Two Birds: Download/Noiseclean

mackink · Post by **mackink** » June 25th, 2007, 4:09 pm

I have two problems. The first is that I have server space through my college, but when I posted my recording there and tried to get it back, it came up as a playable quicktime thing but not as downloadable. Does anyone know how to fix this? The college help site says I need html, but I don't know anything about that and I can't do anything about it on my own.

http://www.people.carleton.edu/~mackink/kublakhan_coleridge_kam.mp3

Also, there is a fuzz sound in the background. I've done everything I can think of but it won't go away. I used GarageBand, with all the volumes amped up as much as I can, and away from noisemaking stuff in the house. I used a laptop to record, maybe the hard disk is spinning and making noise? I was also kind of hoping someone knows a way to eliminate background noise in Garageband. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for the help
-KAM

gypsygirl · Post by **gypsygirl** » June 25th, 2007, 5:04 pm

I had no problem downloading the file... unless that link was to somewhere else?

Anyway, I had a bit of a fiddle on the audacity beta version and came up with this

Starlite · Post by **Starlite** » June 25th, 2007, 5:08 pm

As for downloading - try right clicking on the file and choose "save file as" or something like that. That should do it.

Post by **knotyouraveragejo** » June 25th, 2007, 6:07 pm

KAM -

I've noisecleaned your file here

This noise is not from the room. It is either from the fan or hard drive in your laptop or from electrical noise that the mic picks up from the power adaptor. What kind of mic are you using - USB or one that plugs into your sound card?

mackink · Post by **mackink** » June 25th, 2007, 6:44 pm

Well the noisecleaned version sounds much better- I think I'm just going to have to give in and download Audacity, because apparently it deals with that stuff much better. (I'm not using a mike cause I've only just started recording and I haven't decided to make the "investment" yet. And I think the noise is the laptop fan- I'll see if I can hear it biologically and tell if it's on to double-check if that's what's causing the problem.)

As far as the download goes, I can't for the life of me figure out how to download it to my computer, but if other people can I'm just not going to worry about it.

Thanks for the help!

-Kristine Mackin (KAM- it's just faster to type that)

Post by **knotyouraveragejo** » June 25th, 2007, 7:46 pm

Kristine,

I think you will find that when you are ready to invest in a mic (preferably USB) that your background noise may go away.

For one thing you can get a little farther away from its source if it is your laptop fan.

You've done a great reading of this poem, so I hope you will stick around and read some more! There are a number of Garage Band "experts" around the forum who may be able to help you as well. (For the record, I didn't use Audacity to clean up your file.) In the meantime there are folks around who will noiseclean for you if you post in the Listeners/Editors wanted forum.

Jo

kayray · Post by **kayray** » June 25th, 2007, 9:26 pm

Did you try right-clicking (or control-clicking on a one-button mac) the link in your first post, and choosing "save link as" or "save target as" or whatever your browser suggests along those lines?

mackink · Post by **mackink** » June 26th, 2007, 4:06 pm

Well now I feel rather silly. I clicked the link like you said and it worked just fine. Whops!

As far as the noiseclean goes, I've been futzing with the controls and maybe making some progress. I'll see what happens.

Thanks again!

ceastman · Post by **ceastman** » June 26th, 2007, 5:17 pm

Also, in terms of making an investment, many of us start out with really simple USB microphones that run about $30 on Amazon. Good thing to ask for as a birthday gift or whatnot if you're a student.

-Catharine

mackink · Post by **mackink** » June 26th, 2007, 8:13 pm

How DID you guys noiseclean the file? I've been fidling with everything I can, and have not been able to fix it. What programs are you using (Jo especially, since I'm having issues of a new and different kind with Audacity).

Thanks again and again.

Shurtagal · Post by **Shurtagal** » June 26th, 2007, 10:31 pm

If you are on a mac (which I highly suspect) then the beta version of audacity may not work, but if you are running windows I or someone else maybe able to help you through your audacity troubles. I'm one of the "people who swear by audacity" (LV Wiki) and the beta version is working just fine for me.

As someone else said if for whatever reason you are having trouble noise cleaning your recordings just post in the Listeners/Editors Wanted area and someone will be by to help, possible many someones.

mackink · Post by **mackink** » June 27th, 2007, 9:16 am

I am on a mac, and the problem is that I can't download the LAME mp3 converter. I think I may have found a way around it, though, through iTunes.

And I really wanted to be able to noiseclean myself. Probably because I'm too stubborn and I want to defeat the difficult software.

I'm going to give it one more try, and hopefully this time I'll get it right!

Post by **knotyouraveragejo** » June 27th, 2007, 10:39 am

It is not always easy (or straightforward) to get good results with noisecleaning so don't be discouraged if at first you can't get the result you want. While I agree that the new beta version of Audacity gives much improved results over 1.2.6, I am rarely thrilled with the resulting sound quality. (Admittedly I am sensitive to the artifacts that get left behind.) It can be effective depending on the noise to be removed and the overall signal to noise ratio as attested to by the numerous rave reviews you will see about the forums. (and it is free of course!) There is a wiki page on noisecleaning here and a good discussion in this thread .

I use a combination of Nero wav editor and SoundForgeXP (neither one is the current version) and a multistep process to remove difficult noise. Unfortunately there is no magic formula that works everytime. Experiment enough and you should find something that works reasonably well. Try taking the noise out a little at a time rather than all at once while listening carefully for artifacts and to make sure you voice isn't affected each time. (You will need to get a new noise print each time.)

Anyway try to have fun with this and don't stress out about it too much. There are folks about who actually enjoy doing this sort of thing!