"Reducing Noise" in my recording

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Elementcole037

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Hi, I am a newbie to this forum.

I don't exactly have all the hi-tech equipment that professionals have but I do have the basic stuff like....

Cool Edit Pro 2.0
Behringer 2 channel Compressor
Behringer 2 channel, 31 Band Equalizer
Behringer 4 Mic, 2 input Mixer
1 MXL 993 (Instrumental Mic'in)
1 MXL 990 (Vocals)


I record in a basement,
I was wondering how to reduce the noise in the background in my recording....It isn't horribly bad or anything but still noticable..
Im wondering if there is something I can do that really isn't gonna cost me a whole lot of money.
Is there something in Cool Edit Pro 2.0 that I can do to reduce the noise?

Any help would be most appreciated,

Cole
 
Could you specify if you are talking about external noise (furnace, air conditioner, noisy neighbors, etc.) or electronic noise (hiss, hum, radio stations, etc.)

Please be as specific as possible.
 
I get alot of hiss in the background...it is probably comming from the ac/furnace......computer and other electronic devices..
 
OK - if you are pretty sure it is external noise, and not the internal electronics of your recording chain, then the best way to deal with it is to remove it at the source.

That means, while you are recording, turn off your furnace and air conditioning. Build an enclosure around the noisy parts of your computer to keep it from getting into mic. And you can also put some portable barriers around the mic itself (called gobos) to block some of the sound from reaching the mic. Also, assuming the mic is cardioid, aim the mic directly away from the noisiest part of the room.
 
Get the Behringer outta the chain and get a preamp.
 
I just got done tracking a band where they insisted on recording the guitars Direct. I wasn't all about it, but it didn't turn out bad at all. There was some noise though, and I spent some time editing the guitar tracks where they made stops in their playing so that that the noise was hardly noticeable. It helped out quite a bit!
 
studiomaster said:
Get the Behringer outta the chain and get a preamp.
Click to expand...


+1,000%!

Cheap mixers tend to add noise to recordings.
Also, it could be whatever your sound card is, and most likely it is the combination of the two (mixer+soundcard). Hiss isn't caused by "external" sound sources, like an air conditioner.


Tim
 
I would suggest that you not react to the instant diagnoses presented.

Instead, I would suggest that you work systematically through the signal path to see if there is some part that is primarily responsible for the noise.

Maybe the mixer is noisy, maybe it is the interface. Don't leap into solutions before you've identified the problem.
 
gecko zzed said:
I would suggest that you not react to the instant diagnoses presented.

Instead, I would suggest that you work systematically through the signal path to see if there is some part that is primarily responsible for the noise.

Maybe the mixer is noisy, maybe it is the interface. Don't leap into solutions before you've identified the problem.
Click to expand...


Gecko zzed,

True - he does need to work through his signal chain.
It could be simply a matter of his volume too high on his soundcard, and not sending enough signal from the mixer.

I've got a Mackie 1604-VLZ pro mixer, and we went through everything trying to get rid of the hiss I was getting recording onto my computer, but there was always a little bit of noise present. My brother and I were trying to record live to stereo, and then he was going to layer tracks over top of our Rhythm section tracks.
No matter what we did, there was always a little bit of audible noise in the recording, so I chalked it up to a combination of the mixer and the soundcard.




Tim
 
gecko zzed said:
I would suggest that you not react to the instant diagnoses presented.

Instead, I would suggest that you work systematically through the signal path to see if there is some part that is primarily responsible for the noise.

Maybe the mixer is noisy, maybe it is the interface. Don't leap into solutions before you've identified the problem.
Click to expand...


Gecko zzed,

True - he does need to work through his signal chain.
It could be simply a matter of his volume too high on his soundcard, and not sending enough signal from the mixer.

I've got a Mackie 1604-VLZ pro mixer, and we went through everything trying to get rid of the hiss I was getting recording onto my computer, but there was always a little bit of noise present. My brother and I were trying to record live to stereo, and then he was going to layer tracks over top of our Rhythm section tracks.
No matter what we did, there was always a little bit of audible noise in the recording, so I chalked it up to a combination of the mixer and the soundcard.




Tim
 
gecko zzed said:
I would suggest that you not react to the instant diagnoses presented.

Instead, I would suggest that you work systematically through the signal path to see if there is some part that is primarily responsible for the noise.

Maybe the mixer is noisy, maybe it is the interface. Don't leap into solutions before you've identified the problem.
Click to expand...


Gecko zzed,

True - he does need to work through his signal chain.
It could be simply a matter of his volume too high on his soundcard, and not sending enough signal from the mixer.

