Remove or tune down TV vocals

audacity 2.1.0
windows 7 sp1

Hi there! I filmed a clip of two persons in the livingroom watching a movie with the volume a little up, and sometimes they discuss the movie while it is playing, so their voices get mixed with those in the movie. the movie itself is more about conversations than racing cars, weapons and explosions and stuff. it’s an old noir detective movie with pretty much voices and conversations. My question is would I be able to isolate the vocals of the two persons giving each other their opinions and critique about the movie, and removing and/or cleaning or lowering the volume of the voices/conversations in the tv movie. That’s all i want. I just want the voices of the 2 persons discussing the movie in this particular clip, and the voices of the TV removed or at least cleaned and tuned down, so I can clearly and loudly hear their critique and opinions.

Thanks beforehand.

Roland

I’ll go with “no that’s not possible”.

If the recording is stereo, you may find that the voices that you want to keep are louder on left or right, in which case you could split the track into two separate mono tracks, then delete other one (see: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/splitting_and_joining_stereo_tracks.html)

That’s one of the known ways to permanently damage your show. #4.

The Four Horsemen of Audio Recording (reliable, time-tested ways to kill your show)
– 1. Echoes and room reverberation (Don’t record the show in your mum’s kitchen.)
– 2. Overload and Clipping (Sound that’s recorded too loud is permanently trashed.)
– 3. Compression Damage (Never do production in MP3.)
– 4. Background Sound (Don’t leave the TV on in the next room.)



Koz

Thank you very much for the replies, I guess I’m out of luck on this one. But I’m happy I learned the big no-noes while filming my shows :slight_smile: Thanks again.

Sound kills more shows than video.
Sound without the picture is a radio production. Video without the sound is a rehearsal.

And etc.

Sound more than anything else separates movie/pro/broadcast from the newbies. I saw a YouTube video where somebody reconstructed a broadcast news set complete with backlights, logos and animation. They did a stunning job. They had me until somebody started to talk.

Eight-year old kids with a Mr. Microphone.®

Koz