New User Qs

[C&V]

Hi all,

Just started using Audacity and I have some questions that I am hoping people can help with. Primarily I am using Audacity with recordings of people's voices / interviews, so with that in mind

Is there a way to -

• Reduce / remove background noise and enhance the sound of the voice
• Increase volume of voices, but not the background noise
• Reduce whistle in voices (eg. one gentleman we record has a very pronounced way with his "s" in words - so it almost sounds like he is whistling when saying some words).

I am using a mic and mini disc recorder to record the interviews, then using the mic in function on audacity to get them onto my PC and start editing them

Thanks for any help

Paul & Jess

[steve]

Reduce / remove background noise and enhance the sound of the voice

By far the best way is to minimise the background noise when you record - use a quiet room, avoid locations with a lot of echo, use the microphone reasonably close to the person that is speaking, record at a good level (high, but avoid distortion).
There is a "Noise Removal" tool in the Effects menu that can help to some extent, but if there is too much noise it will not be able to cope without damaging the audio that you want to keep.
Repairing a bad recording is very much a "last resort".

Reduce whistle in voices (eg. one gentleman we record has a very pronounced way with his "s" in words - so it almost sounds like he is whistling when saying some words).

If you zoom in on a pronounced "sss" sound and select it, then use "Analyze > Plot Spectrum", you should be able to see a sharp peak somewhere around 3000 to 5000 Hz. See what frequency this occurs at, then use the "Equalizer" Effect to drop this frequency down.

There are effects called "De-essers" that do a similar thing, but in a more sophisticated way, but this simple method can help quite a lot. The Equalizer in Audacity 1.3.5 is a lot better than the one in Audacity 1.2.6

I am working on a De-esser plug-in at the moment (as and when I have time) and would be very interested in a sample of this whistling gentleman (for testing purposes). I could PM my e-mail address to you if you are able and willing to send me a short sample.

then using the mic in function on audacity to get them onto my PC and start editing them

If you have a full size PC rather than a laptop, you should use "Line in" rather than "mic in" for better quality.

For Audacity 1.3 there is a lot of information about effects here: http://audacityteam.org/manual/index.ph ... ffect_Menu

[kozikowski]

There is a noise reducer in 1.2 but it's so bad that it almost doesn't exist compared to the one in Audacity 1.3.

There is no commercial De-Esser available for Audacity, hence the design and programming above. No shortage of people needing that because, over and above people actually sounding like that, a lot of microphone connection issues make the talent seem way too bright and sibilant.

Koz

[C&V]

Thanks for all the information.

stevethefiddle I have sent you a PM

[kozikowski]

<<<stevethefiddle I have sent you a PM>>>

We assume with an offer to market the new De-Essing Tool. Get a good distribution deal and you might be able to afford a nice retirement home in Brighton Beach.

It couldn't be to continue to diagnose C&V's problem because that would mean the rest of us will not benefit from the dialog.

Will we?

Koz

[steve]

stevethefiddle I have sent you a PM

Thanks C&V, I'll e-mail you shortly (just on my way out now).

We assume with an offer to market the new De-Essing Tool. Get a good distribution deal and you might be able to afford a nice retirement home in Brighton Beach.

"Retirement home"... Hmm, that'd be nice
But no, it'll be open source.

It couldn't be to continue to diagnose C&V's problem because that would mean the rest of us will not benefit from the dialog.
Will we?

The e-mail is to arrange "delivery" of a wav sample (I don't want to post my e-mail address on a public forum).
The de-esser tool is a continuation of my "learning how to program Nyquist plug-ins".

I've noticed a few requests for a de-esser, and have made some progress with the plug-in, but still a fair bit of work to do on it (and I'm rather busy at work at the moment). You'll remember a previous discussion we had about de-essing "drumbeat fire".

I've not published any of the code yet, as at this stage it could change quite radically, but once I have the basics done I'll start a new thread with a documented explanation of what it does and how. I was impressed with the effectiveness of the de-essing that you achieved just using the Equalizer effect, so I'm sure that you will be able to add, or suggest refinements.