Subject:Isolating center track

Posted by: djriko

Date:8/30/2005 7:12:31 AM

In Sound Forge 7, one of the channel converter options is to remove the center track of a song, which often removes the vocals. Is there a way to do the opposite of this, so that you only keep the center track, sometimes keeping only the vocals?

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/30/2005 10:20:54 AM

No, that is impossible.

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: djriko

Date:8/30/2005 10:34:25 AM

don't know if you're just being a troll, but i do know it's possible.

anyone else?

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: ForumAdmin

Date:8/30/2005 10:45:53 AM

Use that preset to remove center material and mix an inverted copy of the result with the original.

J.

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: djriko

Date:8/30/2005 10:57:28 AM

Thanks, J. That's what I've been trying to do, but haven't been able to figure it out. How do I mix two files like that?

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: ForumAdmin

Date:8/30/2005 11:33:21 AM

1) Process->Channel Converter, apply Vocal Cut preset
2) Select All (Ctrl+A), Copy (Ctrl+C)
3) Undo (Ctrl+Z)
4) Select All (Ctrl+A)
5) Mix (Ctrl+M), both channels at 100%, check Invert Data for the source (clipboard)

J.

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:8/30/2005 1:07:19 PM

This won't work. (Sorry).

The only way to do the "vocal cut" is by starting with a stereo file. The "non-vocal" part will be Left - Right (or L-R). When you mix the inverse of that back in to the original file the left channel will end up being L - (L-R) or R, and the right channel will become R - (L-R) or 2R - L. In other words, what this process removes from one side it adds to the other, and you'll still end up with both the foreground and background. Even if you convert the original to mono before mixing, you'll still end up with everything mixed together. The problem is that the first step uses the inverse of one channel (out of phase) and the second step would require an in-phase version to be used.

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: ForumAdmin

Date:8/30/2005 4:21:53 PM

Yes, my bad, not paying attention. Correction:

(1) use alternate vocal cut method, not L-R/R-L, (like an EQ or some other phase-indifferent method)

And this won't work either if it dramatically alters the non-center material, particularly wrt phase.

Inverted mix is just how you remove common material, which is all I was apparently thinking about.

J.

Subject:RE: Isolating center track

Reply by: garrigus

Date:9/25/2005 8:00:43 AM

Hi djriko,

There is a way to do this, but the results are not the greatest. I wrote a tip about it which you can read at:

Extracting the Lead Vocal

And there are more tips and articles at:

DigiFreq Tips Area
DigiFreq Articles Area

Best regards,
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - Author of Cakewalk, Sound Forge and Sound Forge 6, SONAR, SONAR 2, SONAR 3 and Sonar 4 Power! books. ** Sound Forge 8 Power - The Official Guide is here! ** Books up to 37% off at:
http://www.garrigus.com/

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