Quasi-multi-track songs?

[adambomb789]

Sorry if this has been brought up before, I'm somewhat new to the forum (first time poster, somewhat long-time "lurker"/searcher). From the few songs I've downloaded that weren't multi-track songs, I find it annoying that the entire song skips out when you miss a note. Makes it really hard to get back on track in complex parts when you've got no "background" music to get you back on the beat.

So, taking the fact that, for the most part, most of the "lead guitar sound" all falls within the ballpark of 500 Hz to 6 or 8 kHz, how about create a "quasi-multi-track" version of the song by using an equalizer function in an audio editing program (perhaps Audacity?) to create a song.ogg that has mostly 0-500 Hz and 8 kHz + sound, then a guitar.ogg that is mostly 500 Hz-8 kHz? It would take a little bit of tweaking since as far as I know most equalizers aren't perfect filters, plus whatever other random problems crop up (and they always do).

Granted, this would not be perfect separation at all, almost all of the vocals fall in that range, as well as keyboards, wind instruments, etc., but assuming you're playing songs only fretted for guitar I think it would improve the experience.

Again, not sure if anything like this has been attempted before, just thought I'd throw the idea out there. I may give the idea a whirl, time permitting, and see how it works out.

[RyanHemeon]

I do this. As far as I have seen.. I am the only person who does this. It appears not many people care. The equalizer effect does work but using Pan works much better.. The Vocals and Bass are almost always dead center chan and the 2 guitars (in the band has two) are panned left and right. No it isn't perfect at all but its LOADS better then just using the one track. If you check out my song list, all the songs i couldn't get master tracks for are done this way.. MC Chris songs are done by Tone as you suggested.. You'll see how it is much better when using pan..

All that said... For the songs you are playing which does not have master tracks It should NOT be turning silent when you miss a note, It actualy shouldn't quiet at all.. So i'm not sure what is going on there... If you go to sound options and check the "missed volume" if turned to 10 it should not make any difference if you miss a note...

Thank You for posting this, I was starting to think I was the only person who ever thought of it... As obvious as i think it was. :-)

[amak11]

As a long time author here, i find that this step is incredibly ineffiecient when it comes to time. We dont spend 4 - 5 hours making the audio perfect, we spend that time making the charts as high quality as possible without masters. It's not that we dont care, we just dont feel it's necessary to in the authoring process.

Myself on the other hand ,only edit the audio files if it's absolutely necessary to hear what i author.

[RyanHemeon]

oh well

[Asskickulater]

ok, who wants to teach me this? D=

[SUSAltd]

I agree with amak here. Many of the charters here only chart the song and are... well, too lazy to add the extra stuff. I calculate the proper amount of silence that should be added before the song, which is already going the extra step that most charters here don't take. If most people here don't bother to do something as simple as calculating leading silence, I doubt they would take the time to use equalizers to create "quasi-multi-tracks".

But, if you are so concerned with the audio dropping when you miss a note, I suggest that you press pause, go to the audio options, and bump up the Miss volume to 10/10.

[RyanHemeon]

there is a tutorial

[wolferacing]

Editing audio that is already lossy and mastered is going to lead to poor sound and separation. Mastered audio has already been EQ'd and compressed. Trying to EQ an already EQ'd track is going to lead to a less-then-perfect result. Plus since the guitar range is close to vocal range, your gonna loose some of the vox when you miss guitar notes. That doesn't seen fun at all.

I don't understand how poorly separated tracks would be better then using the perfectly fine regular single tracked file. Also, this technique is known about.. I think there's even a wiki page about fake guitar separation.

[RyanHemeon]

If there is a wiki entry I can't find it. Please post it.

[wolferacing]

http://fretsonfire.wikidot.com/how-to-s ... -from-song

It doesn't talk about eq but it has some panning info.

[RyanHemeon]

Thanks man

[drihscol]

i've tried to seperate with the EQ, but it was only good for separating bass.
i had a look at spectrograms too, but it was incredibly difficult without finding a program specifically catered to removing other parts.

so at the moment, all i've found that's useful is using the EQ to make quieter parts louder so it's easier to chart.

[adambomb789]

Hmm, never played with missed notes volume before...yes I am a noob. Although I definitely did forget to consider the effects of editing compressed audio tracks, adding further compression losses. I've become spoiled enough by 256 kbps clean rips that I do notice many of the songs in FoF already sound a bit crappy...wouldn't want to make them any worse.

I like the panning idea. Will definitely have to sample some panned songs!