There will be two workshops on audio editing and mixing that will help you edit group recordings of bands or ensembles, which you can then share with students, use as backing tracks for online sessions, or create videos of people playing together.

The audio sessions will be followed up by two video editing sessions, and together they will cover the process used to make ‘mosaic’ style music videos of bands and ensembles recording themselves from home, such as the Symphony of a Thousand videos we made last year.

Dates for audio session 22nd and 29th April and dates for vidoe sessions 5th and 12th May.

Basics of Audio Editing - An Introduction (this session)

For this session, you will be introduced to basic audio editing techniques and editing programmes (sometimes known as Digital Audio Workstations or DAWs). You will learn how to get started using a DAW, and how to use some basic editing functions. We will share the processes we have used for managing home recordings with a band or ensemble and explain some of the challenges involved and some workarounds for these. The workshop will have a mix of demos and practical exercises and by the end, you should have some basic tools to start editing your own band or ensemble.

What editing programmes/software can you use for the workshop?

If you have your own audio editing software/DAW that you are familiar with, you can use this for the workshop.

If you do not have any audio editing software, we recommend downloading and using Protools First as this is the main programme we will be using demonstrate ideas throughout the workshops. Note that we will focus more on the editing functions and processes that are available across different platforms and will try to show how to access these functions on a few other well-known programmes as well.

Protools First is a free programme and you can upload or record up to 16 tracks. You can create an account.

If you can’t access this, other free programmes you can try are Audacity or Bandlab.