Sound Editing vs Sound Mixing: Difference and Comparison

Different types of sounds in a cinematic experience keep the audience more engaged. Even a great script can become unpresentable without the right choice and mixing of sound.

Both sound editing and sound mixing are crucial parts of storytelling, and hence it is important to know how to distinguish between them. 

Key Takeaways

1. Sound editing involves manipulating and arranging audio elements in a film or video, while sound mixing focuses on blending those elements to achieve the desired balance.
2. Sound editors create and select sound effects, dialogue, and music for a project, while sound mixers adjust levels, equalization, and spatial positioning.
3. Sound editing and mixing are complementary processes, creating a cohesive and immersive audio experience for viewers.

Sound Editing vs Sound Mixing

Sound editing is the process of manipulating individual audio elements such as dialogue, music, sound effects, and ambient noise to create a final audio track. Sound mixing, is the process of combining all the individual audio elements that have been edited into a final audio mix.

In sound editing, all the dialogues are recorded/re-recorded, artificial sounds are created, etc., in very high quality.

Sound editing is done before sound mixing, and creating high-quality sound is of utmost importance in sound editing. 

For example, creating Foley sounds is a part of sound editing, including sounds like heavy footsteps, the breaking of glass, etc. 

Sound mixing is mixing all the audio collection (dialogues, music, Foley sounds, etc.) so that the audio level is together in a single scene.

The collection of all the sounds (part of sound editing) is given to a sound mixer so that they blend them, adjust levels, and bring the best out of multi-track recording. 

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Sound Editing	Sound Mixing
Job Description	In sound editing, the main job is to create and collect different audio tracks.	In sound mixing, a sound mixer blends all these tracks together to match their audio levels.
Sound quality	The sound quality of the recorder dialogues, Foley sounds, background music, etc. should be very good.	The multi-tracks should be blended in such a way that it brings out the best cinematic experience.
Production process	In the process of music production, sound editing is the first step.	After the collection and creation of all important audio tracks (sound editing), sound mixing is done.
Multiple sources	Sound editing comprises a collection of audio tracks from multiple sources.	Sound mixing comprises the blending of these multi-tracks collected by sound editors.
Importance	Sound editors pick the right sounds for a movie and also edit to remove unwanted elements.	Sound mixers make sure that the final audio level matches the aesthetic of the movie or a particular shot.

What is Sound Editing?

Sound editing is the process in music production where the dialogues are recorded, and sounds are artificially created in the studios, unnecessary disturbances are removed, etc.

The final audio we hear in a movie or a song album is a mixture of blended audio tracks. And before blending these tracks (sound mixing), the sound editors recorded different kinds of audio. 

In sound editing, different types of audio tracks are created. For example, verbal narration, that is, the human voice is recorded, musical tracks are recorded, and most importantly, different sound effects are created.

The sound effects are created artificially in the studio are called Foley sounds.

For example, the noise of smashing glass or a car falling off the clip. In real life, recording these types of audio can become a difficult task, and hence they are produced in a studio. 

Today, many sound editing software is readily available on the market, and people apart from professionals are also using them. So, beginners can also learn about sound editing without any professional studio setup. 

What is Sound Mixing?

Sound mixing comprises the second part of sound production, when all the audio levels are mixed. Fine-tuning is extremely important when recording a song or mixing different audio for a movie.

And this fine-tuning is produced after proper audio mixing. Without proper sound mixing, the audio tracks don’t come together, and the aesthetic of the project is disrupted. 

The sound mixers mostly use a pair of studio monitors to blend the audio tracks. Using studio headphones is important because otherwise, it gets very difficult to understand if the final track is coming together properly or not.

The sound mixers can add subtle harmonies or extra layers to make the tuning accurate. 

Apart from fine audio-tuning and blending the audio levels to get a cinematic experience, good quality sound for sound mixing is also important.

For example, if the sound recording is bad or there is too much background noise in the audio track, then it’s very difficult for sound mixers to work with it.

So, before sound mixing, the best version of the recording should be created. 

Main Differences Between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing

1. The main job of a sound editor is to collect and create various types of sounds and music, whereas a sound mixer blends all these audio tracks and brings them to the same level.
2. The sound quality while editing, like the recorded dialogues and the Foley sounds, should be of very high quality. On the other hand, during sound mixing, the blending should be done to bring out the best of the cinematic experience. 
3. In the sound production process, sound editing is the first step. I.e., the creation and collection of different audio tracks. After sound editing, it is the sound mixer’s job to blend these for multiple audio tracks. 
4. While sound editing comprises the collection and creation of natural and synthetic sounds produced in a studio, sound mixing comprises the entire blending process. 
5. Sound editing is important because the editors select the right audio tracks for a movie and remove unwanted noises, whereas sound mixing is important because tracks are blended to match the aesthetic of the movie. 

References

1. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315106335-3/media-management-sound-editing-mixing-george-kalliris-charalampos-dimoulas-maria-matsiola
2. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-16401-1_5