breath noise

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pschaafs

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I'm a newbie to use of condenser microphones. My first attempt to record acoustic guitar revealed very nice tone but also the relatively loud noise of me breathing. I'd appreciate advice on coping with this problem (other than stop breathing...)
 
try aiming the mic more at the guitar, yet a little farther away, say 12" - 18".
At the 12th fret pointing toward the sound hole
 
Here's the hard truth- Being a recording artist involves changing the way you play and sing. Open your mouth and breath more slowly. No, I'm not telling you to stop breathing. I'm telling you to *control* your breathing. Just stop making the damn noise, already.- "and lose the watch. It sounds like a grandfather clock".-Richie
 
if you use compression and expansion after you have recorded your tracks, and you find an appropriate level, you can bring up everything which is quiet, resulting in a uniform waveform. Most recording programs offer it, but the quality of compression ranges... just remember that word "compression"
 
Ha, ha! When I did the first vocal take after I got a good mic, I soloed it in Wavelab to cut any extraneous noise. I was listening to it, and thought, "What is that?"

After every phrase, I would hold my breath for about a quarter second, then suddenly release it through my nose. These nasal plosives are super annoying, almost embarassing. I cut them all out by hand.

Now I gotta relearn breathing and singing.
 
Condensers mics

Welcome to the world of condenser mics. When I record in my studio(living room) I have to unplug the refridgerator, take the noisy clock off the wall and turn off the HVAC. You will learn to breath quietly, it just takes practice. Condensers are wonderful but they pick up EVERYTHING!
 
Not only do they pick up everything but they seem to magnify the small stuff.

But you didn't say what your current mic and positioning was so it is hard to say how to change it.
 
What Richard M said... I had to relearn to breath when I started doing acoustic guitar stuff, it's not that hard. Position the mics where you get the best sound from the guitar, not where it minimises breath noise, and learn to breath slowly and deeply through your mouth only - exhaling through your nose is a higher pitch sound generally - if you use your mouth with slow deep breaths, you won't be able to pick it out of the lowest frequencies from the guitar, which you'll probably be cutting with EQ anyway.

Luck!
 
Go Armistice. It is the tendency of engineers who record people with imperfect technique (almost everyone) to use mic placement and post-production processing to solve problems that can be better solved by the player cleaning up their act. One of the great advantages of home recording is you can take the time to improve your technique. Don't try to fix noise w/ noise reduction, Just don't make that noise. If a dynamic stage mic is an audience, a studio condenser is a music critic.-Richie
 
Ah the memories!

About ten years ago when I started getting more serious about recording I kept hearing this weird noise whenever I laid down an acoustic guitar track. For about 2 days it mystified me until I figured out it was my pants rubbing against each other because of the way I crossed my legs and rocked my righ leg created this swishy noise.

I never realized I did that until I kept hearing swish-swish-swish in time with the music going on.

:)

Fast forward to now, I recorded a band where the stupid drummer let a major fart rip and it got picked up fairly audibly in the track (slower part, mostly high hat and rimshots... and an ass ripping fart). He didn't even remember doing it, and we had to play it back a few times before he would believe we weren't messing with him.

Heck, at first we didn't believe it... tape is rolling and all of a sudden... RRRRRRRRrrrrip! OMG it was funny when we figured it out.
 
OK, (sigh), I'll have to take the zen perspective on this. Thanks for the advice and stories.....
 
Richard Monroe said:
If a dynamic stage mic is an audience, a studio condenser is a music critic.-Richie
Click to expand...

Gets my vote for quote of the day. :)

On the breath noises, control is good....eliminating them altogether might not be. Breathing is a natural part of singing, and editing it out entirely may actually remove a subtle que to the listener that it's a genuine real breathing person that is emoting the song. As always, it depends on the track, but it's easy to become hyper-aware of breathing noises that the listener will not trip on at all, and in fact enhances the human to human exchange that we so worry about losing in the digital age.

RD
 
there ya have it....breath control. i was surprised by people's breathing patterns when i first bought a condensor... what i was more shocked by was the conversations my neighbors in the apartment next to me were having
 
Psssst....

distortedrumble said:
.....what i was more shocked by was the conversations my neighbors in the apartment next to me were having
Click to expand...

I have it on pretty good authority that their was a close working relationship between Oktava and the KGB.
 
This one is going to knock your socks off...but it works.
Very antimidating at first but once I got used to it I forgot about it.
I hooked up 2 straight microphone stands side by side about 4 feet apart.
With a board of wood 5 feet long and 12 inches wide.
Stay with me now.
I had 2 holes drilled in the wood to fit where the microphone stands go into and clamped them on top to keep them from slipping off.
Now depending on weather I am sitting down which I do not do but my other guitar player sometimes feels more comfortable doing.
I place the boards hight around my neck and chin level where it does not interfere with my playing.
So picture this the mic is under the board placed where you think is fit and the board blocks the sound of my breathing.
It works very well but is very antimidating.
I am used to it and have layed down some very breathless tracks.
.
Hope this thread is understandable it was very hard to write something that is as discriptive as that.
I am a musician not a carpenter or mechanic.
I guess you can add english proffesor to the list also.
 
i usually raise the mic stand slightly so i can angle the mic downwards towards the guitar and away from my breath. but you still have to learn to control your breath aswell.
 
I've got the breathing under control - if I could stop the thumb on my fret hand clicking at inopportune moments I'd be a happy man - although I have found that, depending on how central the track is the the song, editing about 3 milliseconds straight out of the track can minimise the damage and you're not really aware of the silence.
 
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