Annoying sound effects in Documentaries

[dhamra]

I have a child who is autistic and loves documentaries but is overwhelmed and scared by the loud intense background sound effects. Loud intense sound effects make it hard to focus on the narrator or content and can upset young viewers.

Is there anyway to edit out the background sounds and effects from these documentaries and movies?

Everyone wonders why kids are amped up, hyped up and have ADHD. How much stimulation do we need to endure? It would be nice to be able to control the loud, distracting and disconcerting sound effects so that we can enjoy and learn.

Does everyone really want or need to be "entertained / stimulated?"

It is very disturbing and upsetting to people who are sensitive to loud music.

Sorry for the rant.

[steve]

Topic moved to the Audio Processing forum.

Is there anyway to edit out the background sounds and effects from these documentaries and movies?

Basically no.
The sound effects are a decision of the documentary producer. They are "mixed in" with other sounds (such as narration) into one sound track like sugar may be mixed into a cup of coffee.

[Robert J. H.]

It is fairly easy to reduce background sounds, if you have the docu as audio file and in stereo by isolating the center.
The center panned holds all dialogs and the narrator's voice.
However, I am not aware of any hardware solution that does it in real time on a video signal, except when you're listening to the center channel alone on a 3.1., 5.1 or 7.1 system.

[kozikowski]

Isolating the center only works assuming there aren't any theatrical effects directly behind the announcer and it's also assuming the announcer is in the left-right center of the show. It doesn't work at all on a mono sound track, and it has all the shortcomings of "Vocal Removal."

Music and Effects are actors in these shows. Pull them out and the shows become flat and lifeless -- similar to most college lectures.

Koz

[Robert J. H.]

Isolating the center only works assuming there aren't any theatrical effects directly behind the announcer and it's also assuming the announcer is in the left-right center of the show. It doesn't work at all on a mono sound track, and it has all the shortcomings of "Vocal Removal."

Music and Effects are actors in these shows. Pull them out and the shows become flat and lifeless -- similar to most college lectures.

Koz

It is fairly simple: All that could be synchronized goes to the middle, a thing that I've noticed some time ago.
You only run into problems with live shows.