Thank you, Trebor. I’ll have a look at the function. 
Nobody has any ideas on what is causing this in the first place then?
Cheers.
Edit: Hmm, I can’t find anything in the manual or wiki on Noise Gate. 
The performer & mic, rather than processing, IMO.
Paul-L’s DeClicker plugin can remove a lot of clicks & pops.
Thank you. I’m sure that is part of it but some of these noises do not sound natural or something I could produce and are sometimes between sentences. 
Edit: From experimenting, it seems to be all about where I take the noise sample from.
Post a ten second stereo sample or twenty second mono sample of original work on the forum. No processing, effects or filters. Raw recording. Alternately, burn a new sound clip according to this recipe.
http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/TestClip/Record_A_Clip.html
Doesn’t matter what the words are, but you should get the basic format in. Two seconds of dead silence where you hold your breath and don’t move around and then the rest whatever you have in front of you. Don’t cut it short.
“Kellogs Corn Flakes are part of a nutritious, balanced breakfast…”
Koz
Thanks, Koz.
I’ve added the same piece (with a few extra seconds) so that you may see the difference.
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Ai1k90-SUXL_w9sHSXqHwCRufnoGGg
Yes, I’m very clicky this day but, thankfully, I’m able to clear those easily.
With some more experimenting, just noise cleaning on the pieces I would usually choose for the sample, I can see that it leaves the beginning and end of the selected portion. I’m sure this is so that words aren’t cut off but my settings seem to be leaving a little too much. Could that be it?
Cheers.
The clicks are on the RAW version , so not processing-artifacts.
These DeClicker settings gets rid of most of them …
Thanks, Trebor but yes, I’m not referring to my nemesis, my mouth-clicks, as the artifacts.
Fortunately, since I’ve still never managed to eliminate them from the source (me!) I’m able to clean those.
Cheers.
There is something wrong with the first word or two??? Everything else sounds OK.
You are overdoing your noise reduction and/or under-doing your studio noise suppression. I count at least two different vent fans running in the background and there may be more individual noises I couldn’t identify.
The background noise in the raw sample came in about -50dB, significantly louder than the AudioBook standard of -60dB. Sound doubles each 6dB.
Your patched sample background noise was -80dB. Extreme noise reduction like that will cause weird, ghostie artifacts. It’s one of the reasons the tool was changed from the earlier “Noise Removal.” It’s not intended to totally remove noise. If you try, you get the damage you got. (Noise Removal also sucked much of the time, which is another reason it was changed).
One serious Noise Reduction artifact is boosting sibilants and ticking. If you weren’t harsh and spiky before, you will be after.
I applied simple Audiobook Mastering 4 followed by Noise Reduction 9, 6, 6, It passes audiobook requirements and sounds exactly like you.
If you want better background suppression, suppress the actual background. If you don’t, the tools build on each other. Noise Suppression creates artifacts, sibilance and ticking. This tool gets rid of the tails, that tool suppresses the sibilance, this other tool corrects errors of the first two. Then you can run…
Or you can identify the noises and turn them off while you’re recording.
Koz
Are you sure it’s you rather than the microphone diaphragm rebounding ? : have you tried another mic ?.
microphone diaphragm rebounding
I’m not sure I know that one. What causes a rebound error?
Koz
And another note, the Raw Clip peaks come in roughly -15dB, missing the louder -6dB to -10dB recommended live performance volume range. That, too causes stress on the post production process. You can reduce the volume of the background noise or you can get louder. Both work.
Both together are recommended.
Koz
The diaphragm gets momentarily stuck* in a displaced position, then frees itself suddenly with a click.
[ * saliva can act as low-tack glue, similar to a post-it-note becoming detached under its own weight ]
If the microphone diaphragm getting stuck is the source of the clicking, it will also occur with sound sources other than voices, e.g. barking dogs, electric-blender, loudspeakers, etc, provided they are as loud as the voice.
The diaphragm gets momentarily stuck* in a displaced position, then frees itself suddenly with a click.
That’s when you get the capsule replaced. Depending on the microphone, plates touching will cause the bias to blow a hole in the diaphragm.
Yet another reason to avoid blowing into any microphone.
It’s good to know what was being shot to cause that kind of damage. My cheap and inexpensive Behringer C1 is rated for 136 dBSPL. That’s like recording a diesel locomotive while a jet is going over.
