Waves Audio Plugins Drown out Intrusive World Cup Vuvuzela Trumpeting
June 16, 2010
(WORLD CUP TECHNOLOGY)
In response to the telecast difficulties associated with the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Waves Audio (News - Alert), provider of digital signal processing solutions has unveiled a solution to reduce certain problematic sounds.
One omnipresent noise, the blaring of Vuvuzela trumpets (aka stadium horns), recurs quite often -- when South African football fans blow them during the matches.
The amount of noise generated by the Vuvuzela is considered harmful to the concentration of the players. Waves Audio engineers began feverishly devising a solution after widely publicized complaints from TV viewers and broadcasters about the continuous Vuvuzela blasts.
Waves, working with a major television broadcaster, crafted a real-time processing chain consisting of two plugins to solve the problem. The two audio plugins, the WNS Waves Noise Suppressor and the Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer also increase the intelligibility of the game announcers' play-by-play action and color commentary. Several major broadcast outlets are already using the processing chain.
A real-time noise reduction plugin, WNS Waves Noise Suppressor is unsurpassed for noise suppression in both indoor and outdoor environments with constant or modulating noise. WNS has proven itself invaluable as a broadcast tool though it was originally engineered for reducing noise from dialogue in film and video.
Precision equalization in any audio situation like broadcast, recording, mixing, mastering, and more are delivered by Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer. The Q10 is capable of spectral modifications that range from subtle to extreme with power and features that far surpass the capabilities of analog gear.
The Vuvuzela noise reduction processing chain is created by using a combination of dynamic broadband noise suppression and notch filtering. After adjusting, contrasting and comparing the routing schemes and parameter settings; multiple instances of each plugin, with different settings, were ultimately used to achieve optimal results.
Parties interested in downloading the load-and-use sessions for Pro Tools, Waves MultiRack, and Cubase -- the processing chain for Vuvuzela noise reduction sessions -- may be downloaded at http://www.waves.com/content.aspx?id=5798.
Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Calvin’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
