Adding Audio Polish – Training

Your edits sound fine. They could sound professional.

Adding Audio Polish is a 5-lesson email course that teaches video editors the complete audio workflow — Dialogue, Music, Sound Effects, Sound Design, and Mixing — so every project you deliver sounds as good as it looks.

Every Editor's Biggest Challenge...

Every time I ask editors what their biggest challenge is, the answer is always the same.

Sound.

You know how to cut. You know how to tell a story. You've invested years in your craft.

But audio still feels like someone else's job.

So you slap on a music track. You hope the dialogue is clean enough. You nudge a few levels and call it a day—hoping no one notices.

Here's the thing: audio is at least 50% of the viewing experience.

When it's wrong, audiences feel it before they can name it.
When it's right, it disappears — and your edit becomes something they feel rather than just watch.

The gap between "fine" audio and professional audio is not as wide as you think. It's not about becoming an audio engineer. It's about having the right framework, applied in the right order.

That's what this course gives you.

Transformative Results

Before this course:

• Rough dialogue you hope nobody notices
• Music that carries the emotion for the edit, not with it
• Sound effects as afterthoughts
• No idea what LUFS means or how to hit delivery specs
• Audio as the part you rush at the end

After this course:

• Dialogue that's clean, consistent, and clear every time
• Music that enhances the story without dominating it
• Sound effects and design that add real production value
• Mixes that pass QC and sound good on any platform
• A permanent audio checklist you can use on every project from here on

Who you'll learn from

This course draws on insights from some of the most respected names in film and TV sound — because the best way to learn to think about audio is to hear how the professionals think about it, including:

Walter Murch — Sound Designer, Apocalypse Now

“Your impression at the end of the scene is that you've heard everything all the time — but that's what's happening in your head, not on the screen.”

Richard King — Oscar-winning Sound Designer

“Go for the things you'd really want to hear in that moment, and make those great. And then work down from there.”

Erik Aadahl — Supervising Sound Editor/Designer, A Quiet Place

“Sound comes in through the back door. You can be a lot sneakier with manipulation. You can dig into that reptilian part of the human senses and, in a way, with sound become a puppet master of emotions.”

Jack Whittaker — Supervising Sound Editor

“Sound editing is the intention and sound mixing is the truth. It's a great reality check to have a mixer listen through stuff.”

The full course breakdown

Introduction (4 min read)

Before you touch a single keyframe, understand the two things most editors get backwards: the difference between sound editing and sound mixing, and why the order of operations changes everything.

This single insight will reorganise how you approach audio on every project.

Lesson 1 — Dialogue (9 min read)

The longest lesson, and rightly so. Dialogue is the foundation of every edit.

By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to smooth edits at scale, fill gaps with room tone, apply plugins in the correct order, and rescue a performance in post when the original just isn't good enough.

You'll learn:

• Dialogue editing fundamentals
• Keyframes, dissolves, and tone fill
• The correct order of operations for polishing dialogue
• Frequency enhancement map for voices
• EQ, de-essing, and compression
• Performance stuffing, AI-ADR, and mastering Frankenbites

Lesson 2 — Music (12 min read)

“Change the music” is one of the most common notes editors receive.

This lesson gives you a repeatable process for finding better options, editing them to actually fit your cut, and mixing them so they enhance the emotion rather than overpower it.

You'll learn:

• Building a music selection process
• Spotting — when, where, and whether to use music
• Editing for arc and variety
• Re-composing with stems
• Notching and worldizing for a natural fit
• Mixing music under dialogue

Lesson 3 — Sound Effects (11 min read)

Sound effects are one of the most underused tools an editor has — and one of the cheapest ways to add real production value.

You'll learn where to source them, how to design them, and how to blend them so they feel like part of the world rather than placed on top of it.

You'll learn:

• Free and paid libraries (curated list included)
• Building and organising your personal library
• The Foundation · Details · Sweeteners framework for designing effects
• Foley — when recording your own is faster
• Blending, transitions, and story sounds
• An honest take on AI-generated sound effects

Lesson 4 — Sound Design (8 min read)

The most underestimated layer of the mix.

Great sound design is mostly invisible — it works on the audience subconsciously, telling them what to feel before they know why they feel it. And the most powerful tool in it isn't a plugin. It's silence.

You'll learn:

• Using sound to solve storytelling problems
• Background beds vs. specific effects
• Emotion over realism
• The strategic use of silence
• Building an inspiration archive
• Professional turnover workflow and AAF export settings

Lesson 5 — Mixing (9 min read)

Now everything comes together.

You'll learn Walter Murch's 2.5-layer rule, how to lead with dialogue, how to create dynamic movement that keeps audiences engaged, and exactly what LUFS targets you need to hit for YouTube, Netflix, broadcast, and social.

You'll learn:

• Mixing principles and dynamics
• Clarity as the central objective
• Level guidelines for every stem
• Understanding Peak, RMS, and LUFS
• Platform delivery standards
• Blending techniques and bus processing
• An honest take on AI mixing tools

Bonus — Audio Checklist (2 min read)

A complete audio polishing checklist for every project — from setup and organisation through to final QC — so you never miss a step again.

Includes access to an evolving Google Doc version of the course to keep as a permanent reference.

Adding Audio Polish

Concise email-based training covering the full audio workflow for video editors, including Dialogue, music, sound effects, sound design, and mixing.

All you need to know to add Audio Polish to every project without becoming an audio engineer.

7 emails delivered to your inbox over a week.

Buy Adding Audio Polish Now

How it works

7 emails. One a day. Yours to keep.

Each lesson arrives in your inbox and stays there. No logins, no portals, no platforms.

If you only read the emails, you'll have everything you need to add professional-standard audio polish to every project you deliver.

If you follow all the links, you'll find curated tutorials, breakdowns, and interviews that go miles deeper — at exactly the pace and depth you want.

The final lesson includes a complete checklist and a Google Doc you can bookmark and return to on every project.

Works in any NLE — Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Avid, or anything else.

Who this is for

This course is built for video editors — not audio engineers.

It's for you if:

• You handle your own audio and want to do it properly
• You've been told “the audio needs work” and didn't know where to start
• You want to improve the quality before handing off to a professional mixer
• You're working without a dedicated sound team and need a complete framework
• You're an editor at any level — from freelance to in-house to broadcast

Who this course is not for

• Dedicated audio engineers or sound designers looking for advanced mixing techniques
• Anyone wanting a DAW-specific masterclass
• Editors who want a lazy solution

This course teaches a complete workflow and the thinking behind it.

The techniques apply in any software, using native tools — though we point to plugins where they genuinely help.

FAQ

Adding Audio Polish Matters

Your audio may be the last thing you think about. Make it the thing that sets you apart.

Adding Audio Polish gives you the complete framework to work through dialogue, music, sound effects, sound design, and mixing — in the right order, with the right techniques — in just one week.