Noise suppression software. How to remove background noise from a recording

In this article I will write about how to remove noise from recording and how to process the recording from the microphone. And in the beginning I would like to tell you about the program,

The program I use to this day is FL Studio 10. With this program I remove noise from my recordings.

This program is used by professional musicians (in my opinion for creating and processing music). This program can download on the official website of the developer http://fl-studio.ru/

First, download this program and install it as usual. Next, we launch and such a window will open with a bunch of incomprehensible and cool tools.

Click "continue"

And in order to start processing the record, you need the record itself. I recommend using a good recording program for recording, such as Bandicam, or you can also download it on the official website. We go to the search engine and write Bandicam or you can still use Adobe Audition.

In my case, I process .wav and stereo recordings with this choice, it seems to me that the effect is better than mono.

And so you have a record, of course with noise, and it needs to be cleared of noise. Download the FL Studio program and install it in the normal mode.

When you first start the program automatically creates a track i.e. there is already a ready-made track that can be edited.

To work with your entry, go to "file" and click "new". Next, "fruity limiter" will open

On the upper right corner there is an arrow pointing down, press it and select “replace” from the menu list. To remove noise from the recording, select the edison tool

In the window that opens, move the mouse cursor to the center of the window, press the right mouse button, move the mouse cursor to "file" and click "load sample".

Or press the key combination "ctrl + o" on the keyboard.

Select the file to be processed and click "open". And now the most important point is to find a section of background free noise on the track.

Do not be afraid of such a proposal, it is easy.

Select the section of noise that needs to be removed from the recording and on the top panel in the edison tool click on the brush icon

If you understand this program and understand what actions you are performing, then you can play around in the settings.

In order to remove noise from the recording, I always leave all the default settings, because if you change any settings after processing, the recording becomes distorted.

At least that's what happened with my results. But I do not like such programs and do not particularly pay attention to them.

And so we select the area of ​​noise, click on the brush and the window that opens, click "acquire noise profile".

Sometimes in the edison tool, the "output noise only" tab is enabled by default, it must be disabled

After removing the noise profile, you need to completely select the entire track to remove noise from the entire track

Record processing time depends on the length and quality of your track. After the end of the process of removing noise from the recording, you must save the track.

To do this, move the mouse cursor over the track, press the right mouse button and select "save sample as". We all removed the noise from the record.

Where does noise come from

Let's talk a little about where the noise in the recording comes from. The source of noise friends is fans and electrical engineering.

The main culprit for noise is the fans and cooling system in the computer system unit. Of course you can fight them.

You can buy a more powerful cooling radiator for a solid price and powerful fans.

But removing noise with the help of such components is not 100% possible. There is also an option.

The most effective way to remove noise from a recording is to buy a condenser studio microphone.

This microphone will delight you with its high-quality and clear recordings. But this microphone will knock your pocket.

And in the end, I would like to tell you that in addition to this program on the Internet, there are many programs like

Adobe Audition, Sound Forge Pro 11.0, audacity, which help to deal with noise on the recording.

I will write separate articles about these programs. In my practice, I took advantage of these programs that can remove noise from a recording

but they all have one but. Some programs require professional skills to achieve maximum results.

Other programs heavily distort the sound, resulting in worse results. Therefore, these options are not suitable especially for beginners.

And with the help of FL Studio, you can remove noise from a recording in a couple of clicks and achieve a good result.

I still use this FL Studio program today and am satisfied with its results.

Of course, I'm not saying that this program is the best and use only it, but I'm just sharing what suddenly comes in handy.

But with this I end this post, I hope that the information will be useful to you. Write your opinion in the comments.

You will be interested

Noise in an audio recording can have a different nature, or rather, sources of origin. Sometimes it happens that singing, a voice message, a self-made audiobook, an online podcast, the sounds of a musical instrument on a track are accompanied by clicks, crackles, hums, humming overtones. Needless to say, how all these interferences darken the impression of the sound track.

And it also happens that an audio archive on reels, records, audio cassettes is stored on a shelf. And the owner wants to restore it - digitize it in mp3 or wave format and improve the quality of the audio recording.

In solving these problems, special programs for sound processing come to the aid of the user, as well as special VST plugins that filter the useful signal using various algorithms.

