Removing or covering up a cough in a song

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

I have an old cassette tape of singing with an acoustic guitar. It is only one track, so I made it mono in Audacity. In one spot in the song the singer coughs. I’d like to find out how to cover it up or remove it so it can’t be heard. It is a second or two.
I use Windows 10.

Thanks!

2

Depending on where exactly it is and what else is in the “background”, it may not be possible to remove.
But post a wav file (unprocessed) anyway with a few seconds before and after the cough.
It may just be possible to at least reduce the level.

3

If you are lucky, you can find a virtually identical phrase elsewhere in the song. If you are so blessed, you can splice in the replacement. If you crossfade the splice in, then out, no one can tell. :smiley:

4

Thanks for those ideas. I’m new so I’m not sure how to splice. I want to make sure I don’t “lose a beat”. Are there instructions in the manual for this?

5

So here is one way you might try:

  1. So the hard part is finding the exact match to splice in. (It might not exist).
  2. Create a new empty mono track.
  3. Select a few seconds of the “exact matching” audio.
  4. Ctrl+C, copy this audio to the clipboard.
  5. Ctrl+V, paste this audio selection to the new empty track.
  6. Grab the top of the audio clip and slide it to coincide exactly with the “cough”.
  7. Use Ctrl+B to create 4 labels. The first and last label will mark the beginning and end of the audio clip. (Align the cursor with the yellow lines. See: Boundary Snap Guides - Audacity Manual).
  8. The 2nd and 3rd labels will mark the “cough” that you wish to remove.
  9. In the original track, select the audio between the 2nd and 3rd labels, then Ctrl+L to silence the cough.
  10. In both tracks, select the audio between the 1st and 2nd labels, then Effect>CrossFade Tracks (Out/In).
  11. Repeat step 10 for the 3rd and 4th labels (In/Out).
  12. Mix and Render.

Ctrl+Z if you make a mistake.

6

Thank you. I’ll try it!