New person - how to reduce static on voice recording

[Norden]

Hey All,

I am new to audio engineering. Have been recording and editing vocals but just beginning to learn mixing and mastering.

A friend wants me to help him improve a recorded live speech he needs fixed. It was fairly badly recorded and has a lot of static on it.

Can you give me any mixing tips for reducing static on speech?

Thanks so much,
Norden

[albee1952]

Look at some of the audio restoration plugins that are available. Maybe check out Adobe Audition as it has some great tools for fixing bad audio(export the tracks and open in Audition, make your corrections and then re-import back into your Pro Tools session).

[Norden]

That's helpful, thanks

[nst7]

An easy to use, inexpensive plugin is Bias Soundsoap 2.

[Norden]

i'll look that up. thanks.

[daeron80]

Soundsoap can get some of it. Either regular or Pro. I have both and usually use the regular one for short areas with several isolated spikes. But watch out because it will kill your hard consonants, too. Use it sparingly and try to avoid processing Ks, Ts, and Ps.

For processing longer passages with little crackles, Soundsoap Pro does better. But static - that might mean continuous noise with varying bursts of whitish noise. That's really difficult to hamper without hurting intelligibility. My favorite tool for that is iZotope RX. Depending on how pervasive the static is, you might have to just roll off most of the highs and reconcile yourself to the fact that it's not worth fixing. It can take many hours to nitpick it all out with any NR tool, so it needs to be exceptional material to warrant the effort.

[McNasty]

You can do an EQ sweep [use a very narrow band and sweep the upper frequencies to pull out the harshness]. For the loud pops and cracks, zoom in so far that the wave form is an actual line, then use the pencil tool to re-draw the curve. Youtube it for more info.

[Norden]

thanks guys, this is all really helpful stuff