Subject:Studio Filter Newbie Question
Posted by: ChrisHerd
Date:1/14/2006 8:35:26 AM
Perhaps someone can help with a newbie question. I am new not only to SFAS, but also to music editing, and learning my way through some not-so-obvious material. I want to apply the equivalent of a high bandpass filter (I think), taking out all frequencies below around 200 Hz (number doesn't have to be exact). How can this be done in SFA Studio? All tips I found on how to do that assume you have the "full" version, not the limited version I appear to have. Can this be done with SFAS, or is that beyond its limitations? If so, how? Help? |
Subject:RE: Studio Filter Newbie Question
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:1/15/2006 8:32:00 PM
Process / Graphic EQ. You won't have all the options of the full version, but i believe there is a basic 10 band EQ available. The two lowest sliders should be 20Hz and 200Hz. Drop these two to create a high pass filter above 200Hz. |
Subject:RE: Studio Filter Newbie Question
Reply by: ChrisHerd
Date:1/16/2006 8:58:29 AM
Hmmm. I understand exactly what you are suggesting, but have a follow-up question: 1. The Sound Forge manual is horrible. The EQ "section" (if you can call it that) is a tiny little paragraph on top of page 174 and contains no useful information whatever. Expecting this (why should Sony be any better than any other large computer company around), I also purchased Scott Garrigus' book Sound Forge 8 Power. 2. On page 208, talking about Sound Forge's graphic equalizer, he states "Although it's very easy to use, you are limited by the frequencies that you can manipulate. You can't change any of the frequencies below, above, or between the ones provided." This seems to tell me that using the graphic equalizer, as you suggested, only removes two frequencies, 20 Hz and 200 Hz, but it leaves the other 198 frequencies in tact. Is this not so? If that's true, I can't simulate a high bandpass filter that way. That filter, as I understand it, should take out all frequencies below the cutoff. As I said, I'm still learning this stuff, so I read, and perhaps over-analyze, too much. It seems to me, though, that a high and low bandpass filter is one of the most basic functions an audio editor should have because of their universal need. When recording an old casette, the sound is often dull and lifeless due to the time-deterioration of casettes and their magnetic material (which, as I understand, actually flakes off over time). Running such a recording through a high bandpass filter to remove all frequencies below around 200 Hz is a standard, simple and immediate way to recover much of that tape's sound quality. I don't think it's a complicated or high-end feature. Anyway, I'm looking for it in SFAS and can't seem to find it... Commentary, anyone? |
Subject:RE: Studio Filter Newbie Question
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:1/16/2006 10:08:25 AM
A graphic equalizer affects the entire band from between the two surrounding controls. If you were to drop, say, the 200Hz slider to -15dB, you would have -15dB at 200Hz, and also -7.5dB (or thereabouts) at 141Hz, -7.5dB at 283Hz. The reduction forms roughly a bell-shaped curve around the center frequency. So, when you pull down one slider of a 10 band EQ you are affecting a full octave of the sound. The limitation of a 10 band EQ is that you do affect an entire octave, not that you only affect a tiny frequency range. Actually i wasn't thinking quite clearly enough when i posted my previous answer. A 10 band EQ typically has controls at frequencies such as 28, 56, 113, 225, 480, 900, 1.8K, 3.6K, 7.2K, and 15K. So to reduce everything from 200Hz down you would pull down all the controls from 28 to 113, and reduce the 225Hz control slightly. Message last edited on1/16/2006 2:23:59 PM byChienworks. |
Subject:RE: Studio Filter Newbie Question
Reply by: ChrisHerd
Date:1/16/2006 4:33:51 PM
Excellent!!!!! Thank you very much. I hope this exchange is also useful to others... |