Music Production & Sound Engineering Tutorial - Noise Reduction - Cleaning a Sound File

Helo and welcome!"capture noise profile" from the menu that appears.
For this tutorial i am using a sound file of a vocalThis tells the software (adobe audition) what you
recording. I will be using 'adobe audition' to edit thisconsider to be the noise (sound frequencies that you
sound file. 'Adobe audition' is a popular brand of multiwould like to remove or reduce). The next step is to to
track recording software. This software allows you togo ahead and remove this noise from the entire sound
record, edit and mix sound files/recordings. It has loadsfile. In 'adobe audition' this is done by using the noise
of tools to edit/engineer your sound files exactly asreduction tool.
you would like them to be.Which ever sound editing software u decide to use
This tutorial will show you how to use the noisewithin your studio setup the method may vary slightly
reduction tool to remove unwanted soundsbut the basic steps and terminology will be very similar.
background noise from a recording or any sound file. INext, click on the "effects" menu at the top of the
am using adobe audition for this example but anyscreen and then click on noise reduction from the
decent sound editor will have this tool.menu that appears. Once you have done this a new
The first step is to identify an appropriate section ofwindow will appear. This window represents the noise
the sound file that contains the noise. A good area toreduction tool and displays all the options and relevant
find is that which represents a pause between theinformation about that tool. The noise that you
speech/vocal. Just like when you take a pausecaptured earlier will be the default noise used by this
between your sentences or words when you aretool. You can either completely remove the noise or
speaking normally. It is useful to zoom in using theyou can just reduce the noise to an acceptable level
software to get a nice clear view of the part u wouldusing the "noise reduction level" variable shown in the
like to work with. This is the section that will be used toimage. If you click on the preview button you can listen
clean up the entire sound file. Once you have zoomedto what the alterations will sound like before
in on your chosen section it will be apparent thatpermanently applying them. This is useful to fine tune
where it should be a silent pause there is actually athe amount of effect you want to apply.
quiet noise. This is the section that we will sample andIt is important to take care and listen carefully at this
then remove from the entire sound file.stage of the process because sometimes it is possible
In most cases when you record any sound there isto apply too much noise reduction. This can effect the
usually a quiet hiss or humming (noise) that can beoverall sound of the file in a way that you did not
heard during playback. This can come from theintend. Once you are happy with the settings click on
recording equipment itself or from background soundsthe OK button and the noise will be removed. Magic!
that are within the range of the recording equipment. ItYou will then see complete silence where the silent
is generally regarded as noise because these arepauses between the vocal waveforms are. At this
usually unwanted sounds.stage you will have successfully removed the
As well as noise you will also find other quiet lookingunwanted noise from the entire length of sound file.
parts of the sound file that represent the sound ofThis can be seen most clearly by the completely flat
someone breathing in. You will usually see these breathline (zero decibels/volume) where the pauses are. At
sounds just before a vocal part begins. These breaththis point you may choose to adjust the volume of the
sounds will always be recorded with voice recordingsbreath sounds discussed earlier if you feel it is
unless you use a microphone that only recordsappropriate.
outward sound. Another option is to have a very skilledIt is useful to get rid of noise within all of your vocal
vocalist! Some people choose to remove or reducerecordings because when you have several vocal
the volume of this breath sound but that should only betracks playing at once it also means you have several
done after you have removed the underlying noise oflayers of noise. This noise can easily go un noticed but
the entire track first.it can sometimes slightly muffle other sounds
So now we will remove the noise!frequencies such as your musical parts or beats.
Highlight the silent pause/noise. This is done in theWhen dealing with mastering, mixing and balancing the
exact same manner as you would highlight text in awhole mix this is a useful and important tool for a
text document. Be careful not to select any of thequality production and allows the beat/music to be
vocal part when making your selection. You may wantheard crystal clear.
to zoom in to guarantee your accuracy for this part ofThis informative lesson is to help you to become a
the process. To sample this noise in 'adobe audition'highly skilled sound engineer and to create/edit your
right-click on that highlighted section and click onsounds to perfection.