TutorialsRemove Vocals from Mp3s using audacity (Win/Mac/Linux) Free
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| Video Description More Video Tutorials Here http://youtube.jimmyr.com/videotutorials.php Download Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ To save as mp3 you need to have lame mp3 encoder installed http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3 This works with stereo tracks that have the vocals centered, when inverting a track, the waveforms cancel but it may grab more than vocals in some cases. Below are more alternatives. Save to one track at the end. Reduce the audio volume with amplify to make the softest parts disappear then increase it again. This will remove the vocals completely so quit whining about the "reduction". More Info http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Vocal_Removal Enable VST in Audacity for More Plugins http://audacityteam.org/vst/ Audacity Nyquist Plugins http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/nyquistplugins Vst Plugins http://www.freewebs.com/st3pan0va/ http://www.cloneensemble.com/vt_main.htm More stuff http://www.snapfiles.com/get/karaokeanything.html http://www.ethanwiner.com/novocals.html Goldwave has High/lowpass filters for vocal reduction http://www.google.com/search?hl=enr&q=goldwave |
Comments:
eduardoc: Am I the only one not hearing anything?oticram: what is the deal with the squirrel?
jimmyrcom: I haxxored the youtube equation used to grab thumbnails from the video. I can now insert my own custom thumbnails for my videos by inserting single frames in exact locations.
hornet307: Hah, I googled this shit for about 2 hours one day.
C0C0ACHIP: wat was with the random squirrel??
wannasodaGJ: can this be done with garage band also
megapenis: Audacity don't work with windows vista :(
jlumley: lame mp3 does not work with vista, i saved to wav instead
jimmyrcom: windows vista doesn't even work with windows vista.
blu3cheez: Am i the only one that cant get this to work? Maybe I'm just chosing the wrong songs...?
jimmyrcom: Sometimes it doesn't work. Check the links in the description for other methods. This is the easiest way to go and works in most situations.
tovasdad: jimmy what type equipment do i need to record live music to audacity
njpalko314: Your sound card. Mr. Jimmy has shown in a tutorial called get music from youtube videos (or something along that line).
jimmyrcom: I don't know. I have a sennheiser headset, I've never used a mic not attached to a headset. I recommend searching newegg and amazon and make sure the mics have noise reduction.
tovasdad: i guess what i am trying to ask is protools uses the mbox2 fire wire to record a whole band i have been trying for two months to find out what audacity uses any help would be appreciated
Sushiiiiiiiiiiiii: jimmy you are soooo awesome these guides are GREAT!!!
mustang1298: Well, whit this program, could i remove the speeches and keep engine noise?
Aviana251: Awesome! I've been wondering how to do that for a while now. Thanks.
TravisZeckert: I already had Audacity for a different reason, but I can make some tracks now with no vocals, which I need, thanks a bunch Jimmy.
FahedWrestling: You always have this "%%howto" in all of your descriptions. What is it for?
jimmyrcom: the youtube dot jimmyr dot com has a video tutorials section. I add that so my script that parses the youtube api for my videos automatically updates the list and puts the video the correct category.
gamedude507: how did you come up with the formula to figure out where to put them?
gamedude507: HAHA Jimmy,
We all saw the attempt at making the thumbnails for the video what you want it to be, at :48, 2:24, and 1:35...
Great Video!!!
jimmyrcom: It worked perfectly XD. 1 frame only so I can't make it much faster than that. Go to the bottom of the comments and click "View all 25 comments" and it shows all three thumbnails.
pimpsahoy1594: very VERY useful especially for the videos i make.
StarvMarv: um...is the sibliminal messages SUPPOSED to be there?
jimmyrcom: they're the three thumbnails for youtube
arnold318: yours was the audacity logo,sephiroth,and a chipmunk with nuts in its mouth?
stevenis18: lol yeh i see the first there was audacity then i think i saw a squrrel
TravisZeckert: I forgot to mention, does this make the tracks mono/ lesser quality.
jimmyrcom: you can save as stereo and still have the background in stereo. It does diminish quality a bit because the subscraction isn't perfect. Audio tracks aren't as you may think, they're basically one long continuous insane math function so removing certain frequencies can get messy. Just think hard math on steroids.
TravisZeckert: I will just test it and see how it works, I figured it would at least drop a little in quality.
moneyoverbitchez1: great ,
but i cant make it work :/
jimmyrcom: Check the video description for more methods
ForgivenForSure: Heh, I was gonna make a tut about this exentually....you did a better job at it. Nice one, jimmy!
effectsmaster1: how do you take the words out without taking th drums out wen ever i take the vocals out it takes the drums and bass out of the song? do u know wat i should do? please reply
TravisZeckert: Try a different song, the drums are in it for me, though not all parts, but some of it is though.
jimmyrcom: check the description for other methods if this way doesn't work for you.
