I record video reviews in my room, and then during editing I hear this weird humming and rattling in the background. Could it be the window vibrating from cars on the street? How do I deal with this during post-production in Premiere Pro?
It looks like window or ventilation vibration. In my opinion, the easiest thing is to just close the windows tighter and turn off the fans while you're filming. For post-production in Premiere Pro there's an Adaptive Noise Reduction filter in Effects, try that - it usually helps get rid of the hum. If the rattling is really bad, you can use a parametric equalizer to muffle the specific frequency where it's noticeable - grab a frequency somewhere between 60 to 250 Hz and pull it down.
Most likely, it's actually a vibrating window or some object in the room rattling - that buzzing usually comes from stuff like that. The most reliable way is to eliminate the source. Hang some heavy fabric on the window, check if your chandelier, monitor, or shelf is rattling around. If you're recording reviews regularly, it makes sense to find a corner of the room further from the window. I moved my desk away from the external wall back in the day - the problem went away immediately.
In Premiere Pro you can try the built-in Essential Sound effect for noise reduction, there's a Reduce Noise function. Load the audio track, mark the section where there's just background noise without voice, and let the program understand what needs to be removed. It often helps, but here's the thing - if the buzzing is low-frequency and powerful, the effect might not handle it completely.
If the built-in tools don't help, I'd suggest trying plugins like iZotope RX or Waves NS1 - they're more powerful than the standard ones. But honestly, it's still better to find and remove the noise source before you even record. Post-processing is always a double-edged sword, you can mess up the voice itself along with the noise.
I remember when I first started making videos about homesteading, I had a similar problem. A window can definitely vibrate, especially if the room is on the ground floor or there's a busy road nearby. The rattling and humming is usually either resonance from low frequencies (cars, trucks) or interference from the power line. In Premiere Pro, try the equalizer - open the Audio > EQ effect and reduce the frequencies at 60 Hz (in Europe) or 50 Hz (standards can vary, in Russia it's usually 50 Hz). You can also use Adaptive Noise Reduction if your version supports it, or experiment with the Noise Reduction effect, but you gotta be careful not to overdo it or the speech will sound weird.
For the future, I'd suggest actually solving the problem during filming rather than struggling with post-production. I closed the window with thick curtains made of dense fabric - helped a lot to reduce vibration. You can also put some soft material under the microphone (foam, rubber) so the equipment sound doesn't transfer directly to the desk. Try moving the microphone further from the window or choosing a room without windows nearby. When you're working with video content, proper sound isolation from the start saves you a ton of time in editing.
Sounds like this could really be window vibration or some kind of room resonance. I've been doing remote work for 13 years and dealt with every sound problem out there, so here's what'll help. First try the simplest thing - close the window while recording, hang some heavy curtains or even a blanket on it. If that helps, then the problem is definitely glass vibration from street noise. If not, look for a rattling object in the room - sometimes it can be heating radiators, a shelf with stuff on it, or even the microphone itself on an unstable stand.
In Premiere Pro there are a few ways to remove background hum in post. The most accessible is the built-in Essential Sound effect for noise reduction. Select the track with the problem sound, go to Essential Sound and pick the "Dialogue" mode, then move the Noise Reduction slider to around 70-80%. That removes constant hum pretty effectively. If that's not enough, there's a more powerful option - use a plugin like Adobe Audition (which integrates with Premiere) or try third-party solutions like iZotope RX, they work more precisely. But honestly, it's way better to fix the problem at the recording stage than to deal with artifacts later.
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