2024 Clean Audio Lab
Old
recordings
can
be
very
precious.
Unfortunately,
some
of
them
were
recorded
terribly
wrong.
Here
is
an
example
of
a
restoration
work.
Originally
recorded
on
a
cassette
tape,
the
sound
is
so
distorted
that
you
want
to
cover
your
ears.
We
managed
to
significantly
reduce the distortions. Have a listen to.
case#9 Distortions
Sometimes,
recording
a
location
sound
is
an
impossible
task,
or
you
end
up
with
something
unusable.
Like
in
this
excerpt
from
Lightning
Ridge
(director:
Duncan
Morgan).
The
only
option
is
a
sound
design,
later
in
audio
post.
Here
is
an
example
of
the
sound
created from scratch.
case#8 Sound design
Frequently,
when
filming
onto
a
consumer
camcorder
(whose
microphone
doesn’t
typically
have
a
wind
protection),
the
wind
noise
can
be
an
issue.
Fortunately,
it
can
be
fixed.
case#7 Wind noise
In
this
case
the
major
source
of
a
noise
was
a
drone
(much
louder
than
sea
waves).
A
classic
noise
reduction
approach
won’t
work
here
as
the
noise
is
changing
over
time
(the
drone
is
moving
around
remember).
Thus,
we
had
to
work
on
every
syllable
individually.
Check out the result.
case#6 Drone
Can
you
record
a
clean
sound
in
a
restaurant
with
5-7
fridges
working?
Well,
the
truth
is
-
you
can’t.
Your
only
hope
is
the
quality
audio
post
production.
In
this
video,
we
demonstrate what you can count on.
case#5 Restaurant fridge
The
noise
of
a
fog
machine
is
constantly
changing.
Every
new
burst
sounds
different
from
the
previous
one,
and
because
of
that,
a
classic
noise
reduction
approach
is
not
going
to
work
here.
One
has
to
carefully
work
on
every
single
burst.
It’s
difficult,
but
it
can
be
done. Have a look.
case#4 Fog machine
Filming
in
a
public
park
can
be
challenging.
Sometimes
nature
just
doesn’t
want
to
cooperate
:)
On
this
occasion
it
was
parrots
flying
around.
Taking
out
such
a
noise
is
very
difficult as its character is not static, and yet it is possible.
case#3 Parrots
In
this
video
we’re
dealing
with
air-plane
noise.
If,
you’ve
filmed
in
big
cities,
you’ll
know
that
an
air-plane
inevitably
appears
straight
after
the
“Action!”
There
is
probably
no
other type of noise that causes so much frustration, and yet it can be defeated.
case#2 Airplane
Here
is
an
example
of
a
typical
indie
film
scenario.
A
crew
was
allowed
to
film
in
a
cafés
toilet
provided
that
its
air
conditioning
equipment
stayed
working.
Unfortunately,
it
was
located
right
behind
the
wall
and
was
making
a
huge
noise,
yet
we
managed
to
get
a
decent dialogue sound out of that recording.
case#1 Air conditioner
NOISE CLEAN UP
Some
interviews
cannot
be
re-done.
You
are
given
one
attempt
and
you
hope,
that
everything
will
go
well.
This
interview
was
shot
not
far
from
a
train
station.
And
in
a
middle of the interview, the train blared its horn. So, we had to clean it up.
case#11 Train horn
This
is
an
excerpt
from
a
beautiful
L'Autre
Inconne
by
John
Chatwin.
The
film
is
heavily
filled
by
a
sound
design.
Here
is
just
a
short
part
of
it,
but
you
can
easily
see,
how
the
sound defines the impression of the film.
case#10 Sound design
Here
is
one
more
example
of
a
restoration
work.
This
time
it
was
an
old
record.
Remember gramophones? That’s the one.
case#12 Old record