Hello, my name is Gary Craig from Nauvoo, Alabama and this is assignment #4 for Introduction To Music Production by Loudon Stearns. I will be discussing noise and how to prevent it when making audio recordings.
There is always some type of noise happening no matter where you are at any given moment. Even if you are sitting in a quiet room without any outside interference, you will hear it. It may only be yourself breathing or your heart beating but your ears pick up on those slightest sounds and so do microphones. To begin to rid your recordings of unwanted noises you must first understand them. First of all, be conscious of what you are recording. All in all, you are recording an instrument in it's own environment and keep in mind that if you make the best quality recording from the start, the less headaches you will have later on when it's mixing time.
There are two main types of noise that will interfere when recording audio; acoustical and electrical. Acoustical noise will be anything that is picked up on a microphone and electrical noise will be picked up through the wiring of your system.
Here are a few ways to avoid acoustical noises:
1. Before you ever hit the record button, listen to the room. Identify all noises you can hear before recording and eradicate them.
2. If you can't dispose of the noises then move your microphone away from such sounds as a heater vent, a clock or even the fan on your computer. If you have the option, you can always move your microphone to a quieter room and run the cable to your recorder in the separate room.
3. Create an isolated space for recording. There are many things that you can do to reduce acoustic noise in your recording space. Acoustic foam is sold for just the purpose of deadening bright sounding rooms. If that is too expensive, then hang some blankets on the wall.
4. Turn off noisy sources. Sometimes you will not be able to escape the noises in your environment, so just turn off that air conditioner or fan. It's better to sweat and get a good recording!
Electrical noise is the other type of noise that can destroy a good recording if not taken care of. Here are the best ways to defeat electrical noise.
1. Use fewer pieces of gear. The more items that are stacked up in the signal path, the more noise there will be stacked up on your tracks!
2. Use shorter cables, especially if you are using TS cables to record with.
3. Use balanced cables. If at all possible, use TRS or XLR cables for your inputs to help reduce the noise entering your signal.
4. Turn off appliances and dimmers. The alternating current in houses and buildings throughout the U.S. is 60 Hz. Meaning, there is a 60 cycle hum that can be picked up in recordings and through electronic gear if they are not grounded properly. Either turning off the noise making culprit or using a ground lift plug, or feature on your gear, will usually fix this problem.
5. Use high quality gear. Remember the old saying, "you get what you pay for?" Well, this is the case when referring to quiet gear. The cheaper the gear, the more noise you are apt to run across.
Gain stages can be a noise making event also. When setting the mic preamp levels, make sure that the microphone is close enough to the source so that the level will not have to be raised too high because this can generate more noise. It is also advantageous to use a directional microphone to help reduce acoustical noise in the room. When possible, try to avoid running the signal through a large mixing console. This is yet one more way of picking up unwanted noise. If the mixer must be used, try sending the signal from the channel output or send, directly to the recorder to bypass any unneeded circuitry.
In conclusion, there will always be some kind of noise in an audio recording. It wouldn't sound natural without certain types of noise, say, in rock guitar sounds or the breathing of a sultry singer but if you follow these steps mentioned above, you will have a clean recording that you can be proud of. Thank you for reviewing this assignment and I hope it was informative for you.
