-
Audio frequency of an indoor (hotel) waterfall?
Hi folks,
I recently shot a wedding at a hotel where there was a waterfall very near where the ceremony took place. I placed a mic as closely as possible, however, I still picked up the background noise of the waterfall.
I’m just wondering if I should have used the mic’s built-in filter(s) to help remove the unwanted frequencies. Also, there was an annoying air-conditioning unit nearby. The resulting sound was, to say the least, disappointing.
I’m far from an audio expert.
Can you please suggest what I might do in the future to ensure I capture the audio (i.e. of the voices at the ceremony) better?
FYI: I did have a lapel mic on the groom, which helped. But, I still picked up too much background noise, particularly the waterfall. Would using the low-pass filter on my mic help to eliminate the waterfall?
Thanks so much for your expertise!
Vic -
5 Replies
-
The trouble you may have is that noise like the waterfall is often broad band noise. That is, it isn’t usually limited to one narrow band like a phone ring tone or a pump or motor.
You can try looking at it with Izotope or one of the other audio processing applications, but waterfalls, traffic noise, wind… all those tend to be problematic.
You could try using something like Sony Noise Reduction ( it’s in Soundforge ). You sample the noise when there’s no “primary” sound, like the speech you want to save. Then you use that sample to tell Noise Reduction how to process the clip.
Go easy, though. Too much processing can wind up sounding “bubbly” or choked, as a whole lot of the information is thrown away.
Good luck, though !
Stephen Hall
Location Sound Mixer / Recordist
No ADR if I can help it !
-
Thanks, Stephen. I appreciate your expertise. I really know little about audio.
All the best,
Vic -
Hello Vic and welcome to the Cow Audio Forum.
The Bad news is that you had a nightmare noise problem. The good news is that the noise source was relatively constant. That makes it a likely candidate for iZotope’s RX2 or the new RX3. Get to know it!
How bought you strip off some audio and post it somewhere I can download it to see what I can do with RX3?
Regards,
Ty Ford,
Cow Audio Forum LeaderWant better production audio?: Ty Ford’s Audio Bootcamp Field Guide
Ty Ford Blog: Ty Ford’s Blog -
Hi, Ty:
Thank you so much for your offer! I just took a look at the software you mentioned, the RX3. It’s rather a hefty price, at $349. I’ve been spending like crazy lately, on both hardware and software. Comes a time when I have to work with what I have.
The recent wedding posed a challenge for me, to say the least! I didn’t realize it was a ‘nightmare’ scenario (for even an expert audio guy). Makes me feel not so stunned after all. :^)
This video production world seems to be a game of chasing technology, for sure. I’m using a MacBook Pro, which I purchased in 2008, and since I am running FCE4, I’ve (by necessity) stayed with Mac OS 10.5.8. I know I must sound like a dinosaur.
(I’ve read about nightmare scenarios of others, who upgraded to Snow Leopard, i.e. 10.5.6, and their FCE4 stopped working). The thing is, my set-up works fine. In fact, I love it! And, as you likely are aware of, once you upgrade one aspect of your workflow… well, it’s a slippery slope! Or, should I say, a $$$lippery slope!
For now, I will likely have to stick with the gear/software I have, and work around issues as they arise. I don’t expect (or hope!) I’ll encounter the waterfall issue too, too often. If I do, I’ll work to get my mics closer.
Thanks, again, for your kind offer! For now, I suspect the bride/groom likely won’t know the difference. In actuality, the audio is not awful. No trouble to hear the vows, as I had a mic tucked into the groom’s pocket. Just has so much annoying background noise for us “perfectionists”! ;^)
Until next time…
All the best,
Vic -
You put a mic in a pocket. Lapels were made to haves a clipped to them .
Post a sample. We’d like to try isotope on it for you?
PeterPost Production Dubbing Mixer
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up