How
to reduce recorded unwanted noise?
Mark Berger:
With reference to reducing unwanted signal ("noise") in relation to
what you want to hear (usually dialogue), I've found several general
principles that are helpful....
(1) Berger's Law
The first, which is sometimes called "Berger's Law", is "These things
work best when you need them least." A lot of hiss, crank the noise-reducing
device way up, you really hear it work and the artifacts become distracting.
(2) Piranhas are better
than sharks
Second principle is"Piranhas are better than sharks." This is just an
aphoristic way of restating what Randy Thom describes - many small bites
are more effective than one large gulp. This is because each noise-reducing
device is doing a little bit, which it does best, and the sum adds up
to a more pleasing, effective sound.
For example:
Use some No-Noise or DINR, A little bit of dynamic EQ,
some manual gain riding, some Dolby 430, maybe some Behringer or DBX
single ended NR, a low level background loop to mask any pumping, and
the dialogue will sound more acceptable than trying to do everything
with just No-Noise or just DINR.
The noise-reducing process
literally saved two performances in Robert Duvall's "Apostle",
where he and Miranda Richardson are dining at a Bayoufront restaurant.
Record companies use noise-reducing
devices to clean up old jazz records.
Randy Thom:
The most difficult noise to remove, of course, is noise which changes
in spectral content and level over time. Classic examples in film post
include car and airplane-bys under production dialog. Wind and surf
are frequent offenders too.
Digital noise reduction system
saved us way back on Forrest Gump when ciccadas covered Tom Hanks'
dialog at the cemetary.
Read the unedited message thread DINR vs
No-Noise vs Cedar
Edited excerpt
from Message thread from CAS
Webboard June 1999
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