For filmmakers working with archival audio, sound quality can often limit creative choices. Historical recordings are frequently distorted, noisy, or unbalanced, making it difficult to integrate them into modern productions without distracting from the story or clashing with a film’s tone.
Indie filmmaker Alex Park of Shep Films encountered this while working on his sci-fi short HORSEFLY, a film that explores war, identity, and memory. For the film, Park wanted to feature a 1920s Charlie Patton song in a car radio scene, but the original wax-cylinder recording of “I’m Going Home” was full of hiss and distortion, and Patton’s voice overpowered his intricate guitar playing.
Using AudioShake, Park was able to isolate Patton’s vocals and guitar into separate stems. This gave him full control over how each element sat in the mix—he could lower the vocals, raise the guitar, and remove distracting background noise. The result was a cleaner, rebalanced version of the song that retained its emotional grit while better supporting the rhythm and feel of the scene.
