I have three days of audio from a class. The teacher used one voice to test the mike and a different (much softer voice) during the actual class.
I have tried removing noise, amplifying, compressor, equalizer…and just can’t get it loud enough. My main concern is there was a hearing impaired student in the class and she is counting on listening to the audio. There was a lav mike and a cordless handheld mike.
I have included sample that has some original audio that is audible (barely) and then followed it with audio where I know the teacher is speaking but I can’t hear anything. This is my first audacity project, so there may be something obvious I am missing.
I have included sample that has some original audio that is audible (barely) and then followed it with audio where I know the teacher is speaking but I can’t hear anything.
If it’s so bad that you can’t make out what’s being said, Audacity (or any other software) is unlikely to help. If you amplify the voice, you’ll also amplify the noise and the voice will remain masked by the noise. However, you can select/highlight the quiet sections without amplifying the louder parts, if that helps.
Compression tends to make noise worse. Sometimes EQ can help by bringing-out the mid-voice frequencies and reducing noise in the lower and very-high frequencies. But usually, the noise that’s making the voice unintelligible is in the same (wide) frequency range as the voice. Noise Reduction only works when you have a constant low-level background noise… It works best when you don’t really need it.
There was a lav mike and a cordless handheld mike.
I don’t understand why that didn’t work… What were you recording with and how were the mics connected? Was there another mic that might have actually been picking-up the sound (including more room noise), such as a mic built into whatever hardware you were using?
I have included sample
We can’t open your AUP file because it doesn’t contain the actual audio. If you wish, you can post an MP3 or WAV file.
You weren’t recording from a lavalier or tie-tack microphone. If this was a camcorder, it sounds like you were recording the built-in microphone by accident. Lavalier microphones can have sound problems, but super quiet, noisy voices isn’t one of them.
As above, if you can’t make out the words in the show now, software and post production is not going to help you. Even with weapons-grade noise reduction (I tried), I can’t make out what the performer is talking about. The words just turn into bubbly noises.
Sorry.
I know this is too late, but if you need to do that again, it is strongly recommended that you listen with headphones to the sound recorder during the show. Even on a video show. Attached.
That’s David Kelson sound recordist on “The Walking Dead.”
