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From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/03/2011: 05:43:51
I am trying to listen to Scruggs back-up on his old Mercury recordings from the Bear DVD but often I cannot make it out. I have tried turning up the graphic equalizer bars on the right side and turning down the ones on the left and get very minimal improvement. On these old one mic recordings shifting the balance left or right has no effect. Does anyone have any suggestions? There is some great stuff there that I would like to hear and study.
Thanks,
Ken
Vapor - Posted - 03/03/2011: 07:03:44
The problem you are running into, is that in order to seperate the banjo, it would need to either be on its own channel or in a different portion of the audio spectrum from all other sounds on its channel. When everything is in the same general portion of this spectrum, trying to remove one has the same affect on them all. The only thing you can do is try and identify the spectrum, but as you are finding, instruments all run in the same wavelengths and there is no way to seperate them when they are on the same channel.
seanray - Posted - 03/03/2011: 08:08:18
A good tool for what you're trying to achieve is a parametric EQ.
I just analyzed My Cabin in Caroline from the Mercury recordings and with a narrow Q was able to get the banjo to pop out pretty well right around the 1k mark.
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/03/2011: 08:48:39
quote:
Originally posted by seanray
A good tool for what you're trying to achieve is a parametric EQ.
I just analyzed My Cabin in Caroline from the Mercury recordings and with a narrow Q was able to get the banjo to pop out pretty well right around the 1k mark.
Sean,
Would it be possible for you to post the output of your parametric EQ so I could hear how it brought it out? I may have to follow up with a few questions as I don't know how to integrate a parametric EQ into my computer and play back systems.
Thanks for your post.
Ken
Vapor - Posted - 03/03/2011: 12:43:45
The Parametric EQ can work, as long as the other instruments are not in the same wavelengths. This s the only problem you will run into. The easiest thing you can do is open your sound editing software, find the parametric and start to play with the settings until you start to isolate the banjo. The problem is when other instruments are sharing the same wavelengths. Good luck. Some songs work well, others do not. It depends on the mix.
Possom - Posted - 03/16/2011: 12:05:58
i listen to the "pine-cone bluegrass show" here in eastern, NC on 94.7fm. My old double wide came with a lil stereo installed with several speakers through the house. Dunno if its the stereo or the station or what but they usually open the show with a track off of the Foggy Mountain Banjo album and nothing but banjo comes through the speakers...you hear a hint of fiddle and a lil bass but other than that its ALL EARL. Have to say a lot gets hidden behind other instruments, Earl got downright funky on his backup. Its awesome to hear what he did and you can really learn a lot from it. If someone can find a way to isolate just him on that album it would be invaluable to all of us.
From Greylock to Bean Blossom - Posted - 03/16/2011: 14:31:56
Possom,
Wouldn't you love to hear all the Flatt and Scruggs stuff with the banjo emphasized and highlighted so you could hear every note clearly?! I have been told because of the old recordings using on microphone that it can't be done.
Nice thought though!
Ken
