Low level hum in background of recordings

[bbrady32]

Sure, how do I do that?

[kozikowski]

Sure, how do I do that?

I was hoping you would know. Right this second, you have 100% more Macro experience than I do.

Koz

[kozikowski]

I'm just now catching up. Did you write it?

Koz

[bbrady32]

Answering a couple of earlier questions -- I am using wired headphones, mic set to a mono/cardioid with monitoring off. I am a total amateur, so don't know really what showing the macro means, or how to write it.

[kozikowski]

I am a total amateur

Not if you're getting compensated for the voice work. Then you're a subtotal amateur.

The G-Track has provision to plug the headphones into its back and listen to your voice performance in real time. Switch Direct to ON and advance the volume—the third volume control on the front.

You would want that because it gives you a death grip on the expression, volume, projection, and emphasis of your voice. And yes, it does take a bit of getting used to.



There was a forum poster whose idea of theatrical emphasis was to get so loud she melted the microphone and fogged her glasses.

It doesn't work like that. Everything you do has to fit in a relatively narrow volume range and that narrow range is a lot easier to manage with the live headphones.


A Macro, also known as batch processing is a way to collect multiple individual steps or programs into a pile so they will, once started, run themselves and don't need you to run them one at a time.

This is the "official" way to master a chapter or performance into an ACX compliant sound file.



It's only three steps and they remember their settings, so it's pretty quick after the first time.

But you have to run all three. The Macro combines them into one action item. Cool, right? The only problem is Loudness Normalization has a Bug, sorry, Undocumented Feature and it makes my teeth hurt to include an imperfect tool hidden buried in a Macro. Audacity has enough odd behaviors without me adding one more.


There is one other possible advantage to listening to yourself in real time as you perform. You might be able to hear your hum in real time, too.

Koz

[bbrady32]

Ok, I've learned a couple of things. First, I did the wave around test and didn't see (on the monitor) or hear anything stand out in terms of noise.

I am still hearing that hum sometimes even with my phone removed and the lights off. Another problem that has popped up in the last two months is a constant clicking. I can make it go away by adjusting the headphones - un-plugging/re-plugging them into the mic. I thought it was the headphones, but I've tried several and it happens over time with all of them. I've also uploaded a sample where the hum seems to go away for the last little bit of the recording. I turned on monitoring and and least can now hear when the clicking starts to happen, but can't hear that hum that only seems to be noticeable after I master.

I double checked my master settings and my RMS was normalized to -23 instead of -20, other than that, everything was the same as suggested.

Thanks for all your help, I'm feeling pretty frustrated with the whole thing.

B