Ok so here's my problem: I've a got condenser mic, with which I want to record my guitar. I'm recording straight on to my PC. I want to record both full songs and also licks for using in d&b tracks. The mic i'm using is pretty sensitive i"m finding that it's picking up a lot of the noise my PC makes.
I cant really move the mic out of the room, and if I did, my headphones wouldnt be long enough for me to be able to play along to my drum/click track and I'm not sure if shielding it will really do anything. So I'm guessing my only option is to try and soundproof my PC. Does anyone have any experience of doing this? will foam inside the case provide adequate sound damping or do I need to buy a silent fan?
In retrospect perhaps I should have bought a less sensitive mic for home use, but at the time i was recording to a digital multitrack in a practice room so it wasnt a problem but now it's really pisssing me off!
if soundproofing isnt an option, get hold of some noise reduction tools you can use after its recorded. try waves xnoise, or izotope have recently released a noise reduction plug-in too. but you'd probably get better results by doing it before recording. a silent fan + good quality cabling are the way to go i reckon.
Yeah I have waves, but didnt really think about the noise reduction tool, it's quite a specific kind of noise though the sound of a PC, it's not like you would get with bad cables or with high volumes. My cables are ok, well better than your average hi-fi cables but still i'd like to get some audophile grade cables at some point. Still though I don't think they're gonna have a massive impact on this issue, so I guess i'm gonna have to get a silent fan.
How silent is a silent fan really though? Is it still going to be audible in a recording?
I'll guess really I should just get a headphone extension lead and go record in a cupboard
yup that's the problem, I don't! I'm moving into a new flat in 3 weeks, and there's a possibility I could use the bedroom for recording but it'd be a nightmare to run the cables, then also be in one room to press record and quickly run to the other.......not good really. I'll have to try get a silent fan, but still I have a feeling it wont eliminate all the noise......
oh my god, there is SUCH an easier options. if the noise is constant, it could be an INDUSTRIAL SIZED JET ENGINE.
Using Adobe Audition or Cool Pro, these have a FANTASTIC tool called Noise Reduction. basically you take a profile of the noise, i.e. a recording of the "silence" or the "room tone" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_Tone).
It's not just your fan every room has noise, but a condenser mic would pick up the washing machine on the next floor.
So just capture a Noise Profile of the mic, in the specific position it's at, if you move it after it'll not work as easily. then you can remove that noise entirely from the recording, or just remove it a bit, depending on the Softness of the actual guitar recording.
The new Adobe Audition also has Adaptive Noise Reduction which can work for other noises. but a computer fan is great steady noise, that is not a problem to remove, and you can easily make your recording sound like it was done in a anechoic chamber.
or yea, spend a couple hundred on getting a quieter computer, sound proof padding in the case, quieter hard drive, quieter fans, liquid cooling processor, and the like.
but i could record with an air conditioner, and the only difference was you had to be louder then the noise, or you got weird "artifacts" near the noise floor of the air conditioner. but a computer fan and such, it's not even that bad, you can get GREAT recordings. all you need to do is just record some silence for the first few seconds of the track, and then analyze it and then remove it from the entire track. it's awesome.
there's a bunch of tutorials, this one is about a guitar with fans, so it should be good, i am not gunna bother watching it, but it should be fine.
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This post has been edited 1 time(s), it was last edited by Halph-Price: 25-02-2009 16:52.
even if i manage to put the mic in another room, i'm probably still going to need to make a noise profile of that room and eliminate it. I don't mind a bit of general room noise when recording songs on guitar, I think it can add a bit of character to the recording. I have some albums that were recorded in bathroom, kitchen, garage etc but for recording licks for use in d&b, hip hop, breaks etc I want them as clean as possible. Building a room out of drywall might be a bit much, plus i'm not sure if my landlord would approve....i'll try the blanket idea too, along with some noise reduction ans see what happens. I'll see if I can post a recording when I'm done.
Originally posted by Halph-Price
oh my god, there is SUCH an easier options. if the noise is constant, it could be an INDUSTRIAL SIZED JET ENGINE.
Using Adobe Audition or Cool Pro, these have a FANTASTIC tool called Noise Reduction. basically you take a profile of the noise, i.e. a recording of the "silence" or the "room tone" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_Tone).
It's not just your fan every room has noise, but a condenser mic would pick up the washing machine on the next floor.
So just capture a Noise Profile of the mic, in the specific position it's at, if you move it after it'll not work as easily. then you can remove that noise entirely from the recording, or just remove it a bit, depending on the Softness of the actual guitar recording.
The new Adobe Audition also has Adaptive Noise Reduction which can work for other noises. but a computer fan is great steady noise, that is not a problem to remove, and you can easily make your recording sound like it was done in a anechoic chamber.
or yea, spend a couple hundred on getting a quieter computer, sound proof padding in the case, quieter hard drive, quieter fans, liquid cooling processor, and the like.
but i could record with an air conditioner, and the only difference was you had to be louder then the noise, or you got weird "artifacts" near the noise floor of the air conditioner. but a computer fan and such, it's not even that bad, you can get GREAT recordings. all you need to do is just record some silence for the first few seconds of the track, and then analyze it and then remove it from the entire track. it's awesome.
there's a bunch of tutorials, this one is about a guitar with fans, so it should be good, i am not gunna bother watching it, but it should be fine.
started messing about with this yesterday and it really is very good. Having recorded the noise profile and done a bit of tweaking I was able to COMPLETELY remove the noise of my PC. I just found that it muddied the recording of the guitar slightly (perhaps a bit more tweaking was required?) but a bit of EQ fixed it nicely.
Hey mates, I need to point out that removing background noise will always reduce the quality of the recording and remove some of the upper harmonics and will dull up the sound. A good rule of the thumb is that you should try get as good as possible original recording and not seddle for "I´ll fix it in the mix". If your PC is making too much noise, buy one of these http://images.thomann.de/pics/prod/169192.jpg and record the whole lot in a different room.
button and select my name. I'll personally kick it to the murky depths of hell where it belongs! 
