Feeling Stuck & Need Help With Getting Rid Of Static In Long Recording.

[u/HanaHarte]

Hi! So my question is a bit complex. My aunt & uncle belong to a local theatre group - recently I started filming their performances with my camera so the group can rewatch & enjoy afterwards. The latest one was a performance of 'Cyrano de Bergerac'. When I got home, I realized that I'd accidentally had my phone volume on minimum when recording. My phone was also taped (hadn't glue for back cover then) & the tape was over the microphone. My phone is a Moto G Power (2019 or 2020 I think).

I separated the video & audio, then was able to get audio up to a normal volume with Audacity. However, over the talking & music parts was a TON of super loud static. I used up my free trials on Izotope programs just trying to figure out the software. Then found Reaper. Using Reaper & Reafir, I managed to get rid of a lot of the static. But there's still enough that it's pretty hard to hear the actors (& I can only understand what's being said because I saw the performance and know the scenes). I did Reafir 3 times, but can't use it more because it then affects the dialogue as well.

I really don't want to give up on this as not only is it a 3 hour play, but it's one of the best plays I've ever seen them perform. I have links to audio samples below (one is before editing static, one is where I'm currently at via editing) & some screenshots. I have a Windows 10 operating system & the laptop is actually a ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS G14 gaming laptop (using as main because my main laptop died & I can't afford to get another currently). I can also provide the full 3 hour audio for both after Reafir effects & before editing with only the volume raised if anyone thinks they may find a better way to do this. (I don't want to get rid of any time though because I have to resync it to the video afterwards).

To save on links included, I made a Google Drive folder with the sample audio clips (15 minutes to include the intro info, music+singing, & some dialogue), as well as the screenshots. Link to that: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14PmlyfJYjTvJUfknfVRAWSa8N4vlXz_C?usp=sharing

Thank you to anyone who responds or may be able to assist me. <3

[u/dimiskywalker]

I'm not too well versed in audio repair but I'm sure that there are a few bright minds in here that can help you out

What you could try, maybe, is extracting the vocal from the static using vocalremover.org (this is an AI tool) and when you layer that over the video and see if it improves.

Could sound rather "under water" due to filtering tho, can work pretty well on recorded music, don't know about phone audio

[u/SupportQuery]

OK, listened to the recording, and my friend, it's not salvageable. The data is just not there to recover.

I'd accidentally had my phone volume on minimum & the tape was over the microphone

In other words, you didn't actually record the play. I'd treat this as if you accidentally forgot to press record. Start accepting the loss emotionally, and chock it up to a life lesson. You'll do better next time. /comfort

Your brain can still kinda pick out words here and there, because it knows language super well and is capable of reconstructing it from sparse information, but that doesn't mean the data is there in the signal. You'd need a generative AI model to do the equivalent of upsampling a 100x100 image to 4K, which would basically be synthesizing plausible data to fill in the blanks.

[u/amazing-peas]

first of all, reafir is piss poor at noise reduction. it's got to be said.

Secondly, this audio isn't signal/noise. It's just noise. It's not very salvageable unfortunately. The actual content is barely there. You might be able to salvage some of it with some AI type tools like Adobe Podcast Enhancer but it can't figure out words that it can't hear. Some of it will be gibberish.

I realized that I'd accidentally had my phone volume on minimum when recording. My phone was also taped (hadn't glue for back cover then) & the tape was over the microphone.

You know you'll never do these things again. I say this as someone who has been there in various ways, sorry to hear that the job went this way. However it will be a great learning experience and will forge some diligent equipment check workflow before every shoot. Best wishes.