Using EQ

With logic pro, we looked at editing audio using the equaliser. We imported an audio clip of a door squeaking with an unwanted high frequency and used EQ to get rid of it.

First, we opened the options column using the inspect button.

This would then bring up an array of functions.

With the squeaky door clip selected, we double clicked the EQ option bringing up the equaliser panel. After this, you click the analyser button to turn it on and change the smaller button that says ‘POST’ to ‘PRE’ by clicking it.

Now, when you play the clip, the panel shows you all of the frequencies as it plays. The panel reads as though it is a graph, having the x axis display the time and the y axis displaying the frequency.

From the squeaky door audio, a continuous high frequency is clearly visible and so this is where you start to use the EQ.

We selected one of the peak filters represented by the corresponding colour dot to the colour of the type of EQ shown at the top of the panel and placed it over the high frequency.

To get rid of it, we dragged the dot downwards and noticed that, through the playback, the high frequency had been quietened.

We were also able to alter the margins of which the peak EQ affected the audio by changing the number at the bottom of the set of 3 values, two of which read the frequency and volume, that matched the colour of the specific filter. The higher this number, the thinner the margin, enabling you to get quieten specific frequencies more accurately.

To lessen the volume further, you can use multiple peak filters in the same place, creating a cleaner audio recording.

Adobe Audition

We can edit audio to have the same effect using Audition.

First we imported the squeaky door audio with the high frequency before opening it and selecting the spectral frequency display button. This displays the frequencies with colour and as though it were a graphic. There are seemingly two displays as the audio is in a stereo setting.

The high frequency is seen at the top of the display as it is thin, high up and continuous throughout the display.

 

Using the marquee tool, we can draw a box around the high frequency and delete it. When playing it back, the unwanted audio has been removed as though it were pixels from a photo in a software like Photoshop.

 

Thanks for reading ~