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We can all be affected by it. You can record something you think will sound perfect and clear, only to find that there is remove background noise in Audacity. Even though you can’t make everything perfect, there are many ways to make an audio file better. Many of these tools are already built into the free and open source audio editor Audacity, which is a great thing.
Audacity can be used as a sound recorder with multiple microphones, or it can be used to edit audio files that have already been made (WAV, MP3, OGG, AIFF etc). For this how-to, we will clean up some audio that has already been recorded.
There might be a fan in the room that got picked up by accident. Or maybe there were constant sounds in the background, like a hum or hiss from equipment, that you didn’t notice at the time but can now hear when you listen back to your audio recording.
How to Remove Background Noise in Audacity
- To remove the noise first download Audacity, you can download Audacity here.Once you have downloaded Audacity create a new file then click File > Import and select the recording you are looking to reduce the background noise on.
- Select the silent part of your audio clip so it’s just noise.
- Go to the effects menu and scroll down to the noise removal tab and click.
- You will then get a pop up asking you to “Get noise profile”. This allows Audacity to know what to filter out. It basically picks up what is seen as background noise, so it has a profile on what background noise to remove from your sound file.
- Now select and highlight all the audio you wish to remove the background noise from, go to the effects menu and select noise removal in the menu.
- Adjust the settings to suit, once you’re happy with your settings click ok.
- Finally, listen over your audio and ensure it sounds correct. Once you are happy with the audio you can export. To export your clip click: File > Export and select the file type. You can export to MP3 or WAV in the export dropdown menu but there are other export types if you click File > Export > Export Audio. Once you have adjusted the settings click ok to export.
What is background noise?
Imagine that your air conditioner or heater is on. It’s the steady hum that seems to come from the room where you record. In my studio, for example, we have a very large aquarium with two huge lights that need fans to keep cool. My CAD E100S mic always picks up on that. So, we need to get rid of that background noise.
Unexpected interruptions, like dogs barking or cars driving by, don’t count as background noise. But you can remove even those sounds in the same way, as long as you can find them in the timeline.
FAQ
How do I remove background noise from a sound file?
- Upload Audio File. Upload your audio files that need background noise removal to Media.io in your browser.
- Select the Type of Noise to Remove. Choose the type of noise you want to remove from your audio file.
- Download and Save Audio File After Noise Reduction
How does Audacity Noise Reduction work?
The noise reduction algorithm uses Fourier analysis to find the “frequency spectrum” of the sound. This is the range of pure tones that make up the background noise in the quiet part of the sound you chose. That makes a “fingerprint” of the static noise in the background of your sound file.