Removing fret noise from amped guitars?

abaga129

The Apprentice
Hey everyone!

So i sent my di's out for reamping and didnt realize there was a lot of fret noise in them. I got them back and they sounded fantastic but there are several spots where the fret noise stands out ridiculously. At some parts it can be easily removed because of gaps but there are also other parts that im not so sure of.

Does anyone have any tips on fixing fret noise on guitar tracks that have already be reamped?
 
The person who did the reamping is responsible for editing the DIs of noise before he reamps them. That is the best and only time to account for that kind of noise. How bad is it?
 
The person who did the reamping is responsible for editing the DIs of noise before he reamps them. That is the best and only time to account for that kind of noise. How bad is it?

??? I hope you're paying for editing time as well as reamping then! It's quite simple to account for that noise when monitoring through an amp sim.

I'll always stick a noise suppressor pedal into my chain when reamping for parts inbetween notes, but if there's fret noise during parts where the guitar is actually playing then it's a performance issue and can't be fixed.
 
If you have some parts where the fret noise is "solo'd" you could use it to create a noiseprofile with ReaFir f.e. and automate that plugin in those parts, where it really stands out. But be careful since it could also change your overall sound
 
I didn't pay for editing time, I edited them myself and I can't believe I let all of this noise slip past me (some of it is nasty harmonics from poor positioning while muting). Most of it I have been able to remove by slicing and using fades so it seems this was a pointless thread. Sorry :/
 
??? I hope you're paying for editing time as well as reamping then!

Call me crazy, but that's how I've always done it. I edit once before I reamp, and again after the reamp, that way the end user can just import and play. If I'm wrong and that's not the "norm" then goddamn it should be. Any other way is sloppy and I would be ashamed to call it my work.
 
Guitarists are notorious for not knowing how to properly mute their instrument. Just track it correctly the first time, edit the performance to taste, don't use a noise gate when reamping and manually edit extraneous noise.
 
I just think guitar tracks should be edited before they're sent out for reamping. I'd maybe expect a strip silence and fade of parts inbetween riffs but I'd never send out guitar DI's to someone expecting them to tidy up fret noise.
 
Call me crazy, but that's how I've always done it.

You sir are a much more patient man than I! If a part is played sloppily, I'm not editing unless I get paid for it. Something quick and easy maybe, but 6 songs of quadtracked rhythms? Nope.

That, to me, is like sending something to a mixer that still needs editing, consolidating and cleaning up. that should be taken care of first, to save everyone time, headache and money.

To the OP, sounds like you learned the lesson. Just make sure to take care of that stuff before hand, and be extra diligent about noises in the tracking phase. Glad you sorted most of it out, and I'm sure the next time you'll nip it in the bud before it goes out.

Carry on.
 
You sir are a much more patient man than I! If a part is played sloppily, I'm not editing unless I get paid for it. Something quick and easy maybe, but 6 songs of quadtracked rhythms? Nope.

That, to me, is like sending something to a mixer that still needs editing, consolidating and cleaning up. that should be taken care of first, to save everyone time, headache and money.

Carry on.

Oh I see, yeah I don't slip edit the DIs unless it's requested and paid for, the performance of the parts is on them. But what I mean is for EVERY project I reamp, I automate cutoffs and silences both at the DI and at the mic level, each point done by hand never copy pasted. That's what I meant by editing. It's still quite a project editing an entire album worth of stop/start djent riffs... omG. Especially if they are quad tracked, which is popular with the kiddies today for some reason. But this dual layer editing actually does enhance the sound though. Not only do you get a better S/N, but the entrances seem punchier since there is no noise floor, and cutoffs have a nice vroom to them since the speaker wobbles back to idle after the signal cuts off completely, so it's like adding dynamics, and I'll never do a project without it.

I also never use a noise gate for reamping, though I do own them. They're fine for live use and jamming, but for reamping, all a noise gate does is suck tone and kill held notes too soon. I think they're a crutch and a copout emulation of the actual process that the engineer should be doing. To me I'd rather just spend the time and do the work manually since I know it'll be a better result because of it and there won't be any unwanted tonal coloration or unexpected hiccups.

Anyway sorry for the rant... christ. I think the OP has learned the lesson this time. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done about it now, but you'll be more informed for next time.

BTW, on the topic of slip editing. If you are looking for someone, Mike G (006) does a great job ;)