Possible to isolate tracks in a song?

[Donl1150]

Does v4 (or any version for that matter) have the ability to isolate different tracks of a song to make the sequencing process easier?   For example, if there is a drummer in the song, be able to mute the other portions of the song while you focus only on the drum and then get the sequence exactly like you want it?

[Jay Czerwinski]

Yes.  In S4 it is called a Track - look up help on that.

In S5 it is called a grid view - again, use the powerful built in help tool.

Let me know how that works out!

[PhilMassey]

If you mean by separating the actual audio, not really. As Jay said above you can have a track for the prop you want to have as "drums" to keep all the drum items in one place but you can't change the sound of the audio in S4.

You could change the sound in an audio editor temporarily, in essence by changing the tone controls or EQ to emphasize parts of the audio.

[TexasLights]

There are some tools and some paid services that split the audio into STEMs which can help.   ezstems for example is free for up to 10MB files.

[Mr. P]

If you are meaning playing a specific section within your sequence you can select "Play Range" under the "Play" drop down at the top. As far as picking out certain beats, you can't do.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Mr. P

[Donl1150]

Thanks for the input........maybe a better explanation is this:

I don’t want to change the tone, beat or anything on the original song file.  I am trying to find a way to make it easier to get props “spot on” for the various sounds in the song.  Take Bing Crosby & David Bowie “Little Drummer Boy” as an example.  We have two vocals, some drums and then other background sounds.  

I would like to silence everything except one vocal and then sequence that vocal.  Then do the same for the other vocal.  Then silence both vocals and focus on the background items.  When I am all done, turn everything back on to the original file and viola ….. my props are perfect.

Is that something Audacity could help with?  Maybe split the various items into separate files and then bring individual files in to the SE.  Sequence each one and then have Audacity combine them all?

 

[PhilMassey]

10 minutes ago, Donl1150 said:

Is that something Audacity could help with?  Maybe split the various items into separate files and then bring individual files in to the SE.  Sequence each one and then have Audacity combine them all?

Yes. Look in the effects menu. There are base and  treble controls which you could use to emphasize frequencies and hence the audibility of various elements of a song.

You could for instance do a treble cut to make the base drum more audible and a base cut to emphasize the symbols. Mid range for vocals. All depends on the song of course.

Effects like low and high pass filters might give you a similar result. There is no magical way to extract every instrument and source unless you have access to the master audio recordings.

Texaslights STEMs might be worth looking into though. Not come across that one before.

Export any modifications as a new song filename and temporarily attach it to the sequence until you are done sequencing, then put the original back. Be sure not to accidentally change the length of the song.

[PhilMassey]

I just did a quick test on EZstems.com, and it did a halfway decent job on separating some of the elements.

[dibblejr]

James and I use software for this. Well I use an online paid program. James has a great software but he uses his more than I do. I only use it for a custom face song that I have trouble hearing something or need a translator to sequence.  

JR

[Donl1150]

Exactly what I need it for...............a few Coro singing faces.  Can you share the names of those programs?  May have to buy or try.

[ItsMeBobO]

My software SpEx maybe helpful in this situation.    I used it all the time to help hear and visualize the sounds.    I can post more about it a little later. 

Here you can see the bands of sound for an oldie  'Popcorn'.   This song has very distinct bands so its good for explanation.   

With SpEx you can isolate a part of a song and then the sound bands to listen to.  Then activate the EQ feature to hear only the selected frequencies. 

 

[Mr. P]

I usually just open the wave form at the top, you can usually see when hard beats hit.

[Donl1150]

I do that as well but often times things get tricky and you can’t distinguish between things.   When you are working with talking faces you have to be really precise.   Especially when you have faces ‘talking’ to each other.   

[Mr. P]

I know jr and james use software for the voices but Bob also has Papagayo you can try.

http://itsmebob.com/SD.html

[dibblejr]

9 hours ago, Mr. P said:

I know jr and james use software for the voices but Bob also has Papagayo you can try.

http://itsmebob.com/SD.html

I don't use software for my singing faces. All manually sequenced.

James uses SS for the CCR tree/ matrix faces.

I only use the Stem software in a few cases where I need to eliminate background noise to hear the vocals better.

Don1150 - feel free to attend some of my free zoom faces sequencing classes once they resume. I have been plaqued with internet problems as well as S5 so unfortunately the next class will not be held until once my Halloween show is up and running.

If you search the forums for "class" you can learn more.

JR

[Mr. P]

My bad jr, I thought you used software. You have more patience doing faces manually then I do. 😁

[Donl1150]

Just went to ItsmeBob site and downloaded Papagayo.  Looks like that program would be very helpful for these singing faces.  Do you know if there is a tutorial that helps with the learning curve on this program?  I have some of the very basics figured out but trying to sync the words to the wave form seems really tricky.  "Click and drag" seems to just take a phrase and then it collapses everything on to itself rather than moving the entire text.  Anybody use it frequently that can give me some guidance?  Thanks!

[dibblejr]

4 hours ago, Mr. P said:

My bad jr, I thought you used software. You have more patience doing faces manually then I do. 😁

NP, I have done as many as 4 face sequences in a single day manually pounding them out. Remember though, like you I am retired.

For me it is actually faster than the software. Though Bob helped me get in to papagayo and his transfer tool from papagayo to LOR makes it all possible.

Taking more than a day for a singing face and in one case a week due to the complexity I had to find a faster way. Pounding on the mouse and doing the multiple singers at once is very easy for me. As long as I still have my hearing.

When I did the mashup with 32 singers, it would have been nearly impossible with papagayo.

All credits to Bob for his help quite a few years ago in my singing face sequencing obsession. 

It was senior members like you, Bob, Jim, Phil and Chuck that helped me figure this all out. (sorry if I forgot anyone, not intentional, just age)

JR

Edited October 12, 2020 by dibblejr