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Thread: Transposing A Backing Track

  1. #1
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    Transposing A Backing Track

    I have a track that is originally recorded in F# and because I couldn't reach the high notes I've had to transpose it down to a lower key. I used Audacity to transpose the track down one semitone at a time and I had to go down 5 semitones to C# before I could manage the 2 octave vocal range of the track without falsetto.

    At first I thought the C# recording sounded ok apart from deeper backing vocals and a slight drop in tempo but I've realised going down that much loses quite a bit of sound quality and there is an irritating vibration that sounds like distortion I can't get rid of or disguise by playing around with the EQs.

    Are there any other techniques I could try to transpose it down that might not lose as much audio quality? I tried doing it in Traktor but couldn't work out how to change the pitch without affecting the tempo. If I could do that maybe Traktor would give a better quality recording. Something else I've not tried yet but I thought might be worth a go is using Audacity to transpose it down one semitone and then transpose that one down etc until I've got to C#. Could that give better results or will it be no different to just tranposing down 5 semitones in one go?

  2. #2
    I have no clue. However, it makes me wonder if something "higher end" like Ableton or Logic would have a little better audio quality (especially Ableton's warping capabilities in general) with the final output after transposition? I've never used audacity for anything other than mp3 conversion, but maybe something to try.
    Find me everywhere @youseenofilter

  3. #3
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    Cheers, I'll look in to Ableton and that's what I'm hoping as well because Audacity looks like a great program to have installed and I downloaded it only last week to use the transposing feature but maybe there are better ways. I'll post up a clip to see if it's just me who thinks it doesn't sound right. I know transposing has an effect on quality but it seems like this is more about the conversion quality.

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