OT Old Audio Recording

Former user wrote on 3/10/2012, 2:41 PM
Hey, this is way off OT but I know many of you have audio backgrounds.

I have some audio cassettes from 1975 of a rock band I played with. There was just a mike set up somewhere. YOu can hear the guitar and drums well, but the voice is way off in the background. Where do I begin to try to bring the voice out more. I have limited audio knowledge, just enough to do a good mix, but not enough to restore, (well not really restore because the audio was not great to start with).

Any help would be appreciated. I can provide a sample if someone wants to help. This is a personal thing, not a paying project. The singer was my best friend and he died last week, so I am trying to get the best I can for the other band members.

Thanks
Dave T2

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 3/10/2012, 2:47 PM
There is nothing you can do, given that it is a single-track recording and you are trying to isolate a voice (so you can apply gain) and that voice contains all frequencies.

Sorry.
JJKizak wrote on 3/10/2012, 3:05 PM
If you can find someone who has a voice close to his you can record a live take in Forge to the music you have over the original. (with the old recording playing) I did this but with the original singer (he is still alive and singing) and it worked very well and he did remember the words. Is there another better recording of him singing the same song on other types of media? The mic must cover the full frequency range for best results. Anyway it is a lot of work but you will still come out with some small, slight lip-sync differences which are difficult to pickup visually. We are not talking professional here but good enough for families.
JJK
farss wrote on 3/10/2012, 3:14 PM
You could try some Eq but the amount that's going to help will not be much.
You could use just the Track Eq, 1 octave. Start at 1200Hz and slide the frequency and gain around while you listen. Be careful you don't boost something into clipping in the process.
For the reasons JM mentioned you will not get much improvement at best.

Bob.


Former user wrote on 3/10/2012, 3:55 PM
Thanks for responses, Can't I make several tracks of the music and try to EQ each track to isolate individual instruments and frequencies, or is this beyond what mortals can do?

Thanks
Dave T2
ChristoC wrote on 3/10/2012, 4:19 PM
That would be theoretically possible if instruments and voice stayed strictly within particular bands, and the instruments did not make harmonics; but I think you will find that in most music they all overlap considerably, and indeed often use the same notes as the voice.

To use a photographic analogy, what you are attempting is akin to revealing a face that was hidden behind an object or another face.
paul_w wrote on 3/10/2012, 4:43 PM
iZotope RX is an amazing (magic) piece of software. It really can 'pick out' separate instruments and vocals from the mixture of sounds. I think you can get it as a free trial for a while. If you separate the vocals from the music, simply boost the vocals and its better straight away. Of course, even this piece of wizardry will not be able to pull out really difficuilt sounds but its worth a try - its the best i've ever seen to date. unfortunatly, its quite expensive, so i do not own it.

Paul.
Former user wrote on 3/10/2012, 8:20 PM
ChristoC,

I remember they resurrected a lot of the unused audio from Woodstock that was mono, but I am sure it took several weeks or months for each song and alot of digital manipulation.

I will probably just live with it.

Dave T2
Former user wrote on 3/10/2012, 8:21 PM
Paul,

I have avoide izotope for the same reason. Cost. I may look into the trial though.

thanks,

Dave T2
johnmeyer wrote on 3/11/2012, 12:39 AM
I own iZotope RX2 and use it frequently. Since it costs nothing to download and use the trial, I certainly encourage you to do so.

However, I very much doubt that iZotope RX2 will be able to do anything whatsoever to help you isolate and manipulate the vocal sounds in a single-track recording.
farss wrote on 3/11/2012, 5:45 AM
Rx has much more agressive Eq than Vegas or SF. Those kinds of filters are great along with Rx's ability to replace harmonics destroyed by the use fo such filter but there is a limit to what it can do.


A lot of Woodstock was "fixed" with overdubs.

Bob.
paul_w wrote on 3/11/2012, 6:05 AM
Yeah and for anyone who doesnt know about this, here is some youtube.
Check out 1:05 for magic wand..
RX2[/link]

Paul.