VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

[Miranda]

Hi lovely people

I'm really stuck here. I don't really know the software at all and I can't figure out something.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tiovjw3e9hzmp5i/snippet%20of%20recording%20to%20fix.aup?dl=0

I recorded some stuff yesterday at uni with some other students using gear that isn't mine. On getting home to edit, I realise that there is a noticeable hum, and the volume is too low. (I didn't like to mess much with the gear, but perhaps I should have.)

This doesn't have to be even remotely broadcast quality - the final product will be a little video that will be (temporarily) loaded up to youtube for the purposes of the assignment, and removed as soon as the assignment is marked. :)

Can anyone help me with detailed instructions? Type slowly, please, I really don't know what I'm doing. LOL at myself.

I need to do this today, so if push comes to shove, I can just do my best, but I was hoping to get a slightly better recording quality than this.

Thanks
Miranda

[Miranda]

And it should have been mono. I thought I'd done that but obviously hadn't. We pressed "go" and then went into the studio...

[Lee Gordon]

If you can locate an area that contains some of the hum and nothing else, select that area, go to the Effect menu and select Noise Removal. When the box opens, click the Get Noise Profile button, then click Cancel. Now, double click on original file to select the whole thing, go back to the Effect menu and select Noise Removal again. This time, click OK. With any luck, that should get rid of the hum,

If the entire piece is not still selected, double click again to select it, go back to the Effect menu and select Normalize. Click Preview to see how it sounds. You may want to change the value in the little window from -1.0 db to -2.0 or -3.0. When it seems right, click OK.
_________________
Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

[Miranda]

Thanks guys. The file is now good enough for my purposes. I might end up putting a music bed under it to hide any slight sloppiness, but it's good enough for university...

Miranda

[D Voice]

BTW Audacity redesigned NOISE REMOVAL, and it is now called NOISE REDUCTION. The default settings would probably be fine for situations like the one you described.

In addition to what Lee said, I would recommend:

If it is just the hum, first try the High Pass Filter in Effects, and apply to the whole track (not sure what the default setting is, but anywhere below 80 or 90 Hz should take care of much of the hum).

If that doesn't satisfy you, I would recommend Undo the High Pass Filter, and try the...

NOISE REDUCTION:

1. Take the noise sample (the first time click Get Profile) as Lee described, The box will close by itself.

2*. Click on the whole track and press Ctrl/Command+D. This will duplicate the track below the original. Mute the original track.

3. Click on the duplicate track, and Ctrl/Command+R (Repeat Effect) will apply the Noise Reduction to that entire track.

4*. If you like what you hear, fine. If you are not sure, you can make A/B comparisons with the original track (Mute/Unmute).

*[This method requires an extra step, but this way you still have the original track, and can go back to it if it becomes necessary. Audacity uses Destructive Editing in a linear fashion, so if you haven't saved the original track somewhere:
a) the only way is to repeatedly Undo in reverse order
or
b) it's gone and you have to start all over. ]


5. If you are satisfied, consider re-applying the High Pass Filter effect as described above.

6. In Effects, use Amplify or Ccmpressor to boost the volume level.

[Miranda]

Thank you!