I marked my previous post as 'solved' last time because if I get up out of my chair, walk 3-5 feet away, turn around and not face my computer, then the noise will go away. While it does somewhat disappear.. its still there. Also.. having to do all of that just to record my guitar playing is a big pain in the rump.

So.. here we go audiosex nerds... I could really use your knowledge and insight here!!

I've been trying to narrow down the excessive noise when I record my guitar and what is causing it. After trying out a few different guitars and instruments...I am left to only a few variables as to what is causing this SSSSzzzzssBBRRRRSsszZZZZSst sound whenever I am trying to record my guitar.

I am an aspiring metal guitarist, so I'm going to use overdrive and distortion effects. Whenever I switch these effects on however, I get Brrrsszzzt sound that ruins recording. Without the effects on, my guitar records clean and acoustic just fine.

Any string instrument such as bass guitar or electric guitar will produce this BBBRssszzt sound, whenever I plug it in to my Scarlett 2i2 and add effects or sometimes even just turning the volume up loudly. However my Alesis Command X drum kit that I plug into the Scarlett, does not produce any background sound.. so I may be able to rule out that my AI is the culprit.

My Scarlett, however, does plug into my computer instead of plugging into the wall... so I think my computer is the reason why I am getting this noise. I am wholly ignorant on electricity and its physics, so I definitely need some outside help, which is why I'm here!

Is there anything I can do or try to mitigate, reduce or otherwise remove this damn noise?

Thank you for any assistance or insight you can provide on this issue!

 

Last edited: Aug 28, 2024

For reference.. here is the noise that it is generating.

 

Oh I can relate to this dreaded sound. Running a Roland Duo capture, then an Apollo solo. Different PC's, laptop etc. Always have this noise at varying degrees even at difference properties. From my experience the culprits are electronic devices: monitors - even if they are on standby - anything with a LED like backlit keyboards, mice and anything wireless. First thing I would suggest is that you invest in is a DI Box. It cleans up the signal a lot and improves the gain in metal amp sims as a bonus. The best I can personally get is to turn off secondary monitor, use the Di box into my interface and turn away from my desk avoiding all remaining electronic interferences. Even turn off mouse and keyboard as a test. In post you can obviously remove the noise by editing. Best of luck mate.

 

Overdrive and distortion are forms of dynamic processing, so my guess is that the noise you hear is always there, but becomes very audible once the dynamics are reduced to the point of full blown distortion.

Is your PC grounded? Sounds like a ground loop or possibly some kind of interference, though it usually takes a lot of interference to get very audible noise. Not impossible, but usually people chase that first before checking other more likely variables.

 

Are you using pedals in front of the Scarlett 2i2? If so and they're cheap they will be the culprits. Maybe use VST amp sims instead, they're incredible these days and you will have the option of saving presets. If you are using effects try going direct, process of elimination.

 

I used the decimator pedal in the past with great results
It exterminates the bzzzzzummmmmmmmmmmmm

https://www.isptechnologies.com/guitar/decimator_ii_g_string

 

I am not using pedals in front of my Scarlett, just the VST

 

I did a quick google search on how to tell if my pc is grounded and I'm not sure how to confirm this... I mean.. I'm not getting shocks or anything when I'm using it and I'm on this damn computer like 6 hours a day.

 

Thank you very much for you insight! After reading what a DI box does.. I think you are correct that a DI box could significantly help me get rid of that noise. Would you have any recommendations on a DI box that is in the $100-$200 range? I know thats not a lot to spend on one.. but thats my budget lol

 

Hey brother,

I'm not sure how long you've been playing the guitar, but here's some advice from a guy who's been playing it for 30 years: Noise is part of the game, especially if you play high gain. Get used to it.

However, there are ways to mitigate it, in order of importance:

- Do you know if your guitar's electronic cavities are shielded? Many guitars, especially cheaper models, aren't shielded. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube teaching how to do it: You can use special shielding paint, DIY shielding paint, copper tape, and so on. You can also take it to a guitar tech and ask him to do it for you. Shielding makes a HUGE difference, if done properly. Also, make sure your guitar's bridge is connected to the ground of the circuit.

- Did you try plugging it in a different electric outlet? It's a bad idea to plug it in the same outlet as your computer, or even in the same circuit. If your house's electrical installation is separated into different circuits, try using an extension and plugging it into different circuits. It might make a huge difference.

- What kind of guitar are you playing? What kind of pickups? Single coils are way noisier than humbuckers, for instance. Active pickups, like EMGs, tend to be super quiet.

- Some more robust power cords have special electronic circuits that can filter out some noise coming from your power line. Do some research and find out what's available in your area.

