Restricting Choices To Reaper (or JS) Plugins Only...
...Which one would you choose to reduce room ambience, particularly on bluegrass banjo? Yes, I know room treatment will do it more effectively. But, just for the sake of discussion, which plugin would do it most effectively? So far, the only one that seems to make any difference is the JS Transient Controller. Are there others from the Reaper FX Browser that would reduce ambience any more effectively? Thank you.
...Which one would you choose to reduce room ambience, particularly on bluegrass banjo? Yes, I know room treatment will do it more effectively. But, just for the sake of discussion, which plugin would do it most effectively? So far, the only one that seems to make any difference is the JS Transient Controller. Are there others from the Reaper FX Browser that would reduce ambience any more effectively? Thank you.
Humm, I'm not familiar with JS Transient Controller, but if it helps, it's probably increasing the transients or decreasing the sound outside of the transient.
If that's the case, it might be a good start. However, if you can identify the main frequencies the are part of the bad ambient sound, then you can use some EQ to deal with that too, and maybe make it sound better.
Dealing with bad room sounds is no fun and it's best to correct the problem at the source, which I know you are well aware of.
Actually, both JS Controller and Reagate do help some. At least as much as De-Verb which I've purchased. The Acon version (Deverberate?) is the best sounding and most effective reverb removal plugin I've heard so far but it's about $350. It's better than the others but not a lot better. If there was a significantly more effective version of these plugins it would be an extremely useful tool, especially for the home recordist with somewhat compromised room treatment...which includes the overwhelming majority of us.
I'm trying to get a dry banjo sound with no room reverb or ambience. I have little difficulty achieving this with my vocals, mandolin, or acoustic guitar. But the banjo is such a loud instrument it's difficult to control all that sound...it wants to go everywhere. The bass goes direct into a UA LA 610 pre. I'm thinking of trying to record the banjo in a walk in closet that is adjacent to my family room studio. I'm hoping that maybe all the clothes in the closet will dampen any ambience. Guess I won't know until I try it(???).
When the $$$ plugins are only marginally better but not great.. I'd say try your micing options. You might have mentioned in another thread, but what mic are you using and at what distance from the source? Dynamics over condensers any day here, and generally from a good distance. I play a 5 string occasionally (and poorly), and though I only do clawhammer style myself I know the 3-pick bluegrass style ramps up the volume spikes quite a lot in close quarters. Is it possible to record it outside? My best luck inside in my current space has been pointing the mic at the closet from a distance, and then facing myself and the thing either away from or toward the closet full of fabric depending on what works.
Never had any luck with plugins for this stuff myself.
There are probably some other banjo players around here somewhere that might chime in
I'm thinking of trying to record the banjo in a walk in closet that is adjacent to my family room studio. I'm hoping that maybe all the clothes in the closet will dampen any ambience. Guess I won't know until I try it(???).
Yes, they absolutely will. Additionally, stuff pillows and comforters in there as well in whatever space is not being used by the performer+microphone.
We used to record vocals in a small closet that was completely lined with really cheap mattress padding. It was incredibly dead sounding in there. You could tell the difference just by walking in there and speaking. Probably spent $30 and made a huge difference in the recordings.
I'm thinking of trying to record the banjo in a walk in closet that is adjacent to my family room studio. I'm hoping that maybe all the clothes in the closet will dampen any ambience. Guess I won't know until I try it(???).
Yeah, the closet might help a lot, it will have different predominant frequencies.
Unfortunately, the predominantly bad frequencies in many, if not most smaller rooms, like bedrooms, will be right in the area of the main frequencies of a banjo.
Is Stillwell's transient monster considered in this. It has been known to pull down room sound from time to time. It's a bit abrupt, but it can ~help~.
Is Stillwell's transient monster considered in this. It has been known to pull down room sound from time to time. It's a bit abrupt, but it can ~help~.
Interesting. I've never considered using a transient designer for this purpose, but I guess it makes sense.
I wonder... Is it possible to use inverted convolution reverb to de-reverberate a space? I mean, if you have an impulse of the same space/room that you recorded in, which you want to remove the ambient reverb, can that impulse be utilized in a way that can help remove the natural reverb?
