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The Fairlight page mixer includes the four most common dynamics controls in one easy-to-
use panel. The compressor is used to narrow the dynamic range by lowering the loudest
peaks and bringing them closer to the lowest peaks. The expander, in contrast, expands
the dynamic range to increase the difference between the loudest and quietest peaks. The
limiter and gate both work as acoustic “brick walls” to limit sound from exceeding a target
level (limiter), and to prevent sounds lower than a set threshold from being heard (gate).
Pan controls place the sound of a track within a panoramic stereo field. These controls are
used to compose the acoustic experience just as a cinematographer composes the visuals
of a shot. Tracks can be precisely located anywhere from left to right to sound as if they
come from an offscreen source, or somewhere within the frame. DaVinci Resolve includes
advanced pan controls in both the Edit page and Fairlight page with both 2D (stereo) and
3D sound placement for surround sound systems.
Equalization (EQ) controls manipulate specific frequencies to enhance the overall sound,
and are just like working with color, saturation, and hue in color correction. For example:
the human voice is based on a fundamental frequency shared by millions, the additional
frequencies add tonal qualities to “color” the voice and make it unique and recognizable.
The primary function of equalization is to lower frequencies that detract from the voice
andboost the positive frequencies to improve the overall sound. The Fairlight page mixer
includes a six-band parametric equalizer on each track which is the perfect tool for
enhancing and “sweetening” audio tracks.
Mixing and Mastering
The last step of audio post is mixing the tracks and mastering the output. Assuming that
allof the other steps were completed prior to the mix, the process is fairly straightforward.
Thegoal of mixing and mastering is to balance the levels coming from each track so they
sound good as a whole. This is accomplished by making subtle changes to the track levels,
or combining similar tracks into submixes to make them easier to control with one fader.
The final master needs to sound great and meet delivery standards for loudness.
Fortunately, the Fairlight page includes everything you need to mix tracks and loudness
meters to make sure the levels are right on target.
Now that you understand some of the technical steps and creative tools that are essential
in an audio post production workflow, you can dive in to the upcoming lessons and start
putting them to use on your own projects!
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