What Does a Noise Gate Do? A Guitarist's Guide

A noise gate listens to your signal and shuts it off when it drops below a level you choose. While you play, the gate stays open and your tone passes through untouched. When you stop, it closes and the hiss, hum and buzz that sit underneath your playing disappear. That is the whole idea, and it is why gates are so common on high-gain rigs. The rest of this guide covers how the controls behave, where the pedal goes, how to set it without strangling your sustain, and when a different tool is the better fit.

Table of Contents

• How a noise gate works
• What each control does
• Why guitarists use a noise gate
• What a noise gate can’t do
• Where to put a noise gate in your signal chain
• How to set a noise gate step by step
• Noise gate or noise suppressor?
• Noise gate vs compressor
• Using a gate with headphones and in recording
• Tackle the noise at its source too
• Our perspective on noise gates
• Find the right gear at MusicStreet
• Frequently asked questions
• Sources

How a noise gate works

A noise gate is a dynamics processor. It attenuates or mutes a signal when its level falls below a set threshold, and lets it pass unchanged when it is above. Think of it as a very quick mute switch that operates itself: it measures your signal, compares it with the threshold, and opens or closes accordingly.

Technically, a gate is a downward expander with an infinite ratio, so anything below the threshold is turned down by a fixed amount set by the floor or range control. If that amount is large enough, the result is silence.

For a guitarist the practical picture is simple:

• You play a chord. The signal is well above the threshold, so the gate opens and everything passes.
• The chord rings out and decays. As it falls toward the noise floor, the gate starts to close.
• You stop playing. The gate is shut, so amp hiss, pickup hum and pedal noise never reach the speaker.
• You play again and the gate opens in a few milliseconds.

What each control does

Pedals differ in how many knobs they give you. A single-knob pedal handles everything internally, while a studio-style gate gives you the full set. Here is what each one does, based on LEWITT’s explanation of gate controls.

To give you a sense of scale, one manufacturer’s documentation lists threshold, depth, attack, hold and release ranges running from fractions of a millisecond for attack up to a few seconds for hold. Guitar pedals usually narrow this down to a handful of knobs with sensible limits.

Threshold: where most problems start

Threshold is where most gate problems live. The aim is the quietest setting that still kills your idle noise: just above the noise floor and, ideally, just below the tail of your sustaining notes. If notes are being chopped off, the easiest fix is to lower the threshold. Go too far and unwanted noise will start to slip through again, so you are looking for the sweet spot between the two.

Attack and release

Attack matters most for rhythm playing. For palm-muted metal, attack should be close to zero so the gate is fully open when the pick hits the string. A slow attack rounds off that transient and makes tight riffs feel late.

For general recording work, attack times of 1 to 10ms and release times of 100 to 500ms are a reasonable starting point, though the right setting depends on how your sound naturally decays. A clean chord with a long tail wants a longer release than a staccato chug.

Hold and range

Hold stops the gate from flickering. If your signal hovers near the threshold, the gate can’t decide whether to be open or shut and opens and closes rapidly several times in a row. That stutter is called jitter, and a little hold time cures it.

Range sets how deep the gate closes. At the extreme setting it is effectively off, while lower settings let some noise through. A softer approach often sounds better: Sound on Sound’s Paul White suggests that reducing the range to around 12dB so the gate doesn’t fully close usually sounds subjectively better than a hard gate action.

Why guitarists use a noise gate

The most common reason is high gain. Distortion and overdrive amplify everything, including the quiet stuff. Between phrases you hear hiss from the amp, hum from single-coil pickups and buzz from lighting or power supplies. A gate shuts down amp or pedal hiss and electromagnetic interference while allowing natural note decay when set sensibly.

Typical situations where a gate earns its place:

• High-gain rhythm playing. Tight stops between riffs need silence, not a wash of hiss.
• Single-coil guitars through overdrive. Strats and Telecasters are wonderful, but hum increases as gain goes up.
• Big pedalboards. Several gain stages stacked together multiply noise.
• Recording. Back in the days of tape, gates were used to remove tape and electrical noise from recordings, and the same logic applies to a miked amp today.

If you want to understand what is generating that gain in the first place, our guide to what overdrive is and how it shapes tone is a good companion read.

What a noise gate can’t do

A gate is a clever mute, not a magic eraser. Knowing its limits stops you chasing the wrong fix.

