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Hardware

The RDS uses this Fostex recording desk to record audio. The desk has four powered inputs and can record to the onboard hard drive. The audio can then be exported to a computer directly, to a pen drive or to a CD via an external CD rewriter.

As a technical director it is important to be able to use the desk efficently to ensure a high quality raw recording.

If you are interested in reading more about the desk or learning more about its features, the manual can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS uses a number of these Shure microphones to record audio.

As a technical director it is important to be able to position the microphone correctly to pick up a clear signal from the actors; who will for the most part have no idea and just start acting as soon as they see a script.

If you are interested in reading more about the mic or learning more about its features, the manual can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

Sound Effects

The RDS has a copy of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS has a copy of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS has a copy of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS has a copy of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS has a copy of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS has a copy of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be viewed.

The RDS has the first 20 discs of this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS has this Sound Effects Collection

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the effects to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be viewed.

Royalty Free Music

The RDS currently has this collection of royalty free music.

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the music to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

A full list of the sound effects in this collection can be downloaded (You will need to have a pdf reader installed to read the manual: such as Acrobat Reader or Foxit Reader).

The RDS currently has 96 discs of SmartSound Music.

As a technical director it is part of your job to work with the director to choose the music to add to audio shows to create the aural atmosphere.

SmartSound QuickTrack files are a type of audio file that can be dynamically recreated to produce a music track of any length that comes to an end without suddenly cutting out. To use these files a piece of SmartSound enabled software is required.

Although this is not documented, many SmartSound files can be played in winamp. In this way, the songs can be recorded in real time and turned into wav files to be imported into audio recordings. In this way, the length of the songs cannot be edited, but it saves buying, learning and using a SmartSound enabled programme.

Software

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.

Audacity is a good, simple starting point for audio editing. It can work well with simple editing of audio, but lacks many of the advanced features of expensive software and cannot use SmartSound QuickTracks.

The programme can be downloaded.

Adobe Audition is the premier professional sound editing.

It is a very powerful and complex programme, however it can produce amazingly professional results.

A 30 day trial of the programme can be downloaded.

SoundForge is another audio editor. Version 9 now supports multi-track recording.

SoundForge is another powerful audio editor. It is, perhaps, slightly easier to use than Audition; however, those with experience with Adobe products may feel more comfortable with Audition. It is quite difficult to move from using Audition to SoundForge or vice versa since the menus are very different and the same tasks are completed in rather different ways.

A 30 day trial of the programme can be downloaded.

Sonicfire Pro is an audio editor designed for adding scores to films. It contains support for SmartSound QuickTrick files and can digitally edit the music and create the sound tracks for audio programmes.

It is a very powerful and complex programme, however it can produce amazingly professional results.

A 30 day trial of the programme can be downloaded.

Training

In many ways it is up to you to choose your own method of editing audio, and pick your own preferred method. If you do not know where to begin but would like to edit audio, the RDS can offer you some introductory training. The best training, as for everything with computers, is just to try it and practice, asking the technical director for help when you get stuck. Nevertheless, to start you off, the RDS has a few training DVDs for Adobe Audition and SonicFire Pro.

This training DVD goes through the basics and advanced features of Adobe Audition. The speed is, perhaps, rather slow, and may be a bit basic for advanced computer users. Nevertheless, it never hurts to have something re-enforced.

Overall it is a good introduction, and does have information that even advanced users may not be aware of, if they have the patience to sit through it.

This training DVD explains how to use SonicFire Pro to create a soundtrack. Since this is something few people will have experience with, it containing many important instructions. It also contains a number of useful tips on adding background music and sound effects that will be useful for all audio editors.