Sound Editing Vs Mixing: What’s the difference? Which comes first? and How to?

Sound design consists of two main components; sound editing and sound mixing. You wonder these two differ? Well, yes they do. In simple terms,

Sound editing is collecting and creating all kinds of sounds needed for a particular film.

Sound mixing, is blending those created and collected bundles, seamlessly, to complete a scene’s meaning.

Sounds used in sound design are usually, sound effects, foley, music, song, and dialogues. From needle drop to explosions, most of the sounds you hear in a film are reproduced in a studio. Broadly speaking, this recreation of sound, also called Foley makes up one layer. The dialogues and music make the other two.. And then these layers are blended to generate a desired emotional impact on the audience. What’s to learn here? Build these layers separately first and then work towards melding them such that they run parallel or even intersect each other in a seamless manner.

In summary, like film-making, sound design is analogous to cooking, you collect ingredients from different sources and mix them as per taste. Sound editing is collecting sounds from different sources and mixing is blending them to complete a scene’s final effect.

Now that you know that sound editing and mixing are pretty different and crucial, start analyzing your film-making style with indispensable inclusion of sound, at every stage, pre-production, and post. And your skills will improve, drastically.

The following are two short fun videos to get you started on Foley.

Mixing sounds are whole another art form to be mastered but to begin with we will share some points that’ll help you take charge of your film sounds after you have collected the sound required.

Now say, you have recorded dialogues, music, and maybe even a song you have sourced from a composer, you have sound effects and you are done with Foley. Take a look at the most fundamental of mixing techniques that you can use in your films as a beginner.