Audio Channels

[Vic Fortenbach]

Creating 6+ channel sound file for use with LOR software/hardware is possible.

Here are the basic steps:

Create 6 separate and different .WAV audio files; they have to be WAV files. MP3 files will not work.

Example: one audio file for lip sync, one for background sounds, one for talking pumpkin...etc.

Load each audio file in the LOR sequence editor separately, one at a time, and use a separate track function for each sequence.

Sequence the lip sync file first using track 1.

Sequence the background sound file second using track 2.

Sequence the talking pumpkin file third using track 3.

Continue for the rest of the files. You can rename the LOR tracks to match the audio file names.

Purchase a USB audio decoder. The audio decoder I have used is available from Ebay for about $15.00, here is one.

You can have additional audio decoders for 12, 18, 24, 32 audio channels (Audacity will combine .WAV 32 files); *Note* I have not personally tried more than 6 channels.

Combine the 6 .WAV files into one multi-channel .WAV file (yes it’s possible) using Audacity.

I need to dig up my paper work on how to do this, but it’s in the Audacity help file.

You will need 6 amplified speakers, one for each channel. Three sets of the cheap PC powered speakers work great.

[Vic Fortenbach]

I forgot to mention, you need the newest Audacity program to mix multichannel .WAV files.

The current version for Audacity is 2.00.

[fmcaninch]

Thanks Vic, I knew their had to be a way. I will check this out and get back with the progress. Hmm... I love it when a plan comes together..

[jldavis1969]

I forgot to mention, you need the newest Audacity program to mix multichannel .WAV files.

The current version for Audacity is 2.00.

Will this do the reverse too? I am looking to breakup a song to sequence it.

[fmcaninch]

I think I can answer this. From my experience, this is near impossible after all the tracks have been mixed together. Their are some programs that will allow you to adjust the audio to a point that you can silence some parts of it, i.e. equalizer, but not all the way.

The easiest solution, as long as it is available, is to search for Multi Track recordings that are available. You can find them at a lot of DJ/mixing sites. You can also find a number of unknown ar[Foul Language Used]t that make their raw tracks available as well. However their are some well know artists that have multi-track recordings available such as Van Halen, Nickleback, and Alice in Chains just to mention a few.

These files are studio tracks that contain separate Vocals, Bass, Drums and Guitar files along with the mixed or final version. I mention Alice in Chains because they have a song titled, "Them Bones" that comes in a multi-track option and is pretty good for Halloween.

Back to the question, no Audacity can not extract each track from an audio file after it has been mixed. However, if by chance you find a single audio file that has each track on a separate channel such as a surround sound 5.1 audio, you MAY be able to separate the audio from each speaker or channel. I am not an expert with Audacity and I may be incorrect but I am just speaking from experience with other audio files and editors.

[jldavis1969]

Thank you for the quick reply. I thought that is the case. I guess I'll just have to use the equilizer to cut the sound in the frequences that I need to work with.

[fmcaninch]

Ok, VIC. I tried your trick and it failed. Audacity kept mixing everything down to STEREO or MONO when exporting the audio.

After a few days, today, I gave it a try again. I finally found the information I needed under "Advanced Mixing Options" in the Audacity help file.

Their was one important step that was missing and after I corrected this, the audio file was created successfully. Tested it out and sure enough, each channel WAS separated correctly to the proper channels.

For those who need to know, in Audacity under EDIT >> PREFERENCES >> IMPORT/EXPORT their are two options under "When exporting tracks to an audio file"

"Always mix all tracks down to Stereo or Mono channels" and "Use custom mix"

The Custom Mix needs to be selected. When exporting the audio file, a dialog will appear showing you the TRACKS and CHANNELS associated with each track. You can add more CHANNELS and arrange the TRACKS as needed to each CHANNEL. Exporting to .WAV .OGG and .AIFF are supported in Audacity as a multi-channel option.

In LOR Sequncer, you CAN NOT use the multichannel audio (.WAV) to start a new sequence and view the wave form. LOR will give you an "Audio Analysis Error" stating that it "Can't init conversion." The audio file IS loaded however and you can run the sequence and you will hear the audio.

So, the only work around i have been able to come up with as of yet is to create STEREO version of the audio file and load that into the LOR sequencer. Then after you have sequenced your show, change the media file to the Multi-Channel version that you plan to use.

Creating a TRACK in LOR for each channel may work as well but after the first waveform is created, loading in a new audio track fails to change that wave form image to reflect the new audio file.

Their is no option in LOR to merge one sequence with another so the only ways I see this working is to create a single sequence with multiple tracks and then sequence the first track. Then create a new sequence file with the next audio file and copy paste it into a new track on the first sequence. However the major error with this is that you will have to make sure you create the same timing marks on all sequence files, else you will not have the timing come out correctly when pasted.

So, their are a few issues with this that need to be watched and managed along with some more that I have not come across yet I am sure. That does not mean that it can not be done and since we have figured out the multiple speaker fix with one sequence, I think it is off to the next steps.

I will test the 5.1 audio better this weekend when I am back home and off the road. Then it will be time to add on the ServoDog and work with that in conjunction with the audio.