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hello,

i am using a couple of old drum machines in my setup, running into the A16 Ultra.

as you might imagine there is a bit of noise coming through the outputs of the machines. nothing that isn't expected of units that are this age, but i was wondering how to reduce the noise effectively within SFP.

i use the STM 2448 mixer in SFP 4.0.

is there a noise gate or something like that i could use? and if so, how?

or perhaps a plugin to run on the mix bus?

i am a bit inexperienced here, and would like to try and remove the noise before the final product, instead of going back in with a wave editor on the final product to remove the noise.

any help is greatly appreciated,

alex

You should have the Creamware noise-gates in your effects/dynamics folder (stereo & mono versions)....just use them as inserts in your mixer, or between the source & mixer inputs.
Just set the threshold to the level that cuts out the noise without affecting the drum sounds.....Use a fast attack & release for drum sounds.
Obviously a gate will let the noise thru as well as your drum sound when a signal above the threshold is detected....whether that matters is another matter!
Read the manual for more in-depth info.

Good luck


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Plato on 2004-05-27 11:59 ]</font>

maybe this could help ?
http://www.celmo.com/DeNoiser_page.htm

cheers, Tom

thanks guys!

i'll look into it...

alex

Hi AEP.

Expanders are generally much more natural noise removers. They don't have the same effect on "air" that gates do. If you're not looking for a "natural" sound, this is not a problem -- in fact, lots of people deliberately use gates to give drums more "punch" in a mix. But for certain applications -- especially cymbals and anything that rings out (guitars, pianos, etc) -- an expander is sometimes preferable, so that the sound doesn't suddenly disappear on you.

An expander (basically the opposite of a compressor) "stretches out" the signal beneath a certain threshold, at a ratio you specify. Loud signals are output at the same level, but soft signals are output even softer.

If you were to use a gate set to threshold of, say, -30 dB, then you would "hear" absolute silence between drum beats.

If you use an expander set with a threshold of -30 dB and a ratio of, say, 2 x, then you won't completely eliminate noise. But you won't completely eliminate the "air" either, or the weaker parts of the sample's output.

If a signal comes in at -31 dB, then the expander sends it out at -32 dB. -32 dB -> -34 dB, -33 -> -36, and so on. When you get to about -45 dB inputs you won't really hear anything at all (-60 dB output). But meanwhile the dropoff from the sample input to the dead air is more gradual, more natural sounding.

Anyway it depends on the feel you want to achieve, but I would probably start with:

kick -> gate
snare -> gate
tom -> gate
hi hat 'tick' -> gate
hi hat 'ring' -> expander
cymbal -> expander

Or

mix bus -> expander

Just my $0.02.

Celmo's DeNoiser does look interesting though, thanks Astroman! In fact the idea of using EQ (e.g. notch filter) to remove some of the noise before putting the signal through a gate (or expander) is a good one, too.

Cheers,

Johann

wow!

thanks for such a detailed answer! i have a much better understanding of what to do now.

much appreciated,

alex

I think you should put a little note in the Tips & Tricks section for this one aswell Johann.

The detailed (educational) answers I have seen you give lately have been very useful.

Keep 'em coming. That goes for the rest of you experienced people aswell

yeah - I 100% agree on that
I rarely applied gates because imho the result somehow 's*cked', now I know exactly why it does.
Your words read easily, Johann

cheers, Tom

Aw shucks. You guys are gonna make my head swell!