My name is Hans Hendriksen, I'm from Chicago and this is the 4th assignment for the course
Introduction in music production. Time is truly moving fast, already my 4th assignment!
I really like reflecting on my own recording situation in my assignments because hopefully it will show my progress.
This assignment will be no different! Noise reduction before recording is very important for me because it is coming from every angle in my place!
REDUCING ACOUSTICAL NOISE
-Always start with listening! Walk around in the room and try to really determine where your ears receive
the most and least noise. These can be coming from different sources, but they can be more pronounced in other parts of the room because of echoeing and bouncing of noise. replacing objects can change that again as well, so it is usually good to keep things the way they are once you are happy with your set up.
-Give your ears time to get used to lower volumes. If you walk in from a busy street your ears take time to adjust to both the space and noises in a room.
-A very useful tool I use these days is a decibel meter. I have an app on my phone that uses the mic in my phone and with that I walk around locating noise. An average of 35-40 db is not unusual in a normal room.
-I cover the two windows in my recording space with curtains when i record. Curtains always slightly move when a sound reaches them so that takes the energy out of most of the soundwaves, thus removing unwanted incoming sounds.
- I make sure radiators, AC's, tv's & radio's, phones etc., anything that is designed to make sound, are turned off.
-I try to record with a directional microphone. I usually use a microphone with a cardioid polar pattern.
This means i have to carefully place the microphone in front of the instrument i want to record, while it reduces sounds coming from the back or sides.
- Place the microphone close to the instrument or source of recording. This effectively means you can give it
less microphone pre amp input, which is another reduction in noise build up.
-If you can and if your schedule allows it: Record at night! Everything gets a little more quiet at night.
There is a lot less ambient sounds around during the night, like traffic and media from devices for example.
It also almost feels like it is easier to determine very low sounds at night, which will help to further reduce them.
REDUCING ELECTRICAL NOISE
Everything electrical makes noise! Sometimes even when it's not turned on!
Reducing electrical noise for me starts with a simple rule: turn it off/ don't use it if you don't really need it!
Every electrical device creates self noise in varying degrees
Make sure you check your gears' self noise, which you can usually find in manuals or packaging.
If you add all the numbers it really gives you an idea how much noisefloor you are usually dealing with.
- So the first thing to look at is the source and signal flow itself. If you use a microphone to place in front of an amp to record that, it will create a few potential problems.
First of all your amp, when recording guitar or bass. If you use a lot of "drive", you will notice that it also will make unwanted noises louder. It is in fact another gainstage, something you want to use less to lower the noise floor.
Cables that crackle and pop, channels that buzz, feedback from your guitar...etc.
Sometimes for me it is more efficient to use a direct input into my signal processor, and then modify that once it reaches my DAW. It reduces the amount of devices i have to use. It's something to consider when trying to reduce noise.
-Use good gear. Cheap microphones make a lot of noise. Cheap devices will as well, both usually because of the way they're built.
- Use the shortest route to your DAW. Short, preferably balanced TRS or XLRcables that are working well and have a thick shield cover. If you use TS cables keep them below 10 ft.
-Electrical devices make noise because the powergrid they use is an alternating current (AC).This gives a hum ( also called mains hum) that gives off a 50 to 60 Hertz buzz. This is ( although in every day life barely noticed) a very audible noise and can be reduced by staying away from and switching off those devices.
Reduce the amount of gainstages. Every "boost" of amplitude will also mean a boost of the noisefloor.
If your gainstages are in unity, the noise will reduce as well.
Some last tips:
Check your gear! Switches, uncut strings, wobbly whammy bars: everything can become part of unwanted noise. Before you press record you want to make sure everything is working well.
Don't use instruments with long effects chains attached. They all create self noise and add to the noisefloor.
Well, i hope this lesson was of use to you, i enjoyed writing it.
Thank you for taking time to read it, and good luck with your own assignment!
Hans Hendriksen
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