Topic: How To "Fix" Whistles / Loud Clapping ??

[Josephine]

Guys, I need some advice as to how to go about trying to repair the portions of a recording where a  RABID APPLAUDER / WHISTLER  took up residence immediately in front of my left mic.  Fortunately, her "appearances" occur only between songs.  She is ruining what is otherwise a really nice Merle Haggard recording.

Thanks in advance.

[F.O.Bean]

i would compress the tracks a bit, that should help between tracks

i had to do this for my yonder from a couple months ago in a few spots and itcame out real well IMO

[Josephine]

I hate to sound so dense . . . . . but what the hell, I am.  By "compress," Bean, do you mean cutting out some of the applause?

[F.O.Bean]

no, you would highlite the actual parts where the clapping is intense, and once higghlited, compression would shrink the wavform a bit and most def take some of the edge offof it, it also works well if you clipped the levels a bit and were riding 0db

[Josephine]

You're the BEST, Bean.  Thanks!!!   

[F.O.Bean]

You're the BEST, Bean. Thanks!!!

no problem, what audio programs do you have

[Brian]

make sure you set your output of your compression at low level so it acts more like limiter for optimum results

[Josephine]

Sound Forge.

[F.O.Bean]

Sound Forge.

i do it under 'wave hammer' in there on default settings, that should be fine for you for just cutting down on clapping IMO

[bhtoque]

If the noise is much louder than the music, you can use the volume maximizer part of wave hammer. Set the output to 0db and the threshold to just a little higher than the highest peak of the music.

Use the preview part(set it to output) to see how much the limiter kicks in (it's the 3rd bar, red level indicator comes down from the top. If it comes on a tad for the music you'll be ok. Listen for a bit and see what you think, then stop the preview and let it run.

JAson

[Diamond_D]

not sure if this is "too much" but I had some loud clapping in between songs on an otherwise quiet recording that were throwing off everything when I tried to maximize the volume. Since they were in between songs they were very clear peaks, and so I just went into Audacity and did a "Hard Limiter" on them (selected a few at a time), bringing them down below the normal music level, but still well above the background noise that was going on at the time, so there was no clipping of anything except the clap, which is completely unnoticeable. This made the music levels the highest, and allowed for proper maximization, and it turned out pretty nice I thought.

[poorlyconditioned]

Guys, I need some advice as to how to go about trying to repair the portions of a recording where a  RABID APPLAUDER / WHISTLER  took up residence immediately in front of my left mic.  Fortunately, her "appearances" occur only between songs.  She is ruining what is otherwise a really nice Merle Haggard recording.

Thanks in advance.

I'm using Adobe Audition.  I guess this is formerly Cool Edit Pro, although I never used this program.

Anyway, what I did  was go to Effects>Amplitude>Envelope.  Then I made a template that starts at 100% at the left, dips in the middle, and returns to 100% at the end.  Then there are no sudden jumps in level at the performer end/audience start.

If that is not enough I run Effects>Amplitude>Dynamics and choose "Dynamic Range Processing".  I put in a "companding curve" that limits the level.  I tried the regular compressor, but I got level fluctuations/pumping effects.

I'm new to audio editing, so I'm curious to hear what others do.

  Richard

[BobW]

Hard limiting is "cheap and dirty" but sounds OK.
Limit to 10db below peaks where the envelope goes to noise.
For me, that's usually -10db or -15db

There are times when I wonder why we don't just clip and burn with two-second gaps.

One day I will make a compilation recording of the worst of the "between song" stage banter and bad jokes.

Strong contenders:

SCI - The Gandhi joke
Dead - Bobby's Deer Hunter joke
BFFT - Batman/ Jed Clampett/ Wooton jokes
Buffett - almost everything that I've heard   

[dgodwin]

One day I will make a compilation recording of the worst of the "between song" stage banter and bad jokes.

Strong contenders:

SCI - The Gandhi joke
Dead - Bobby's Deer Hunter joke
BFFT - Batman/ Jed Clampett/ Wooton jokes
Buffett - almost everything that I've heard   

Many Moxy Fruvous show highlights were their in-between song banter/teases/jams.  I saw a Vance Gilbert show Friday night where the in-between banter lasted nearly a half hour.  What's the longest?  bit torrent here

on topic, I've had shows where the applause is alot louder than the PA.  On Friday (Vance Gilbert)  I tried something new, using ps2->inline transformers->sbm-1 (line in.)  I had my sbm-1 up to 10, and the applause peaked about about -6db (fine) but the music was around -25db (not fine)  I used compression and boost to raise the levels of the music and lower the level of applause. While not perfect, I was really happy with the outcome. 

