How to fix loud background music?

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

Hello all

I am using Audacity version 2.0.3 on a windows 10 machine.

I have been using audacity for sometime now but only for very basic functions such as splitting and inserting audio. I have absolutely no knowledge of music. I have a clip that has very loud background music overshadowing the vocals. I have searched and tried various suggestions in the forum such as using the equalizer to fix the audio but can’t seem to get the right settings.

Can someone please guide me on how to raise the vocals so they become more audible and the background music is reduced. I have attached a 25 second sample of the file.

Any help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

2

Using the “Analyze” option in the “Vocal Reduction and Isolation” effect (http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/vocal_reduction_and_isolation.html):

Pan position: -8.75504e-05
The left and right channels are correlated by about 100 %. This means:

  • The two channels are identical, i.e. dual mono.
    The center can’t be removed.
    Any remaining difference may be caused by lossy encoding

“-8.75504e-05” is scientific notation for 0.0000875504 (very nearly zero).

That means that separating the vocals from the background music is a lost cause.
The general rule is, adjust the levels before mixing the tracks.

Also, the audio is noticeably distorted in places, and there’s no way to fix that either after it has been mixed down.

3

Thanks Steve for the response.

Is there absolutely nothing that can be done to make the narrator’s voice more audible - noise removal or some other effect? Even slightly better clarity would certainly help.

Unfortunately, I dont have the unmixed tracks and received the file in this state.

4

Try the “Telephone” preset in the Equalization effect (set the Equalization effect to “Draw Curves” first, then select the Telephone preset)
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/equalization.html