Need All the Help I can get

[artdamage]

hi everybody. for the past year i've been writing and recording my own record, and all has gone well so far, up until now. i'm currently using Mixcraft to mix and record, and one of the prominent instruments I'm using in my work is a keyboard played through a M-Audio Black Box Guitar Effects Pedal. the problem is, the keyboard has a higher amplitude than the Black Box so a hissing excess frequency plays through every recording; i cannot remove it no matter what, manually, nor can i recreate the keyboard sound in the studio. thus, i've been trying to use a noise removal to ax the frequencies (at around 2k-5k), but nothing i've tried has worked.

an example is attached below, you can hear the unwanted noise in the beginning and throughout the clip. my ultimate goal is to get rid of it as much as i can without sacrificing EQ or distortion, i want to preserve the authenticity of the clip itself. any help, recommended VST's, and advice, would be extremely appreciated, and thank you.


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[Chibi Nappa]

You have two separate problems. Both can be fixed very easily.

1: Ground loop- This is what causes the hum in the beginning.
*Try plugging your keyboard into a different circuit in your house. Just keep trying different wall outlets.

*If that doesn't work, buy a ground lift and plug it into your keyboard. Ground lifts cost about $0.20 and can be found at any hardware store. They are little gray nubs. An electrical socket with 3 prongs goes in one end. It has two prongs on the other end that plug into your wall outlet.

2: Clipping- Turn down either the volume of your keyboard or the gain of your recording interface. Read up on "gain staging" to figure out what you need to do. Heck, it almost sounds like you need to turn up the volume on your keyboard and turn the recording interface gain waaaaaaay down. But I couldn't tell you without seeing what you're doing.

 

[artdamage]

You have two separate problems. Both can be fixed very easily.

1: Ground loop- This is what causes the hum in the beginning.
*Try plugging your keyboard into a different circuit in your house. Just keep trying different wall outlets.

*If that doesn't work, buy a ground lift and plug it into your keyboard. Ground lifts cost about $0.20 and can be found at any hardware store. They are little gray nubs. An electrical socket with 3 prongs goes in one end. It has two prongs on the other end that plug into your wall outlet.

2: Clipping- Turn down either the volume of your keyboard or the gain of your recording interface. Read up on "gain staging" to figure out what you need to do. Heck, it almost sounds like you need to turn up the volume on your keyboard and turn the recording interface gain waaaaaaay down. But I couldn't tell you without seeing what you're doing.

thank you for your advice, i'll have to try the first step, though i'm not sure if that will change anything. my "studio" is in my basement and i don't have many options in the form of outlets.

the thing is, the Keyboard only creates this sound when it's plugged into the black box, only then do i get the excess fizzing. otherwise, the keyboard sounds crystal clear through my USB mixer.

that said, the clipping issue has been covered, i've tried doing exactly what you said to no avail, keep in mind this sort of lo fidelity, blown out sound is what i want to keep, it's the background hiss and drone i want to get rid of.

 

[Chibi Nappa]

thank you for your advice, i'll have to try the first step, though i'm not sure if that will change anything. my "studio" is in my basement and i don't have many options in the form of outlets.

Buying a ground lift might work even if you can't plug into a different circuit. And like I said, $0.20. Couldn't hurt to try.

the thing is, the Keyboard only creates this sound when it's plugged into the black box, only then do i get the excess fizzing. otherwise, the keyboard sounds crystal clear through my USB mixer.

That is exactly how grounding problems show themselves. Everything is all good on it's own, but once you introduce a different bit of gear with a different grounding situation into the equation, the loop (buzz) starts. If they keyboard sounds OK on it's own maybe you need to put the ground lift on to the USB mixer...Or onto the computer...or onto the USB mixer and the computer...

that said, the clipping issue has been covered, i've tried doing exactly what you said to no avail, keep in mind this sort of lo fidelity, blown out sound is what i want to keep, it's the background hiss and drone i want to get rid of.

Ah, gottcha.


And if you can't get rid of the ground loop no matter what you do, find yourself a plugin to fix the recorded sound. Sometimes they are called hum killers. Sometimes they are called something else. Do a Google search for "Ground loop audio plugin". They are not EQs. Since ground loops are a very predictable cycle, the plugins so something like throw away every "x" samples or something like that. I really can't say for sure. But they work reasonably well.

But that is an absolute last resort.

 

[artdamage]

hey man, so an hour or two ago i took out my grounder plug and it fixed problem. i've been dealing with this nuisance for god knows how long. thanks so much for your advice, it means alot.