Tackle the Crackle

Yo, so I've had my MPC1000 for a little bit now, and I love it. Up until recently, I was sampling into my computer, using Cool Edit Pro. I would use some waves x-noise plugins here, to help cut down on the crackle/feedback sounds from the record, and then feed this back into my MPC for chopping/sequencing. My computer is having issues, so over the last week or so I've been sampling directly into the MPC. This results in my samples not being as "clean" as they used to. However, skipping the computer altogether, and making a dope beat on strictly hardware has got me feeling like a young kid all over again. I love it. I take the time to thoroughly clean my records, and I have a new needle, and my turntable is set up properly. I also bought myself some really nice, heavy duty RCA cables, which defintley helped cut down the crackle. It's very subtle now, but still present. I'm convinced that I've done my best to eliminate factors independant of the MPC which may be causing some of the "crackle", so I'm now asking if anyone has any tips for "cleaning up" samples within the MPC via filtering or compression or what not.

Also, I'm not so much talking about single pops or cracks due to single scratches on the record, but more like a constant, very low level crackle/feedback sound, that you can't even notice when there's melodies, drums and bass going on, but has got me bugging as I notice all that shit.

Thanks for your time.

sample cleaner material, i.e. cd's

that crackle is part of what makes people sample vinyl

idea - upload a sample wav of just the noise you're talking about. at some point, it may not be a problem (just the opposite even) but if it's too loud we'll know

so record a couple samples that you wouldn't want to use and throw em up and i'll tell you whether or not i think they are too dirty

be forewarned, i use FILTHY samples. i love record noise and static, vhs as well.

one important trick is to "patch" your samples with extra noise if you chop them so that there's no disruption of the sonic space, ie it sounds as if you pulled it off the record as is. there's nothing worse than being able to hear sudden patches of complete, digital, black silence.

Cap_Ill wrote:sample cleaner material, i.e. cd's

that crackle is part of what makes people sample vinyl

haha, thanks chief. There is no way I will be sampling from CDs, so that's out of the question. I am not new to this, and am well aware of the benefits of the sound of vinyl. I prefer vinyl over CDs even for listening purposes. If I find a dope rap album on vinyl, I'll buy it and sell my CD copy. CDs are just straight whack all around.

My question more stems from this: I do my best to layer samples from multiple different records. I also try to sample old, obscure shit. Sometimes even after thoroughly cleaning two records, I'll have one sample with more noise or crackle than the other one (due to one record being older or in worse shape than the other), and it just doesn't sound as good as it could. This wouldn't be a problem if I was just looping one part off a single record. I like the crackle sound, it adds a richness to the beat that can't come from CD samples. I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips for controling this, so I can at least try to make the crackle consistent throughout my samples. Do sounds like this usually fall in a certain frequency range, etc...

Nym, I don't really have uploading capabilities. I'm only online at work, where I can't upload anything. Thanks for the offer though.

Again, I like the crackle sound, I'm just looking for help making it consistent throughout multiple samples within one song. Thanks again.

now that you have been more specific i know what you mean.

i just try filters/effects to eliminate that extra crackle.

you can drop the volume of the sample and EQ it.

its always different. Just depends.

i wish i had a better answer for you.

Cap_Ill wrote:now that you have been more specific i know what you mean.

i just try filters/effects to eliminate that extra crackle.

you can drop the volume of the sample and EQ it.

its always different. Just depends.

i wish i had a better answer for you.

Alright, thanks homie. I asked today because last night I started working on a beat which has some serious potential, but one of the chops I'm working with is from this is a 45 from like the fifties or sixties (it has no date on it, but it's mad old). The other samples are from 45s as well, but they are from the 70s and are in better shape. The chop from the older 45 is raw, and sounds sooo dope, but everytime I trigger that particular sample, I can hear the crackle from that one sample over everything else, and it sounds a little out of place. I messed with it for a long time last night trying to get it to sound dope, and the only thing I was able to do that made it sound more even was to add some slight distrortion to the samples which don't have the major crackling sound going on. This isn't ideal (but with some more work I may be able to make it fly like this) so I was wondering if anyone had any tips for this type of thing.

That was probably way too much information, but yeah... Thanks, yo.

i'm not sure you can do much about crackly/pop, but hiss can be helped by eq'ing out some highs. That's where the worst hiss is. Probably know this already, but someone might be interested!

It's gonna be quite hard to EQ cuz vinyl can have a high crackle and a low rumble! and you don't want to be loosing some of the harmonic range of the sample! U shud try leaving it, coming back an just listen to how it really sounds. Cuz sometimes that **** can sound dope when it sounds like you meant to do it i.e 'it was an artistic decision' or something!!!

Just an idea!!!
Good Luck though!

Well if you got a copy of waves gold DX/VST plugins you g0t a crackle/noise/hum eliminator.. i use it sometimes when really needed for heavy stuff..

bees80 wrote:Well if you got a copy of waves gold DX/VST plugins you g0t a crackle/noise/hum eliminator.. i use it sometimes when really needed for heavy stuff..

That's what I'm saying, I have those plugs ins, and they work very well, however my computer is on the fritz, so I've been bypassing it and sampling/chopping/sequencing all directly in the MPC. Thanks for your responses everyone.

it's always difficult to match sounds from different records together especially when the records from the 50s needs to match up with something from the 70s.. i guess you already tried messing around with a low pass filter.. sometimes when i sample directly into my mpc i just use a little LPF to 95 to 90 range to get rid of some crackles...

actually there's not a special way of matching your crackles up.. i guess you just have to find out for yourself..

it's always crappy when you find the right sound from a record but it has too much crackles wich makes the sound very unclear.. happened too me some times.. better to leave it alone and start using your time on sum other sh!t cuz things like this wil break you up and drive you mad!

Hmm. I appreciate the responses, everyone. I may have to just find another sample that fits. I already tried using a low pass filter, but it didn't help much. I think this record just may be too old/out of shape to do what I want with it. Thanks again, yo!

Try to delete tha crackle out of the wav, if it doesnt screw up the sound of the sample--like if the crackles right overtop of a key sound....If not see if u can find another copy of that joint, or if worse comes to worse find it on a CD or an MP3 on the net... also see if the part you sampled(the one w/ crackle) repeats itself somewhere else in the song....

tackle the crackle... ...are you nuts? why would you want to do something like that? personally, i think the crackle is the best part, but if you want to get rid of it --for whatever reason- try using one of those sPDIF cables. I have found that my samples seem a lot cleaner using it, however, the grit is the best part --in my opinion-. I remember reading in a magazine --it might have been Easy Mo Bee- saying "it's the sound you get when you put the needle to the record and it sizzles like you're frying bacon in a pan" (or something like that). My apologies if I trashed the quote.

Anyway, don't knock the crackle, man. Savor that pork fat!!!

Big ups,

Maxx Carnage