Let's get to know them better to learn how to clean audio recordings from noisy backgrounds on our own.

Programs for processing audio and sound recordings

Below are the most popular and user-friendly software solutions. Naturally, they are not the only ones, and there are other audio editors that are not inferior to them in terms of functionality.

Which program to choose is up to you. Each is good in its own way. The next chapter of this article discusses options for how to remove noise from a track with additional plug-ins in Cubase 5. However, the VST filters given as an example can be used in the same way in Steinberg Nuendo, Adobe Audition, WaveLab, etc.

Digital audio station with a huge number of options and settings. Used in professional and home recording studios. Supports the functions of exporting and importing audio tracks in various formats (including Midi). Ideal for multi-channel recording of musical instruments and vocals.

One of the most powerful audio mastering, restoration and editing tools. In addition to being endowed with its own extensive arsenal of processing, it also works great with third-party plugins.

The latest versions of the editor are implemented in 64-bit format for Mac and Windows operating systems.

Professional program for editing and processing video and audio products. Equipped with a system of flexible settings and a clear interface. On "excellent" copes with mixing, mastering and applying various effects to the track.

Noise Removal VST Plugins

A VST plugin can be compared to a browser addon. (For example, Firefox is installed, and then the AdBlock add-on is connected to it. Thanks to this add-on, another function is activated in the browser - blocking ads on site pages).

So, let's connect and configure the necessary VST plugins, and then use them to remove noise in the tracks.

Note. The guide covers connecting the VST Waves Restoration package to Cubase 5. As mentioned above, you can perform these operations by analogy in other programs.

Connection

1. Install the Cubase audio editor and then the Wave Arts Master Restoration Suite (or Waves Complete Bundle) plug-in package on your computer.

2. Launch Cubase.

3. Connect the installed VST package to the editor:

• in the Cubase menu, open the "Hardware" section and click on the "Plugin Information" item;
• in the "Information ..." panel, click the "Path to VST" button;
• in the additional window, click "Add";
• in Windows Explorer, specify the folder on the C drive where the Waves plugins are installed;
• click "OK";
• go back to the "Plugin Information" panel and run the "Update" command (button at the top);
• after updating, make sure that Waves is in the list of connected VSTs.

4. Load the track in which you want to remove overtones. Open in the menu: File → Import → Audio file.

Filter installation

1. To set a filter, click on the panel of the processed track.

2. In the vertical track options bar, click the Inserts section.

3. Left click on one of the cells (i1, i2, etc.).

4. In the VST list that opens, go to the Restoration section and select the required filter (click on it).

Filter selection

The choice of a filtering plug-in and its settings depend on the specific tasks of the user.

Indispensable when digitizing vinyl records and cassettes on a PC. Removes clicks, creaks, rustles characteristic of these audio media (especially those that are worn out during operation).

• Audio- includes a useful signal;
• Difference- displays overtones;
• Thresh- filter operation threshold;
• shape- shape of the characteristics of the interference detector.

Empirically (by ear), set the optimal Thresh and Shape parameters, in which only noise is filtered out, and the sounds of the track remain unchanged (they do not fall into the filter area).

Performs similar functions to the previous plugin, but uses more complex algorithms to implement them. Accordingly, the PC consumes more system resources.

• Audio/ Difference- separate signal and interference monitoring.
• Thresh/Reduction- sensitivity and depth of the filter (it is also necessary to achieve the optimal balance without losing the quality of the track).

X-hum

Narrow band filter. Neutralizes ringing, buzzing, buzzing backgrounds in the track, resulting from interference in the mains.

• Freq- adjustable frequency filter settings;
• Q- quality factor (bandwidth of the frequency filter);
• Gain- signal level.

Advice! If the settings of this filter seem complicated to you, try using ready-made presets. Open the drop-down menu at the top of the filter window by clicking on it and select one of the settings options (Full Reset, DC Reset, etc.)

How to remove noise in pauses?

