Noise gate vs. Noise Reduction

R

randyfromde

New member
When would I want to use each to reduce background noise in recordings? I've heard lots of talk that noise reduction can leave "artifacts" and make the recorded sound change in tone. I've also read here that if you don't set a noise gate properly, the sound will drop off unnaturally.

Can someone outline under what circumstances you'd want to use one over the other?
 
Yeah, both a noise gate and noise reduction can mess with your tone.

I use a noise gate when dealing with an instrument such as a kick drum that has a clear ending to the notes. You have to mess with the controls of the gate (attack, release, hold, threshold) to get the optimum sound, trying to capture the full sound of the instrument while reducing the extraneous noises and bleed from other instruments. Of course, gates can be used creatively to give a track a really "tight" sound.

Noise reduction uses a noise sample (a part of the track containing only noise). It then flips the phase of the noise, and combines it with the entire section that you are working on. This CAN be useful for getting rid of unwanted backgroud noise that is very steady throughout a track (such as hum from a guitar amp), but you have to do some critical listening as it can really mess with your sound, and always in a bad way.

I've used noise reduction to get rid of computer fan noise, and I couldn't detect any change in the sound (using Cool Edit Pro's built in noise reduction), but most guys will tell you to avoid noise reduction software altogether unless you're doing a restoration project.
 
Not sure exactly what application you're needing this for, but I've used Gain Reduction in Cubase to get rid of annoying fret noise and slides caused by poor guitar technique. It's kind of a bitch to highlight every peak in a track one by one and reduce the gain, but it works and doesn't leave any artifacts. However, this probably wouldn't work too well on something like drums or a guitar note ringing out where the problem is bleed from other instruments. But if it's something like extra loud notes on a vocal track it should work fine.

Hey I think this will be 100th post! Woohoo!
 
I was just going for a general application. Computer hum, bleed, anything...

Right now, I've been manually silencing long gaps in songs to keep noticible noise down. I was just wondering when each of the two tools I referenced are generally used. Sounds like mostly gating for bleed, noise reduction for constant noise.
 
When you are setting up your mics and you hear noise in the background. Remove the noise from the room. Turn off the AC, unplug the fridge, close all windows, etc. Unless you live on a very busy street you should be able to get noise free tracks.
 
Good advice and to add. There are ways to reduce hums and whines , apart from the obvious power distributors, earthing and shielded cables. You could use a half decent UPS (uninterruptable power supply) and this help. But for standard noise reduction, I use a Drwamer DF330 and that is inserted on my main outs, just before entering the A/Ds. Has subtle to heavy facilities and has saved my ass more than once.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top