1.3 beta. To remove unwanted instrumental parts from a recording, would it be best to remove the vocals first, do the cleanup and then add the vocals back in? The particular problem seems to be some strings which clutter and blur the female vocals at times, using the equaliser has not worked, I’m guessing because the sound ranges are similar. Any tips for a newb appreciated, I’m thinking this is a tough one.
And thanks to the Audacity team for making this great free facility available, searching has already turned up useful info too
I’m hoping that you have a multi-track recording with the female vocal on one track, strings on another track …
but I’m betting that you haven’t.
If all of the sounds are already mixed together onto the same stereo track, then there’s not a lot that you can do to one sound without also doing it to all of the other sounds.
Vocal Removal works by direction. Anything in the Left - Right middle of the performance goes. Frequently, the bass and drums go, too and there is a significant list of problems causing the tool to fail completely.
You’re talking about Vocal Isolation and you need an outside tool for that.
I think the most useful tools are money-based, and none of them do a perfect job unless the show lends itself to processing. One thing that kills people almost immediately is compression. The less the better, which means no downloaded MP3s.
Thanks for the comments, its a commercial release downloaded from YouTube so, yeh, all jammed in together. Being an 80’s era record fan I hoped to do something with it, oh well, its all part of a learning process.
