Noise gate settings for tight palm muting?

[brookh]

Hi, I'm looking for advice on how to set my noise gate to get rid of all the fizz in my high-gain rhythm guitar tracks. I'm using Logic 9's built-in noise gate.

I've gotten rid of most of the noise, but there's still a little trail at the end of each staccato palm mute that I can't get rid of. How do you guys set your noise gates to get rid of this? Can post an audio sample if needed. Thanks.

 

[danieluber1337]

Signal chain should look like this:

[pre-fx] → Preamp → Noise gate → cabinet → [post-fx]

Threshold (adjust as necessary)
Hysteresis -4.5dB
Attack 5.0ms
Hold 0.0ms
Release 7.0ms
Lookahead 0.0ms

In regards to adjusting the threshold - you should play a palm mute and let it ring. Then, adjust the threshold so that it allows the note to ring. Then, play your staccato notes. If it's not tight enough, up the threshold. I usually have mine around -12.0dB. Or, you could play notes that are as soft as you'll ever play.

What is hysteresis?
The phenomenon in which the value of a physical property lags behind changes in the effect causing it. Id est, the tendency not to trigger the gate. The hysteresis creates another threshold, at which the gate closes. Under normal circumstances, -12dB would be too high. It would cut out and do a lot of stuttering. This value of this threshold is equal to [The value of your main threshold] + [The value of your hysteresis]. In this case, [-12.0dB] + [-4.5dB] = [-16.5dB]. The benefit of having this is that the gate needs to reach a higher threshold before it opens. Once it reaches -12.0dB, it is open until it falls beneath 16.5dB. Chances are that the amplitude of your signal will not go above -12.0dB unless you hit the string again (sometimes the amplitude kinda goes up and down, kind of a slow wavy effect).

Hysteresis tl;dr - I've found that having it at -4.5dB helps take out the crap and leave the juice.

This may not matter to you, but if you're one of those people (kinda like me) that wouldn't like to do this because you can't stick a noise gate after an amp head, remember that there is such thing as an FX loop. I was hesitant about putting any effects between preamp/poweramp and cabinets. Then I realized (after never having a real rig) that all decent amps have FX loops. Now I prefer to do so, as it's more like how I'd approach setting up a live rig.

EDIT: I just re-read your post.

The issue is not "fizz." The issue is simply preamp noise resulting from high-gain. "Fizz" refers to the harsh, high frequencies that result from high gain (heard when actually playing). For example, applying a LPF at 9.0kHz takes out really high frequencies and gets rid of some unnecessary high-end. Applying some surgical EQ with low Q-values at certain frequencies will also make your sound more "natural."

For more information on fizz and how to get rid of it, read this article.

 

[brookh]

You sir, are a genius. Thanks very much, those settings totally cured my problem!

 

[danieluber1337]

No problem! Having a good, tight noise gate setup has been a necessary thing for me.