Tips for audio recordings (1 Viewer)

[jafritten]

Hello!

I am not sure this is the right place to ask my questions.

I would like to make audio recordings in the field. I am thinking of capturing the atmosphere of certain places in nature, be it a glade in the woods, on the shore or somewhere in the hills with distant sounds of church bells or crows, for example. What I am saysing is that I don’t want to record the call or song of a single bird but literally everything you hear when you are in the field.

I am using a Tascam field recorder (Dr-07X) with a wind shield. The first results are quite promising but there is a constant noise (like a constant rush) in the background. I looked on the internet and read that using Audacity for post-processing offers some options to reduce noise. I am wondering if I can reduce the noise in the first place by using appropriate settings on the field recorder. Should I play around with the level mode perhaps? Or maybe use a low cut filter?

Does anybody know how to reduce noise that is constantly there in the background using Audacity? I read that you can get a noise profile which you then can apply to your file to reduce the noise. The problem is, however, that I would have to locate a section in the recording that is just the noise I want to be removed. But there aren’t any such sections because there’s always birdsong or something else I want NOT removed.

I am grateful for any tips that would improve the quality of my audios.

Thanks for reading!

 

[njlarsen]

I do not know your field recorder so no comment there.
In audacity, there is a possibility to apply a low cut filter instead of the absolute noise reduction you mention. Whether this will take away your problem without removing too much of the sound you want may depend on you playing around with what the cutoff should be.
Niels

 

[Crex67]

Hello!

I am not sure this is the right place to ask my questions.

I would like to make audio recordings in the field. I am thinking of capturing the atmosphere of certain places in nature, be it a glade in the woods, on the shore or somewhere in the hills with distant sounds of church bells or crows, for example. What I am saysing is that I don’t want to record the call or song of a single bird but literally everything you hear when you are in the field.

I am using a Tascam field recorder (Dr-07X) with a wind shield. The first results are quite promising but there is a constant noise (like a constant rush) in the background. I looked on the internet and read that using Audacity for post-processing offers some options to reduce noise. I am wondering if I can reduce the noise in the first place by using appropriate settings on the field recorder. Should I play around with the level mode perhaps? Or maybe use a low cut filter?

Does anybody know how to reduce noise that is constantly there in the background using Audacity? I read that you can get a noise profile which you then can apply to your file to reduce the noise. The problem is, however, that I would have to locate a section in the recording that is just the noise I want to be removed. But there aren’t any such sections because there’s always birdsong or something else I want NOT removed.

I am grateful for any tips that would improve the quality of my audios.

Thanks for reading!

Using a Tascam (or any other) fieldrecorder and a windshield always will give you some noise. I'm using the same set-up. Impossible to prevent this. Filtering out the noise will give some relieve but beware that the sound of the bird isn't adjusted as well!
I'm satisfied with the results, the noise is not bothering me at all. Sometimes I amplify the sound a little, when needed.
Guess for better performance you need more expensive equipment...

Best Way to Record Birdsong: Gear Guide + Tips — Acoustic Nature

Birding is a growing pastime throughout the world. More and more people are finding peace and fulfillment through looking at and listening to birds. People have always taken photos of birds home with them…

acousticnature.com

Also I noticed some usefull tips on this forum

 

[jafritten]

Using a Tascam (or any other) fieldrecorder and a windshield always will give you some noise. I'm using the same set-up. Impossible to prevent this. Filtering out the noise will give some relieve but beware that the sound of the bird isn't adjusted as well!
I'm satisfied with the results, the noise is not bothering me at all. Sometimes I amplify the sound a little, when needed.
Guess for better performance you need more expensive equipment...

Best Way to Record Birdsong: Gear Guide + Tips — Acoustic Nature

Birding is a growing pastime throughout the world. More and more people are finding peace and fulfillment through looking at and listening to birds. People have always taken photos of birds home with them…

acousticnature.com

Also I noticed some usefull tips on this forum

Thank you for your reply and the useful link.

 

[Elkhornsun]

A dead cat is the bare minimum to minimize wind noise. A mic with a low frequency cut-out switch also helps. Biggest gain is with the use of a 32-bit audio recorder as the gain in the field can be much less and then adjusted in post. It is why I replaced my Tascam recorders with a Sound Devices MixPre-3 II recorder. I also like that it can be powered with a rechargeable USB-C power bank for hours.

 

[Butty]

. . . and costs 10x as much.

 

[jafritten]

Thank you all for your replies.

I have compared recordings that were made outside to recordings made inside and I noticed that there is significantly more background noise on the outside recordings. The background noise on the recordings made inside doesn't really bother me. From the link posted by @Crex67 I learned that the signal-to-noise-ratio may be the reason for the higher noise level on the outside recordings. Thanks again for the link.

P.S. edit: I did use a dead cat for the outside recordings.