Filter out background noise

how to cut down on the background noise

the only way to really cut out bg noise is to not have any in the recording. you can't remove sounds once you've recorded them.

if it is very low in volume you may be able to use the Gate to hide noises during silent passages, though too much gate can make a recording sound very unnatural.

in Pre-Pod.

i have no idea what that means

He mentioned compressing? Does this sound correct?

if anything, compression would make the bg noise even more obvious

a quiet room is your best friend. good luck

the only way to really cut out bg noise is to not have any in the recording. you can't remove sounds once you've recorded them.

The ideal is to record clean but there are options for hiss and hum. I have been using Soundsoap2 to clean up my cassette recordings. It is a fantastic tool and with a little tweaking can remove hiss and hum well. The video demos on the page I linked to are accurate as far as Soundsoap's ability to deal with the hiss and hum. To get the best and easiest results you need at least a 2 second period of noise for Soundsoap to analyze. (Note: You can get around this limitation by creating a loop of the noise from within the program. )

If you do a lot of recordings where your set up is less than ideal Soundsoap would be a good investment. In addition, Soundsoap comes with an au plugin that works in Garageband tracks so you can apply the noise removal to individual tracks in a recording.

Kurt

There is one sure fire way to do this. I've done it for years and its low tech. I use garageband to record radio commentary. I then export to itunes, convert to a mp3 file and email to the radio station. What I do is put a "thick blanket" over me and my iMac when I do the recording using the computer embedded microphone. It works great and I get radio quality.

It's low tech, but its the answer to all of these issues.

<Edited by Moderator>

and I get radio quality

If the word "radio quality" still makes any sense: No, you don't.

Radio quality refers to getting the same quality using garageband versus being in the sound proof studio at the Radio station. The radio station suggested I put a blanket up to absorb the sound echoing in my office. Instead, I took the blanket, put it over me and the iMac and then did the recording. The blanket keeps the sound from echoing, as it absorbs the sound and keeps it from reverberating off the walls. It works great to muffle any background sounds or tinny-ness in the recordings. Yes, it makes sense, everybody should try it.

But you still have the lousy quality of the mic (esp. the frequency range) and the computer noise that's being picked up. No radio station over here would accept that as "radio quality".