1. Find a fragment with noises (without a useful signal) on the track.

2. Use the Scissors tool to cut its borders in the track.

3. Click on the cut out area with the left button. Click "Delete".

4. Listen to the edited section of the track (where the pause was removed). If speech or singing breaks off abruptly, set a smooth signal attenuation at the trimming borders:

Move the cursor to the upper right corner of the track, and then, holding the left mouse button, move it in the opposite direction from the trimming border. The larger the diagonal, the smoother the volume will decrease.

Let your audio recordings always delight listeners with their excellent quality!

Not so long ago I needed to remove the noise from the sound. Previously, I did not do this, so I got on the Internet to dig out a way how this can be done with the least loss. After 10 minutes of searching, it turned out that all paths lead to Adobe Audition.

After half an hour of experimenting, I figured out the best way to remove the noise. Now I present to you a fairly detailed instruction on how to do this. I will try to collect all the information found together, summarize and write in an accessible language. I’ll make a reservation right away that there will be only instructions, and not a description of a bunch of filters for this monster (Audition). Instructions like “There is a problem - here is the solution for you.” And Audition is essentially Photoshop in the world of audio.

Let's say you recorded sound on a microphone, camera, phone. Often, these devices do not differ in special quality (in terms of sound recording). And there will always be noise - some kind of constant component. And if there is also a generator of additional noise (for example, the hum of coolers in a computer) ... Our task is to separate it from speech or music.

There are two options here:

• The audio contains a recording of the atmosphere of a room or street without a useful signal. Those. in the presence of a recording of noise without impurities. For example, you are going to record your friend's guitar playing on a computer microphone. The apartment is quite quiet, there are no neighbors, no one makes noise on the street either (hmm, a rather idealized situation, isn’t it), but a disgusting computer, which is a hundred years old at lunchtime, and besides, it has not been cleaned of dust since the day it was born, treacherously rattles with coolers throughout Ivanovo. Well, there are two options: initially record 10-20 seconds before a friend starts playing and the same amount after the end. In this case, you will have a pronounced noise, which can later be separated. By the way, professional journalists do this whenever possible. And the second option is to clean the computer. And the second is clearly preferable.
• There is no separate recording of noise in the audio. Those. your friend started playing immediately after the recording started, and after the end you instantly cut the microphone. Here is the worst option. The fact is that noise is a collection of certain frequencies. If there is pure noise, then it is safe to say that these frequencies are noise, garbage and can be removed from the entire track. If some useful signal goes along with the noise, then the selected frequencies will no longer be exclusively garbage. And, when you delete them on the whole track, some part of the useful signal will be lost. Or rather, the music and voice will acquire a metallic hue. Therefore, it is better to rewrite such a record. You can also try to find a section where the useful signal will be at a minimum, put less aggressive settings when cleaning noise and put up with a metallic echo. Or you can just write the noise sample to a separate file, unless of course you are 1000 km away from this place

There is a small original file of 5 seconds in size with a pronounced background noise. The recording was made on the voice recorder of a smartphone. And this noise is generated by the phone and at a low volume of the signal source is clearly audible.

Where to download the program, I will not tell you. I think you can guess without me. Let me remind you that you can download a trial version from the official Adobe website. You can use it for 30 days without restrictions.

In the understanding of uninitiated users, sound editing means converting discs to MP3 or FLAC, as well as cutting tracks from a disc image with a CUE markup file. The most advanced "pros" can even make ringtones, cutting out the fragment they like from the musical composition. These, of course, are quite popular actions, but the term "sound processing" has a completely different meaning.

How can you change the sound? First of all, you can influence the frequency characteristics of the audio signal. Frequency correction is akin to a sharpening filter when processing an image - visually, the object is made clearer and more legible, but this does not mean that details have been added after editing. When processing the frequencies of an audio signal, approximately the same thing happens. I guess everyone who wore headphones with a player sometimes felt the need to “twist the equalizer” to add bass or pull out high frequencies. But here's what's interesting - strongly protruding high frequencies increased the noise, which did not decorate the audio track. The reverse procedure, noise suppression by frequency equalization, presents another problem. Along with the noise, a certain range of vocals and music disappears, which leads to the loss of useful information.

