Either I've misunderstood some effect (which is always possible) but is there an effects plugin that can remove audio that's below a certain threshold within an audio piece, even when there is audio playing above that threshold? So for example, if my audio is at -6db, but there is audio at -70db that's still playing within there at a different frequency, can you threshold it out at like -60db and everything below that is 'gated' out, even though the gate threshold has been passed? Clear as mud?

Devon

Expander? Try the blockfish compressor in the fishillets package. Very difficult to achieve with total satisfaction, but as long as the audio part isn't too exposed on the mix, it can work.

Floorfish is better than Blockfish as an expander
But that won't remove -70 db audio if there is any -6db audio at the same time !
Unless i missed something...

Duuuhh, I meant floorfish! Need more sleep!

The other alternative is some kind of fft thingie like sonic foundry noise reduction. This only works if the background sound is constant though.

Sounds like you're talking about a simple gate. I think Cubase/Nuendo does that using the Noise Gate plugin included.

hm although, while other sound is playing thru it? I think that's hard unless the sound is a fixed thing or has a frequency.

Sounds like you need a frequency dependant gate Dev. Possibly even a multi-band frequency dependant gate?
Never heard if such a beast but it sounds useful enough, so it probably exists.

nuffink wrote:

Sounds like you need a frequency dependant gate Dev. Possibly even a multi-band frequency dependant gate? Never heard if such a beast but it sounds useful enough, so it probably exists.

Floorfish again! And there's one in cubarse 5.1 as well (works a treat on my hacking coughs! )

Hmmmmm. I think there's a bit of miscommunication here. From reading the original post, what is wanted is something that will remove the bass at -70dB , whilst leaving behind the tinkling piano at -6dB - even though both are playing.

I would suggest either a multiband compressor with seperate gain controls for each band or a very tuneable EQ. What you won't get is something that will totally eliminate those background rumblings (or rinky tinks) in the same manner a gate would.

Or maybe it's me that misunderstood?

I doubt that it can be done without damaging the -6dB sound.

Actually, having read it again, it seems to be saying - eliminate the quiet stuff but leave the loud stuff, while everything is playing at once. I'm pretty sure this can't be done at all.

Sure that is possible ... try voxengo's redunoiser @ www.voxengo.com ...
it does fft-analysis and reduces all frequency bands that are below a variable volume threshhold ...

also i think waves x-noise does the same ...

cheers,
SynAEsthetiq

It's a spectral gate maybe you want or mean ?
That kills frequencies under or in certain cases above a certain level ?
I know about Logic, NI Spektral Delay and Vokator, Bidule maybe ( ? )...
Also Wavewarp ...

I think Ionizer by Arboretum might be what you're after. 512 band compression/expansion/gating. surgical multiband compressor, noise reductor and noise sculptor.

I think if oyu want to keep audio at a certain decibel and take out at another, you might have to look into phase cancellation, but that might be irrelevant as I think it pertains to placement and frequency

Good point about ionizer !

But i knew it only as a premiere plug-in, do you ever know if it have a chance to be ported to vst as SFX machine did ?

Cool Edit / audition has a great noise remover that does this; among plugins, Waves X-noise is the only one that comes to mind but I'm sure there are others. It's great for reducing things like tape hiss, computer fan noise, whatever (although the closer the noise is to white noise, the harder it is to remove cleanly)

Spektral Monkeyage is exactly what you are looking for. It is VST and free. If you want a three band version check out GRM tools ST pack for the plugin called contrast.
It doesn't always sound like you'd expect (still good though and really my favorite plug next to reaktor). I imagine a quad band expander would have a more commerial (Radio) sound to it but I've never seen one.

scuzzphut wrote:

Hmmmmm. I think there's a bit of miscommunication here. From reading the original post, what is wanted is something that will remove the bass at -70dB , whilst leaving behind the tinkling piano at -6dB - even though both are playing. I would suggest either a multiband compressor with seperate gain controls for each band or a very tuneable EQ. What you won't get is something that will totally eliminate those background rumblings (or rinky tinks) in the same manner a gate would. Or maybe it's me that misunderstood?

