Vocal Cut -Sound Forge - PC - MAGIX Community Forums Archive

Subject:Vocal Cut Posted by: Elev11en Date:4/5/2000 9:42:00 PM Hey everyone out there !! I am new to Sound Forge so here is a question i am having a problem finding an answer to. I am a remixer/dj and i am trying to accomplish a good cut of vocals in a song. I am trying to use the EQ to reduce everything else in the song except for the vocals, then copying the vocals to a new file but i cant seem to get it right. Any suggestions ?? Any help would be much appreciated !! Jaye
Subject:Re: Vocal Cut Reply by: Kelly_S Date:4/7/2000 11:13:00 AM Hi. Once music has been mixed down to CD, it can be difficult or impossible to isolate specific elements of the audio mix and remove them without drastically changing the overall sound. The various instruments, vocals, etc., are combined into two channels, left and right, in the stereo field. After this it is only possible to adjust volumes for certain frequencies using EQ or create various mixes of the left and right stereo channels using the Channel Converter in Sound Forge. These approaches can sometimes be effective in reducing the relative volume of the vocals, depending on how the material was originally mixed down. However, they will probably also alter the rest of the audio as well. Instrumental versions of songs which are commercially produced are made by removing the vocal tracks from the mix before mixdown. Thanks. Jaye wrote: >>Hey everyone out there !! I am new to Sound Forge so here >>is a question i am having a problem finding an answer to. I >>am a remixer/dj and i am trying to accomplish a good cut of >>vocals in a song. I am trying to use the EQ to reduce >>everything else in the song except for the vocals, then >>copying the vocals to a new file but i cant seem to get it >>right. Any suggestions ?? Any help would be much >>appreciated !! >> >> >> Jaye >>
Subject:Re: Vocal Cut Reply by: O_G_Killa Date:4/9/2000 5:35:00 PM Hi Jaye, this is a very difficult procedure and like the person from SF said, it may not sound that great when you are done. I do some work with a couple of DJs in the my area and from my experience the DJ usually gets a DAT tape of each track from the Mix session as a seperate track on the DAT tape....I am not sure if that makes sense but this is how they do it... When the engineer and producer are mixing a song and they are finished and have the perfect mix on DAT, they will put in a second DAT tape. They will then rewind the song and mute everything except the Kick Drum and record that a couple of times onto the DAT, then they will do the same thing with the snare. After they get each drum individually they will usually do the drum fills. Then the go back to the beginning of the song and solo the bass track and let that play all the way through from beginning to end while recording it onto the DAT. And so on and so forth all the way up to through the vocal tracks. It takes a long time and at least a couple of DAT tapes but in the end they have everything they need to give out for people to do remixes. A friend of mine has a copy of the DATs they made from the Robert Palmer, "Addicted to Love" mix session. You wouldn't believe all the extra background tracks and alternate vocal takes there were...you could almost make another whole song out of them!!! The DJs that I worked for had similar DATs from a song a local singer wanted remixed for her CD (she recorded the song and wanted us to make a remix version). You can sometimes find these tapes floating around...a friend of a friend of a friend kind of thing...but if you want it done right you should probably contact the Artist you are trying to sample or the producer that produced the CD. Most likely someone has DATs of everything and may send you a copy but then that gets into $$$$ to pay for the rights to the songs and stuff... :-( Your best bet for now is to try playing with different EQs and compression settings. Even though it may not sound like the original, you may get some cool sounding stuff. Just a tip, most of the Vocals are between 1KHz - 4KHz for intelligibility (being able to understand the syllables). From about 450Hz-1000Hz is the power of the voice. from about 150Hz-500Hz is the bass register (obviously!). and between 4KHz-10KHz is where the sibliance is (the 's' sounds). The human voice normally resides between 150Hz-5KHz. There are Frequencies within the voice that go well above (sometimes up to 12KHz) and below (down to 80Hz) but they are usually faint enought that if you cut them out you can still understand what the person is singing. And oh yeah, I almost forgot...the magic Vocal frequency is.... around 8KHz...try boosting and cutting it and it will make the most 'subtle' difference on the voice. 8KHz isn't a drastic effect like 2 or 4KHz would be...but it can breathe life into a vocal track that sounds dull. Remember each person's voice is unique and totally different, so these frequencies are just a guide line to get you started and are not set in stone...always play around and use your ears to see what sounds best. Good luck and happy sampling! Jaye wrote: >>Hey everyone out there !! I am new to Sound Forge so here >>is a question i am having a problem finding an answer to. I >>am a remixer/dj and i am trying to accomplish a good cut of >>vocals in a song. I am trying to use the EQ to reduce >>everything else in the song except for the vocals, then >>copying the vocals to a new file but i cant seem to get it >>right. Any suggestions ?? Any help would be much >>appreciated !! >> >> >> Jaye >>

