Wild Track/Buzz Track
The term 'wild track' refers to sound that is recorded during a film shoot, but separately from the main production audio and without any accompanying film footage being shot.
- recording a loud scream which might be heard off-screen during a scene
- re-recording sections of dialogue which may not have been recorded clearly during the day’s filming
The most common use of wild track is to capture 'room noise' or 'atmos' which is short for atmosphere. Atmos is the background noise which can still be heard in a room or location even when no-one is speaking.
Recording a minute or more of this noise allows you to edit audio more effectively by using that background track to cover gaps which might otherwise be noticeable.
Wild Take
Audio Recording
The decibel (dB) is a unit of measurement used to measure differences in relative intensity. For our purposes here, the decibel is a measurement of signal level, but it can also refer to sound pressure level. When used for metering a signal level, 0 dB is the highest signal level achievable without distortion. All signal levels below distortion are then represented as negative numbers.
When recording, we aim to have the loudest audio input hit -12dB. You can also work at -18dB in professional sound recording. The space above this is for music and effects in editing.
Gain
Ducking
Spectral Frequency Display
The bottom represents the low bass register, and the higher frequencies are represented at the top. The brighter the colour, the stronger it is in that region. Left to right is the timeline like the standard audio waveform view.
Audio Editing Workshop
Task:
Try Garageband on iOS or N-Track Studio on Android. On desktop try Garageband, Audition or Premiere.
Credits:
Created with an image by Bru-nO - "speakers box hifi"