Removing vocals/ Removing background from a sample

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King

Member
ill o.g.
Is it possible to remove he vocals from a track and keep the background or remove the backround and keep the vocals?? If so what software would be good for that?
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
No, that's not possible. You can try to use some effects to muffle the vocals, but then the rest of the music will get muffled too.

Search around here, you'll find some other answers as well because this question has been asked quite a few times.
 
T

The Bastard

Guest
few cats have claimed that theres sum type of dj unit out there that can do this, i wont believe it till i see it but ive heard it from more than one person. common sense tells me its impossible but know knows
 

booya_nang

A breath of fre$h air!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 76
Filtering, but that wont leave the sample soundin the same as before
 

Emeezy

Etrack Productions
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 6
SNAGGED FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE***

In Pro Tools, import a 2-track song (mp3 files dont work) into a new session and drag the left and right files into their own mono tracks. Next select one track with the grabber tool, (it doesnt matter which one). Go to the Audiosuite menu and select "invert" from the "Other" menu. In the mix window, pan each of the tracks to the center and set each track to the same level.
Listening now, you can hear that the vocals and other intruments that were panned dead center are much quieter. Add the Digirack 7-band EQIII plug-in to the inverted track and use the hi and lo bandpass filters to narrow the focus of the channel that is inverting, or incorrectly referred to as "phasing out." Start with the high pass filter, or HPF set to 200hz to exclude all the the frequencies below. Try adjusting or shutting off the low and high pass filter til it sounds right, use your ear. That's it. Done. If you have a goodx stereoizer plug-in, try it on the master fader. Though this method is from perfect its the best that can be done.

i dont see how this would be too much different than EQing a track but i dont know.
 

eXampuL_oNe

LOW-PRO
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 21
Emeezy said:
SNAGGED FROM SCRATCH MAGAZINE***

In Pro Tools, import a 2-track song (mp3 files dont work) into a new session and drag the left and right files into their own mono tracks. Next select one track with the grabber tool, (it doesnt matter which one). Go to the Audiosuite menu and select "invert" from the "Other" menu. In the mix window, pan each of the tracks to the center and set each track to the same level.
Listening now, you can hear that the vocals and other intruments that were panned dead center are much quieter. Add the Digirack 7-band EQIII plug-in to the inverted track and use the hi and lo bandpass filters to narrow the focus of the channel that is inverting, or incorrectly referred to as "phasing out." Start with the high pass filter, or HPF set to 200hz to exclude all the the frequencies below. Try adjusting or shutting off the low and high pass filter til it sounds right, use your ear. That's it. Done. If you have a goodx stereoizer plug-in, try it on the master fader. Though this method is from perfect its the best that can be done.

i dont see how this would be too much different than EQing a track but i dont know.

This does work if your trying to do it with a sample. Maybe not a whole track but for a sample it does work. The vocals will not completely be gone (maybe in some cases) but they are un-noticable. I have done this with cool edit a couple of times and it is a dope little trick.
 

Hypnotist

Ear Manipulator
ill o.g.
That's exactly what I was going to say, or something like it.

Removing vocals in this way is just letting the center phase out, and it's sometimes called "A minus B", and you can do it with speakers as well, by reversing the phase.

If there are any backup vocals panned Left and Right, then you won't filter those out. Lead vocals are usually panned up the center, but reverb is usually wide. So if there was reverb mixed on the vocals, then you won't get rid of that either. But you will get rid of the sample's kick drum and snare drum if there is one, and bass guitar, as those are usually panned center as well.

The faders must be at exactly the same level for this to work, as sine waves are additive, and you need exactly the same amount of Left information from Right information.

We did this in class with "Billie Jean" and it was funny as hell listening to Michael's backup vocals alone, along with some crazy reverb and keys and guitars without most of the drums. Try it: it's funny. I have done it with an mp3, but it didn't work as well.
 
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