reducing fret noise

Hey gang,
 
I've just did an acoustic guitar in X2 that I'm super happy with performance-wise, but I'd like to go in and dial-down the finger slides that happened when my left-hand slid just a little bit.
 
Any X2 strategies for that kind of scenario?

While fretnoise and slides tend to be an annoyance upon critical listening, those annoyances are very much part of the character of the guitar. I would point you to Larry Carlton's acoustic rendition of "The Lord's Prayer". Stunning in it's beauty, the slides and intimate noises of the bare acoustic with no backing are a breath of fresh air. Before going thru the torment of hours and possibly days of editing stop and ask yourself, "If I remove all of the clams that make this guitar sound like a real instrument played by a real player, Am I not removing the very essence of what an acoustic guitar is and what it does?".
One of the biggest red flags in sampling is to hear an acoustic track completely devoid of all of the "Noiseiness". No finger slide noise, no fret rings, etc. As soon as you hear it you know it's fake.
Just a piece of advice from a fellow guitar player that has played and recorded for more years than he likes to admit! LOL!

try cutting somewhere between 2-4k to remove some of the unwanted noise of finger noise.

I like to leave the fret noise just as recorded.
 
I have also been experimenting with the De-esser in the VX VocalStrip - when I turn on the listen switch, all I could hear was the fret noise so it must be good reducing/removing them ?
 
Anyone using De-esser for this ?

Using slip editing or an external wave editor would probably be best for this, just make sure you snap/split to zero crossing points to avoid clicks n pops.

Also this would have been best posted in the Techniques sub forum http://forum.cakewalk.com/Songs-f27.aspx

I don't think I've seen anyone point out that you can use coated strings or flat wounds to reduce that whistle of slipping fingers. It took me an age to give in to coated strings, but I do use them now, and my life has improved for it, as much as I grump about them.

While some fret noise and string squeak is fine, too much, generally from less than stellar playing technique, can be distracting.
 
Practice playing with better finger technique to lessen it some.... but even the best players have it so it's part of the performance.
 
If it falls into the "too much of a distraction" camp..... here are a few things I do to "clean up" breath and string noises in a track.
 
Zoom in on the track so you have maybe one or two, three at the most measures displayed in the track view. Move that track to the top near the time line. Immediately under the time line. Now, hit playback and when you hear the offending noise. Click the time line and stop the playback at the same time. You should be able to clearly see the part of the wave form that contains the squeak. It is usually independent from the music. (it is it's own little blob in the wave)
 
On the track.... be sure you have selected it by clicking on the one track you are working on. It should be darker to indicate it's selected.  So now, simply click and drag on the time line above the track. You should see the selected part of the track highlight darker. Be sure you only get the squeak into that highlighted section. If you miss the mark, no problem, simply drag a second, or third, or fourth time to get the highlighted section to encompass the noise only.
 
Once that is selected surgically..... use the process audio and choose gain reduction to lower the noise level (assuming you want to keep it) or choose MUTE to silence it totally.   Click OK.
 
In this mode, you can always select EDIT>UNDO and go back if you don't like the result.
 
Move the time line back and play through the newly processed point. If you like it, go to the next one and repeat the process. Save the project about every three or four edits, and at the end.
 
I use this exact process all the time with breath noises and other things that I want to remove from the track. It works very well.
 
If you are concerned about the non-reversable factor involved once you close the project.... yes it is destructive editing once the project is closed since you lose the ability to undo at that point... simply make a clone of the track before you start. You can always delete the clone later once you are 100% satisfied with the edits.

There's also Finger-Ease string lubricant. 

Hi,if you stay on X2 Producer you can try R-Mix to reduce the noise or V-Vocal if the track is mono.
I use V-Vocal to fix the bass performance record,it's awesome for time and noise.
Best

ry1633
Hey gang,
 
I've just did an acoustic guitar in X2 that I'm super happy with performance-wise, but I'd like to go in and dial-down the finger slides that happened when my left-hand slid just a little bit.
 
Any X2 strategies for that kind of scenario?

 
You can approach this two different ways:
 

• Split the offending squeaks into separate Clips.  You can then lower the gain and/or use EQ to effectively tame the squeaks (while leaving the rest of the track untouched).
• Use gain envelope to "duck" the level of the squeaks.

 
I wouldn't apply EQ to the track as a whole.  By the time you'd tame the squeaks, you'd rob the guitar of a LOT of upper mids (clarity/definition).

If you add reverb, it can enhance those ugly noises, you can try EQ'ing the reverb and cutting some high's out.  I had the same problem in the below recording, I ended up leaving it because I was too inexperienced at the time
 
https://soundcloud.com/michael-lizotte/god-only-knows

I've never used R-Mix before.   Is it a Sonar plugin?

ry1633
I've never used R-Mix before.   Is it a Sonar plugin?

yes it is, but don't try and use it as a live vst effect, only use it after the fact because the plug in induces latency.

GIM Productions
Hi,if you stay on X2 Producer you can try R-Mix to reduce the noise or V-Vocal if the track is mono.
I use V-Vocal to fix the bass performance record,it's awesome for time and noise.
Best

Yes, +1 for R-Mix