Soften Harsher Sounds

[kozikowski]

Did you try to open up the raw capture files in Windows Media or QuickTime rather than Audacity?

A quick note. Start talking into the unit and then slowly make it do a backflip in front of your face. At one point, you will be talking into the bottom of the unit. Then do the same thing and slowly spin it like a top. Take about ten seconds to do each.

I've seen people trying to talk into the end of one of these...

http://www.coutant.org/2.html

...instead of the flat side which is normal for this microphone. Speaking into it wrong will get you some very odd sound.

Koz

[steve]

Let's see how complicated we can make this.

I posted my Audacity 1.3.5b equalization preset file to my web site...
I got it from this Mac...
/SystemDrive/Users/koz/Library/Application Support/audacity/EQCurves.xml

I have no idea where it is on a PC.
Koz

Just what I was thinking
http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic ... 902#p18902

On Linux it is:
home/<username>/.audacity-data/EQCurves.xml

So I'm guessing for Windows it's:
C:Documents and Settings<username>Application DataAudacityEQCurves.xml

[jan.kolar]

Exactly, I have XP and I have it here:
c:Documents and SettingsxxxxusernamexxxxApplication DataAudacityEQCurves.xml

[Mags]

Thanks, you guys are working really hard.

I downloaded EQCurves and applied Drumbeat3 to a WAV Recording....

http://www.mags-scorey.pwp.blueyonder.c ... 20PART.wav

Won't have a lot of time Tuesday to get back to this, maybe Weds, but not Thurs .... but will be back.

Mags

[kozikowski]

It was a juggling act curve between getting rid of the teeth-drilling sibilance sounds and sucking all the life out of the performance. There's still an occasional zing that goes through, but it should be livable until we figure out something else.

Anybody figure out how to use a de-esser in Audacity? I need personal experience only. Use exclusively the "I" pronoun, not my sister in Schenectady knows somebody...

Koz

[kozikowski]

<<<applied Drumbeat3>>>

Better. Being compulsive, I can certainly see where I could massage it a little more, but it's much better than the teeth-drilling from earlier.

Now you need to work on the room. I can practically reach out and touch the faded, rose-cluster wallpaper. I can hear that picture of Brighton Beach over there by the window and I personally would not have chosen that particular shade of mauve for the hard, wooden trim, I guess it will have to do.

I can tell you how big the room is by analyzing the echoes, but it's too close to bedtime. You have two choices; much bigger or much deader. Anything in Prince Albert Hall sounds grand. Anything in a soundproof room can be made to sound grand. This room can't be any more than 3M in any one direction, right?

http://www.kozco.com/tech/soundtests.html

The Left-Right thing was recorded in my bedroom with the sound equipment spread out on my goose feather duvet. I have a California cottage cheese ceiling and tatty, but wall-to-wall carpeting, so it would be hard to tell what I was really doing.

Koz

[Mags]

Thanks again, Koz ....er...your link doesn't work ...can we....? (You select Preview then you test the link then you post, smile) Just proved that, cos one of my links didn't work.

The Lounge is 12' 11" x 11' 9" and is extremely quiet .. I close all doors...
http://www.mags-scorey.pwp.blueyonder.c ... Window.jpg

This is Drumbeat Fire, recorded with Edirol on a Cushion on an easy chair. I stood in front of the chair.
Bought into Audacity and Amplified to 20. Eq Drumbeat3 applied

http://www.mags-scorey.pwp.blueyonder.c ... 20PART.wav

I'm slightly deaf, which helps a lot .. but I still think there's background noise. A friend of mine changed software because Audacity didn't get rid of the background noise created by his Edirol-R09. I bought mine because of him ... they're professional microphones ...

I'm not going mad ... this is fun .... I'm not going mad .. this is fun and it will come good in the end and will be worth it, because this poem and recording is going to be sent to the band, Tinariwen, because it was their performance that inspired it.....this is important stuff ...the world could be changed ... er...but not my lounge...

Thanks, Mags

[alatham]

Mags,

I'm gonna jump in on this one as well.

This is Drumbeat Fire, recorded with Edirol on a Cushion on an easy chair. I stood in front of the chair.
Bought into Audacity and Amplified to 20. Eq Drumbeat3 applied

You're right that there is still a considerable amount of noise on this recording and the source of the noise is the "Amplified to 20" bit. There exists something called a noise floor. Any time you have to amplify a signal you're going to end up raising the noise floor along with all the stuff you want to keep. The upshot is that if you have a very quiet recording that is not much louder than the noise floor, you will not be able to amplify the sound to be loud enough without the noise being too loud as well.

The only way to avoid this noise is to record louder (or use a microphone with a much lower self noise rating, but I wouldn't worry about that for now). My suggestion is to find a mic stand with a clip that will hold that microphone and to use a pop filter as others have suggested. It will be up to you to experiment with placement in order to avoid any sibilance problems. You may also benefit from hanging some heavy drapes over the windows in that room to cut down on the room tone, but placing the microphone closer to your mouth will also have the effect of reducing room tone, so do this scientifically and make only one change at a time.

[kozikowski]

I patched that link. I left one of the bracket symbols off, so the system couldn't see it as a link.

I would have to really lean into "Drumbeat" with headphones and the volume turned up. It doesn't sound "natural," but it's so close I can't tell what's actually wrong with it--other than I can clearly hear the room slapping in the background.

I'm fixated on room echoes because that's usually the first thing that separates a primary-school "YouTube" performance from a higher quality show. There was one skit where the kids did an amazing job of duplicating the set and lighting of a major news show. They were fine until the first words. They were using the little microphone atop the camera and the sound was all but unintelligible. It completely destroyed the illusion.

Doing illusion is harder than it looks.

Koz

[kozikowski]

<<<I close all doors...>>>

I was dangerously close on the rose-cluster wallpaper, though, wasn't I? Are you sure you don't have a picture of Brighton Beach on one of the other two walls?

That explains the slightly "live" presentation. Two sets of parallel walls and; is that linoleum on the floor?

I'd still be in the bedroom using the bed as a desk for the performance. I bet it makes a world of difference.

Is that wav file after filtration? That's better than I thought it would do. I'm going to see if I can suppress the hiss in the background. That and a test on the duvet to get rid of the echoes and you'll be golden.


Oh, why all the fuss? We don't often get a very good live performer with a laundry list of easily preventable errors. It's live recording's version of catnip.

When cats sense the bruised leaves or stems of catnip, they may roll over it, paw at it, chew it, lick it, leap about and purr, often salivating copiously.
--WikiPoedia--

Koz