Topic: best way to remove balloons popping?

[jagraham]

on my DtB recording from 12/31 there are balloons popping for a bout 5 minutes around midnight.  the band is playing so i need to keep that part of the recording.  what is the best way to normalize these pops?  i could just normalize the rest of the recording and not that track but i would like to be able to listen to the whole thing.  any help is appreciated.

[JD]

On Soundforge there is a tool called Audio Restoration, that is intended for removing pops and clicks from vinyl transfers. If you play around with it's settings you can usually find a happy medium where  the popping balloon noise isn't that bad.

Of course if they pops are loud enough that it caused clipping, you might not be able to fix it so gracefully.

Good luck

[newplanet7]

Not sure how many pops there are but, if your software has a pencil tool
zoom into the balloon spike and redraw it.
I do this with persistent loud clappers and it works great.
Takes a little while but it's worth it in the long run.
FWIW I use Soundforge 8.

[tgakidis]

Not sure how many pops there are but, if your software has a pencil tool
zoom into the balloon spike and redraw it.
I do this with persistent loud clappers and it works great.
Takes a little while but it's worth it in the long run.
FWIW I use Soundforge 8.

I use SF 9, where is that "pencil tool zoom"?

[newplanet7]

Not sure how many pops there are but, if your software has a pencil tool
zoom into the balloon spike and redraw it.
I do this with persistent loud clappers and it works great.
Takes a little while but it's worth it in the long run.
FWIW I use Soundforge 8.

I use SF 9, where is that "pencil tool zoom"?

I just zoom in and use the pencil tool.
I don't think it's actual called a pencil tool zoom.
Zoom in to the offending spike, go to edit~> tool~> Pencil
and then redraw it.

[tgakidis]

Not sure how many pops there are but, if your software has a pencil tool
zoom into the balloon spike and redraw it.
I do this with persistent loud clappers and it works great.
Takes a little while but it's worth it in the long run.
FWIW I use Soundforge 8.

I use SF 9, where is that "pencil tool zoom"?

That is so cool, thanks Todd!!  +TTTT
I just zoom in and use the pencil tool.
I don't think it's actual called a pencil tool zoom.
Zoom in to the offending spike, go to edit~> tool~> Pencil
and then redraw it.

[jagraham]

thanks for the help.  i actually figured it out but i guess this is an important topic since lots of people taped shows two days ago.  anyway, i found it easy enough to zoom in in audacity and highlight the peaks where the noises occured and just use "amplify" -5 to -10db depending on how bad the peaks were.  result is the rest of the recording could normalize properly and the part with the balloons wont blow up my speakers.  ill post the result when it is up on archive.  thanks again for the advice!

[F.O.Bean]

thanks for the help.  i actually figured it out but i guess this is an important topic since lots of people taped shows two days ago.  anyway, i found it easy enough to zoom in in audacity and highlight the peaks where the noises occured and just use "amplify" -5 to -10db depending on how bad the peaks were.  result is the rest of the recording could normalize properly and the part with the balloons wont blow up my speakers.  ill post the result when it is up on archive.  thanks again for the advice!

I do that w/ WL 5! I just zoom WAY IN and reduce the pops by about -6>-8db

[ero3030]

shoot the ballon poppers?

[Josephine]

I've got lots of balloons popping in my NYE recording, but I think it sounds kind of cool.  Adds to the ambiance and reminds the listener that it was not just a "regular" night. 

[fleish]

I've got lots of balloons popping in my NYE recording, but I think it sounds kind of cool.  Adds to the ambiance and reminds the listener that it was not just a "regular" night. 

QFT. I didn't even think about removing them but to each his/her own.

[F.O.Bean]

I've got lots of balloons popping in my NYE recording, but I think it sounds kind of cool.  Adds to the ambiance and reminds the listener that it was not just a "regular" night. 

QFT. I didn't even think about removing them but to each his/her own.

This year I was in a TINY BAR, and didnt remove one of them! Depends on the situation I guess

[H₂O]

I've got lots of balloons popping in my NYE recording, but I think it sounds kind of cool.  Adds to the ambiance and reminds the listener that it was not just a "regular" night. 

I have to agree - I have never removed balloon popping from a tape.  I guess I may look to lower the volume if it caused clipping (i.e. balloon popped very close to the mic).

[Rockinman59]

I just learned to use the pencil tool on Soundforge 8.  The pencil tool was actually a function way back on Soundforge 4.5 believe it or not.  I had a source with probably 400 or more pops,clicks,zaps, you name it and I drew threw them all.  I order to use the pencil tool, you first have to zoom into 2:1 or 1:1 (keep clicking the + at the bottom right) and the pencil tool icon will light up to use otherwise it's ghosted out.  If the pop is only one channel and you get tired of drawing, you can also just copy over the good channel if the spike is minimal.  You're only dealing with a millisecond and there's no damaging the good audio portion of the wav. Audio Restoration is not recommended for clicks since it doesn't completely remove all the clicks like drawing through it with the pencil will.  I've tried both ways and the pencil tool is just amazing.

[rjp]

You could also use a hard limiter - just make sure you only clip the balloons and not the music. 

I use this on applause in classical recordings, and it works quite well. I select the applause, limit it to less than the loudest musical passage but greater than any decaying notes, and apply. It's a bit of a judgment call as to precisely where to set the limiter, and I prefer to use one limiter setting for all applause sections, so it's not entirely point-and-shoot.