Splitting Stereo, Editing each side in Mono = PROBLEM!

[steve]

Plug-ins appear "below the divider" in the Effect menu. You might not have scrolled down the menu far enough.
Also, did you extract the file "pseudostereo.ny" from the "Pseudostereo.zip" package?

If it is definitely not there, check to see if "Click Track" is listed in the "Generate" menu (both "Pseudo Stereo" and "Click Track" are "Nyquist plug-ins").

[Trebor]

... it's not showing up in audacity under effects ...

You have to scroll down the Alphabetical effects list , alternatively once the effects-list is visible, repeatedly press "P" and you should jump to the effects on that list beginning with that letter, [Pseudo-Stereo].

[npags711]

Different locations of audacity were conflicting - had it in both downloads folder and program files - so figured that out and fixed it so it opened the location that had the plugin.

Ok - so if I want to edit/manipulate both tracks individually, best thing would be to duplicate each side of track after splitting stereo and converting to mono, then apply the stereo effect to each?

Noticed that dB levels are affected with diff settings of stereo effect...any suggestions for keeping volume the same - is there another plugin?

Thanks

[steve]

Ok - so if I want to edit/manipulate both tracks individually, best thing would be to duplicate each side of track after splitting stereo and converting to mono, then apply the stereo effect to each?

I would suggest:

1) Split the original track to two mono tracks.
2) Leave the "main speaker" track unchanged (mono). This will help to prevent the finished project from sounding muddy or echoey.
3) Duplicate the "Audience" track.
4) Combine the two audience track as one stereo track.
5) Apply Pseudo Stereo effect to the (stereo) audience track.
6) Use the track Gain controls (in the panel on the left end of each track) to adjust how much "main speaker" and how much "stereo audience" you want. Keep an eye on the playback meter to avoid clipping (distortion) - the combined level should not exceed 0 dB.
7) Select all tracks (Ctrl+A) then "Tracks menu > Mix and Render".
8) Use the Amplify or Normalize effects to make the peak level just less than 0 dB.
9) Export to a new file. (note that exporting to a "lossy" format such as MP3 will reduce the sound quality, so ensure that you have WAV or Flac format backups).

[npags711]

Thanks Steve - really appreciate the thorough help. Good stuff.

When you catch another minute - what settings do you recommend on pseudo stereo? Do you rec any other plugins for stereo effect + also any plugins to just generally elevate quality of audio?

[steve]

what settings do you recommend on pseudo stereo?

Experiment for best results, but as a starting point I'd guess something like:
Delay = 40
Mix = 100

That will make the audience track (on its own) sound a little weird (too much stereo effect) but then you adjust the gain slider to determine how much of the "effect track" (audience track) to use and how much of the "main" (mono) track. The track gain sliders can be adjusted during playback to determine the best mix. Using headphones to monitor will give a better indication of the stereo spread than speakers.

Do you rec any other plugins for stereo effect

My recommendation is the Pseudo Stereo effect.

also any plugins to just generally elevate quality of audio?

There is no "magic bullet".
Effects can be used to mitigate many specific problems with audio recordings, but there is no magic filter to turn a bad recording into a good recording.

[npags711]

Thanks. Of course, gotta use some cans to determine

I, of course, know there's no magic bullet. What I meant moreso was if there are some "go to" plugins or effects you use and/or would suggest aside from noise removal, compression, and maybe pseudo stereo - to elevate quality...add special touch...etc...

You don't need to answer again. Wanted to clarify - and if anyone else wants to chime, I'd be grateful.

Thanks again Steve and everyone else for the help

[Trebor]

I recently discovered this free PseudoStereo plugin [Windows only] ...

Modern 'Spacer' VST plugin [can do Pseudo-Stereo].gif (73.79 KiB) Viewed 811 times

http://antress.blogspot.co.uk/

You could probably achieve similar results with Steve's Pseudo-Stereo + Audacity's equalizer ,
but "Spacer" does have the advantage that it comes with presets ,
and can save user-defined settings as presets.

... effects you use and/or would suggest aside from noise removal, compression ...

Maybe AutoDuck the audience a little when the performer(s) make a sound ? , so the performer isn't drowned-out by the audience reaction.

[npags711]

Coo beans, thanks Trebor