Another way to "change" the sound is to use effects. In our opinion, such a sound processing method is justified only when the sound engineer is working on mixing the audio material and has a clear idea of ​​what he is doing. Sometimes even a distortion filter can make an audio clip sound natural. In addition, audio filters often help to hide or veil some defects in the audio track. For example, if a side sound or echo is heard at the end of a recorded part of an instrument, this can be corrected by cutting or muting the problem area and “plunging” the ending into a smooth echo with a decay effect.

There is a third way to edit digital audio. It is on it that the principle of sound processing is built in most modern audio editors. For the original recording, a waveform is created - a diagram by which you can visually trace the change in the amplitude of the sound over time. If you open any audio file in a sound editor, such as Sound Forge or Goldwave, you can see that this is the way the sound is presented in the program by default. Modern sound editing packages allow you to make changes to the shape of this "sine wave" - ​​change the shape of the peaks, compress or move them apart, remove fragments and modify the nature of the curve. For the user who set out to process the sound, this opens up great opportunities: in the original audio material on the waveform, you can easily find clicks and noise, and then remove them, etc.

Noise is one of the most pressing problems that arise in sound processing. Noise is a natural phenomenon. It is present everywhere and in everything - water flowing from the tap gurgles in the kitchen, cars rustle in the street, computers and printers hum in the office. Accompanies noise and any audio recording, whether it is a message on the answering machine or musical compositions from an audio CD. Of course, the noise level in all these cases differs, however, it is impossible to get rid of it completely. The nature of noise can be very different - from the buzzing of a drill to the rustling of leaves, so it is impossible to come up with an ideal algorithm that would clear the sound of noise. In addition, audio interference is akin to dust and scratches in a photograph - artifacts can be “masked” as the main sound and made less noticeable, or rather inaudible, and can be completely removed.

The most important question that confronts users is which tool to choose to combat noise?. The choice of an audio processing tool depends on financial preferences. Of course, there are professional applications that use unique sound processing algorithms and cost thousands of dollars. The capabilities of specialized software can be much broader and not limited to one noise removal. For example, some applications may remove certain sounds from the audio track, such as the occasional noise of a passing car. However, only large companies, say, film studios, which have a fairly solid budget at their disposal, can afford this option. For a middle-income user, a pretty good option is Sound Forge Pro or Adobe Audition. Well, as an economy option, you can offer it, only the latest, albeit beta, version. Do not be afraid of the test version of the editor. In fact, this program works very stably and is no worse than the official release. In addition, it has some tools that were clearly missing in the previous version.

⇡ Removing noise in pauses between audio tracks in Sound Forge Pro

This professional sound processing package contains two main tools with which you can "beat" the noise. The first one is called Noise Gate. Imagine an old tape from an audio cassette, where a sharp hissing sound is heard in the pauses. Perhaps someone will consider this noise an indispensable attribute of the music of the eighties and will not want to get rid of it when digitizing rare recordings. But if you do not find any romance in this noise, you can easily suppress it, and without harm to the main composition. For this, a filter is used that removes the signal if it drops to a certain threshold value.

Open the audio file in Sound Forge Pro and select the section of the track you want to process. Now select Effects and Noise Gate from the program menu. Like most other tools in the application, the filter has several presets and the ability to preview the result with the selected settings.

⇡ Removing background noise in Sound Forge Pro

Sound Forge Pro's second noise reduction tool is the Noise Reduction module, which can be accessed from the Tools menu. The presence of noise usually means the loss of original information. The computer, when eliminating random interference, must somehow restore this data. However, by and large, this is not possible, since the removal of frequencies containing noise leads to a loss of the original sound and the appearance of gurgling artifacts.

When the noise is random in nature, it is difficult to describe it mathematically. Another thing is if this noise is caused by cyclic processes, say, electromagnetic oscillations. In this case, it is possible to predict how the waveform should be corrected in order to obtain an undistorted signal at the output. To combat these "predictable" types of interference, the background noise capture method is used. Its essence boils down to the fact that the program records a fragment of "pure" noise, and then subtracts it from the audio recording. Such a fragment can be very short, lasting less than a second.

Sony Noise Reduction allows you to either automatically capture noise, or do it manually. In the manual suppression mode, the module generates a picture of the frequency spectrum and marks control points on it that determine the nature of the noise suppression. Those data on the chart that are located above the envelope will be left unchanged. And for those located below it, attenuation will be applied. Accordingly, when manually moving control points up, the effect of noise reduction will be stronger, and vice versa.

