Turtlerock Forum

Just wondering what the word on the street is for noise/click removal etc. I need to remove click bleed from stereo acoustic guitar tracks. Tried automating eq and changing fade but not happy with results. I have Denoiser in Logic which is my next step but interested to hear what works?

I have not tried this yet but maybe you could try lining up the original click track with the spill and reversing the phase to cancel it? Or maybe xnoise.

IZ Spectral Repair. You can use the demo for a week i think. Its quite a tedious exercise (you have to go in and select/remove every click by hand), but its completely transparent. Ive used it on a few tracks where i had a singer who more or less whispered into the mic and still wanted the click blasting at 140dB.

hey barney... the only thing i've ever found that works for that sort of thing is ReNOVAtor, but it's damn expensive and and PC only i think, so probably not for you.

but i would try one of the newer (and hopefully cheaper!) spectral editors on the market - especially if you can find something with a functioning demo. the downside is that you might have to remove each click manually one at a time which could get a bit tedious.

i have found in the past that this is the perfect job for a spectral editor, and i'm not sure that you'll get a good result any other way. ReNOVAtor is like voodoo for that sort of thing.

I had a similar problem and it was easier to retrack the guitar.

Find someone with Samplitude, the spectral cleaner that comes with it is amazing for this.

Thanks for the tips, will let you know how I go.

I use Izotope RXII spectral repair.

the phase trick has worked well for me in the past but it all depends on the track...

In the past I have masked the click bleed with percussion, not always an option I know but worth a mention.
PS: not the cow bell!

Maybe a useful idea for future reference, I always suggest using a hi-hat sound for a click, it's much less intrusive if you do get bleed. The old version of Sonar used to use a pure 2k blip (from memory) so it was pretty effective to notch it out if needed. The newer version uses a more broadband sound which is much more difficult to get rid of. I've had some success masking it in an acoustic guitar track using tempo "tape" delays.. Might be worth experimenting with.

Tracks were cleaned with Waves X Noise, (thanks Mat aka Coloursound). Retracking was not an option and it was the last chord of a few tunes that needed help. It did affect tone so complete removal wasn't an option but with fade out and lowering of click noise the outcome was satisfactory. Time permitting (and funds) I would have liked to try the sonnox, or izotope. Thanks for the tips.

i normally whack on a hpf filter or reduce 2-3 kHz on the click track until you cant hear it in the mic.

it might need some volume compensation or extra low mid boost to be audible amongst a mix but it certainly doesnt bleed as much into the mic if at all.

of course this does not help you if it's already been recorded!

FME - To stop this ever happening I ask for an arrangement and make sure I mute the click before the last chord
Foolproof and works every time.
And if there is a quiet section in the middle of a song where bleed may happen - then also with an arrangement on hand then I can ride the click down manually during those quiet sections.
Its ugly trying to get rid of click bleed over a final chord - and all the plug-ins I have used make the harmonics of the last chord sound compromised and processed/dull.
That's my tip of the week.

Really - we are pro's - and we should never have the click running past the point where everyone has stopped playing at the end of a song.

The Tasmanian wrote:Really - we are pro's <snip>

hey speak for yourself! ;-0

no really, i agree. you should be listening out for click bleed!

if you can hear it, then either you need better isolating headphones or you need to automate the click down at the end.

that's why i ~hate~ the protools click. sounds like a commodore 64 if you asked me.

you know that you can alter the tone of the protools click right? It took me a long time to discover this, just select different presets from the click plugin window... Not saying that it has awesome samples or that it is better then either not using one or my favourite option which is to have some play a tambourine or similar to the click and then use the mambo track as the click track but it does give you other options. And programming to suit the arrangement is also very important...

I sometimes use a kick and/or snare sample copy and pasted along the song. I find people don't need it as loud in their headphones and makes blending easier later on. It takes a few mins to set up but it's pretty worth it.

click samples, imo should be "course" or sound shitty...
if the noise is too pleasing, it doesnt cut as much...

again IMO.

Jamil - that's bleeding obvious (ha ha)

Oh no - here come all the bleeding jokes.....
Bring them on!

huurrr hurrr , damn dad jokes!

Linear wrote:that's why i ~hate~ the protools click. sounds like a commodore 64 if you asked me.

Not only can you change the click track sound, there's also the the TL metronome plugin (which offers many more sounds and beat sub-divisions as well)

really dislike the TL metronome – can do all the subdivisions on the timeline manually and haven't found the sounds to be dramatically better than the marimba options on the default plug.

Surely, somewhere, someone has coded a replacement click that accepts samples?

In the dim recesses of my memory I recall routing the click pulse to other software instruments to get this happening...

I use Reason rewired into Pootools for click. Options for sounds are endless and because they sync and follow each other it's easy peasy. If a click sequence is needed of multiple sounds i make a pattern in the ddrum and bob's your auntie.
I generally use 2 different conga's (high and not so high), Iso phones and mute/ride the click on a fader. I prefer not to use clicks at all. But sometimes it's a necessity.

I use the MPC click setting in pootools - it seems to bleed less and not smash the artists senses