Nope, you hit the nail on the head. Something to remove things like light wind or other background noises (computer fans, absolutely!) that's at a low low volume in the mix, I'd like them to be gone if possible and not touch the other 'stuff' that's above that threshold. I'll look at Floorfish, and Spektral Monkeyage then.

Devon

sorry for replying again , but as i already mentioned voxengo redunoiser is EXACTLY what you are looking for ... (www.voxengo.com) altho its unfortunately still alpha ... but a vst .... for dx check waves x-noise ...

cheers (tho pissed off to be ignored),
SynAEsthetiq

No sorry... it can't be done.

Think about what any kind of spectral expander, or FFT analyser does - it might be able to identify the frequencies that are present in the lower volume sound that you want to eliminate - so it can eliminate these by either Eq cut or increasing the volume of the frequencies of the more predominant sound. Whichever way it does it, it can't do it without cutting or increasing those same frequencies in the other sound, as they are both present at the same time.

Some of the mentioned gadgets might help, but they have to also affect the frequency spectrum of your louder sound too - which might work reasonably well if the 2 sounds are at completely different parts of the spectrum, but if any frequencies at all overlap, then it will affect your desired sound.

All a gate will do (no matter how flash) is to chop out quieter sounds when the total volume is low - it might only react to certain frequencies, but it is still gating volume, not frequencies. An expander should work a little better, as it might make the difference between the quiet and loud sound greater, so that the former is less noticeable (but not eliminated). Any kind of Eq gadget will affect your main sound to some degree - so that might work, but you will not be left with a pure recording of that loud sound.

If you want to cut out a quiet bass from a loud lead line, you might get away with it (but your lead line would have no bass frequencies, and hence maybe no punch or presence), but if you want to get rid of any kind of lower mid to mid quiet sound from another one, then your loud sound will be left sounding pretty drastically altered and probably horribly "thin". And if you try to eliminate high frequency wind/ noise or whatever, then you're going to take away all of the sparkle of the remaining louder sound.

Sorry to throw a bucket of cold water on your wind removal (phnaar phnaaaaar!) but to get a pristine recording, you need to record it again. High frequency gates are OK, but they can ruin your mix. If you expand, then later on you'll probably need to recompress at the mixing stage, which will reintroduce some of your noise. And we all know how bad Eqing can ruin a track!

... well youre right if bith sounds are at the same frequency at different levels, the quieter one cant be removed, but then : when two sounds play at the same frequency you cant distinguish them ... what he meant was cuttin -70db bass frequencies while keeping the louder frequencies (even bass) of the piano ... and surely is possible ... i did something like that already =)

edit: here check voxengo's sound examples ... http://www.voxengo.com/redunoise/

edit2: of course this is destructive in some way , but if the bassnoise is @-70db , there shouldnt be any problem ...

cheers,
SynAEsthetiq

DevonB wrote:

Either I've misunderstood some effect (which is always possible) but is there an effects plugin that can remove audio that's below a certain threshold within an audio piece, even when there is audio playing above that threshold? So for example, if my audio is at -6db, but there is audio at -70db that's still playing within there at a different frequency, can you threshold it out at like -60db and everything below that is 'gated' out, even though the gate threshold has been passed? Clear as mud? Devon

Emagic Spectral Gate was designed for that task specifically. It's a native Logic PlugIn though.

NI Spektral Delay and NI Vokator work on the same principle and can easily be used to do it. IMO Spektral Delay's filter section is more straight forward and thus easier to use in that specific case, as you can simply draw what you want to remove.

Arboretum Ionizer IMO would be hard to use, because you do not really have access to single FFT bands. After all it's not a spectral analysis based effect, though it can sound as if it was.

Sounds like what you want is to remove hum and noise at the same time. There was a great app by the name DartPro that would have done both, it's de-humming capabilities were great but it's de-noising capabilities have been surpassed by plugins such as Sonic Foundry's Noise Reduction (best tool I've used by far, easily surpasses the Waves stuff and can also be used to achieve a whole array of effects, especially on percussion).

Needless to say that if you're putting an entire mix through such a processor, the end result will be obvious and there's pretty much nothing you can do about it. Noise Reduction can also capture the noiseprint of the bad source and eliminate just that.

Give it a try!