Comments on: Is there a way to beep out swear words in a music file?

Question: Is there a way to beep out swear words in a music file?

rinkjustice — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:12:15 -0800

Is there software - preferrably free, natch - that beeps out swear words in music files?

By: rinkjustice

rinkjustice — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:27:58 -0800

Page Hamilton feels compelled to cuss on his latest album, and we can't have that.

By: mendel

mendel — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:35:51 -0800

When you hear that on the radio, it's been done (usually by the label, occasionally by the station) by hand. It's not voice-recognition.

By: kdern

kdern — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:36:43 -0800

You could use Audacity (free) to edit the song manually.

By: equalpants

equalpants — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:40:14 -0800

I don't know if there's anything that does this automatically; I kind of doubt it (surely the TV networks would be using it). It wouldn't be hard to do such a thing in GoldWave (shareware) or Audacity (free).

But, really, they probably hear it every day on the playground, anyway; I'm sure they'll be fine.

By: grex

grex — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 18:40:39 -0800

Your best bet for doing this would be a program like Soundforge or cooledit.
These programs both have the ability to generate simple tones and add them into a soundfile, but as mendel says you would have to do this manually.
Voice recognition of recorded lyrics would be difficult to say the least.

By: DoctorFedora

DoctorFedora — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:28:55 -0800

Why can't we have that? Is there something wrong with using an expanded vocabulary that extends beyond "inoffensive and harmless?"

By: cosmicbandito

cosmicbandito — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:35:15 -0800

no, computers aren't smart enough to know when some says "fuck". Out of curiosity, why do you need to do this?

By: crypticgeek

crypticgeek — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:45:36 -0800

There's no "clean" version available? Sometimes there may be. Try looking in places like Walmart or itunes that sell clean versions of songs. Beyond that, it's manual editing. To the mix of available software there's also Nero Soundtrax if you have the whole Nero mega ultra deluxe package. It's not Soundforge, but you're no doing anything fancy either.

By: rinkjustice

rinkjustice — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:55:54 -0800

Out of curiosity, why do you need to do this?

"The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low, that every person of sense and character detests and despises it" --George Washington

Vulgarity demonstrates an inability to master a proper vocabulary, and I don't want to endorse ineffective and crass communication skills to my children. I don't talk like that and I certainly won't permit my daughters to either.

You asked. I told you.

By: baylink

baylink — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:28:53 -0800

Well, IANAP, but it seems to me that the context of the words would be just as bad, would it not?

Shouldn't you just deprive them of the entire song? (And, of course, the Teachable Moment attached thereto...)

By: rinkjustice

rinkjustice — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:41:22 -0800

... it seems to me that the context of the words would be just as bad, would it not?

It's not always context. Sometimes it's poor choice in words.

Shouldn't you just deprive them of the entire song?

Yes, many times the song isn't salvagable.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 21:08:47 -0800

Don't actually put a beep in. Just have dead air for a second. Or you could cut to the kareoke version at choice moments :-)

By: Dark Messiah

Dark Messiah — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 22:02:08 -0800

Vulgarity demonstrates an inability to master a proper vocabulary, and I don't want to endorse ineffective and crass communication skills to my children. I don't talk like that and I certainly won't permit my daughters to either.

Buy the edited version.

And keep them out of public school.

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 22:37:46 -0800

Buy your music at Wal-Mart.

By: teleskiving

teleskiving — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 00:36:38 -0800

ClearPlay "automatically" edits DVDs for profanity etc based on a downloadable database. It would not surprise me at all if someone there is thinking about doing this for music... if enough people ask for it.

By: rinkjustice

rinkjustice — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 00:48:06 -0800

Wal-Mart Music was mentioned. Are all music downloads edited for swear words?

By: kdern

kdern — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 04:57:18 -0800

If you download from itunes, there are often "clean" and "explicit" versions listed. Check it out.

By: baylink

baylink — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 09:19:38 -0800

Wal-Mart Music was mentioned. Are all music downloads edited for swear words?

Wal-Mart forces artists to produce edited versions of their albums if they wish to be carried by the largest single retail seller of packaged music CD's.

I'm pretty sure they were successfully sued because they were not marking them as not being the product the artist released everywhere else.

If people want badly enough to listen to music but not badly enough to tolerate whatever that artist *put into that music* more power to them, but I have zero tolerance for Wal-Mart hiding the fact.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 10:33:42 -0800

[a few comments removed, if you want to discuss the ethics of swearing/censoring/walmart, you have metatalk or email]

By: quin

quin — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 10:36:48 -0800

I recently had to edit some obscenities out of songs for a music contest at work. The best method I found was to use Audacity to highlight the offending word, flip it (so that it played backwards) and reduce the volume of it to 70%.

It keeps the feel of the song intact, there are no jarring beeps or silences, it also keeps the song the exact same length.

It takes a little practice, but once you've done it a couple of times it's easy.

By: willmillar

willmillar — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 13:45:41 -0800

buy your music from wal-mart. the bastards only sell edited music.

//looks like i've been beaten^

By: idlm

idlm — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:36:23 -0800

I just came across this program. I haven't used it, but check it out... SafeMusic