It can’t remove noise while you play. When the gate is open, both signal and noise pass through. As Sound on Sound explains, a gate can do nothing about noise present at the same time as the wanted signal. The reason it still works so well is that your playing normally masks low-level noise while the gate is open.

It isn’t musical. A gate can’t tell wanted from unwanted sounds. It simply opens whenever the level rises above the threshold. If your amp buzz is louder than the threshold, the gate opens for the buzz too.

It works best on modest noise. Gates are most effective when the unwanted noise is fairly low and the wanted audio masks it. The louder the background noise, the less natural the opening and closing will sound.

The takeaway: use a gate to polish a rig that is already reasonably healthy, and sort out loud, obvious noise at the source.

Where to put a noise gate in your signal chain

There are two common positions, and they suit different problems.

1. After your distortion pedals. This catches the hiss created by the gain stages. It is the most popular spot for guitarists fighting pedal noise.
2. At the start of the chain. This tidies the raw guitar signal before it hits your drive pedals, which is useful for hum from pickups.

Boss’s own guide notes that common placements include after distortion pedals or at the start of the chain, and that gain pedals can also be run through the gate’s effects loop on pedals that have one. In that arrangement the gate listens to the clean guitar signal but mutes after the gain, which makes it more accurate at deciding when you’ve stopped playing.

Delays and reverbs usually go after the gate so their tails can ring out naturally rather than being chopped. Our walkthrough of a five-stage pedal chain shows how the order of effects affects clarity.

How to set a noise gate step by step

This method works for most pedals, from one-knob designs to fuller controls.

1. Set up your normal sound. Use your usual gain, volume and pickup choice. Setting a gate with a different sound from the one you will play is the classic mistake.
2. Start with the threshold fully down. The gate is barely working, so you hear all the noise.
3. Stop playing and raise the threshold slowly until the idle noise just disappears.
4. Play a sustained chord and let it ring out. If the end of the note cuts off abruptly, back the threshold off a touch.
5. Tune the attack. For fast rhythm work, keep it short so picking stays crisp.
6. Adjust release or decay. Shorter for tight, stop-start riffs. Longer for chords and lead lines that need to fade.
7. Try less range. If the silence feels unnatural, let the gate attenuate rather than fully mute.
8. Test it at gig volume. Noise behaves differently at bedroom level and on a loud stage.

If you play different styles with different pickups, revisit the threshold when you switch. A humbucker and a single coil produce different noise floors, so one setting rarely fits both.

Noise gate or noise suppressor?

You will see both names on pedals, and the difference is about how hard the unit cuts. A noise gate clamps down and eliminates signals under the threshold, while a noise suppressor reduces unwanted noise while maintaining a natural decay.

In practice:

• A gate is all or nothing: closed or open. That fast clamping suits staccato styles. Boss’s guide points to djent as a style where the stuttering, rhythmic stabs benefit from an aggressive gate.
• A suppressor is gentler. A pure gate is a downward expander with a very high ratio, while a suppressor that is not just a gate may be a filter, or both a downward expander and a filter. It lets some signal through and keeps notes fading naturally.

If your playing is mostly chords, blues-rock crunch or lead work with long sustain, a suppressor is often the more comfortable choice. If you play tight, chuggy high-gain riffs, a gate’s fast cut-off may suit you better. The Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor is one we stock for players who want this kind of control on their board.

Noise gate vs compressor

Players often mix these up because both are dynamics tools, but they work from opposite ends. A compressor reduces signals above a threshold, whereas a noise gate reduces signals below it.

Apple’s Logic Pro documentation puts it clearly: a gate lowers the level when the signal falls under the threshold, while a compressor lowers it when the signal is louder than the threshold. Louder sounds pass through a gate unchanged, while softer sounds, like ambient noise or the decay of a sustained note, are cut.

There is one more practical point. A compressor raises the level of quiet sounds relative to loud ones, which can make hiss more obvious. That is why players who use compression often add a gate or suppressor to keep the quiet parts clean.

Using a gate with headphones and in recording

Distortion that sounds fine through a speaker can feel noisy in headphones, because everything is close to your ears and there is no room to soften it. A gate used conservatively helps, as long as you keep the threshold low enough to protect sustain.

When recording a miked amp, a gate can close the path whenever you are not playing, which eliminates hiss, hum and crackle from the recording. A gate also works best when the level going in is healthy, so it pays to get your input level right first. If you record vocals as well as guitar, this note on recording levels without clipping covers the same gain-staging habits that keep a gate from fighting your signal.