I wonder... Is it possible to use inverted convolution reverb to de-reverberate a space? I mean, if you have an impulse of the same space/room that you recorded in, which you want to remove the ambient reverb, can that impulse be utilized in a way that can help remove the natural reverb?
Try the ReaFir, it can be used to tame some reverbs along with other noises:
Try the ReaFir, it can be used to tame some reverbs along with other noises:
I've used ReaFIR to remove noise before, but it seems like using it to remove reverb would be reducing the same frequencies as the source. Unlike removing noise which removes frequencies unrelated to the intended source.
TBH, I've never attempted to de-reverb anything. It seems like a fool's errand to me. I have not trialed any of the pricey specialty tools for this. It's just not useful enough to me to justify the expense. I'm mainly working on music. So, if the room ambiance is crummy then I'll just add some more artificial reverb on top to drown it out. Or, move the mic in closer and re-record.
I've used ReaFIR to remove noise before, but it seems like using it to remove reverb would be reducing the same frequencies as the source. Unlike removing noise which removes frequencies unrelated to the intended source.
that's not always the case, but yea... you should probably try it, and like I said, you'll have to adjust the profile "noise" so it doesn't cut out frequencies too much.
Another idea is to run ReaGate in parallel to ReaFir, to poke the initial transients through what ReaFir mucks up.
I wonder... Is it possible to use inverted convolution reverb to de-reverberate a space? I mean, if you have an impulse of the same space/room that you recorded in, which you want to remove the ambient reverb, can that impulse be utilized in a way that can help remove the natural reverb?
Totally possible-I've tried every way I could think of so far in reaper=very low success rate.
Reaverb actually has a deconvolver- if your upto figuring that out- you have to keep eye on window choices for files that are generated by it- in 1 theory this would work-in working practices,nope.
Multitrack recordings again own this-there is no smearing or bleed across dry/wet fx channels- can be rea`blended or split apart,rea ltime.
I'm trying to get a dry banjo sound with no room reverb or ambience. I have little difficulty achieving this with my vocals, mandolin, or acoustic guitar. But the banjo is such a loud instrument it's difficult to control all that sound...it wants to go everywhere.
I see they now have a special set up just for banjo. I used the supplied two sided tape to secure it about 1/2 inch below the bridge on the under side of the head. I had to experiment a bit on the position but it has been there 8 years and is sooo much easier to deal with. Really does sound great.
I use an sE Electronics RN17 Neve designed SDC in M/S configuration with a Royer R122. The RN17 is the mid channel and the R122 provides the two side channels. I point the mics angled toward the head just below the neck of the banjo and about 2' to 3' away. I really like the tone I'm getting. I just don't want any room ambience.
I use an sE Electronics RN17 Neve designed SDC in M/S configuration with a Royer R122. The RN17 is the mid channel. I point the mics angled toward the head just below the neck of the banjo and about 2' to 3' away. I really like the tone I'm getting. I just don't want any room ambience.
Those are great mics, but I think that setup would indeed pick up a lot of room. Have you thought about trying an EV RE20 or a Sennheiser MD421? Those are my go-to banjo mics.
I'm thinking of trying to record the banjo in a walk in closet that is adjacent to my family room studio. I'm hoping that maybe all the clothes in the closet will dampen any ambience. Guess I won't know until I try it(???).
This will almost certainly work to your satisfaction. The clothes will dampen the audio very well. The only problem I could see, would be space to position mic in the ideal location.
But this is what you should do, imo. Will be far better than what you are trying to do. A loud reverb is not just a tail, but also colors the body of the tone, which you can't remove, and if you remove the tail, you will remove sustain.
It might be possible for software to work really well, in a sort of reverse convolution reverb, if you got a good impulse response for the room you want to remove, but other than that, I think you will have a hard time getting something useful.
Tried Transpire. Wasn't noticeably better than the others I've tried (Deverb, Acon Digital Deverberate, JS Transient Controller, UAD Precision Enhancer, and another one or two). Think I'll just go back to re-micing and re-recording. Might try the walk in closet on the banjo. I really think some of the transient controllers and reverb reducers will be helpful in some instances. But the results with the ones I tried were extremely subtle...almost inaudible. I think they'll get better with more R&D.