what software should I use if I'll try to make Helsinki 06 audio bootleg cleaner

[randy marsh]

I was listening to that bootleg again today and one of the reasons that I want to make this sound better is cos I was there and it's an important gig to me, definitely one of the best I've ever seen.. and also.. I thought that this is a very good performance from the whole band and axl sounds awesome..  so I want to clean up the audio and if I can make it good I'll upload it and paste the link here.. SO.. what software you'd recommend to me.. btw I haven't done this before so not very difficult one 

[estebanf]

I don't know dude, I was also wondering about that.

But you can ask VoodooChild, ImSorry and Neo, I know they did very good jobs cleaning audios.

Imsorry ''remaster'' of RAR is brilliant, same for Neo's 15.5.06

[Pandora]

Adobe Audition is good, I think, but be careful. Cleanups tend to do more harm than good when the person doesn't know how to use the program properly......

[qcmyoungwill]

Yeah, I work in radio and have cleaned up bootlegs with Cool Edit 2.0, which is pretty much the same as Adobe Audition.  If you don't know what you're doing though, you won't be able to clean it up.

[yioryos]

How do i learn what to do? I have audition and have messed up too many times   

[qcmyoungwill]

Here are the main things you need to figure out how to use:

Dynamics Processing - Fast Drums is a useful setting
Noise/Hiss Reduction - First you need to capture the noise floor of the recording and then use high hiss reduction for many of the real bad recordings
Graphic Equalizer - Sloping High end boosts for some... classic V settings for some... etc.

Basically, you need to reduce the background noise and hiss that comes from an audience recording and then amplify everything else (vocals, guitars, bass, etc).? As soon as I get my laptop connected to the net (I am in the middle of moving) I can put up some of my examples.

There are a million different things you can do but once you get the basics down, you can start fooling with the rest.

Will

[fernomenoyde]

Here are the main things you need to figure out how to use:

Dynamics Processing - Fast Drums is a useful setting
Noise/Hiss Reduction - First you need to capture the noise floor of the recording and then use high hiss reduction for many of the real bad recordings
Graphic Equalizer - Sloping High end boosts for some... classic V settings for some... etc.

Basically, you need to reduce the background noise and hiss that comes from an audience recording and then amplify everything else (vocals, guitars, bass, etc).  As soon as I get my laptop connected to the net (I am in the middle of moving) I can put up some of my examples.

There are a million different things you can do but once you get the basics down, you can start fooling with the rest.

Will

Hey! i'm very interested too!!! waiting for the data...

[yioryos]

Great thanks for the help!! We are eager to learn more  : )

[randy marsh]

like he said, thanks for all the help 

[kaasupoltin]

kualema, if you'll ever get a cleaner version of the show, let me know I've tried many times to clean it but it didn't really work out the way I wanted. I should've recorded both Helsinki shows as I have MD + mic.. didn't want to take the risk.

[Alan]

Here are the main things you need to figure out how to use:

Dynamics Processing - Fast Drums is a useful setting
Noise/Hiss Reduction - First you need to capture the noise floor of the recording and then use high hiss reduction for many of the real bad recordings
Graphic Equalizer - Sloping High end boosts for some... classic V settings for some... etc.

Basically, you need to reduce the background noise and hiss that comes from an audience recording and then amplify everything else (vocals, guitars, bass, etc).  As soon as I get my laptop connected to the net (I am in the middle of moving) I can put up some of my examples.

There are a million different things you can do but once you get the basics down, you can start fooling with the rest.

Will

just too add you don't want to go boosting frequencies too far, as it will fuck things right up. always better to take away things that are there than to add things that are not.

so remove the shit you don't want and then boost the overall level of the audio. stays true to the original sound while getting rid of the shit.

[yioryos]

What about if the audio maxes out at points, due to loudness of the 'thundering' of the drums?
Any advice on how to deal with that?

Thank you

[qcmyoungwill]

Finding a setting under "dynamics processing" that works and doesn't distort the rest of the audio will even out the high points.

If anyone has any questions, I am more than happy to help you out.  The better the bootleg you create, the better the bootleg for the rest of us!

Will

[Voodoochild]

Also, you can try to mess with the EQ to take some low freq off. I'm sure theres some presets in Adobe Audition 2.0.

