2. Noise in Recording…
• Unwanted noise is a matter of great concern
while recording or while delivering
performances.
• Noise cannot be done away with completely
but it can be reduced by various methods to a
level at which it becomes unnoticeable.
• The following slides will be a basic guide on
how to do away with “most” of the noises.
3. Types of Noise
• We can broadly classify the noise we encounter
while recording as :
Electrical Noise
and
Acoustic Noise
• Electrical Noise is the hum which the electronic
gadgets, gears , devices , etc produce(kind of the
buzz or hum sound)
• Acoustic Noise covers all the other sources of
noise i.e. the noise from the surroundings.
4. Acoustic Noise from outside
• The level of noise or other disturbance
depends upon the location of the studio. The
more you are away from the crowd, the better
off you are.
• If your studio is close to a highway,
marketplace, airport or say even a railway line
then you have to resort to acoustic treatment
of your room.
5. Acoustic Noise in the room
• The fan in a room, the air conditioning , television,
etc introduce noise.
• Please do not put your cell phone near a speaker,
amp or any other sound monitor because they
pick up incoming signals. So before a message or a
call you hear loud short beeping sounds.
• While recording through mic take care that no
other sound source other than what needs to be
recorded lies within the polar pattern(range) of
the mic. Do not boost unnecessarily the mic gain
as it would introduce much noise.
6. Reduction of Acoustic noise
• Insulate doors and windows
properly, so that noise from
outside doesn’t go out and if
you are in a residential area
make sure that your noise stays
in as much possible as it could
be
• To achieve you can have a false
set of walls and ceilings or
cover the windows and doors
Picture taken from a forum in
with blankets.
gearslutz.com
7. • Try to have less reflecting material in the
studio room.
• Use wooden material if you can, or similar
material which has the ability to absorb sound.
• Ensure that the mic picks up only what needs
to be recorded and place it in a way where the
recording is cleanest and most devoid of noise.
Sound proofing foam,
used by almost all
amateur studios
8. Electrical Noise
• Electrical noise is the noise which creeps into
the recording from the gear which we use and
the various electrical appliances in the room.
• The processors or other such equipments
have their self noise which need to be ruled
out.
• The electrical supply to our houses and
everywhere else is Alternating frequency, the
alternating frequency brings in noise.
9. • Electrical Noise can be reduced by using balanced
and short length cables. Use TRS and XLR cables,
they are preferable.
• Some devices have a button to rule out the noise,
if you have one on your device, then use it.
• Use less amount of gear, the more gear you have ,
the more sources of noise you have to deal with.
• Better your gear is, the less noise you get.
Balanced cables
10. • Noise is a very important factor and one must
take utmost care to remove noise as much as
possible.
• Noise should be reduced in the pre production
stages to the maximum. Post production
techniques in the DAW are available to reduce
noise , but while working on those tools the
dynamics of the sound may get compromised.
11. Hope this presentation gave you some idea on
how to deal with noise while recording.
Use those techniques and help yourself get a
better recording.
Good bye
