Help removing a "thump"

[Boomcoach]

https://librivox.org/uploads/tests/Boomcoach_ThumpRemovalHelp.mp3

At the 5 second mark there is a distinct "thump". I have this issue several times in another recording and I have not figured out a way to remove them, so any help would be appreciated.

I am using Audacity 3.2.4. No add-ins currently installed, but I can do so if needed.

[mightyfelix]

Well... I can't hear it. Probably a deficiency in my speakers, but I listened on two different devices and still didn't hear it. So maybe it's a deficiency in my ears!

Hopefully someone can help you actually remove the offending thump, as that would be ideal. But maybe it will help you feel better to know that it isn't as loud and distracting for everyone as it is for you.

[lightcrystal]

I can barely hear it.

If it isn't something obvious like background noise a few possible causes:

1. Buffer over runs. Put simply, if you are trying to push too much stuff through too small a pipe you can get artefacts. Allowing a bit more latency can help.
2. Sometimes if you ask your DAW to make massive sudden jumps in volume you can get bumps and clicks. It helps to not demand as much. If you have to do be demanding, do it more gently through automatic tracks.,

I had a click in my last read that was massive and obnoxious to me. But my DPL couldn't hear it. But I fixed it as [2.] anyway.

[knotyouraveragejo]

I hear it. I get these occasionally - presumably it's breath hitting the mic? Sometimes if you zoom in enough you can see the irregular nature of the sound wave and carefully select and cut it out. It's often hard to do it cleanly though, so I often will just rerecord the sentence or phrase and do a cut and paste.

[Boomcoach]

I can barely hear it.

If it isn't something obvious like background noise a few possible causes:

1. Buffer over runs. Put simply, if you are trying to push too much stuff through too small a pipe you can get artefacts. Allowing a bit more latency can help.
2. Sometimes if you ask your DAW to make massive sudden jumps in volume you can get bumps and clicks. It helps to not demand as much. If you have to do be demanding, do it more gently through automatic tracks.,

I had a click in my last read that was massive and obnoxious to me. But my DPL couldn't hear it. But I fixed it as [2.] anyway.

It is certainly possible that I am noticing it more because I am editing with headphones, I do not notice it when I play through speakers.

I am not sure what DAW is, that you are referencing in your second comment.

[lightcrystal]

I can barely hear it.

If it isn't something obvious like background noise a few possible causes:

1. Buffer over runs. Put simply, if you are trying to push too much stuff through too small a pipe you can get artefacts. Allowing a bit more latency can help.
2. Sometimes if you ask your DAW to make massive sudden jumps in volume you can get bumps and clicks. It helps to not demand as much. If you have to do be demanding, do it more gently through automatic tracks.,

I had a click in my last read that was massive and obnoxious to me. But my DPL couldn't hear it. But I fixed it as [2.] anyway.

It is certainly possible that I am noticing it more because I am editing with headphones, I do not notice it when I play through speakers.

I am not sure what DAW is, that you are referencing in your second comment.

A DAW is a digital audio workstation. That is: software that will record audio and export it. Pro Tools, FL Studio, Studio One, Audacity, Mixcraft, Cubase, are all examples of DAWs. This is simplistic; how DAWs work is a huge topic. I could start an off topic thread on DAWs if it helped anyone; I've used quite a few of them. You can't really avoid using one in audio or music production.

[stepheather]

I thought I might have an answer, but nope.

That said, it sounds like the noise I get when I accidentally bump my mic cord. I don't think it's air on the mic because typically a high-pass filter will take that out for me and I tried it here with no luck. That said, Jo has a lot more experience than I have!

[GrayHouse]

For those struggling to hear the thump, here it is enhanced:

https://librivox.org/uploads/tests/Boomcoach_ThumpEnhance.mp3

It's well masked by the speech so I don't think most listeners would hear a problem.

I don't think it's breath because it doesn't correlate with a heavy plosive. It sounds like a physical sound rather than interference. It's certainly similar to a mic cord or mic stand bump. Or perhaps a door closing in an adjoining room.

A high pass filter applied to the word (or syllable) with a cutoff around 100 Hz would probably tame it enough. Play around with the cutoff frequency and roll-off if you want to be more surgical.

It's one of those annoying intrusions that's hard to diagnose.

-Ian

[Rapunzelina]

I still can't hear it - maybe my ears are too old for this.

I can see that the wave-form in Audacity it not as smooth on con-TI-nuous. Is that the "thump"? It still sounds normal, and I'm using earphones.

[Boomcoach]

Listening to it with my PC speakers, instead of headphones, I am not hearing it either, so I may let it go. I will dee if my PL has any comments when they I upload it.

[jmac698]

I heard the thump immediately, at about 4.8s, during the "ous" of "continuous". I am using headphones which have good bass. The first solution I tried was a high pass filter at 100 Hz, however I could still hear it, just a high pitched version of it. Then I tried a spectral edit, highlighting the obvious square under 100 Hz. For some reason this worked better, and I can't hear any sign of it anymore.

Here is the fixed file, the instructions for fixing it, and a screenshot of the process.

The file:
https://sndup.net/jgbg/

The process:
These instructions are sometimes specific to Windows.
-Maximize your window: click the square in the upper right corner (Windows specific)
-In the upper left corner of the track display, there is a down pointing triangle, known as a "drop down" control. Click this, change the view to "Spectrogram".
-In the upper toolbar, click the magnifying glass with the "+" in it a few times, until the track fills your screen.
-Click the bottom of the track and drag it downwards, so that it fills the screen vertically (your mouse will change to a vertical arrow when you are positioned over the bottom edge).
-Draw a square by clicking at 100 Hz vertically and 4.86s horizontally, hold the mouse button, then drag down to 0 Hz vertically (the bottom) and 5.15s horizontally.
-Click Effect, Spectral Tools, Spectral Delete

The screenshot:
https://imgur.com/a/bPHynkq

[jmac698]

Here is my version of the enhanced thump. I could have completely isolated it by inverting the fix and mixing with the original, essentially spectral isolating the thump, but there is a time alignment bug in Audacity, it seems.
https://sndup.net/m6b7/

[jmac698]

It seems too short to me to be a door closing. In my opinion, it's not a buffer overrun, nor clipping distortion (as referenced previously as trying to increase the volume too much). I think it's a bump against a table or mic stand.

[NicoleJLeBoeuf]

@Boomcoach, is your microphone the sort that's attached to your headphones, a boom mic? I hear the thump you're talking about--it's faint, took me a couple tries to spot it--and it reminds me of the noises my previous mic started making as it got older and the "wand" the mic was attached to started wobbling about minutely just from the small motions of my head and jaw as I read aloud. Eventually I replaced it with a stand mic, a Yeti Blue Snowball, and no longer got those mic-wobbling thumps anymore.

[Boomcoach]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Thanks especially to jmc698 for finding a fix and a technique that I can keep in my editing toolcase.

I am hoping that I have found the cause of the thump, I was recording in an office chair, rather than the straight chair I had in my earlier setup. I realized that my chair makes some noises when I shift positions that involve the seat changing angles. Going to try changing chairs this week and see what happens!