On Saturday (Tracy Grammer,) I ran my gear the old way (ps2->sbm-1 (mic in)) and let the applause clip to get higher music levels.  After listening to both shows, I think I prefer using the line transformers, even if it means boosting the music.  I think there is less noise that way, but there could be some other factor involved too (ie: different PA)

[spyder9]

I use Adobe Audition too.  I just scan for the actual clap, highlight it, and reduce the amplitude.  This process draws the clap into the background.  It doesn't eliminate it, but makes it so less obtrusive.      Therefore, no compression or anamolies.  Drawback:  if you have a lot of loud clapping, this process can be extremely time consuming.  But the results will be gratifying. 

My Richie Havens 11/27/04 Philadelphia, PA had loads of loud claps.  It cleaned up nicely.

[Tim]

Hard limiting is "cheap and dirty" but sounds OK.
Limit to 10db below peaks where the envelope goes to noise.
For me, that's usually -10db or -15db

There are times when I wonder why we don't just clip and burn with two-second gaps.

One day I will make a compilation recording of the worst of the "between song" stage banter and bad jokes.

Strong contenders:

SCI - The Gandhi joke
Dead - Bobby's Deer Hunter joke
BFFT - Batman/ Jed Clampett/ Wooton jokes
Buffett - almost everything that I've heard

Fishman's prison joke

[ashevillain]

Dead - Bobby's Deer Hunter joke

What show?

[kgreener]

I've used the "soft limiter" preset in the Graphic Dynamics section of Sound Forge with great results. 

fwiw...

[Chuck]

I've often thought that the best way to remove loud whistles & other obnoxious noises some people make at shows would be:

#1 - invent a "way-back" machine (so you can go back in time)
#2 - go back in time and "eliminate" that person from the show. This could be accomplished in several ways:
      1 - make sure he/she was never born (this would be tough, because you would have to do a lot of research, like finding his mother etc...)
      2 - Go back in time to just hours before the show is supposed to start and make something happen that prevents him from making it to the venue. Like, flatten all his tires, or send him on a wild goose chase.
      3 - Another good option that wouldn't require a lot of research would be to go back in time until just before he walks into the venue. Have some "thugs" stand outside the venue waiting to carry him off until the show is over.

Now, the hard part of doing it this way is inventing time travel...

If I could do that, I would go back in time to some of the Grateful Dead shows in the 1970's and make sure Donna didn't make it to the show. Like August 13, 1975... I'd like to hear that Eyes Of the World without her coming in at the wrong time and botching it...

[eman]

Well, time travel is one thing, but for me what works best is a thing called P.E.S.T.- or Portable Electro Shock Therapy. When a rabid clapper/whistler does it more than once in a 2 minute period, just move in behind them and WHAMMO! they will be as docile as a kitten for the rest of the show. I think Grace Designs makes a nice lightweight but powerful model...

Seriously, though, I haven't done it yet but a whistle has a very specific frequency and you can highlight it, open your parametric EQ and create a very tight band notch filter on that frequency. Use the "preview" button and play with the parameters- frequency, bandwidth, attenuation- until it is minimized.

Worst banter offender: Sam Bush (he can be funny, too, but some major groaners at every show)

[BC]

I've used the "soft limiter" preset in the Graphic Dynamics section of Sound Forge with great results. 

fwiw...

I do the same thing.

[BobW]

Dead - Bobby's Deer Hunter joke

What show?

Ooooh, must go into the analog stuff.....

Went something like, "So the game warden says hey buddy, I caught you, you're poaching.  The hunter carrying the deer on his back  looks at the warden and says I don't know what you mean, looks back over his shoulder and yells, "AHhhh!!! -  Get off "   THUMP !
 <rimshots>

[Brian Skalinder]

I did most of my removal with Audacity. Ctrl-R repeats the last amplitude adjustment. So I set it at -2.5dB and then just highlight and keep hitting ctrl-R.

Ugh, sounds tedious.  Try using compression to lower the claps to the level of the applause across an entire range all at the same time.  Sure beats zooming in and highlighting every single clap.  There are multiple threads here or in the Computer Recording forum about using compression to reduce loud claps.

[bluegrass_brad]

Ive found the best way to fix the whistling and clapping is to give them a good smack on the back of the head ....

course then you get all the yelling and cursing and that is a bitch to fix too.

[F.O.Bean]

stun guns are key

[spyder9]

stun guns are key

Tranquilizers are effective too.   

[F.O.Bean]

stun guns are key

Tranquilizers are effective too.

I keep those for myself