Remove background noise with room tone

What is room tone?

Room tone is a sample of the naturally occurring noise in the environment in which you are recording. Even if you can't hear anything, your microphone can pick up things like ventilation noise, computer fans, traffic, and buzzing from lights.

What you should do to identify room tone

Easiest way: Before you record

The best way is to start before you begin to record and capture your audio. Try to record at least 10 seconds of room tone. Make sure there is no whispering, talking, and even heavy breathing. You want to make sure you capture the sounds of the room without any human interference.

Make sure that you have a long sample

Getting a sample of the room tone will serve as your baseline when, and if, you need to remove background audio noise after you've recorded your piece. It is best practice to have a section of room tone in your recording. You never know when you are going to need it.

Worst case: Try to find it after you finish recording

There are times when you may not have control over the recording process and don't have a room tone sample. No problem! You can still find a bit of room tone in your recording after the fact. Typically you can find room tone between takes or possibly a sample from the beginning of your recording.

Check out this article for a step-by-step guide on How to remove background audio noise in your recordings for free.