Noise reduction

mozo · Post by **mozo** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:36 am

Hello, I tried the "search" option but found nothing that match...
The PROBLEM is I can't get rid of some annoying noise coming from my electric guitar (connected through a mixer, but I'm not experiencing any problem with the other gear, mic. drum machine etc.), while using Live as a multi-track recorder.
I tried the noise-gate effect but couldn't reach any good result.
Am I missing something about the right tweaking of the noise gate?

Thanx anyone

method · Post by **method** » Mon May 07, 2007 3:08 pm

try a hipass filter if your sound can stand it.

other than that, you'll can use a statistical filter. it's a common technique in telecommunications to BOOST the noise level of a signal and then extract the data by detecting non-random fluctuations in the stream.

don't know of any plugs that will do it for you in real time tho, sorry!.

if it's a high-pitched hiss, try a de-esser, if it's AC hum, try notching down @ 60hz.

good luck! your best bet may be to get a better audio interface.

laird · Post by **laird** » Mon May 07, 2007 5:07 pm

The gate will only get rid of the noise during the times the guitar strings aren't making much.any sound. Which can be useful, but perhaps you are dissatisfied with the result (silent moments followed by guitar + noise)

There are some commercial noise-reduction programs... but you can also experiment with a number of Live's plugins.

Try the autofilter. Set it to notch, turn it way up, and now sweep the frequency until the noise is really really LOUD. See how tight you can make the Q setting.

Now turn the gain down, down, down to like -10 or -20.

If that kills a bunch of the guitar's presence, experiment with turning the envelope amount up.

Also, try adding some sort of exciter plugin after the filter.

Instead of the autofilter, you could use a compressor... especially if you have some sort of mutliband compressor like GMULTI.

Lastly, experiment with all the techniques in series. You may want to use the gate to kill the hiss during "silent" section, the use the filter/compressor to tame the hiss during the louder sections, then lastly add an exciter to breathe a little life back into the track after de-hissing it.