Muting Artists Voice

its impossible. the only way youd be able to do it is dull down the highs to kind of mask the vocals like "karaoke mode" (LMAO) on my stereo or use software which im not sure of which will make it sound really bad.

you need the a capella and instrumental tracks which you can find on some singles and some EPs.

There is a way to do this -- sort of. It involves a trick called mid-side processing, which Garageband can't do...at least not that I'm aware of.

That being said, even if you could, it wouldn't eliminate the vocal completely and it would also reduce the volume and clarity of other instruments that are in the center (kick, snare, bass, etc.)

There is a kind of sort of way to do this, but it's not perfect. I don't use Garageband much so I'll just say in general terms what you need to do.

First, split the left and right of the audio file so they are on separate, mono tracks. Make sure they are panned in the middle (not left and right as you would normally do). Then phase-invert one of those tracks (most EQ plug-ins will have a phase invert button).

This will cancel out anything which is equally in the left and right channels (i.e. stuff that was originally in the middle).

So assuming that the vocals were mixed in the middle (they usually are) you will have a greatly reduced vocal (sometimes you are left with just the reverb). However, you will also probably have a pretty screwy-sounding track in mono with next-to-no bass! If you whack a load of bass back in with EQ you might just get something that's OK for Karaoke but it won't be amazing.


EDIT - this is kind of a homebrew version of what cschreppel was talking about.

easy

no, sorry... but there IS one way to have your voice recorded and not even have the artist's voice. It's only 4 letters: M,I,D,I, or MIDI. Drag-and-drop the MIDI of a song you know, and when the time comes, record your voice. Then, when you're done, you can share it in iTunes and with your friends.


I hope this helps!

Just to mention something, when the MIDI is in place, it will be converted into software instruments. Then you can change them in any way, shape, or form you please. I do this ALL the time and it's so much fun!