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Removing Vocals from a MP3 track

ReanimationLP

ReanimationLP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 8, 2005
2,782
33
On the moon.
I need to remove the vocals from the song Lucia's Theme from Lunar 2, for my girlfriend, so she can audition for a solo part in her vocal ensomable for the Graduation ceremonies. She really wants to do this, but her music teacher said that all songs must have NO lyrics inside of them. If anyone could help me, or even get ahold of the song (you can find it very easily on the 'net, since its a game music song from a 10 year old video game) and remove the lyrics for me, that'd be great. I really want her to get her audition, as she has a beautiful voice. ^_^ Plus it would make her really happy and when shes happy, I'm a happy camper. I enjoy making her happy. :D
 
ReanimationLP

ReanimationLP

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jan 8, 2005
2,782
33
On the moon.
I got the MIDI, but she'd rather have it sounding real, not like a tincan. Since shes gonna need this to actually play in the background using their computer with the stuff on it while shes singing it. I wish there was a way to turn MIDI into real sounding moozic. x.x
 
Z

Zeke

macrumors 6502a
Oct 5, 2002
507
1
Greenville, SC
You can have someone that does this for a living do it. The midi can sound good if the samples are high quality. This is what my dad does for a lot of people (you can't to my knowledge remove a track from an mp3). Usually it's not too expensive to have someone do this sort of thing.
 
CanadaRAM

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
Oct 11, 2004
12,417
6
On the Left Coast - Victoria BC Canada
There is no way to really remove vocals from a stereo track; the vocal waveforms are all mashed in with the rest of the sound. All you can do is some tricks by way of centre-cancelling (combining the left and right channels together, but out of phase with each other, causing any common elements to cancel out -- on the theory that vocals are usually panned to the centre. Unfortunately, this also loses any other instrument that is panned to the centre.) Or you can equalize out the frequencies that the vocals predominate in (which unfortunately loses any other instruments that share the same frequencies); or you can combine the approaches. Your results will vary with the sophistication of your software or hardware, and with the way the track was mixed in the first place.
 
faintember

faintember

macrumors 65816
Jun 6, 2005
1,362
0
the ruins of the Cherokee nation
Can you remove the vocals from a mp3? No

Can you subdue the vocals from a mp3? Yes, but there will be some other adverse effects that will be less than enjoyable (suppression of other pitches that fall within the vocal frequency that is being suppressed).
By suppression, basically i mean EQ'ing, as thats the only way to really do it.

The MIDI version...Well if you are familiar with MIDI and depending on the MIDI file type, you could load the MIDI file into Reason, a synth in Reaktor, Absynth, etc. and then use the MIDI data to trigger the sounds that are in those programs, which would prob sound a lot better than the MIDI file you have now, especally if it is using typical GM (general MIDI) sounds.

Your best bet is loading the MIDI file into a MIDI program and going that route. I'll play around and see what i can do with the MIDI file posted earlier.

Hope this helps.
 
pulsewidth947

pulsewidth947

macrumors 65816
Jan 25, 2005
1,106
2
The usual method of removing vocals is to invert the signal of either the left OR right audio channel. I wont go into the details of how this works, as its fairly boring.

But like the other posters say this will remove anything panned centrally (e.g. vocals, drums, etc)

The other thing is this often doesnt work with MP3s as a result of the encoding process (which again I wont go into for the same reason). So this process would be most effective if you are using a CD track.

<rant>It really bugs me when people say MIDI sounds bad. MIDI doesnt have any sounds, as its just a transfer protocol.. Its the synthesisers that sound bad (e.g. quicktime and all that).</rant>

You should be able to load your MIDI file into Garage Band, and assign the different tracks to different sounds. The sounds within Garage Band are perfectly acceptable.

Your only other option is looking for a kareoke (sp?) version of the song, or trying to blag a musician to create the backing for you.
 
T

The Truth

macrumors regular
Feb 23, 2005
140
0
at my wits end (in Australia)
Haha this is ridiculous, there is no way, I repeat: NO WAY of removing vocals from a normal music track while maintaining the backing music. The only exceptions are:

1. If the vocals are exclusive to one stereo channel while the backing is on the other ie. Hendrix's "Purple Haze"

or

2. If the track is available as an editable project ie. Nine Inch Nail's "Hand that feeds".

Midi or a special "karaoke version" are your only options.
 
CanadaRAM

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5
Oct 11, 2004
12,417
6
On the Left Coast - Victoria BC Canada
Genki said:
Thompson Vocal Remover
Click to expand...

Thread resurrection award of the day! Way to go!

The Thompson Vocal Eliminator from LT Sound, which, besides being hardware that costs $$$, uses a combination of the tricks already mentioned above, and works on analog signals; so you'd have to playthe MP3 out the audio outputs, into the TVE and record the results again.

http://www.vocaleliminator.com/
 
J

jayeskreezy

macrumors 65816
Mar 3, 2005
1,137
0
zach said:
I was actually just trying to do this today, and I ran into this helpful FAQ.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=editing&i=remove-vocals

If you get audacity and try that, it very well may work. Then again, it may not. But you have nothing to lose by trying, I've already done 2 songs that way today.
Click to expand...


thanks...this def helps for a karoake track, but not really that great in taking away vocals
 
I WAS the one

I WAS the one

macrumors 6502a
May 16, 2006
868
58
Orlando, FL
I was reading this as a random search... yes I was boring... but then I remember the app that did that job flawlessly it was the app known in the begining as SoundJam today its name is iTunes... yep, it's true. as simple as click on the menu to kareoke command that's it.. illegal? maybe, wrong? who knows... but it was as easy as that. anyone that can find SoundJam and using it on classic under Tiger OS X, it will be ripping vocals in no time. In fact I know I had SoundJam somewhere, but I'm using leopard now, so no classic for me.
 
H

harinezumi

macrumors member
May 4, 2007
43
0
UK
I always use midi files

What i do when i want the instrumental version is to find the midi version of the track then import it to Propellerhead Reason 4 and then add the most suitable samples to it.
ive done this couple of times and it doesnt sound too bad but i must admit it doesnt sound too professional.

hope this helps
 
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