If you are working in an expensive studio built to reduce all unwanted noise, you won’t (or at least shouldn’t) have to worry about noise reduction techniques. However, it is inherent to home recording studios that there will likely be unwanted noise that you can’t control in your recordings. This includes signal hiss, guitar amp buzz and even other variables like street
![Unwanted Street Noise Traffic Jam](https://api.sageaudio.com/storage/article/uploads/2013-10-Types_Noise_Reduction_Plugins-225x300.jpg)
noise coming from outside your home.
So while the best advice on noise is to not record it in the first place, when you can’t control it you can turn to a variety of noise reduction plugins to get rid of some of the bad sounds.
Previously, if you wanted to get rid of any noise, the only solution was to tackle the problem through a variety of mixing techniques, including noise gates and creative EQ. But this didn’t always get rid of all the unwanted noise, and often had the adverse effect of changing the original tone of the audio source.
Noise Reducers For Constant Unwanted Noise
If you are trying to eliminate noise that is present throughout your track, such as an amplifier buzz, you’ll want to a noise reducer. This would be in contrast to using plugins designed to eliminate sporadic clicks, pops, and other occasional unwanted sounds.
Perhaps the most popular of these types of noise reducers are graphical interface reducers, which present your track to you as a visual profile of your noise and allow you to control the reduction techniques with a variety of variables.
The other option is a fader based reducer, which does essentially the same thing but is a little more difficult without the visual aid, particularly if you are new to noise reduction. However, they also take up significantly less processing power on your CPU.
Getting Rid of Snaps, Crackles and Pops
As mentioned above, there also are programs designed specifically to get rid of the anomalies in your recordings, such as a large pop in one of your tracks. These can come from a variety of sources, and previously engineers had to go through and manually remove each one. But new plugins are being produced that take on this task automatically, though there are not yet as many available as those products that reduce constant noise.
Spectral Analyzers
Even newer are spectral analyzers, which offer even more control over your noise reduction. Similar to the graphic analyzers above, these products present your audio in a visual form. However, you can select any part of your mix to edit and change. The process has been described as “unmixing,” and allows minute control over unwanted sounds.
Essentially, you isolate any part of your track that needs tweaking, and the spectral analyzers allow you to change or remove that part. This can range from a constant hum or hiss to a one-off pop in the middle of your song.
It should be reiterated, however, that you want to try to record as cleanly as possible in the first place for the best sound. But since this is not always possible, noise reducers are a great way to get rid of those unwanted sounds that get into your mix.
So, Why A Membership?
Let’s face it — trying to create professional mixes without the correct knowledge, tools, services, and network is like playing a concert with a broken instrument to an audience of no one.
That’s where the Sage Audio membership comes in — the membership gives you everything you need to create professional mixes consistently.
The membership is the secret to your success — it’s the difference between the 1,929,999,999 of poor-sounding mixes and the .00000002% of mixes that make people say 'WOW!"
There are 7 unique value-points included in your Sage Audio membership.
Let’s go over each one so you can decide if the membership is right for you.
1. Sage Audio University
- SAU Flagship Mixing Course: 23-video in-depth mixing course that reveals the little-known secrets of mixing and matches the needs of the new music industry.
- SAU Flagship Mastering Course: 19-video in-depth modern mastering course that dives into every nuance of making professional-sounding masters.
- SAU Pre-Mastering Course: Concise pre-mastering course that details the latest industry standards for preparing your mixes for mastering.
- SAU is designed for every experience level, ranging from budding mixing engineers to advanced engineers. The techniques and concepts taught can be applied to any DAW to create industry-leading mixes without expensive software or plugins - and free plugin alternatives are suggested throughout each course.
- Each SAU course includes Start-to-Finish session walkthrough lessons for multiple genres so you can follow along with your preferred genre.
- SAU Certification Document, which can be downloaded and showcased on your website and social channels.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
2. Private 1-on-1 Mentorship
- The Sage Audio private 1-on-1 Mentorship gives you direct access to us for advanced mixing feedback, in-depth discussions, and customized guidance that's tailored to your specific needs.
- Unlimited private access to us for advanced mixing feedback, where we provide detailed suggestions for improvement.
- Unlimited private access to us for in-depth discussions to help you improve every aspect of your mixes and masters.
- Customized guidance that’s tailored specifically to your needs.
- Fast communication so you can improve your skills quickly.
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3. Unlimited Mixing Feedback
- Unlimited professional mixing feedback directly from us so you can consistently improve your skills and create professional mixes.
- Mixing feedback is invaluable, and the Sage Audio membership gives you continual direct access to us for real-world feedback so you can improve every aspect of each of your mixes while you're in the process of mixing.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
4. 50 Free Mastered Songs Per Year
- 50 free mastered songs per year with your own dedicated professional mastering engineer so you can get all your mixes sounding like professional songs.
- You get your own dedicated Sage Audio mastering engineer to create custom masters that are specific to you and sound exactly how you want.
- Unlimited revisions with your dedicated mastering engineer. As a standard of our service, we are not happy until you are happy with the sound of your masters.
- All masters are delivered as commercial, industry-standard high-resolution 24-bit HD WAV masters so they will sound clean and clear on every platform.
Yes, I want to join the membership now >
5. Community
- The Sage Audio community is a tight-knit community of passionate audio engineers who can provide you with additional real-world mixing feedback, meaningful discussions, networking, collaborations, and more.
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6. 70+ GB of Curated Sage Audio Downloadable Content
- 36 multitrack sessions spanning multiple genres for mixing practice.
- 57 un-mastered mixes spanning multiple genres for mastering practice.
- 62 Recommended Free Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 39 Recommended Paid Plugins List (vetted, tested, and approved, so you don’t have to).
- 71 Sage Audio custom plugin presets to improve your mixes and masters.
- Sage Audio Membership Badge to showcase on your website, social channels, and portfolio.
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7. 800+ Video Catalog
- Access 700+ in-depth Sage Audio mixing and mastering videos - curated and organized into categories so you can easily take a deep dive into all aspects of audio engineering with thousands of hours of concise, expertly crafted Sage Audio videos to continually improve your skills at your own pace.
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