: drums, bass, guitars, keys, vocals, and effects might each be a separate stereo file. They allow remixing, adaptation for different media, or language-swapped vocals without needing the original multitrack session. Stems are bounced at the same length, sample rate, and bit depth, usually starting from the same zero point.
- Why does audio need to be different for streaming platforms versus CD?
- Streaming services apply loudness normalisation, typically targeting around -14 LUFS for music, so overly compressed masters lose impact and may even be turned down. CDs have no such normalisation, and historically mastering pushed loudness higher. Modern practice tailors masters to the destination: preserving dynamic range for streaming, and optionally creating a separate, louder version for physical formats if required.
- What makes dialogue editing different from music editing?
- Dialogue editing prioritises clarity and consistency: removing breaths, clicks, background noise, and room tone inconsistencies between takes. It often involves matching levels across multiple microphones or recording sessions, reducing plosives and sibilance, and ensuring speech sits intelligibly in the mix without competing with music or effects. Music editing focuses more on timing, arrangement, and emotional flow rather than forensic cleanup.