Noise/Hiss Reduction - First you need to capture the noise floor of the recording and then use high hiss reduction for many of the real bad recordings

Actually, this is the dangerous part, because it can sound too eletronic. I recommend to use low hiss reduction and then set up the level by previewing the audio. Just use your ear with a good pair of speakers or headphones.

just too add you don't want to go boosting frequencies too far, as it will fuck things right up. always better to take away things that are there than to add things that are not.

so remove the shit you don't want and then boost the overall level of the audio. stays true to the original sound while getting rid of the shit.

Yeah, that's 100% correct.

[speedfreak]

What about if the audio maxes out at points, due to loudness of the 'thundering' of the drums?
Any advice on how to deal with that?

Thank you

Use Hard Limiting,

Do not boost input and limit the maximum amplitude. ?Not on the whole recording but just select the point where it sounds like the audio is getting too loud.

An example of where to use this would be when the fireworks go off after the first verse of ?'Live And Let Die'.

[qcmyoungwill]

What about if the audio maxes out at points, due to loudness of the 'thundering' of the drums?
Any advice on how to deal with that?

Thank you

Use Hard Limiting,

Do not boost input and limit the maximum amplitude.  Not on the whole recording but just select the point where it sounds like the audio is getting too loud.

An example of where to use this would be when the fireworks go off after the first verse of  'Live And Let Die'.

The problem that you may have with doing it that way is there may be a dropoff in the level and it won't flow well.  If you are trying to reduce the "the 'thundering' of the drums" you will reduce everything else as well and the overall sound will drop off at those points.

Voodoo Child is right in saying that it will sound electronic.  What I meant to say is that for some, you can capture the noise floor and use a low hiss reduction.  Then you can lessen the hiss reduction to get the sound that works best.  For others, not capturing the noise floor and just using a high hiss reduction can work.  Previewing the audio to check the quality should be done without saying.

A problem with lowering just the low end frequency is that you will have a recording that won't have the full band sound.  I have found that sometimes it's better to boost all the other sounds to match the level of the bass and drums so the recording sounds full, but as with everything else, sometimes it doesn't work.

[speedfreak]

What about if the audio maxes out at points, due to loudness of the 'thundering' of the drums?
Any advice on how to deal with that?

Thank you

Use Hard Limiting,

Do not boost input and limit the maximum amplitude.? Not on the whole recording but just select the point where it sounds like the audio is getting too loud.

An example of where to use this would be when the fireworks go off after the first verse of? 'Live And Let Die'.

The problem that you may have with doing it that way is there may be a dropoff in the level and it won't flow well.? If you are trying to reduce the "the 'thundering' of the drums" you will reduce everything else as well and the overall sound will drop off at those points.

Voodoo Child is right in saying that it will sound electronic.? What I meant to say is that for some, you can capture the noise floor and use a low hiss reduction.? Then you can lessen the hiss reduction to get the sound that works best.? For others, not capturing the noise floor and just using a high hiss reduction can work.? Previewing the audio to check the quality should be done without saying.

A problem with lowering just the low end frequency is that you will have a recording that won't have the full band sound.? I have found that sometimes it's better to boost all the other sounds to match the level of the bass and drums so the recording sounds full, but as with everything else, sometimes it doesn't work.

I use that technique on very small segments (usually about 1 second) just to prevent clipping. 
When I do it to the fireworks in Live And Let Die I would select just the explosion sound. Works fine for me. 

[Voodoochild]

Well, with Adobe Audition 2.0 you can look for some freq and try to work with this visual effect. Change the workspace to Frequency Space Edition and chose the Lasso Selection Tool to catch only the part you want. It's something quite hard to do, but it works really cool if you have patience:

[qcmyoungwill]

Sorry it as taken so long, but I just moved across the country and had to get my internet set up and blah blah blah.? Here is an example of what I have done with CoolEdit 2.0 (Adobe Audition is pretty much the same program).? It is American Band from '85.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4SAE4G42

Will

[qcmyoungwill]

Here is another example.  This is Ain't Goin' Down from 08.23.86

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QFW57U8S

As you can see I am working on the early stuff.

Will