Hey guys, I’m basically a total noob when it comes to audacity so I need your help! I made a few interview recordings in a car with my camcorder, but there’s a super loud background noise coming from the car. This happens when you’re travelling along at 60+ mph. The voices are clear enough, but the noise is really loud. I’ve tried cutting out and reducing background noise but it does nothing noticeable. I need your help guys, so any help would be massively appreciated!! Thanks guys, Connor!
Sadly, there may not be much you can do… There is a reason pros still record in soundproof studios, or at least they use a directional mic, and get the mic as close to the speaker (or other source) as possible to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio.
Software noise reduction works best when you have a tiny background noise… When you don’t really need it. Sometimes, you can use the equalizer to boost the “voice frequencies” and/or cut other frequencies, but the noise in a car is broad band and it overlaps the voice. If you have something like a squeal that’s a constant-pitch, you can reduce that with a notch filter.
If it’s a video, sometimes the best solution is to reduce the volume to a less-annoying level, and add subtitles.
Or if it’s not a “real interview”, if it’s an interview scene in a movie, the standard practice would be to re-record and lip sync in the studio. Virtually all on-location movie dialog (and other movie sound) is produced in the studio.