How to Remove Vocals from Songs

Removing the Center Channel

1. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 1
   Start with high-quality audio tracks. If you put low-quality files into your editing software, it's not going to sound good when you start trying to take stuff out. It's important to start with .wav or .flac files and work from there. The results will be a lot more clear than you'll get from a super-compressed .mp3 file.
2. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 2
   Locate the vocals in the mix. Stereo tracks all have two separate channels, with the instruments and vocals spread across them. Bass, guitar, and other channels will typically be pushed to one side or the other, while vocals are normally placed in the "center channel." This is done to make them sound "centered." To isolate them, you'll split this center channel and invert one of them.

   1. How can you tell where the vocals are? Just listen in good-quality headphones. If the vocals seem to be coming out of both channels simultaneously, they're mixed in the center. If not, they're to the side that you hear the vocals coming from.
   2. Some styles of music and specific recordings will have different balances between channels. If the vocals are shifted to one channel or the other instead of "centered," it's much easier to remove them.
   3. Songs with a lot of effects may be quite difficult to separate and invert. There may be a little echo of the vocals that will be difficult to remove.
3. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 3
   Import the audio into the editing software of your choice. You can do this basic process in any editing software that allows you to invert tracks for a particular channel. While the exact location of the tool for each will vary slightly, the basic process is the same for the following programs:

   1. Audacity
   2. Pro Tools
   3. Ableton
   4. Reason
4. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 4
   Break the channels into separate tracks. In most programs, you can break a high quality sound file recorded in stereo into the two tracks. You should see a black arrow next to the track title, which you can click and select, "Split Stereo Track." You should then have the separate channels to work with individually.^[1]
5. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 5
   Select one of the channels to invert. Since they both have vocals embedded in the tracks, select either one. Double-click to select the entire track if you want to remove the vocals on the entire song.
6. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 6
   Invert the channel. Once you've selected the track, invert it using the "Effect" function and selecting "Invert." The song might sound a little strange after you play it. After inverting, the track should sound like it's coming from the sides, instead of the middle.

   1. You should still be able to hear vocals some, but don't worry. You'll complete the effect when you bounce it back to mono.
7. How to Remove Vocals from Songs Picture 7
   Convert the file back to mono. Combine the two stereo channels back into one channel. You should now have one combined track that should have a more diminished amplitude. That means the vocals will be massaged out and the instrumentation will be usable. You may still hear faint hints of the original singer hiding in the background.