So I’m working on the audio from this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq1h6jg61yI
There’s a really cool soundtrack from 0:54 onwards and I want to remove the narration from the audio.
I tried using the vocal remover and it works surprisingly well, however, I can hear scratches and other weird noises where the narration was supposed to be.
Any fix?
Probably not. Vocal Remover’s real name is Center Pan Remover. It removes anything in the exact dead left-to-right center of a stereo show. Obviously, you need a really good quality stereo show to begin, but you also need one that hasn’t been messed with. No stereo vocal enhancement, no surround effects – and no internet compression.
Compression works by taking sounds apart and rejiggering them so they’re more efficient. Sometimes this process leaves behind trash and that trash doesn’t respond to the tool – usually because it isn’t in the center. We’ve talked about removing the Vocal Removal from the collection because with the death of Music CDs, it fails a lot more often than it succeeds.
Since drums and bass are frequently in the middle, they go, too. Lots of oddball things happen other than straight Vocal Removal. I have a sample of terrific Bluegrass where Vocal Removal turns a top quality professional recording into a bad garage operation.
Koz
Would you recommend any of the other plug-ins listed here?
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php?title=Vocal_Removal
My main concerns are those weird scratchy sounds that used to be part of the narration, as you have seen in the Youtube vid.
I tried a low pass filter and it worked pretty well, but I have no idea how to tweak the low pass filter settings.
The only clean way to do this is with the Vocal Removal tool, or any of the other techniques that work the same way. When you’re listening to the show, it cancels anything common to both tracks. “Center” when you’re listening on headphones.
You should be in Audacity 2 for this. Earlier tools were missing adjustments.
The programs mentioned at the bottom actually try to manage the timing, pitch, direction, artifacts, etc, etc. They’re not just center removers, but their track record isn’t perfect, and they cost money.
Try this clip…
http://www.kozco.com/tech/LRMonoPhaset4.wav
The third segment, mono, should cancel almost completely. One, two, and four should remain. This clip was designed to work well with Vocal Removal. Most music isn’t. You also understand that when these programs get done, you have a mono show, not the stereo show you started with.
Koz