Weird Noise on Recording

[TheElement]

Hi Guys, Been working on this song for my Dad. Finally finished it but there are two places where I hear this like air release type sound. Happens at 0:07 and 0:39

I'm thinking it might be something to do with the compressor which is on the guitar kicking in?

https://soundcloud.com/the-element-musi ... er/s-T8reL

any ideas? Thanks!

[Len911]

Nice song btw!

It sounds like a heavy attack on the bass note at those two places to me.

[TheElement]

Nice song btw!

It sounds like a heavy attack on the bass note at those two places to me.

Thanks.

ah it could be. I'm using Trilian for the upright bass in the track. I already tried lowering the velocity of the intro bass note. Is there anything else I could try? Thanks!

Gavin

[andygabrys]

I am hearing that noise in the left channel only.

check to see what's panned left and solo it and see if there is some kinda artifact happening (acoustic guitar track edit maybe?) or a percussion thing.

if its not those things, then it could be as Len911 mentioned the combination of a heavy acoustic bass note from Trillian and the other instruments hitting at the same time.

if it can't be heard in solo, then its a combination of tracks making the problem. And usually in that case my #1 place to look is whats on the master chain. Often adjusting compressor attack and release and limiter settings can have a positive effect.

[TheElement]

I am hearing that noise in the left channel only.

check to see what's panned left and solo it and see if there is some kinda artifact happening (acoustic guitar track edit maybe?) or a percussion thing.

if its not those things, then it could be as Len911 mentioned the combination of a heavy acoustic bass note from Trillian and the other instruments hitting at the same time.

if it can't be heard in solo, then its a combination of tracks making the problem. And usually in that case my #1 place to look is whats on the master chain. Often adjusting compressor attack and release and limiter settings can have a positive effect.

wow thanks Andy! Great ears!! ok I will check what panned left. definitely will probably just be one of the acoustic guitars. I panned them left and right..

[TheElement]

Hi Andy, Its the compressor. I soloed the left and right guitar channels and found both of them with the noise. Just the left I have forward of the right channel to give that stereo wide acoustic sound so left noise is heard first. Its the compressor kicking in at the start of each track. Is it the attack I need to lower? Thanks!

This is the compressor and its settings:

[andygabrys]

it might be a little more complicated than I initially made it out to be unfortunately.

What I would look for is some kind of extreme gain reduction on those two spots (0:07 and 0:30+). If its on the guitar solo'ed, then play with those compressors. try longer, try shorter. Its probably going to be better with longer attack. Usually when I have those kind of problems its more than one instrument making the problem and its the master comp and limiter that I look at.

is it possible that when strumming the guitar you hit the body of the guitar with the pick? try bypassing all your insert and ambient effects on the guitar and see what happens at those two spots.

geek time: funny that compressor is an obvious cop of an 1176 (the AE version by the looks of the Ratio buttons) and they reversed the attack and release knobs. fully clockwise on an 1176 is the fastest attack and release.

what happens if you take the "punch" out of the circuit?

[TheElement]

Hey Andy thanks. I fixed it. at least not happening in solo. It was the input knob was too hot. I remember seeing a video on this compressor and yes its a copy of that vintage one you mentioned. I remember the person saying a common setting to start with was 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. something like that so I went and set them and them adjusted the output knob a little hotter to balance both sides in stereo and that seemed to work nice. will try listening to the whole mix now..

[TheElement]

yep that worked!

I guess I should read the manual!

[andygabrys]

Hey Andy thanks. I fixed it. at least not happening in solo. It was the input knob was too hot. I remember seeing a video on this compressor and yes its a copy of that vintage one you mentioned. I remember the person saying a common setting to start with was 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. something like that so I went and set them and them adjusted the output knob a little hotter to balance both sides in stereo and that seemed to work nice. will try listening to the whole mix now..

the so-called Dr. Pepper setting (with input and output @ 10 and 2 o clock) doesn't really matter much unless all your audio is recorded at the same level. At some point you are going to be driving the input harder for quieter material and it might hardly be "on" for stuff that is recorded blistering hot.

I prefer to look at the gain reduction VU meter and use my ears. There's only 2 reasons to use a compressor in my estimation - to control levels, and to impart a certain "sound" which on an 1176 usually amounts to a slightly more aggressive tone / distortion. Level control seems to happen most transparently from about 1 dB to maybe 8 or 10 dB of gain reduction. Imparting the "sound" of the compressor usually means driving it harder than that (like drums you might squish 10-20 dB in "all buttons in mode" which kind of makes the compressor freak out and mix that under the dry drum tone).

Even if you are in the "gentle" compression range (lets say 1-4 db) this still might not be the right compressor for every sound source. The FET style certainly can work, but sometimes a VCA type compressor might give a little more transparent level control on an acoustic guitar. But that's where the ear stuff comes in. Many ways to do the same thing.

anyways, rambling here.