Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1351516
A Brief History of A s a mixer working primarily in commercials for the last 17 years, my first personal introduction into noise reduction was with the Waves X-Noise plugin sometime around 2004. Initially, I had no idea how to use it properly, and most of the time, the audio I was treating sounded like an underwater mp3 downloaded from Napster. I guess I could have read the manual? After a lot of practice and with the desire to experiment with every noise-reduction tool I could get my hands on, I eventually found the right balance and began to understand the possibilities and limitations of the technology. It is easy to take for granted just how much control we have these days, but how did we get here? Join me as I delve into the history and fascinating world of noise reduction. While researching, it seemed the more information I came across, the more questions came up. The term "noise reduction" is somewhat ubiquitous. Depending on the context, the term can mean several different things. After finding myself in an endless Wikipedia loop, I knew I needed to find an authority to educate me. Thankfully, Gordon Reid, the managing director at CEDAR Audio, with more than 30 years at the company, was very generous with his time and knowledge. b y C A S A s s o c i a t e m e m b e r S a m C a s a s Ray Dolby in his home lab during the development of Dolby SR. WHAT EXACTLY IS NOISE? As humans, we can identify noise as something unpleasant, loud, or disruptive. While working in audio, we generally have a sound that we want to hear, and anything else is often described simply as "noise." As recording mediums in the analog world evolved from wax cylinders to magnetic tape, a prominent noise was introduced in the form of "Hiss." In fact, all recorded media has a noise floor which is the sum of all noise sources and unwanted signals. Some of it presented by the recording system's limitation and some of it presented by the recording media itself (vinyl, tape, etc.). The desire to minimize the noise floor and increase the desired signal is almost biological. A Brief History of