Removing background music from a voice over

P

prodigal

Active member
So I have a voice over recorded with background score playing, but I would like to separate the voice over from the current background music, for the purpose of matching it with something different.

I've messed around with various FCP filters but haven't had consistent luck so far. Do I need to rely on soundtrack pro for this one, or is there anything I can try in FCP that might have some success?

Thanks a lot in advance for any help on this!
 
It's called the "re-record" filter. Once VO and music are mixed, there's really no way to separate them again. So, you'll need either to locate the original (dry) VO recording or to record a new VO.
 
That's pretty much impossible I'm afraid. Best suggestion would be to redo the voiceover.

Noah
 
Alex H. said:
It's called the "re-record" filter. Once VO and music are mixed, there's really no way to separate them again. So, you'll need either to locate the original (dry) VO recording or to record a new VO.
Click to expand...

I lol'd!

I had to apply the 're-record' filter pretty vigorously on a project out in the bush. Damn birds were chirping so loudly that they pushed the whole vocal track into distortion. Sound guy didn't notice cos the birds only chirp here and there and not consistently so the peaks weren't noticeable at all till it was time for studio and some very strange chirpy surprises.. hahaha.
Got me a new sound guy and have developed an unnatural sensitivity to chirping noises.

Sorry Prodical, most of us know how you feel.
"re-record' filter wins my failboat of the decade award hands down!
 
Actually it is possible. Results may not be great, but here's what I would do.

Make a duplicate file of the audio, run a remove vocal plugin on it (Audacity has a good one). line the two files up on the timeline in Audacity so that the waves match exactly. I mean, zoom ALL the way and in and make sure that every sound wave is exactly the same. Then invert the one that doesn't have the vox part. What it will do is cause phase cancellation on the music and leave the voice frequencies in tact. It must be a high quality recording (FLAC or AIFF or uncompressed WAV) and it really takes a lot of time, but when done properly it can achieve some pretty good results. Also, If your using this method, I highly recommend putting maybe a different score under it. Never let it stand alone or some artifacts from the process may stand out. Depends on a lot of factors.
 
I was going to recommend inverting as well but it will not be as good as the "re-record" filter.
 
I was also going to suggest phase cancellation.

Joe Calabrese said:
Make a duplicate file of the audio, run a remove vocal plugin on it (Audacity has a good one).
Click to expand...

Hopefully you'd be able to find a clean version of the background music, match the amplitude exactly and then invert it instead of trying to remove the vocal from the existing recording. Maybe Shazam can help you out if you can't find the music. You'd get far better results this way, I'd guess.
 
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