How to elimate "Lip Smacking/ Mouth Noises"

[Guest]

Hi,

I,am a video editor/producer and am now producing a series of audio books. I purchased "Adobe Audition" and am impressed with the program.

As I,am a video editor, sound is "New" to me some so help here would be apricated.

I,am recording with an older actor his voice sometimes produces "Smacking" or "Gulping" Swollowing noises. I assume he has moist mouth or something like that.

Never the less he has a great voice and I want to use him but need to get rid of the noises. Any help out there.

Regards

Matt

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

No it's not the pumping (which is indeed very slight) - it's just that with zero background sound in the silences, it sounds, well, sort-of 'wrong'...

When you listen to people in real life, you always hear them in the context of the space they're in - and even supposedly 'dead' spaces aren't, really - they all have their own characteristics, and these impart a sense of 'place' to the sound. Without it, it sounds weird.

[Guest]

HI,

On listening to the track again I see what you mean. Its a story telling track so I cant really drop in backround sound ie. Soft Music.

What would suggest. So atmos perhaps/

Matt

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

a gift of heritage wrote:

What would suggest. So atmos perhaps/

Well, it rather depends on the story. If you could find appropriate sounds, and these varied throughout the story, then it might work quite well. But the easiest solution is to record 'silence' in the same studio you used, and just place the voice over that - you'd be amazed how much difference even that would make. You only need to record about 5 minutes' worth - you could loop it (as long as you crossfade the joins carefully) to extend it.

If you want to get really clever, then you record an impulse of the studio space, and use this in a convolution reverb applied to the recorded sound. That way, you get to use the acoustic of the space in an active way - almost like the speaker was in the room! The advantage of this method is that you get the acoustic without any extraneous noise added.

[Guest]

Hi,

I,am more used to recording atmos when filming in the field so will try that option.

I will upload a sample tomorrow. It will be interesting to see how it compares.

Again thanks for your help and advice.

Happy Hollween,

Matt

[Guest]

Hi All,

Back again with more problems.

Today we recorded and a Buzz or Humm appeared in the recording. Cant find it.

I had a recap on all our equipment and relalised all my problems emeninate form the mic. I use a Jm 47, (Joe Meek). I sometimes wonder is it too sensitive. It picks up every little noise. If I blinked it would pick  up the sound. Its a difficult mic to control.

What are other people using for voice recording.

Regards

Matt

[edwardto]

Hi Matt:

I think I can help you with the mic situation. First of all I hope you are

not using a condenser mic. They're too, too sensitive and you need phantom

power to operate them. I'm using a dynamic mic SM-57 which does a pretty

good job, but its also sensitive. One of the best mics for voice work in

the business is the Electro Voice RE-20. It costs around 400 dollars, but

an excellent investment and a real work horse. It's a quiet mic too and

doesn't pick up a lot of ambience and you can work relatively close to it.

It might even help with some of the mouth clicks. With your "Joe Meek" you

should be able to quieten down your mic sensitivity. Maybe someone with

technical know-how can give some advice. Hope this input helps. Ed

[edwardto]

Oh, I forgot to mention - check you mic cables to insure they're not on top

of each other. This can cause hum and also check that the XLR connectors

are all the way in. You should hear a click when they're connected

properly. Ed

[Bob_Howes]

Buzz and Hum are most commonly caused by an electrical fault somewhere in your chain:  a badly made off mic cable, a connector where the wires short to the shell, that sort of thing.  A second area to look at is electrical noise near the mic or the cabling--an arcing thermostat for example.  A problem with the mic itself is possible, but well down the list of things to check.

I'm going to disagree with edwardto here.  There's no such thing as a mic being "too sensitive".  (Well, there is if you try to use certain mics on something super loud like a guitar amp turned up to 11 but that's a different issue).  I use condenser mics for voice over work all the time.  My current favourite in my home studio is an SE2200A but I also use mics by Rode, AKG and Audio Technica.  Depending on the voice all are good.  Back in my pre-retirement days, it tended to be a Neumann in the voice booth but they're a bit rich for my pension!

I'm not a huge fan of the EV RE20.  To me it makes everything sound a bit like American radio--trying so hard to be "rich and velvety" that it forgets about detail and clarity.  However, that's just a personal thing.  However, a big killer is that, outside the USA, the price is vastly higher than the one quoted--giving it way more competition at the same price point--competition that trounces it to my ear.  The final thing on the RE20 is that it has a pretty low output and needs a really good mic pre amp to give you adequate levels without objectionable noise.

Anyway, for the hum and buzz problem, check you cables and connectors first.

[SteveG_AudioMasters_]

Bob Howes wrote:

I'm going to disagree with edwardto here.  There's no such thing as a mic being "too sensitive".  (Well, there is if you try to use certain mics on something super loud like a guitar amp turned up to 11 but that's a different issue).  I use condenser mics for voice over work all the time.  My current favourite in my home studio is an SE2200A but I also use mics by Rode, AKG and Audio Technica.  Depending on the voice all are good.  Back in my pre-retirement days, it tended to be a Neumann in the voice booth but they're a bit rich for my pension!

You're not the only one! Actually, JM47s (well the original ones anyway) are pretty good for voice recording. I inherited one years ago, and since then we've used it for voice recordings on many occasions. They have a very 'Neumann-like' sound, as they use a centre-pole capsule, just as Neumanns do.

I wouldn't dream of using a dynamic mic for VO work - they miss most of the interesting detail. But in order to use condensor mics effectively, you have to use a pop screen, and often some form of blast protection (like a pencil taped vertically to the front of the mic to deflect the blast - yes that actually works). But with the preamp gain structure set up correctly, they are ideal for the job.

[edwardto]

Good to see some disagreement. I've learned a few things by this

exchange we've all been having.

Thank goodness we don't have to go and pay some consultant to answer

our questions. This is a great avenue for solving our broadcast

problems. Yaw'll take care. edwardto

[edwardto]

Matt:

Wow! This "Joe Meek" is a one stop shop compressor that'll cure all the

ills we've been experiencing. Maybe down the road I might look into

getting one of these, but first I need to explore all of the options in

Adobe CS5.5 and there are a lot of them. Having done radio production

and commercials I find it exciting to discover new ways to enhance the

vocal chords. Thanks so much for filling me in on this nifty piece

of equipment. Good luck with your recordings, the bottle of water and

working distance from the mic. Nice that we can share production ideas.

Ed

[Guest]

Cheers Ed,

Nice talking to you.

Look forward to hearing from you again.

Regards

Matt

[edwardto]

Thanks Matt: Talk to you at another time. Ed

[Coltyn380923018f86]

Mouth voice!