About CutPoint Collective
CutPoint Collective writes about audio for video: music selection, voice recording and mixing for the speakers people actually use. Everything here comes from working edits, not from theory.
Why we write about audio
We have spent years fixing audio in other people's videos. Almost every project arrives with the same three problems: a voice recorded too far away, music chosen to cover the problem, and a mix balanced on headphones that nobody watches with.
The guides here are the fixes we apply repeatedly, written down in the order we apply them. Every recommendation has been tested on an ordinary phone speaker before it was published.
How we work
They come from years of mixing for small screens and small speakers.
If the words are not clear, nothing else in the mix matters. Every other decision serves intelligibility.
A phone speaker at arm's length is the reference, not a studio monitor. If it works there, it works everywhere.
Most audio problems are recording problems. Processing can improve a good recording and rarely rescues a bad one.
Method
We start by recording the mistake itself: the hollow room, the distant microphone, the muddy mix.
Each fix is applied in the order a working editor would use it, with the audible result noted at each stage.
The result is played on phone speakers, laptop speakers and headphones to confirm it holds up across devices.
Only the steps that change the result are published. Anything that cannot be heard is left out.
Editorial desk
Guides are written by working sound editors and reviewed on real edits. Roles are credited rather than names because the material is reviewed collectively.
Sound editor
Owns the mixing recommendations and the reference levels used across the guides.
Voice director
Tests microphone placement and room treatment in ordinary homes rather than studios.
Music supervisor
Advises on tempo matching, track structure and licence checks before publication.
Contact
Describe what you hear and how the audio was recorded. We answer every message, and the common problems usually turn into guide updates.