Subject:Eliminating noise at the beginning and end of takes

Posted by: jimmyg

Date:1/27/2003 10:00:02 PM

Hi:

I've been using Sound Forge 4.5 XP to record spoken voice in a .wav file. One thing I notice is a slight noise in the recording every time I start and stop a new "take." What would you recommend as the best way to eliminate this noise either before I begin to record or afterward? (Before would be better if we could find a way.)

Also, are there any different features in the full versions of either Sound Forge 4.5 or 6 that will help to eliminate this problem? A friend of mine mentioned a feature in the full versions called "Auto Snap to Zero." Will this help my situation at all?

Thanks.

Jim

Subject:RE: Eliminating noise at the beginning and end of takes

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/27/2003 10:15:48 PM

Not having a clue where the noise is coming from or what type of noise it is, i really couldn't suggest a way to eliminate it during the recording process. However, it's very simple to delete it from the take after you've recorded it. Normally i start recording at least a half second or so before the sound i want to record starts, and keep recording a bit afterwards as well. Then i trim the file down to just the part i want. You can either highlight the sections before and after and delete them, or highlight the part you want and trim.

Subject:RE: Eliminating noise at the beginning and end of takes

Reply by: jimmyg

Date:1/28/2003 1:18:09 AM

Hi:

Thanks for your input. The noise seems to be coming from the actual starting and stopping of the recording process itself. It's almost like a slight, very quick sound of turning a microphone on and off when you're recording. But in this case the microphone is constantly on and it's the recording process itself that's starting and stopping.

Regarding editing are there any features in the full versions of Sound Forge that will make the edits of the "takes" sound more seamless? Does the "Auto Snap to Zero" feature help with this at all?

Thanks.

Jim

Subject:RE: Eliminating noise at the beginning and end of takes

Reply by: musicvid10

Date:1/29/2003 10:25:38 PM

You have to understand that the auto-snap function sets the selection to the nearest zero crossing in a selection, it's useful but not a cure-all for ambient noise. There is another feature called auto-trim that does the same thing a lot more intuitively (I don't know if it is available in your version).

What I do to suppress the sudden onset of signal AND noise at the beginning is to fade in from silence 1/3-1/2 sec before the program, and fade out at the end. Sometimes when we think we want to eliminate something, it is really better just to minimize.

Subject:RE: Eliminating noise at the beginning and end of takes

Reply by: jimmyg

Date:1/30/2003 1:25:17 AM

Hi:

Thanks for the information. I see that I do have the auto trim feature. I also see that it is to be used after you've recorded already. How do you utilize this function?

So would it be a good idea then to also utilize the Auto Snap to Zero function in addition to this?

When you talk about fading in and out, what setting do you recommend to accomplish this? I also take it that along with this it would be a good idea to wait a few seconds before actually talking at the start of every take.

Jim