As you can see, noise is cumulative. There are many things you can do to mitigate it, although is almost impossible to eliminate it.

 

Berhinger makes some very cheap DI boxes, check amazon.
your problem is probably caused by single coil pickups, you can try adding a wrist strap (an anti-static ground strap) cliped to your guitar bridge. Your guitar is acting like an antena and picking noise from the electrical field around your living area, it could be led/fluorescent lights, dimmers, etc. A shorter guitar cord, will reduce how much noise is picked up by your guitar, also turning sideways is commonly used by a lot of guitarist as its the simplest way to immediately cut the noise.

Gain is also a problem, or it makes the problem more apparent, the more you crank the gain, the louder the signal, but also the louder the noise. The noise is usually not apparent til the quiet bits, so you can try a noise gate, which cuts the signal below a certain volume level to zero, getting rid of hum and noise.

i use this one, when i need to. it was 25$ when I bought it, now 35$ - might find it for less on ebay..



https://www.amazon.com/Rowin-Guitar...b7-9c73-4658ea130362&pd_rd_i=B01IV0CX7S&psc=1

 

sometimes lining your pickup cavities with copper tape can help insulate the pickup from rf interference. I did it on my tele and it seemed to help. A lot of less expensive (and even some expensive) guitars use a black paint for RF shielding in the pickup cavities, difficult to say if it works or not, because you don't know how thick the coating is or what it contains. I removed the black paint with alcohol (90%) and a paper towel in about 5 minutes, so the copper metal tape would adhere properly.

 

Some rooms are just inherently noisy- radio signals, cell tower activity, weird grounding- even the best guitars will succumb to it. I used to work in such a room and I solved it with a Variax Standard Strat! Piezo pickups + modeling equals dead freaking silent, everywhere. In fact, with a Pod x3 Live (they're cheap these days) I have a completely digital signal path from the guitar all the way to the computer. The downside is the tones may not really please the purist but they're absolutely good enough for me and what I do

 

1.) Its an entry level guitar so probably not.. I'll definitely look into it.

2.) Yeah my Scarlett plugs right into my computer and does not have its own stand alone power supply.. and my computer has gaming RGB crap, like backlights and 2 gpus.

3.) Its a Jackson Dinky J22. Dual humbuckers. You answered a question I've had for a while about active pickups btw.. I was wondering if they reduced noise since they have their own power supply.

4.) I've never heard of this. You can buy a power strip that helps reduce noise for recording guitar?? Sounds pricey.

Thank you Morgan for taking the time to educate and share your knowledge. I will definitely be looking into the shielding

 

and if you are recording you can use software to remove the noise signature from the music - Izotope Rx6 etc...
but it is distracting when playing, and anything you do to lessen it will make cleanup later much easier..

 

Thanks dude! I'm going to try some copper tape

 

you need a noise gate if your gonna be doing tones like this, please remember there is a reason they called it an Amplifier because what ever you put into it will get amplified so this (grrrrrrrrrr) becomes this (GRRRRRRR!!!) any small noise becomes massive when driving an already driver circuit noise gate will help when your not playing when you play the noise will still be there but normally you cant tell because of the guitar playing. A DI wont help because as i said before your still you get what you get. put into it comes out amplified there are loads of good gates out there in that price range live i use ELX Metal muff great. tone. super easy to use and its got an adjustable gate built in so it plays when you want it and dead quite when your not playing

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Electr...4jw_-cs1AXPUmoDKFDNRS7tPGs824h_hoCnrAQAvD_BwE


https://www.guitarcenter.com/search?typeAheadSuggestion=true&fromRecentHistory=false&Ntt=noise gate

as far as gates go heres a bunch in your price range id go with either the electro Harmonix or Boss. but they all do i apretty good job even the Berhringer will work for ya

 

I just started my music recording journey like a month ago....I dont have the money to throw at Izotope unfortunately. Thanks for the heads up about software that could help clean up the signal!

 

the power cord should have 3 prongs going into the mains, or power outlet depending on your country's terminology.
2 of the prongs are alternating current, they flip from positive to negative, hence alternating, 60 times a second in 60 hz countries, and 50 in 50hz countries. The third prong is ground, it is always ground, it never flucuates.

If you have 3 prongs on your power cord, its grounded (or should be, no telling with cheap chinese cords if there is actually a wire there or not, without putting a conductivity meter on both ends to test the continuity..

 

Unfortunately, I use noise gates and the brrszssst sound is still present. I've been using an amp sim noise gate... are you suggesting I use my behringer noise gate in front of my audio interface? Like... I plug my guitar into the behringer and then i plug my behringer into my Scarlett?