Sony Noise Reduction can use one of four noise reduction algorithms, which are called Mode 0, Mode 1, Mode 2 and Mode 3.

The default mode is Mode 2, which is good for most situations. But developers recommend always checking how the program copes with noise removal in all possible modes, and choosing the best result.

• Mode 0 is generally suitable for low amplitude noise reduction. However, when using it, the probability of the appearance of distorting artifacts increases;
• Mode 1 is similar to Mode 0, but with less chance of getting artifacts. On the other hand, it removes less noise;
• Mode 3 is the most gentle mode of noise reduction, in which the likelihood of sound defects is minimized.

⇡ Removing clicks from audio recordings in Sound Forge Pro

Usually, a musical recording, digitized from a vinyl record, is accompanied by crackling and clicking. In this case, it is not enough to use a noise profile, since the crackling of the record is unpredictable. Sound Forge Pro has a dedicated tool to eliminate the most commonly encountered noise when digitizing audio recordings. To call it, execute the command "Tools → Audio Restoration".

In addition to selecting the noise threshold and other background noise suppression options, this tool also allows you to set click suppression. The Click Removal Amount slider is responsible for this. By default, its value is set in the middle and is optimal for most records. If you move the slider to the right, more clicks will be removed, but the program may also accidentally remove elements of the main audio recording, such as a drum sound.

⇡ Removing background noise in Audacity

To remove noise in the free Audacity editor, you can use the same tricks as in the case of Sound Forge. For example, the Noise Removal module, written by Dominic Mazzoni, one of the authors of Audacity, is suitable. To use this filter, you need to take a few seconds to create a noise profile, and then select the "Effects → Noise Removal" command.

After that, you need to click on the "Create noise model" button and, having selected the entire processed audio fragment, call this filter again. Now in the settings window, you can select the Noise reduction strength, adjust the filter sensitivity, specify the smoothing frequency and attack time, which characterizes the filter's response to the appearance of noise.

Sometimes the noise profile method does not work, or the recording is so tight that there is no way to get this profile. In this case, you can resort to such a trick. To get a profile, you just need to make an additional recording in the same conditions in which the edited material was recorded. Further, the profile can be taken from a new record. Unfortunately, it is far from always possible to recreate the initial conditions, so this technique is not suitable for all cases.

⇡ Remove nasty squeak in Audacity

If you know the tools of sound editors well, you can eliminate interference using the tools of the sound editor in a complex way, and not just with one “noise reduction” filter. Suppose you are faced with another kind of noise - a constant beep at a certain frequency. This type of interference can occur, for example, with strong interference from radio equipment. In this case, the principle of cutting out a frequency band that contains unwanted noise is used.

First of all, for this you need to perform a frequency analysis of the track. To get such a graph in Audacity, run the command "Analysis → Plot Spectrum Plot".

Now carefully study the diagram - the frequency noise on the sound track will be visible as a protruding hump. Move the cursor over this section to find out the exact frequency of this peak. Remember this value. Now select the entire track and choose Effects → Nyquist Query from the program menu.

In the window that appears, write something like this:

• (vector (notch2 (aref s 0) 6230 50) (notch2 (aref s 1) 6230 50)) for a stereo track,
• (notch2 s 6230 50) - if you have one audio track.

The number 6230 is the frequency at which interference is heard. The number 50 is a setting that you may need to experiment with to ensure that the cut frequency does not dip too much in the frequency spectrum of the audio recording. You can make sure that the noise is removed, both by the newly generated frequency spectrum, and just by ear.

⇡ Conclusion

The use of high-quality equipment - expensive microphones, high-end amplifiers, etc. It certainly helps to reduce the amount of noise. But in cases where it is impossible to influence the quality of the recording, it is worth remembering digital sound processing. And even if it is not possible to completely get rid of third-party interference, in many cases the recording will become more pleasing to the ear. Therefore, if you set out to restore old recordings from a reel or cassette recorder, be sure to try all possible options to eliminate noise, because, as you know, there is no limit to perfection.