Logic Pro (X) Click in audio

John Morton

Logician
Logic Pro 10.5.1

Interesting problem here.

I'm using Logic to bounce MP3 files from WAV files. I've dragged in a WAV audio track originating from a reel-to-reel recording done 'live' in 1997. There is a click around bar 20 that I've been unable to eliminate. I found that the click is audible in the original DAT tape. Possibly someone dropped something on the floor. I can't find anything suspicious in the waveform (but I used the pencil tool anyway on the affected area) and attempts to soften the effect with selection-based processing have failed. Even if I use the marquee tool to chop out the affected area, the click remains. Google drive link to file (I can't presently stop Google from zipping the file):

 

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  • Screenshot 2022-09-18 at 07.29.20.png
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That is a very loud click John. As you say, it sounds like it is acoustic - something fell over and created a transient which is louder than the music at that stage. I'm not an expert with iZotope's RX but just attempted using a feature called transient gain. It didn't make any noticeable difference. You probably already noticed but there are other artefacts, in particular I notice some distortion in the left channel. Only thing I can suggest is to try to replace the section with the click with another section, but that in itself will probably be noticeable.

kind regards

Mark
 
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Here is an edit I tried John. It's by no means perfect, but the transient is gone. In order to minimize size and directly upload it here, I saved it as a project without Audio, shouldn't be a problem for you to re-link to the original recording.

HTH, kind regards

Mark
 

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  • Click problemedit.logicx.zip
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Thanks again, Mark. The click is still there but slightly softened. I was asked to locate the audio file, which I did, and I can see what you have done. I tried that, too, without success.

When I chopped out the affected section I kept on widening the chop way outside the visible 'blip' but there was still a click.

I've been reading about temporal masking, too.
 
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I managed to achieve a reasonable result with selection-based processing, inserting an EQ and turning everything down. I also cheated a little with automation, see screenshot.

Here's a link to the file, which Google is no longer Zipping (which it was doing for some reason):


There was potential for mechanical noise from the old reel-to-reel machine, plus the tracks were then transferred to a DAT audio cassette. Because I only had WMA files I bounced these to WAVs with Logic and then produced MP3 files from those, so the recordings have led a more interesting life than I have (!).

The end result sounds like a quiet brushes/cymbal tap so I'm happy, bearing in mind the end purpose of the file.

Regards, JM.
 

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  • Screenshot 2022-09-22 at 11.23.17.png
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Sounds fine John, it does indeed now sound like some intended percussion. Thanks for posting the solution. BTW, who are we listening to?

kind regards

Mark
 
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It's a composition I wrote in 1965(!) and arranged for brass band in 1997. The band is the Staffordshire Band, a first-section band. It used to be the Staffordshire Building Society Band, but it lost its sponsorship for economic reasons. I arranged the composition for orchestra, too, and produced a software-instrument version in Logic. I always felt it had main-theme potential, perhaps for a Mafia film. It was submitted and accepted by Pond 5 and TuneCore.

Stay in touch, JM.
 
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