AnimeSuki Forums

DJ Trouble · 2009-07-31, 18:24

I want to separate the vocal sounds, sound effects, and music from each other in an anime. How would I go about doing this? Basically, I just want to switch out the given background music for music of my choice, while leaving everything else intact. Any help is much appreciated.

arenine · 2009-07-31, 20:34

If you have a copy of the background music, you can create an inverted waveform of the background music. Combining the inverted waveform and the section of the anime's audio, the background music should be canceled out. This, in theory, should work. Sorta the same principle as noise-canceling headphones. But this is still just theoretical.

As for the practical side of this, I don't know which or what software that might be able to do this. You would also need an almost exact copy of the background music as well as getting the timing correct. Those are probably the two biggest issues but it should be doable. The end result might not be perfect. The background music might still be audible but it's at least a lot softer.

-KarumA- · 2009-08-01, 00:12

You could use Adobe Audition for this, but I must warn you that even with a copy of the file and you removing the BG music the voices will be altered and in most cases very ugly to hear (like they are all speaking in a church of bathroom)

npcomplete · 2009-08-01, 04:46

What arenine said would work if you have the exact copy of the background music. But it has to be truly exact, including amplitude and you have to get the phase precise right down to the sample when you subtract it. In lieu of that, what I've done before is to use Cool Edit Pro--now Adobe Audition--with it's noise reduction feature to mostly isolate vocals. It's NR feature works by matching a profile of the 'noise' you create, like pattern matching the frequencies. So if you have the OST, you can use that to create the noise profile (use the largest FFT size) to try to isolate the vocals and SFX. However like Karuma mentioned, there's no escaping the artifacts involved depending on the degree of modification and how good the profile is. It's best to do this piece by piece, finding the matching OST track section, creating a noise profile only for that small section, and isolating the vocals for the portion only, then repeat again for the next section.

However, what is probably the best method that I'm itching to try is Photosounder described in this article

demos:

are you looking to create an AMV that keeps the voices & SFX btw?

DJ Trouble · 2009-08-01, 07:53

Wow, thanks guys. You dropped some seemingly useful processes despite others thinking it's not possible. They seem pretty patience intensive, but I figured this wouldn't be a 1-2-3-done type of project, so I'll try out what I can with what I can find online. >.>

And no, I'm not looking to make an AMV. A friend showed me a video clip of Flonne kicking butt in Saki, with the background music changed out with some from G Gundam. Saki is so much better with music that actually fits the mood, so he suggested someone should do that for all of Saki. I was bored and thought I'd at least look into it. Since I've seen the end results I'm sure it can be done, but he only had a 1:08 clip as opposed to an entire episode.

arenine · 2009-08-01, 18:12

I don't think you need an exact copy to start out with, just the one you use to cancel it out. Even then, you just need the amplitude to be as close as exact as possible. As long as the phase is exact, the amplitude can be very forgiving. Amplitude manipulation is one of the most basic functions of any audio editing software. It's just simply changing the default volume. The closer you are to the exact amplitude, the softer the background music will become. At some point, it will be soft enough to ignore and you're added sound will cover it up. As for the phase, it's probably safe to assume that the OST and the BGM in the anime came from the same recording. Thus, they should be exact.

Anyways, you should post your result, I'm interested in seeing how it turns out. Seeing as how many people you talked to don't think it's possible, I encourage you to make a guide/tutorial, especially if your result is pretty good. It would help others to do new things with fan art just as we helped you.

2009-07-31, 18:24	Link #1
DJ Trouble Pajama Party! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nowhere	Removing Background Music I want to separate the vocal sounds, sound effects, and music from each other in an anime. How would I go about doing this? Basically, I just want to switch out the given background music for music of my choice, while leaving everything else intact. Any help is much appreciated.

2009-08-01, 04:46	Link #4
npcomplete Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008	What arenine said would work if you have the exact copy of the background music. But it has to be truly exact, including amplitude and you have to get the phase precise right down to the sample when you subtract it. In lieu of that, what I've done before is to use Cool Edit Pro--now Adobe Audition--with it's noise reduction feature to mostly isolate vocals. It's NR feature works by matching a profile of the 'noise' you create, like pattern matching the frequencies. So if you have the OST, you can use that to create the noise profile (use the largest FFT size) to try to isolate the vocals and SFX. However like Karuma mentioned, there's no escaping the artifacts involved depending on the degree of modification and how good the profile is. It's best to do this piece by piece, finding the matching OST track section, creating a noise profile only for that small section, and isolating the vocals for the portion only, then repeat again for the next section. However, what is probably the best method that I'm itching to try is Photosounder described in this article demos: <p>No iframe support, please <a href="http://youtu.be/IoFlHviTkl8">watch on YouTube</a>.</p> <p>No iframe support, please <a href="http://youtu.be/hUZeE5vMZTI">watch on YouTube</a>.</p> are you looking to create an AMV that keeps the voices & SFX btw?

2009-07-31, 20:34	Link #2
arenine Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006	If you have a copy of the background music, you can create an inverted waveform of the background music. Combining the inverted waveform and the section of the anime's audio, the background music should be canceled out. This, in theory, should work. Sorta the same principle as noise-canceling headphones. But this is still just theoretical. As for the practical side of this, I don't know which or what software that might be able to do this. You would also need an almost exact copy of the background music as well as getting the timing correct. Those are probably the two biggest issues but it should be doable. The end result might not be perfect. The background music might still be audible but it's at least a lot softer.

2009-08-01, 00:12	Link #3
-KarumA- (｡☉౪ ⊙｡) Author Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes Age: 36	You could use Adobe Audition for this, but I must warn you that even with a copy of the file and you removing the BG music the voices will be altered and in most cases very ugly to hear (like they are all speaking in a church of bathroom)

2009-08-01, 07:53	Link #5
DJ Trouble Pajama Party! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Nowhere	Wow, thanks guys. You dropped some seemingly useful processes despite others thinking it's not possible. They seem pretty patience intensive, but I figured this wouldn't be a 1-2-3-done type of project, so I'll try out what I can with what I can find online. >.> And no, I'm not looking to make an AMV. A friend showed me a video clip of Flonne kicking butt in Saki, with the background music changed out with some from G Gundam. Saki is so much better with music that actually fits the mood, so he suggested someone should do that for all of Saki. I was bored and thought I'd at least look into it. Since I've seen the end results I'm sure it can be done, but he only had a 1:08 clip as opposed to an entire episode.

2009-08-01, 18:12	Link #6
arenine Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006	I don't think you need an exact copy to start out with, just the one you use to cancel it out. Even then, you just need the amplitude to be as close as exact as possible. As long as the phase is exact, the amplitude can be very forgiving. Amplitude manipulation is one of the most basic functions of any audio editing software. It's just simply changing the default volume. The closer you are to the exact amplitude, the softer the background music will become. At some point, it will be soft enough to ignore and you're added sound will cover it up. As for the phase, it's probably safe to assume that the OST and the BGM in the anime came from the same recording. Thus, they should be exact. Anyways, you should post your result, I'm interested in seeing how it turns out. Seeing as how many people you talked to don't think it's possible, I encourage you to make a guide/tutorial, especially if your result is pretty good. It would help others to do new things with fan art just as we helped you.