If your speakers are making a humming noise, it’s probably because it doesn’t know all the lyrics.
There’s nothing more disappointing than recording a great take just to find out that you can hear your neighbours arguing next door. So we’ve gathered a few top tips to try and eradicate any background noise so your next take is spot on.
Perform closer to the mic;
Recording closer to the microphone means that your vocals or instrument will be the foremost of the audio clip. This means that it’s easier to separate yourself and from any background noise that your microphone may usually pick up, making your vocals or instrument more dominant and the background noise may be dimmed or even cancelled out.
Please note! If you do this, you must be careful of your P’s and B’s (plosives) and S’ and T’s (sibilance) as they might be more noticeable in your recordings. You can get a pop filter to help with this!
Acoustic panels & bass traps;
All that sound that bounces off your walls can be diminished through the use of acoustic treatment. In order to acoustically treat your room, you’ll need a combination of bass traps, acoustic panels and perhaps diffusers. Don’t worry you won’t need them all, but usually the more the better! For further help on this you can watch our YouTube video:
Lay a rug over wooden flooring;
Placing rugs in strategic places will enable you to experiment and get the acoustics just right for your specific room. You can discover where rugs will be best placed by using the clap test. Simply clap while standing at every point in your room and take note of where reflections are most prominent. Further help on this is shown in the previously provided YouTube video.
Record with closed curtains;
It’s important to let the light in…but maybe keep ’em closed just for the take! If you close your windows and your curtains, any noise from outside will be minimized. An additional bonus is that sound waves won’t bounce off your curtains and back into your microphone!
Plug your equipment into the same outlet;
A difference in the ground value across different plug sockets may lead to hardware generating noise when connected in the same signal chain. Use an extension lead and make sure all power to your gear is coming from the same power outlet.
Check Your Cables;
If you’re experiencing a hum in your speakers, consider that your cables might not be perfect. The cables or your audio interface might need replacing if wiggling the existing cables doesn’t work.
If you have any further queries, feel free to get in touch with us!
See also:
What is lossless/lossy audio?
How do I add audio?
Does my audio meet RouteNote’s quality standards?