Think of sound editng in the same terms as editing text...or a newspaper. It means making changes and deletions to optimize a product. 492 Cafe specializes in editing speech for broadcast. Freeman has edited speeches by Noam Chomsky, Rabbi Michael Lerner, and many other brilliant speakers, (as well as some real "dogs" who won't be mentioned here!)
A good edit can make a poor speaker sound good, and a good speaker sound excellent. Some brilliant extemporaneous speeches benefit tremendously from good editing and emerge sounding "studio clean," as if recorded under direction with retakes.
In order to be editable, a recording must be of very high quality. Mics must be close to the speaker so that reflected sound (room echo) will be very low.
WHY EDIT?
Whether you are holding a meeting or performing experimental music, the idea's the same. A recording is a record of an event, but a recording also becomes its own thing. Post-Production is the spectrum of processes applied to a recording.
EDITING STORIES
Hear why a speech by Granny D, an exceptional speaker, needed six hours of edits before we'd put her on the air!
HEAR A MASTER ORATOR
George Galloway at Faneuil Hall...Completely Untouched.