Computer and mic in one room

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Broomy
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Computer and mic in one room

Post by Broomy »

When recording with a mic, I always get some background noise from the fan of my laptop, because it is in the same room as my mic (I have but little room in my house to record).
My guess is that more people have to to deal with this issue.
How do you cope with that?
Do you denoise your file? And if so what method do you use?

Kind regards,

Hans
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CrocoDuck
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by CrocoDuck »

Hi there!

I had problems with noise but I actually never tried to do something serious in that regard (in terms of post-processing). I think this might be helpful for you.

I think I would record a long segment containing background noise only, so that the plugin can profile the noise well (ideally right before starting recording).

Otherwise you can similarly use Audacity built in noise reduction, but that only works in post-processing.
Broomy
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by Broomy »

Thanks. I'll check the plug in.

Hans
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ufug
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by ufug »

What are you recording? A couple quick thoughts:

If it's an amp, crank it up and/or build a baffle around it.

If it's voice, use a dynamic mic to capture less room noise. Many times I've sung under a heavy blanket if there's lots of noise happening outside. This would easily block out the fan.

Have you dusted out your machine lately? And/or can you replace the fan?

If all else fails, make sure your recording has 10-15 seconds of "dead space" at the beginning of the recording to capture the sound of the fan in context, the apply noise-repellent. It does an amazing job at this sort of thing.
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by sysrqer »

If it's a tower then there are various things you can do to make it quieter, depending on what you want to spend, some fairly cheap. I'm sure google can give you better information than my knowledge of looking in to it 10+ years ago.

One quick fix would be to check the pattern of your mic and, if you can and the mic has some deadspots, position it accordingly to at least get as little noise as you can. You could also try putting your computer on the other side of the desk or behind something to reduce the noise.

Cleaning is a must. It can depend on what is making the most noise, a new CPU unit with a low noise profile isn't expensive the last time I looked (a long time ago) and can make a drastic difference. Also you might want to look at any surfaces or walls that are reflecting the noise, that can be very cheap and help a bit.
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by Luc »

I have recorded the base track or at least most of it, exported it to wav, copied it over to the tablet, turned off the computer, then sung into a digital Tascam recorder while listening to the base track off the tablet on headphones. Then I had to transfer the voice track to the computer and mix the whole thing.

I sang like crap, but the principle worked.
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by sysrqer »

Luc wrote:I have recorded the base track or at least most of it, exported it to wav, copied it over to the tablet, turned off the computer, then sung into a digital Tascam recorder while listening to the base track off the tablet on headphones. Then I had to transfer the voice track to the computer and mix the whole thing.

I sang like crap, but the principle worked.
From working with singers and having issues with them not importing the reference tracks at quite the right place I wouldn't recommend this approach. Just a few hundredths of a second off can make a big difference in vocal delivery. I mean, I can work at a push but it would be the last option I would personally go for.
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by Broomy »

sysrqer wrote:If it's a tower then there are various things you can do to make it quieter, depending on what you want to spend, some fairly cheap. I'm sure google can give you better information than my knowledge of looking in to it 10+ years ago.
It's a laptop. I've tried to put it far away from the mic but makes handling the recording process a bit tedious when you have go back and forth between the mic and laptop.
sysrqer wrote:Cleaning is a must.
That's a good one. Although obvious, I haven't thought of that yet... :oops:

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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by sysrqer »

It can make a massive difference to laptops, they accumulate loads of dust and fluff. Most are easy to take apart.
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by Broomy »

42low wrote:Or do as i do. Record with dynamic mics.
And how do you record guitar or other acoustic instruments, also with a dynamic mic?
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by Broomy »

Thanks. I've dusted off my good old SM58 and will give it a go with my guitar.

Hans
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Re: Computer and mic in one room

Post by Jack Winter »

Not that i've ever tried, but I've heard it being said that if you remove the round grill at the top, it sounds very much like a sm57. Something like 2 mics for the price of one ;)
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