Hi Jaye,

this is a very difficult procedure and like the person from SF said,
it may not sound that great when you are done.

I do some work with a couple of DJs in the my area and from my
experience the DJ usually gets a DAT tape of each track from the Mix
session as a seperate track on the DAT tape....I am not sure if that
makes sense but this is how they do it...

When the engineer and producer are mixing a song and they are
finished and have the perfect mix on DAT, they will put in a second
DAT tape. They will then rewind the song and mute everything except
the Kick Drum and record that a couple of times onto the DAT, then
they will do the same thing with the snare. After they get each drum
individually they will usually do the drum fills. Then the go back
to the beginning of the song and solo the bass track and let that
play all the way through from beginning to end while recording it
onto the DAT. And so on and so forth all the way up to through the
vocal tracks. It takes a long time and at least a couple of DAT
tapes but in the end they have everything they need to give out for
people to do remixes. A friend of mine has a copy of the DATs they
made from the Robert Palmer, "Addicted to Love" mix session. You
wouldn't believe all the extra background tracks and alternate vocal
takes there were...you could almost make another whole song out of
them!!! The DJs that I worked for had similar DATs from a song a
local singer wanted remixed for her CD (she recorded the song and
wanted us to make a remix version).

You can sometimes find these tapes floating around...a friend of a
friend of a friend kind of thing...but if you want it done right you
should probably contact the Artist you are trying to sample or the
producer that produced the CD. Most likely someone has DATs of
everything and may send you a copy but then that gets into $$$$ to
pay for the rights to the songs and stuff... :-(

Your best bet for now is to try playing with different EQs and
compression settings. Even though it may not sound like the
original, you may get some cool sounding stuff.

Just a tip, most of the Vocals are between 1KHz - 4KHz for
intelligibility (being able to understand the syllables). From about
450Hz-1000Hz is the power of the voice. from about 150Hz-500Hz is
the bass register (obviously!). and between 4KHz-10KHz is where the
sibliance is (the 's' sounds). The human voice normally resides
between 150Hz-5KHz. There are Frequencies within the voice that go
well above (sometimes up to 12KHz) and below (down to 80Hz) but they
are usually faint enought that if you cut them out you can still
understand what the person is singing. And oh yeah, I almost
forgot...the magic Vocal frequency is.... around 8KHz...try boosting
and cutting it and it will make the most 'subtle' difference on the
voice. 8KHz isn't a drastic effect like 2 or 4KHz would be...but it
can breathe life into a vocal track that sounds dull.

Remember each person's voice is unique and totally different, so
these frequencies are just a guide line to get you started and are
not set in stone...always play around and use your ears to see what
sounds best.

Good luck and happy sampling!

Jaye wrote:
>>Hey everyone out there !! I am new to Sound Forge so here
>>is a question i am having a problem finding an answer to. I
>>am a remixer/dj and i am trying to accomplish a good cut of
>>vocals in a song. I am trying to use the EQ to reduce
>>everything else in the song except for the vocals, then
>>copying the vocals to a new file but i cant seem to get it
>>right. Any suggestions ?? Any help would be much
>>appreciated !!
>>
>>
>> Jaye
>>