One alternative worth knowing for recording is an expander. For electric guitar, an expander is often more forgiving than a gate because it lowers the noise floor in quiet moments without hard-cutting between phrases, which sounds more natural on held chords.

Tackle the noise at its source too

A gate works best when the rig underneath is quiet. Before you add one, it is worth running through the common causes of noise:

• Poorly shielded guitar control cavities
• Grounding problems and ground loops
• A noisy pedal in the chain
• A shared or noisy power supply
• Gain stages set too hot

These are the same things Ovnilab recommends checking for players who are not cascading several high-gain stages. Our guide to fixing guitar amp buzzing noise goes through practical fixes you can try today. A dedicated, isolated supply such as the Strymon Ojai power supply can also keep a pedalboard tidy. If a guitar itself is humming or crackling, our workshop can look at it through our guitar setup and repair service.

Our perspective on noise gates

We see the same story at the counter again and again. A player buys a drive pedal or a high-gain amp, loves the sound, then discovers how much noise comes along with it. The gate is the natural answer, and a well-set one is nearly invisible: you only notice it when you stop playing and the room goes quiet.

Our advice is to treat the gate as the final touch on a rig that has been set up properly. A guitar that has been inspected and set up by someone who knows what they are looking at, with healthy wiring, fresh strings and a sensible pedal order, gives the gate far less to do. That is why every instrument we sell is inspected and set up before it leaves us, and why we like players to try gear in the shop where they can hear it at real volume.

When you do choose a gate or suppressor, think about how you play. Chordal and bluesy players tend to prefer a gentle, natural decay. Players of tight, percussive riffs may want faster, firmer action. Come in, bring your own pedals if you like, and we will help you find the setting that keeps your tone intact.

Music

Find the right gear at MusicStreet

Whether you need a noise suppressor, a guitar with a quieter pickup configuration, or a check-up for a buzzing instrument, we can help. Our shop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and our online store carry new and pre-owned guitars, amps and effects, and our team offers expert setup, servicing and repairs with ongoing support after you buy.

Browse our effects and pedals, look at guitar amps and combos, or get in touch about a setup or repair.

Frequently asked questions

Does a noise gate change my tone?

A well-set gate should leave your tone alone while you play. Guitar Player’s contributors note that good pedals react quickly and transparently, engaging only when unwanted noise appears, provided the threshold is sensible and the controls are not too aggressive. If you hear notes cut short, lower the threshold or lengthen the release.

Where should I put a noise gate in my pedal chain?

Most players put it after their distortion and overdrive pedals, so it catches the noise those pedals create. Others put it first to clean up the guitar signal. Pedals with an effects loop let you run gain pedals through the loop so the gate reads your clean signal.

Will a noise gate remove hum while I’m playing?

No. While you play, the gate is open and passes both your signal and the noise. It works because your playing usually masks low-level noise at that moment. If hum is loud while you play, look at shielding, grounding, your power supply and pedal order first.

What is the difference between a gate and a suppressor?

A gate cuts the signal completely below the threshold, while a suppressor reduces noise and allows more natural fade-outs. Gates suit tight, staccato riffs, and suppressors often suit chords and sustained leads. Many players try both and keep whichever feels better under their fingers.

Sources

• What is a noise gate? And what’s an expander? (LEWITT)
• Production Techniques Using Gates & Expanders (Sound on Sound)
• What is a Noise Gate? (Ecler)
• Noise Gate Settings for High Gain (Fader and Knob)
• Best noise gate pedals (Guitar Player)
• Noise Gates and Expanders (Songstuff)
• Drawmer DS201 Dual Gate Tips (Sound on Sound)
• Noise Reduction Tools & Techniques (Sound on Sound)
• Advanced Gating Techniques: Part 1 (Sound on Sound)
• The Complete Guide to Noise Gate and Suppressor Pedals (BOSS Articles)
• Expansion, Gating, Noise Suppression, and Upward Compression (Ovnilab)
• What Is a Noise Gate and How to Use It (iZotope)
• Dynamics processors in Logic Pro for iPad (Apple Support)
• How It Works: the Noise Gate (Sound on Sound, October 1988)

Recommended

• Guitar Accessories Guide: Must-Haves for Every Player
• Overdrive: What It Is and How It Shapes Guitar Tone