Eliminate "Fan" Noise When Recording

The "Pro" in Logic Pro does not mean "does everything for you, just hit record." (Although it is getting frighteningly closer to that reality with every new release).

The "Pro" assumes that the user is knowledgeable enough to figure out how to record without noise.

As for the menu for recording without the background noise, go to Logic > Preferences > Magic Tricks > Defiance of Basic Sound Fundamentals > Eliminate Background Noise > and then. . . Computer Fan Noise. I know, it's buried pretty far in there, but once you find it, it will do the trick!

Well, all sarcasm aside, you might want to look into the dynamics plugins that come with logic. Especially the expander and the noise gate will be useful for you. However, without knowing what you're doing you won't get useful results. So I recommend to learn the basics of professional sound recording and maybe investing in a recording channel strip that does some basic processing before you record the signal into logic.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Jazz

Harry Katz wrote:
I am brand new to Logic Pro, like just installed it an hour ago. Could anyone direct me in the menus to the place I need to go to be able to record without that background noise?

Turn off the fan.

Oh, but if it is the fan from your computer, you need to isolate it from your microphone.

Welcome to recording with a microphone 101, where the microphone shows you what sounds are ACTUALLY in your room, and how your brain tunes most of them out.

1.- How big is your room?

2.- Can you place the mic so it's null point is directed at the fan noise source, so it does not pick up as much of it? (If you do not know what a null point of a microphone is, you really ought to pick up a basic recording book at your local bookseller).

Cheers

dingdangdawg wrote:
This topic does beg the question: Which Mac (which would comfortably run Logic 9) has the lowest inherent fan noise level?

I use a Mac Book, a Mac Book Pro, and also a Mac Pro dual 4 core.

They three do not make a lot of fan noise. The music makes the "fan noise".

Cheers

you may wish to look into one of these too;

http://www.custom-consoles.com/isobox.php

Although, how one is supposed to fit inside that little box and still have room to play I have no idea. I would also imagine that the temperature in there would get warm enough to play havoc with my tuning.

It maybe worth a look none the less.

OK, here is a real "lo-tech" solution that actually worked for me.

My mic was picking up fan noise from behind so I tried attaching the bottom half of a cardboard egg carton to the boom right behind the mic. With rubber bands.

It looked awful but it worked great. No fan noise audible.

Your mileage may vary but it's free and worth a try.

While the best way to eliminate the noise is to avoid it in the first place with acoustic isolation between the instrument/mic and the computer, there is a noise reduction feature in Soundtrack Pro that works pretty well if you have a recording already done that has noise like a fan or something similar.

I'm just trying one of those stands that has fans in it for my Macbook pro. It adds fan noise (not much) but i'm figuring that it will cool it down enough so that the internal fan will shut down for a while and then I can turn the other off too. Early days but just elevating the laptop with the stand gives it more airflow and must keep it cooler. So, if you want less fan, keep it cooler.

Well your Mac needs cooling so you can't just turn the fan off. What you need is an isolated recording booth as I assume you're doing everything in one room.

...or move the computer out of the recording room.

Christian

LOL 🙂

Have you perhaps got the Built-in Microphone selected as your Input Device?

LogicalAnalysis,

that was hysterical! 🙂

I tell my fans to go outside until my recording is done

Both of them ?

Christian