<p>This is an issue for me too. You need a multi-pronged technique:</p>

<ul>
<li>Choose the quietest room. If street noise is an issue, which room is furthest from the street? Many people have offices and desks, but record in a child's room while that child is at school.</li>
<li>Arrange yourself facing into a corner (for echo reasons) and surround yourself with soft stuff as much as possible. A bedroom is quieter than the basement. Buy thick muffly curtains as an investment in what you're doing. Putting them over windows keeps out noise and soaks up noise that gets into the room. You can also buy canvas covered foam panels that look like art but soak up noise.</li>
<li>Choose the time to record. Less traffic at night? Airplanes stop landing at midnight? Neighbours mow the lawn every Sunday? Take all that into account</li>
<li>As Wouter says, if there's a noise, do that sentence over. That's how I handle ringing phones, footsteps overhead, and toilet flushes by people who forgot I was recording. Just take a breath, wait for quiet, and do the sentence again from the beginning. Then edit away the first try and the noise.</li>
<li>Use a product that does some sort of noise reduction. For background irritations like rain or wind this can really help</li>
<li>Know when to switch tasks for the day. After the tenth time you try to cheerfully say the same two lines but that dog next door barks or a car horn sounds, let it go. Work on writing the material for the next few things so that when you get a quiet time, you can record a bunch at once.</li>
<li>If none of that works and moving isn't an option, you can make a recording booth or even arrange to go to a studio for a day and do it all at once. But that's getting out of life hack territory.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-03T23:11:35.283Z
2016-02-03T23:11:35.283Z
Kate Gregory
<p>After you remove as much external noise as possible from the room, consider your microphone selection. You want one that rejects off-axis sounds, such as a cardioid. Keep the back of the microphone pointed towards the strongest noise source. This Shure article gives a nice refresher on microphone types. <a href="http://blog.shure.com/multi-pattern-microphones-what-where-and-how/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.shure.com/multi-pattern-microphones-what-where-and-how/</a></p>

<p>Check your gain settings and stay close to the microphone to keep the signal to noise ratio good.</p>

<p>Apply a gate to your audio so that it's muted when you're not talking.</p>

<p>If your audio is too sensitive, and you're noticing every defect, mix some room or white noise in at a low level to soften up your audio.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-13T04:47:59.987Z
I tweaked with gain settings. There is less echo now and less noise. But as you can imagine, India is full of traffic noises. Getting a clean noiseless environment is only between 12 am to 6 am. Will have to sacrifice my sleep then. Was looking forward if there is some other tweak i can work on. I think FOAM is a good option.
Parth Joshi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-11T23:58:31.617Z
2016-02-11T23:58:31.617Z
Jordan Nash
<p>I am making some video tutorials on some programming topics. An outside honking noise is interfering with the recordings. The windows and doors are packed, but even then the problem persists.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-25T22:13:57.603Z
Maybe a directional mic would work?
muncherelli
<screen-casting>
How to remove honking noise in room for voice over recording
Parth Joshi
# How to remove honking noise in room for voice over recording

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-02-03)

I am making some video tutorials on some programming topics. An outside honking noise is interfering with the recordings. The windows and doors are packed, but even then the problem persists.

**Tags:** screen-casting

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Maybe a directional mic would work?  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-02-03. Score: 2

This is an issue for me too. You need a multi-pronged technique:

* Choose the quietest room. If street noise is an issue, which room is furthest from the street? Many people have offices and desks, but record in a child's room while that child is at school.
* Arrange yourself facing into a corner (for echo reasons) and surround yourself with soft stuff as much as possible. A bedroom is quieter than the basement. Buy thick muffly curtains as an investment in what you're doing. Putting them over windows keeps out noise and soaks up noise that gets into the room. You can also buy canvas covered foam panels that look like art but soak up noise.
* Choose the time to record. Less traffic at night? Airplanes stop landing at midnight? Neighbours mow the lawn every Sunday? Take all that into account
* As Wouter says, if there's a noise, do that sentence over. That's how I handle ringing phones, footsteps overhead, and toilet flushes by people who forgot I was recording. Just take a breath, wait for quiet, and do the sentence again from the beginning. Then edit away the first try and the noise.
* Use a product that does some sort of noise reduction. For background irritations like rain or wind this can really help
* Know when to switch tasks for the day. After the tenth time you try to cheerfully say the same two lines but that dog next door barks or a car horn sounds, let it go. Work on writing the material for the next few things so that when you get a quiet time, you can record a bunch at once.
* If none of that works and moving isn't an option, you can make a recording booth or even arrange to go to a studio for a day and do it all at once. But that's getting out of life hack territory.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-02-11. Score: 0

After you remove as much external noise as possible from the room, consider your microphone selection. You want one that rejects off-axis sounds, such as a cardioid. Keep the back of the microphone pointed towards the strongest noise source. This Shure article gives a nice refresher on microphone types. <http://blog.shure.com/multi-pattern-microphones-what-where-and-how/>

Check your gain settings and stay close to the microphone to keep the signal to noise ratio good.

Apply a gate to your audio so that it's muted when you're not talking.

If your audio is too sensitive, and you're noticing every defect, mix some room or white noise in at a low level to soften up your audio.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I tweaked with gain settings. There is less echo now and less noise. But as you can imagine, India is full of traffic noises. Getting a clean noiseless environment is only between 12 am to 6 am. Will have to sacrifice my sleep then. Was looking forward if there is some other tweak i can work on. I think FOAM is a good option.  

---