I've got a Mackie 1604-VLZ pro mixer, and we went through everything trying to get rid of the hiss I was getting recording onto my computer, but there was always a little bit of noise present. My brother and I were trying to record live to stereo, and then he was going to layer tracks over top of our Rhythm section tracks.
No matter what we did, there was always a little bit of audible noise in the recording, so I chalked it up to a combination of the mixer and the soundcard.




Tim
 
Modern gear, even the cheapest of the cheap, should be quiet enough that noise is not an issue. It is most likely the environment or mis-use of the equipment. Turn off everything: The airconditioner, the heat, the 'fridge, the TV, the ice maker, etc. That's most likely the problem. What your everyday untrained ear chalks up as "quiet" is not nessicarily quiet to a microphone.

Barring enviromnetal issues, check your gain structure. For instance, if one bit of gear is turned down way too low and the next bit of gear in the chain is turned up way too loud to compensate, you'll get noise.

So check that gain structure, but my bet is the environment.
 
Use plugins, gates, SoundSoap 2 noise reduction tools, etc.

Elementcole037 said:
Hi, I am a newbie to this forum.

I don't exactly have all the hi-tech equipment that professionals have but I do have the basic stuff like....

Cool Edit Pro 2.0
Behringer 2 channel Compressor
Behringer 2 channel, 31 Band Equalizer
Behringer 4 Mic, 2 input Mixer
1 MXL 993 (Instrumental Mic'in)
1 MXL 990 (Vocals)


I record in a basement,
I was wondering how to reduce the noise in the background in my recording....It isn't horribly bad or anything but still noticable..
Im wondering if there is something I can do that really isn't gonna cost me a whole lot of money.
Is there something in Cool Edit Pro 2.0 that I can do to reduce the noise?

Any help would be most appreciated,

Cole
Click to expand...

I recently looked up how to reduce the background hiss and that annoying "ground" sound that is usually in my bass recordings.

Since I don´t have fancy stuff either (I have a $150.00 Dollar Alesis Multimix 8 USB Mixer, Lotus Lefty $90.00 Dollar Pawn Shop Bass and a $600.00 Dollar Refurbished iMac) and don´t have enough money to spend on fancier geart than what I´ve got, I´ve managed to use a gate on my bass tracks to eliminate the unwanted noise. Make sure you get the hold on how to use this effect (gate), experiment and tweak with it on Cool Edit Pro 2.0.

The other thing you can do is get the Bias Soundsoap 2 Program, it helps you out getting the unwanted hiss, background noise, hum and rumble out of your tracks.

Try vstclubdotcom (I write it like this for censorship avoidance) for downloads.

You can make great stuff that will get at least very close to what you desire to hear.

It all turns out to how much time you invest on it. the more time you invest on it intelligently, the better your recording will be.

Hope this helps out, if not, reply back to me.

:)
 
What about using something like Audacity 1.3beta's noise removal effect? You select a few seconds of noise only(just record ambient/background noise), then it filters it out from the rest of the track.

I haven't actually tried it, but I wonder how it would effect the rest of the recording??
 
Check that signal wires do not run parallel to power cables. If they must cross, make sure they do so at 90 degrees to each other. I sorted out a lot of noise issues this way. If you still have noise, go through the chain, eliminating each unit.

I still get a little external noise from the freezer, cos I'm on the ground floor, right next to the kitchen and the computer hums quite a bit but the mic, being uni-directional doesn't pick up traffic noise or anything like that. If I'm recording voices or anything where the noise might show up more, I sometimes run the more sensitive recordings through a gentle noise gate afterwards.

Also check that the gain on your mic is not too high. Try leaning in. If you have an especially thick skull, fleshy ears and dirty long hair your head will absorb most external noise. You could also try growing a beard....

Dr. V
 
Personally I don't mind noise. There is a considerable amount of noise on many of my favorite "big time" albums at quiet parts if you listen.

Just my 2 cents.
 
mgray said:
What about using something like Audacity 1.3beta's noise removal effect? You select a few seconds of noise only(just record ambient/background noise), then it filters it out from the rest of the track.

I haven't actually tried it, but I wonder how it would effect the rest of the recording??
Click to expand...

I use Audacity's noise reduction as part of the process of digitising old LPs I have which, obviously, have turntable rumble & hiss happening.

I use as little as possible, as it does horrible horrible things to highs and quiet stuff during the process.

Wouldn't recommend it for this... like the gecko said, process of elimination - one thing at a time...

I'm also a great believer in editing out open channels, rumble filters and automating low pass filters on ringing end notes as a way to keep the hiss down at the end of a tune (if it has a rining ending, obviously...)

Good luck...
 
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