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02-21-2014, 04:44 PM
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#1
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,536
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Cleaning the low's
Hi!
I wanna cut the lows of some acoustically recorded instruments. For example - one song is nice and quiet for 80% of the time. The rest can be loud and have some low notes. In that nice part I listened the low's of the piano through. Its only junk and random rumble up to 300hz. Can you suggest a good method(s) to clean up just parts of the track? Don't have to write an essay.. maybe point to a good thread or a plugin or keyword to a method(right now I've found - cut everything below 80hz or something .. but maybe there are smarter ways?). Then I can do some research.
Thanks much!
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02-21-2014, 05:22 PM
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#2
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 21,551
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Use hi-pass filters. With each track that needs it, apply a hi-pass filter and move it up until it starts to sound too thin, then back it down a bit. Some tracks may have a hi-pass at 80hz, some others might be at 150hz or higher so there's no set frequency rule.
Spectrum analyzers can speed that up if you don't have low range speakers.
Hope that helps.
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02-21-2014, 05:57 PM
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#3
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,536
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence
Use hi-pass filters. With each track that needs it, apply a hi-pass filter and move it up until it starts to sound too thin, then back it down a bit. Some tracks may have a hi-pass at 80hz, some others might be at 150hz or higher so there's no set frequency rule.
Spectrum analyzers can speed that up if you don't have low range speakers.
Hope that helps.
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Thanks. I do use them. But you know, piano has a wiiiiiide range.. It hits a huge chord a few times and the lowest note was like 80hz or something but then goes up again ad all that happens below 300 is junk. If i put the hi-pass at 70, then the the rest of the song anything below 300 is junk. Hm. Is eq automation the only way? Because the last time I tried it I wanted to throw a chair through the window.
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02-21-2014, 06:25 PM
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#4
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 7,294
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Is it actually that bad in context, or are you just worried about "junk" that you hear only with the piano solo'd and low passed? That is, are you making a problem that doesn't really exist?
You might try multiband expansion. What's wrong with EQ automation?
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02-21-2014, 06:35 PM
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#5
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,536
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ashcat_lt
Is it actually that bad in context, or are you just worried about "junk" that you hear only with the piano solo'd and low passed? That is, are you making a problem that doesn't really exist?
You might try multiband expansion. What's wrong with EQ automation?
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I try that automation thing once more. I think it was a matter of mouse-using-skills..
The problem is real. The lows of instruments add up - someone puts their fingers on the guitar: "thsss", someone lifts the pedal: "khffff". Its there, when certain blocks are cleaned and compared, I hear the differene. Its not small.
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02-21-2014, 06:36 PM
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#6
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,371
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I hate over high passing instruments. Set your HPF to 28Hz or so and then use a shelving filter on the low end, this will allow you to turn down the low end by 3dB, or whatever is required to get what you are after without just throwing the baby out with the bath water. That shelving filter can cover a broad range and you can automate it's gain control if need be.
I do the same thing for the high end in cases where I want to boost it, broad filters like the shelf have always worked better for me in these types of situations.
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02-21-2014, 06:48 PM
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#7
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 1,536
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I used brickwall low-pass to check what is there. When an instrument has to play from 100 to 500, the times when is higher, I heard nothing but "hmp, thmp, fmp" and some random stuff too. I mean.. when just keeping the normal listening level and listening that sum of all instruments low-passed that way.. well, its sounds worrying. Couldn't that be one reason of a mix being muddy?
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02-21-2014, 07:43 PM
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#8
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 21,551
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emanresu
Thanks. I do use them. But you know, piano has a wiiiiiide range.. It hits a huge chord a few times and the lowest note was like 80hz or something but then goes up again ad all that happens below 300 is junk. If i put the hi-pass at 70, then the the rest of the song anything below 300 is junk. Hm. Is eq automation the only way? Because the last time I tried it I wanted to throw a chair through the window.
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Piano is one of those special things, depending on the song parts. There will be times when you may need to hi-pass a piano a little to serve a song, but that doesn't mean it's a set and forget proposition. In parts where it might serve the song better being off, automate the hi-pass off, like when some other stuff drop out.
In general (and i am no expert, just saying) I do think that's one thing a lot of us causal mixers do far too often, "set and forget". That goes for EQ, compressors and some other things that often need to be changed or reset as a song evolves.
Automation is your friend.
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02-21-2014, 08:38 PM
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#9
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Southern Appalachia
Posts: 149
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To avoid automation, you could split the piano take into several items and use EQ as an item effect only on the parts that need it. If the transition is too abrupt, extend the crossfade time between media items to slowly ease the EQ in and out.
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02-22-2014, 06:23 AM
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#10
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Human being with feelings
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 453
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Here is what I do for stuff like that. Use a multiband gate.
There may even be a reaper plugin (came from another DAW and had a whole collection of plugins i was used to so i dont know the reaplugs well)
I use Melda multiband dynamics works.
Just set a band that covers 300 Hz (and 300 sounds pretty high, thats above middle c, how high is your part realy?) and below and set the threshhold so it cuts out the extraneous stuff u don't want. When the piano drops down low, the gate will open. I usually set a pretty long hold and release for it to sound right.
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