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Gear / Technical Help => Post-Processing, Computer / Streaming / Internet Devices & Related Activity => Topic started by: absnj on August 24, 2009, 10:27:07 AM
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I am a taping noob, and recorded a shed show with CA-14's on my hat, just to get some practice. Since there were a few open rigs, I figured they would get better pulls, and I let my daughter chat (which she does prolificly) during the show.
The recording came out better than expected, so now I want to attenuate her chatter. In some cases I can do it by cutting and pasting from the left to right channels, since she was on my right. In other spots I turned towards her and picked her up on both channels, so it's a bit tougher.
Can anyone give some some tips on using Audacity reduce the talk?
Thanks, Alan
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Aside from cutting and pasting the opposite channel, if it has less of the chatter, there's not much else you can do in Audacity. If you try an EQ approach, the music will suffer too.
The alternative is to spend $$ on some audio restoration software like iZotope RX or Bias SoundSoap, etc. (there are others), where you can isolate/interpolate/repair broadband noise.
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I'd just chalk it up to what it was, practice, and move on to the next recording. Frankly, I'm not particularly fond of cutting/pasting channels, as I find the abrupt stereo (before the cut/paste) > mono (during the portion pasted) > stereo (after the paste) transition unpleasant. But I know a lot of people do this, so if you're happy with it, stick with it.
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Frankly, I'm not particularly fond of cutting/pasting channels, as I find the abrupt stereo (before the cut/paste) > mono (during the portion pasted) > stereo (after the paste) transition unpleasant. But I know a lot of people do this, so if you're happy with it, stick with it.
I agree Brian, with a minor qualification. It seems to work well, especially where there is not a significant difference in sound between the channels, only when done for very brief sections and nicely crossfaded. If the channels have a lot of stereo separation, or the section is long, however, it becomes increasingly harder to smooth the transitions and make it pleasant sounding. That's usually the point of diminshing returns for me.
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Yeah, good points, easyjim. I think crossfading is crucial. Unfortunately, I've listened to far too many recordings where it's just cut & pasted, no crossfading. Ugh.
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I'd just chalk it up to what it was, practice, and move on to the next recording. Frankly, I'm not particularly fond of cutting/pasting channels, as I find the abrupt stereo (before the cut/paste) > mono (during the portion pasted) > stereo (after the paste) transition unpleasant. But I know a lot of people do this, so if you're happy with it, stick with it.
Got to agree with Brian here, in particular since there are other sources of the show which won't have the problem (or at least not as significantly - you should listen to some of the other sources to see if your daughter was picked up). The edits will be an awful lot of work, so IMO, I'd just download another source and chalk it up for experience. It's also a good audio file for you to practice editing techniques on. Maybe you can find a way in Audacity to tweak that talking a bit?
Cool you're bringing your daughter to shows. My parents weren't at all into live music, despite having really good taste in albums. I wish they'd taken me to a few shows in my time. Now that I'm older, I take them to shows from time to time and they really seem to enjoy it.
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The editing is as good practice as making the recording. Since the mics are separated only by the distance of my head, the two channels are pretty similar. Can someone point me towards a guide to doing the crossfading?