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Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 8:47 am
by warfarsniper1
Hi Everyone
I had this idea for Audacity, I don't know if it is possible. But anyway here it is (I hope I explain it well.)
In the user interface, add an option to split the audio track into High, Middle and low frequency. So each audio track would have 3 or more waveforms, this would mean that the audio can be better manipulated without have alot of audio tracks all filtering different frequencies out to remove noises or vocals from a song.
I am hoping that I explain it well if not i will try again below.
I think this would be a good addition to audacity!
Thanks
- Doug
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 12:26 pm
by steve
warfarsniper1 wrote:So each audio track would have 3 or more waveforms,
Perhaps you could make a mock-up illustration to show what you mean?
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:34 pm
by warfarsniper1
Hi
Here the mock up image

(not that good but hay)
Basically, Each
track will be split into 3
channels.
The 3 channel will be a filtered version of the original
The top will be high frequency, middle will be middle will be mid frequency and the bottom will be low frequency, filter on them, for example.
Then when the track is played the channels will combine and sound the same as the original track, but if the LF is muted then the bass will not play.
The envelop tool can then be use to reduce curtain sounds.
Hopefully the image helps o show what I mean.
Thanks
- Doug
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:42 pm
by steve
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Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:44 pm
by warfarsniper1
Image failed sorry
I linked it here
Thanks
- Doug
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 1:56 pm
by steve
I think that would get quite cluttered for stereo tracks.
Would the frequency bands be fixed frequencies, or user adjustable? If the user can set the split frequencies, how would that be handled?
Wouldn't it be more versatile for the user to simply make two copies of the tracks and apply whatever band filters they want? They could then split the track into 2, 3, 4, 5 or however many bands they want at whatever frequency split points they want.

- tracks009.png (5.23 KiB) Viewed 6160 times
It would probably be possible to make a plug-in or a built in effect to make it easier to split a track into multiple bands. A plug-in would probably be preferred by the developers as it will probably not be a widely used feature and a plug-in could be an optional download for anyone that wants it.
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:13 pm
by warfarsniper1
Hi
The Frequency of the bands and the amount of bands could be adjustable that would make it easier and better to uses.
The Frequency should be present to relevant Hz (I dont know much about this bit). On Dj programs there a button to filter the LF MF HF but they are not adjustable.
I think a plugin that could take the original audio, split it up into the bands would be great.
The plugin could have a dialog box to have band number and frequency adjustment, but with relevant presets.
I think the function would be useful for noise removal and remixing and music production.
Thanks
- Doug
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 2:55 pm
by steve
warfarsniper1 wrote:The plugin could have a dialog box to have band number and frequency adjustment, but with relevant presets.
What presets do you think would be useful?
One thing from your idea that I think would be useful for both this and other tasks, would be a way to group/un-group multiple tracks so that they can be edited, cut, pasted, trimmed and processed as one track. This would need to be done in Audacity itself, not a plug-in. Perhaps something like this:

- Three tracks grouped into a single "group track"
- track-group.png (5.56 KiB) Viewed 6149 times
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 3:04 pm
by warfarsniper1
Hi
Yes Presets would be useful for people would don't know what frequency to split the audio. (like my self i could google it)
The Grouping is a very good idea, and would be extremely useful of manipulating the track and the bands separately.
The grouping could be add to Audacity for audio track and then make a plugin to split the audio into the frequency bands.
Would the need to be re-posted in the plug-ins section of the forum?
Thanks
- Doug
Re: Splitting audio on frequences?
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 3:14 pm
by steve
warfarsniper1 wrote:Yes Presets would be useful for people would don't know what frequency to split the audio. (like my self i could google it)
Please do some Googling and make your suggestions / recommendations

I know how "I" would do it, but I'm a geek and my technical approach may not be useful for many users, so I'd be interested to see how you would do it. What sort of presets would you use and how would you describe them in the plug-in interface?
warfarsniper1 wrote:Would the need to be re-posted in the plug-ins section of the forum?
I think this discussion can stay here for now as it has broader relevance to new Audacity features.