Reducing Acoustical & Electrical Noise when Recording

1. Reducing Unwanted Acoustical & Electrical Noise when Recording Maths Dx [Best viewed in Full Screen Slide Show]

2. Introduction Hi, I’m Maths Dx from a far away galaxy on the Internet. This lesson is for Week 4 of Introduction to Music Production at Coursera.org. Today, I will be covering the topic as concisely as possible. All the salient points of the topic are presented so that it is also an easy-reference for later use– you can also download it. There is rarely ever complete silence in recording as the quieter it gets, the more likely one is to run into some source of noise – even our nervous system generates noise The objective during the recording of an instrument is to obtain a clean recording. During recording we try to eliminate 2 types of noise – Acoustic and Electrical noise.

3. 1. Reducing Acoustic Noise • Listen to the acoustics of the room and identify any noise • Eg. the computer fan or the drive • Identify other noise sources that are fixtures in the recording environment • Eg. windows - either move away from the source or insulate it eg. placing a blanket over a window • Turn off noisy sources like air conditioning, fans, heating, TVs and any other appliances • The objective is to create an isolated space for recording

4. 2. Reducing Electrical Noises • Even within an isolated space, the other type of noise that one is likely to encounter while recording is Electrical Noise. • Every piece of gear used during recording does generate some kind of electrical noise • This kind of noise is described as ‘self-noise’ and in the manuals of these respective gear, there are even specifications of self-noise • As gear is essential, how does one reduce the inherent Electrical Noise? • Use as few pieces of gear as possible – reducing the number of things that the sound traverses through • Use shorter cables – as longer cables pick up noise. • Use balanced cables eg. XLR or TRS cables. • Turn off appliances and dimmers as the power system in the studio generates noise. Eg our power system’s alternative current that alternates 50 or 60 cycles or Hertz falls within the hearing/ recording range. Devices which have ground life buttons can help reduce this. • Use high quality gear – the more expensive it is, the more likely they have taken care of noise leaks or if they have more metal than plastic, there’s likely to be less noise

5. Avoiding Unnecessary Gain • Bringing up the mic pre gain inadvertently also brings up the noise floor • Bringing the mic closer to the source reduces the need to increase the gain i.e. less of the room and more of the source • Using a directional microphone will further isolate the source from any extraneous noise in the environment • Producers are able to reduce the noise during the mxing/ post-production process but it is more productive and natural sounding to correct the acoustics and reduce electrical noise at the source level • Some producers are able to harness some sorts of noise as effects or production props that are musical by design. But if the noise turns up as artifacts by accident, then it is no longer musical and is unwanted. • Thank you for reading through this and I hope that this will be a useful reference as part of your music production.