How to Remove Background Noise from Voice Recordings Pt.6

We already learned how to clean up background noise in your voice recording using a noise reduction tool.

But you may still be hearing random leftover noises between phrases (hint: you WILL have these leftover noises if your recordings are anything like mine).

These would be noises that come and go as opposed to constant background noise that we already learned how to deal with.

Noises like loud breaths, leftover mouth sounds etc.

How can you quickly clear out these random noises without spending hours deleting them between every spoken phrase?

Let me show you how to use a noise gate to save your precious time by automatically cleaning the gaps between phrases in your dialogue voice recordings!

The Problem With My Noise Gate (Where it Was Not So Great)

First, I'll tell you why I don't use a noise gate to deal with persistent background noise in dialogue voice recordings (noises like hiss or computer fan noise).

Others may have great success removing background noise from their dialogue with noise gates, but not me...

I tried using a noise gate for a while in my voice-over projects, but kept running into a subtle but troublesome high frequency hiss between phrases.

No matter how much I tried to quiet my recording space or tweak the settings of my noise gate, I would still end up with that pesky hiss.

And even worse, this hiss would become more apparent as I went through the editing and mastering process to complete my voice recordings.

That's because the overall volume is brought up significantly in mastering when compression and limiting are often used to reach appropriate loudness levels for release.

To illustrate this problem, look at the images of the same section of my voice-over project using a noise gate versus a noise reduction tool (below):

• the "Noise Gate" example leaves high frequency hiss at the end of phrases where the arrows are pointing...
  
  
• the "Spectral De-noise" does a better job cleaning up between phrases.

 [ Noise Gate ]

 [ Spectral De-noise ]

When to Use a Noise Gate (Where it Was Great)

So when should we use a noise gate if it has problems with noise between phrases?

Yes, it's true that a noise gate can struggle with removing constant background noise, but it can be great with random noises when there's a gap in the spoken words.

Bear in mind that the order of when to use the gate has proven to be important with my voice recordings and I think it will be important for you as well...

The noise gate worked really well using it directly AFTER a noise reduction tool.

As for noise reduction tools, there are various options including both free and paid software:

• RX's Spectral De-noise (paid)
• Bertom Audio De-noiser Classic (free)
• Audacity's Noise Reduction (free)

Continuing, after you've done your noise reduction duties you can set a noise gate to clamp down and wipe out those random leftover noises between spoken phrases.

When we say "random noises" we're talking about things like:

• leftover mouth sounds (clicks and smacks)
  
  
• loud, obtrusive breaths right before a phrase begins
  
  
• or random unwanted sounds like the clicking of a computer mouse.

In fact, the noise gate can deal with almost any random noise between phrases when there's no speaking.

This can be a huge time saver as the gate will automatically clean the gaps between the spoken phrases of your dialogue voice recordings!

This process brings you another step closer to a clear and intelligible voice recording free from distracting background noises.

How to Use a Noise Gate

Here's how I set up my noise gate to clean the random noises between spoken phrases in my dialogue voice recordings.

I'm using the noise gate built into the channel strip plug-in I use: the Brainworx bx_console N (see gate in red box below).

If you want to learn about the benefits of using a channel strip and why I suggest using one for your dialogue recordings, read more here.

Just be sure to wait for a sale on this one - there's no need to pay full price for it!

^{[ Noise gate section of brainworx console N ]}

Let's zoom in to see the specific settings that have worked really well to automatically clean out noise in the gaps on a number of my dialogue voice recordings.

1. First, make sure the noise gate section is enabled:

• select the "Gate" button to be lit up at the bottom of the section...
  
  
• at this point you can turn off any other sections like "EQ" or "L/C" (limiter/compressor)

2. Dial in the noise gate settings (see red box below):

• top black knob (HYST): turn this completely counter-clockwise and leave it alone (set it and forget it)
  
  
• black knob with white stripe (THR - second from top): set this between -17 and -10 dB
  
  
• black knob with yellow stripe (RGE - third from top): turn this completely clockwise (to 50 dB) and leave it alone
  
  
• bottom black knob (REL): set this a little to the right of 0.3 seconds

3. Finally, any further tweaking will most likely only involve the two knobs below (see red boxes in image below):

• black knob with white stripe (THR - second from top): listen carefully to make sure it's reducing as much of those random leftover noises between phrases as you want...
  
  
• may need to adjust a bit to get rid of noises while leaving a natural sound between spoken phrases (i.e. complete silence probably won't sound natural)...
  
  
• I even leave some very quiet breaths in between phrases for a natural speaking sound, but do what sounds best to YOUR ears.
  
  
• bottom black knob (REL): listen carefully to make sure the endings of spoken phrases fade out naturally...
  
  
• may need to adjust a bit as you don't want it to cut out too fast (sounds abrupt and unnatural) or too slow (random noises may leak in)...
  
  
• try to find that sweet spot of a smooth, natural fade at the end of phrases (where I have it set below has been a pretty sweet spot for me).

Summary

Remember, noise gates can struggle to reduce persistent background noise because they can't reduce the noise during spoken phrases and they may leave artifacts (unwanted sounds) at the tail end of phrases.

Next, when set up well, noise gates can excel at cleaning up random noises left between phrases of spoken words (like loud breaths and mouth noises).

This can be a huge time saver as you can run the gate in one pass over your entire recording instead of cleaning up every gap between phrases.

Finally, try for natural sounding dialogue when you set up your noise gate to clean between the gaps.

Aim to get rid of any unwanted noises heard between spoken phrases without affecting those spoken words.

What other suggestions do you have for cleaning up random noise in your voice recordings?

I would love to hear your thoughts in a comment below!

Cheers, Bryan
Your Dialogue Editing Mentor