What Is a Noise Gate and How to Use It

Unwanted sounds often find their way into audio recordings, even in controlled environments. The subtle presence of background hiss, electrical hum, or the faint noise between musical notes can quickly become noticeable when listening back. These details can undermine clarity and shift attention away from the main performance. Removing such distractions is a standard part of audio work, regardless of the format or genre.

What Exactly Is a Noise Gate?

A noise gate is a device or software tool used in audio production to control when a signal is allowed to pass through. Its main function is to automatically reduce or mute sounds that fall below a certain volume. When the level of the audio rises above a set point, the gate opens and lets the sound through. If the signal drops below this point, the gate closes and suppresses the quieter sounds.

How Does a Noise Gate Work?

At its core, a noise gate listens for the volume of the incoming signal and reacts based on a level you set, known as the threshold. When the audio level rises above this point, the gate opens and allows the sound to pass through. As soon as the signal drops below the threshold, the gate closes, reducing or muting what’s left.

A noise gate isn’t just a simple on-off switch, though. It comes with a handful of settings that shape how it responds. The threshold is the most obvious — it's the line between what’s allowed through and what gets cut. Attack controls how quickly the gate opens once the sound crosses that line, while release determines how fast it closes again when things quiet down.

There’s also a hold setting, which keeps the gate open for a short time after the signal falls below the threshold, smoothing out the transition. Some gates offer a range control, allowing you to decide whether the unwanted sound is completely muted or just reduced in volume.

Why Use a Noise Gate?

Noise gates serve more than one purpose in audio production:

Cleaning up recordings

In many recording scenarios, there’s always some level of background activity, like a low electrical hum, the soft whir of a computer, or the faint echo of a room. These elements can linger in the quieter moments of a track, making the final result less clear. A noise gate helps by automatically reducing these unwanted sounds when the main signal drops, so the quiet sections stay clean and the focus remains on what matters most.

Making mixes sound tighter

On drums and electric guitars, noise gates are often used to keep the sound crisp and defined. Drum microphones, for instance, can pick up a lot of spill from other parts of the kit or the room. With a gate, it’s possible to let through only the main hits and cut down on the clutter, which gives the rhythm section more punch. For guitars, especially with distortion, a gate can silence amp noise and string buzz between notes, sharpening the attack and making each riff stand out.

Creative effects

Noise gates can also be pushed beyond simple cleanup. By tweaking the settings, producers sometimes use them to create stuttering or pulsing effects, syncing an instrument’s presence with the beat of a track. On drums, a carefully set gate can shorten the tail of a snare or tom, turning a loose hit into something much tighter and more controlled. Used this way, the gate becomes not just a corrective tool but a source of new textures and rhythmic ideas.

Where Can You Find a Noise Gate?

Before getting into the details of setting up a noise gate, it helps to know where to look for one. In most modern audio setups, this tool is easily accessible and rarely hidden away.

In DAWs

Most popular DAWs, such as Ableton Live, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Cubase, Reaper, and Pro Tools, include a noise gate as a standard effect. You’ll usually find it in the audio processing or dynamics section, often labeled simply as “Gate”, “Noise Gate,” or something similar.

If you want more features or a different sound, you can install third-party noise gate plugins. Popular options include FabFilter Pro-G, Waves C1 Gate, and SSL X-Gate. These are installed separately and then show up in your DAW’s plugin list.

In hardware

If you’re using hardware:

• Mixing consoles. Some digital mixers have built-in noise gates on each channel. You can usually access these through the channel’s processing menu.
• Outboard processors. Standalone noise gate units are available and can be connected to your audio interface or mixer using standard audio cables. Brands like dbx, Behringer, and Drawmer make popular models.

In mobile apps

For mobile recording, some apps for iOS and Android include basic noise gate features, with the most prominent being:

• Noise Gate & Downward Expander (iOS) provides a dedicated noise gate effect, allowing you to fine-tune gate parameters for clearer recordings.
• Noise Wall (iOS and Android) cancels out ambient noise and can dynamically adjust volume based on your surroundings. It also features a transparency mode for letting in outside sounds when needed.

Online

One standout example is LALAL.AI Voice Cleaner. Unlike a classic noise gate, which simply mutes or reduces audio below a certain threshold, this web service uses AI to identify and remove a wide range of unwanted sounds. You can choose different levels of noise canceling, from mild to aggressive, depending on how much cleanup is needed. It doesn't require installation and works on all desktop and mobile OSs.

If you're keen on trying some more online tools that use AI for noise reduction, check out Cleanvoice, Adobe Podcast, and Media.io’s AI Noise Reducer.

How to Set Up a Noise Gate

Setting up a noise gate is mostly about careful listening and a bit of trial and error. Here’s how the process usually goes:

1. Insert the gate

Start by adding a noise gate to the track you want to clean up. This might be a vocal, a guitar, a drum mic, or any other source where background noise is an issue.

2. Set the threshold

Play the track and listen for the quietest part of the sound you want to keep. The threshold should be just above the level of the unwanted noise, but not so high that it cuts into your main signal. If you set it too low, the gate won’t do much; too high, and you’ll start losing parts of your performance.

3. Adjust attack and release

The attack setting controls how quickly the gate opens once the signal crosses the threshold. If it’s too fast, you might lose the natural start of a note or word; too slow, and some noise might sneak through.

Release determines how quickly the gate closes after the sound drops back down. A longer release can help things fade out naturally, while a shorter one will clamp down more abruptly.

4. Fine-tune hold and range

Some gates offer a hold control, which keeps the gate open for a moment after the signal falls below the threshold. It can help avoid choppy, unnatural cuts, especially with instruments that have a bit of sustain.

The range setting lets you choose whether the gate mutes the sound completely or just turns it down to a less noticeable level.

5. Listen and adjust

Solo the track and listen closely to how the gate is behaving. Make sure it’s cleaning up the noise without making the audio sound unnatural or cutting off important parts. Then, check the track in the context of the full mix. Sometimes a setting that sounds perfect on its own needs a little tweaking once everything is playing together.

Getting a noise gate dialed in takes a bit of patience, but once you find the right balance, it can make a huge difference in the clarity and polish of your recordings.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

⦿ Setting the threshold too high. It can cause the gate to cut off parts of the desired signal, making the track sound unnatural.

⦿ Attack and release mismatches. Too fast an attack or release can introduce clicks or chop off transients; too slow can let noise through.

⦿ Over-gating. Using aggressive settings can make a track sound lifeless or robotic. Use the gate to enhance the sound, not dominate it.

Advanced Techniques

⦾ Multiband gating. Some modern noise gates offer multiband processing, allowing you to apply different gate settings to different frequency ranges. It's especially useful for complex sources like drums, where you might want to gate out low-frequency rumble without affecting the crispness of cymbals.

⦾ Sidechain gating. It involves using an external audio source to control the gate. For example, you could use a kick drum track to open a gate on a bass guitar, creating a rhythmic pumping effect that locks the two instruments together.

⦾ Hysteresis. It's a feature that sets separate thresholds for opening and closing the gate. It prevents the gate from rapidly opening and closing when the signal hovers around the threshold, resulting in smoother operation and fewer unwanted artifacts.

A bit of practice and you'll start to notice where a gate can help a part breathe or where it’s better to leave things untouched. The more you work with noise gates, the easier it becomes to hear what each setting actually does, and to use the tool in a way that fits the music or project in front of you.

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