Cleaning up sounds with Noise Reduction and Expanders

It is almost impossible to get a perfect-sounding recording right out of the gate. Noise in its many forms tends to find its way into audio recordings even under the best circumstances. With that in mind, being able to clean up unwanted noises present in audio clips is one of the fundamental skills needed when mixing.

Getting ready

For this session, you will need a Pro Tools session with a single mono audio track. The track should contain an audio clip that has some unwanted noise in the background. Dialogue recorded in a room with an appliance running is a good example.

Make sure in your Pro Tools session that the Inserts column is shown in the Edit Window. You can do this by going to the menu bar and selecting View | Edit Window Views and ensuring the appropriate items are checked or by using the Edit Window View selector drop-down option directly above the track headers on the left side of the Edit Window.

You will...