I was in an audio class once when the presenter took out of a special pouch an actual microphone diaphragm. He held it over the desk and let go. It took four seconds for it to flutter down. So in general, working to specifications and permanently damaged are the only two conditions for a condenser microphone.
If you can trace diaphragm noise causing voice damage, you have a broken microphone.
There is one relatively new cause of voice damage in a condenser mic. There is at least one microphone out there claiming to work from the computer 5 volts. It doesn’t, but they say it does for maximum sales. What they very highly recommend in the instructions is to run it from the usual 48 volts phantom power.
So this is a case of a microphone broken condition and factory specifications overlapping.
Koz
Fellas,
thank you very much.
I thought I had removed background noise (I even turn off the fridge for the duration of recording) but I shall check again.
It IS possible that the microphone is damaged. It is an old Rode NT2 which was gifted to me and it DOES have a small dent in the mesh. I’m not sure how to check for further damage but I shall do the test of recording another noise besides my voice.
I’ll also try your settings, Koz as I can’t re-record this current project.
Cheers.
an old Rode NT2
There’s nothing delicate about an NT2. It’s rated at 147dBSPL. That’s like recording a diesel locomotive with two jets going over. The “basket” (grill on the front) is made to be a little gooshy so as not to get in the way of the sound, so I’m not shocked if it took a hit here and there. As long as nobody dropped it out a window, you should be good to go.
There’s nothing wrong with your voice presentation. Not a problem writing a check for that. We just have to get your noise level down.
Make sure you’re speaking into the company name side and the switch on the front is heart-shaped. That prevents sound from coming in from the back. The switch on the back (L, _, -10dB) should be in the middle.
That’s a good quality analog XLR microphone. How are you getting it into the computer? Like the very old world maps used to say, “Here Be Dragons.”
There is a review which claims (probably rightly) this microphone was designed to work into older mixers and amplifiers and tends to be a little bright to make up for everything else being a bit dull. They offer a capsule change to fix that, but I suspect you can get away with a little equalization. This will help your sibilance and ticking, too.
Koz
In cases this got lost, I’m following this audiobook mastering document.
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/audiobook-mastering-version-4/45908/1
If you already have everything, it’s just three tools listed under — Process:
After that, Effect > Noise Reduction 9, 6, 6.
Yes, from earlier, where you get the profile noise sample makes a big difference. The audiobook requirements I’ve seen want you to include some Room Tone (hold your breath and don’t move) in addition to the show. That’s a good place to get the Noise Reduction profile. Resist the urge to Generate Silence in those areas instead of using Room Tone. They don’t like your background popping up and down in volume.
Koz
Slowing the click down by 12x makes it sound like a empty tin-can …
Scaling a diaphragm up by 12x would be about the size of the end of a tin-can.
Thanks, Koz.
It is connected to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2:
Yup, I’m speaking into the company name side though mine has the switches on opposite sides to what you mention. The (L, _, -10dB) is on the same side as Rode. Mine WAS set to L so I’ve moved it to the centre. I was also disappointed to see that my rear switch was set to the circle, not the heart shape. I’ve fixed that. I could have sworn I had it set to carotid when I looked these up with the help of a fellow voice artist months ago. Perhaps in adjusting it to the holder, the switch was knocked.
Cheers.
I didn’t pull down the instructions for this microphone, but my impression is the switches are reversed. I can check.
The circle and heart switch changes from receiving sound from all directions (circle) and receiving sound mostly from the front. If you have room noise, it’s totally recommended you select the heart position and aim its back toward your noises.
You can figure out which one is front by selecting the heart and speak into both sides. Only one of them is going to work right.
The other switch may work well in the “L” setting. That’s the one that suppresses rumble, wind and popping breath noises.
You might make simple voice tests in both positions. You are listening for the ballsy, firm, low pitch “broadcast” sound in your voice to come and go. The -10dB third setting just reduces the voice volume. Not recommended in your case.
If you do that test, post some of it. It would be good to hear what it does. Announce as you go. "This is the flat setting, Testing One Two Three Four Five. This is the “L” setting, Testing…
The “L” setting is really the high pass filter. Allow everything but the bass notes to go through. That’s it’s official name.
Koz
This is where that “L” comes from. It’s roughly the pattern the equalizer tools makes when it’s suppressing bass notes (thin green line). Click the graphic.
Koz
