Programs that eliminate vocals, and those that isolate them

[Ricky]

Anybody know a good free program to isolate vocals (i.e. take only the vocal from a song), and also one that eliminates vocals so all you have is the rhythm tracks?

I want a program one for DJing, and also for guitar that can do both.

Doing a search brings up so much crap, I was wondering if someone here has experience with that.

 

[Disconnect]

Are you talking about isolating vocals from a .wav or .mp3? No such program exists.

If all you got is a finished .wav or .mp3 file, you have to work with the entire frequency spectrum. I'm not sure where the vocals sit (I don't do vocals), but you can't extract them cleanly. Try to obtain the individual samples from the artist if you wanna do a remix.

 

[Hypoxia II]

im not sure if theres a free program to do this. i gave up on trying this a long time ago.

but if you wanna try here it goes...

for removing vocals,

first you have to break the stereo signal into two seperate signals on seperate tracks

second, you have to reverse the phase of either signal. what this does is cancel out all frequencies which meet in the middle of the stereo spectrum. Vocals and bass/low frequencies (below 500 Hz) are traditionally placed in the middle of the mix. this technique worked well on older recordings for removing vocals, however the trade off was the removal of the bass frequencies as well. When trying this with more recent recordings the problem you run into is that vocals have been spread through stereo effects to cover the entire spectrum.

There was never a way to isolate vocals to produce an a capella track.

here is your best bet... you can pick up karaoke disc's anywhere these days extremely cheap...

your second alternative is to check with the record label and see if there might be an import or other limited edition release that has an a capella track and an instrumental track.

 

[Create Reality]

There is a VST plugin or two that can do it. But it requires two versions of the song (lyrical and non-lyrical). It takes the non-lyrical mix, and subtracts it from the other, leaving mostly clean vocals. It can be used for any sound, as long as one mix has the sound you want and the other is missing just those sounds.

 

[Desdinova]

The phase reverse doesn't work too badly for removing vocals. It's pretty much the same concept as the old quadrophonic stereo systems. You can wire one up that will take out the vocals as well. All you need is a patchcord. Wire up the positive from the right channel of your source to the positive on your input, and the positive from the left channel of your source to the negative on your input. The song needs to be a stereo recording for it to work. For maximum vocal removal, adjust the balance on your source.

I've used the hard-wired technique lots in the past and it worked very well for me.

Also, try to avoid using MP3 files for vocal removal. Because of the encoding, the stereo separation is garbage and you won't get maximum removal. Also try avoiding using any magnetic media (such as cassettes). Your best separation will come from CDs.

 

[MetalFortress]

Goldwave can eliminate almost all vocals, but it usually is not the cleanest way to go about it.