Audio Editing question...

[Sephroth57]

anyone know if its possible, if you have a MP3 or WAV of a song, to take out the vocals to just have an instrumental track?

[DrewKaree]

Yes, it is possible, however, I do not know what software one would use to do so.

Mebbe SoundForge?  It seems to be "THE" music studio software used....check it out to see if it'll work, otherwise, hope someone else posts what software will do it

[Sephroth57]

hmm i checked out some audio editing forums and they said no =(

[D_Zoot]

I've been out of the world of audio for awhile now (used to work in radio).

[Sephroth57]

thanks for the help, yeah the song i want to try this on is an acoustic version, so i think it might turn out ok since there isnt much studio work in there

[shmokes]

Yes, it is possible, however, I do not know what software one would use to do so.

Mebbe SoundForge?  It seems to be "THE" music studio software used....check it out to see if it'll work, otherwise, hope someone else posts what software will do it

Drew, what you are probably thinking of is pre-mixed files.  A program like Cubase that handles all the tracks or channels or whatever (drums, vocals, guitar, etc.) will mix them all together into a music file such as a wav or mp3.  Think of it like flattening the layers in photoshop.  Once you've got a JPEG you can't go in and edit an individual layer.

I don't want to pass myself off as a pro (or even an enthusiast).  I just have a brother with a studio so periodically I'll track down a piece of software for him and in the process I've picked up a tiny amount of information.

[Dexter]

I've seen a couple of freeware utilities that attempt to remove vocal information using the method mentioned. One of these, plus proper use of a good EQ plugin, SHOULD remove most of the information.

[Shape D.]

Theres no way to remove it completley. some programs can come close but all they really do is use an eq to reduce the frequency that the vocals are in. unfourtunately that frequency range is typically filled with other parts thats make the song sound funny when its removed. usually lowering the frequency of the vocals pulls out harmonics of guitars which then makes them sound bass heavy and weak. plus even if you remove the main frequency of the vocals, the harmonics from the vocals will still be in the music.