Sample Editing:Removing Loud Snares

By Ms.Tris • September 22, 2008

I have been in the mood to get off the Dirty South Beats for a while, and get deep down into some sample tracks. I had a session with Gee Wiz last week, he was showing me his unorthadox style of producing. We swapped some knowledge, and while he was here, I stumbled upon something great.

I always wondered how to filter loud snares and kicks from a sample. I have tried eq, and adding filters on the frequencies, but I could never get them quiet enough for my liking. I usually winded up masking them, adding a sound effect or additional snare over top.

The funny thing is, the answer was so simple, I had to chuckle to myself for not trying this before.
Take a listen to the smooth R&B crooning of Bobby Womacks ” I Don’t Wanna Be Hurt By Ya Love Again”

Before chopping this, I can hear some obvious things that need fixing.

1st step is adding some “Noise Reduction” to filter some of the “Hiss” or air that is loud:

I am using Adobe Audition which has an included plugin for this procedure. Here is a nice free editor, with a noise reduction plugin:Wavepad.

Next I want to fix those snares. I zoom in close in my editing software to the first loud snare:

Snare At Normal Volume

And here we are at the magical fixer…..” reduce the volume”

Reduce Volume -6db

Now I have a fairly quiet snare:

New Snare With Volume Reduction

….lol yes it was that simple :-)….. I continue to reduce the volume on all the snares through out the sample, then begin to chop the sample into smaller sections.

Take a look at the following pictures and you can see the difference:

Snare Before

Snare After

You can try this technique on kicks or whatever you think is to loud to begin with. You’ll notice I didn’t silence the sound completely, because I still wanted the sample to sound natural. If you want to share some tips on sample editing feel free to do so in the comment section.

Happy Beat Making To All
Pz Til Later…

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Categories: Downloads, Home, Sampling
Tags: sample editing

About the Author

Ms.Tris

Thanks for reading.. I am Ms.Tris A.K.A Ms.Tris Beats. I'm an upcoming producer from Baltimore, Md. I have worked with over 60 artist locally and across the nation. As I continue to grow as a musician, I wanted to share some things that are helping me along the way. Most of what I teach are my own secrets, and some are standard music theory. I love blogging, and arts as well as music so there will be a bit of both shared here also...

6 Responses to “ Sample Editing:Removing Loud Snares ”

Gee Wiz Sep 22nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm

Nicely done
Ms.Tris Sep 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm

lol it was funny how I was like ” yeah and to get your snares quiet”…..
Most_Incredible! Sep 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm

LOL I remember when it hit me like a brick back when a friend of mine showed me that technique I was trying all sorts of filtering and equing as well but I didn’t think of that simple step lol good to see that other ppl have the same problems tho. And great site Ms. Tris keep it up with dropping knowledge.
Ms.Tris Sep 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm

@ Most_Incredible! …ahh still smiling at this..It’s like that Pattie Labelle song with the lyrics ” I’ve been looking around and you here all the time”…. .
I agree man, if we are producing hip hop we share some of the same road blocks for sure.Matter of fact all producers go through some of the same challenges, now that I think about it..lol

Thanks for the love on the site, and taking time to comment, come back often..and please subscribe to get the updates..
Pz Til Later…
storm Oct 19th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Great tip!Where in the effects menu can you reduce the volume at?
Ms.Tris Oct 20th, 2008 at 9:03 am

Hey Storm! Thanks for leaving a comment. Go to “effects” then scroll to ” Amplitude”, then over to ” Amplify/ Fade”…
pz til later..