How do I Ignore Mouse Clicks when Recording?

[Dear Ayça]

Hi there, just a very simple question: how do I ignore mouse clicks when recording?

I know I could probably easily figure out this question by myself, but I just got my hands on Ableton and wanted to see what the forums are all about, how active they are and such, so go easy on me

[[jur]]

Hi
Could you tell us more? Are you talking about tweaking parameters?

Welcome on board btw

[Dear Ayça]

When I’m recording with a microphone in Ableton it picks up the sound of mouse clicks and the scroll wheel. It’s soft but it’s something I’d like to avoid, probably through a filter of some kind.

Thanks, great to be here!

[slow.robot]

generally, it’s good practice to avoid anything that makes unwanted sound when recording with a mic (other than the instrument/voice, of course).

the usual recommendation would be to figure out a workflow that doesn’t require messing around with the mouse while you’re recording. you may still end up with clicks at the start and end of the recording, if you’re not using a pre-roll, but that can be easily cleaned up by editing the start and end of a clip. if we’re talking about for live use, you might want to look at using a MIDI controller of some kind, which tend to be less clicky.

what’s the workflow/use case you’re looking for?

[Dear Ayça]

My use case is vocal recording so that advice is already enough!

I come from tutorial recording in which you tend to either enhance clicks massively or remove them completely, so it was my natural instinct to ask, but it makes sense that it wouldn’t really apply in this context. Thank you so much!

[DunedinDragon]

If you're talking about mouse clicks when you start recording, just turn on the two measure count in which doesn't start recording until after a 2 measure click is completed.

[otalgia99]

I do not have many details about your workflow -- what you are doing with the mouse while recording with an open ("live") microphone.

But some suggestions I could offer are these:

1. If the microphone is placed upon the same surface where the mouse is, move it off of there -- onto a stand which is not mounted on the same surface. That might yield some improvement.

2. If for some reason you must look at the screen while recording, try a more directional microphone (hypercardiod, perhaps) and locate the mouse beneath & behind it as much as possible (get it out of the the mic's pickup pattern).

3. Try a styrofoam windscreen on the mic itself ( I think that the "lollipop" style pop screen probably won't help as much in masking any sounds that aren't coming from the mouth of a vocalist -- sounds from off-axis could continue to be picked up).

4. Try using keyboard shortcuts instead of mouse clicks where possible. Those might be quieter unless, as noted above, your microphone is sitting on the same surface as the keyboard & mouse. If that's the case the mic could also be collecting vibrational information ("rumble") as well as the clicking sound of the mouse.

o99