MRauron: How did you get the video to have a separate video icon? I noticed the image flash in the middle of video. Did you time that? or is there another way to do that?
nonks: another great tut i use audacity all the time and thanx for introducing me to it
moneyoverbitchez1: do i need to download anything to make this happen ???
eladbari: wow...Queen of the Stone Age, huh!? ....Jimmy's got a Dark Side.. :]
p.s-i see u always "work" on the right channel track. how would u know the vocals are always there?
what if theyre on the left track?
thanx for the tutorial btw! favorited :]
jimmyrcom: I rarely have songs with vocals so to remove the emo-aning lyrics I use audacity. It would be annoying if the audio was only on the right headphone wouldn't it? That's not how this works. Inverting one track allows the waveforms "cancel each other out" since the vocals are usually in the center.
superdarkfade: i noticed the chipmunk at 2:24....
im the first to notice what it was!!!
it scares me...
Alas777: it's weird how it doenst realy work for the song "smile-lilly allen"
but then i tried it on another one it it wokred perfect!
Alas777: Jimmy you are a god among insects!
nice job on all of your tutorials. You are like the only one that I always wait for a new vid, b/ all ur vids are soo intresting and they are always teaching me something new and very usefull!!
duecex2: Cool, I've always wanted to know how to do this.
jdthegameboy: what da hell is up with the pics you put in?
sticksquash: Dude dude... this is awesome everybody wanted this!!! Thank you sandtiger and jimmy
bobbetter: omfg i needed this so bad!! thanks dude!!
stop4chili: Great videos Jimmy. Keep them coming!
closetRAG: Awesome; I feel like finding an excuse to use this technique now...
ihiphopanonymous: What!!! I remember trying to do this with some other program but I couldn't figure it out. Thanks again Jimmy! Time to mash up some songs.
jimmyrcom: check the description for multiple methods
inivonwini: interesting how you slipped in a few frames of a squirrel eating a nut.
roccigiovanniberrini: ok off the bat killer sample song love it you teach me so much
RgB
yugiohmasterv: sorry but this dosnt work and i really wanna know how to do this
yugiohmasterv: sorry but this dosnt work and i really wanna know how to do this
jimmyrcom: This relies on the vocals being centered. See the video description for more links and methods.
vernong1992: u have to highlight the entire thing.. and then try again (talking about the song waves at the bottom)
ChrisFromJersey: thanks this is exactly what I needed for the song How It Ends by Devotchka because I couldn't find the instrumentl anywhere!
PS - love the squirell at 2:24 :P
Zaulfer1: What is up with the really fast pictures that appear and vanish?
DampEgg: If you go to 'View all comments' you can see the 3 thumbnails of this video are of the pictures that flash up. Probably did it to get more views. :D
C3ddie: can you get the vocals alone? or should i just go ahead and try and find an acapella?
DPBuss1992: lol, Jimmy is trying his hand at subliminal messages. If you pause it at 1:35 it shows a picture of Sephiroth ( I think). By the way, you're videos are great, keep em up.
yatagarasean: that is exactly what i was thinking. Subliminal Messages FTW, lol. and great video Jimmy.
DPBuss1992: lol, nevermind. I was reading the comments and it said that it was for the thumbnail. I was wondering why there was a squirel. Are you gonna do that for all your videos?
jimmyrcom: yeah probably. This was a short video so it was more noticable. The images will be cool anyway. People don't click on screen captures because they're used to blurry screencaps narrated by 13 year olds in notepad.
DPBuss1992: How do you know when the times you have to put the picture? And you should try putting stuff that has to do with you tutorial because if someone searches this stuff and sees a squirrel, they might not click it, maybe. But what do I know do whatever you want, it always turns out good anyways.
jimmyrcom: Squirrel is much more likely to be clicked than blurred screen capture icon. The squirrel told me so. Where are the exact times is a question that me a day and a half of testing to answer. I'll keep it secret =).
DPBuss1992: I'm talking about how to choose the thumbnail
jimmyrcom: it's not <i>exactly</i> the middle frame, it's not the middle time, but if you leave the pic for 1 sec or 30 frames you can pretty much guarantee its placement. What took me a day and a half is finding the exact placement for all three thumbnails.
DPBuss1992: Isn't it around 25%, 50%, 75% of the video. I'm gonna start doing these tutorials too, but i can't think of anything to do it on. Is it ok if i answer some of requests on your site?
jimmyrcom: Yes that's correct, just go about 5 frames back from those marks and leave for 30 frames if your running (30fps) and you're about guaranteed it will work. I prefer my evil 1 frame flashes ;)
seanw23: can u rip the vocal from any part of the song?
would also work in reverse effect as in ripping the audio from the vocal, so u only have the lyrics....
jimmyrcom: Check the description for different methods of removal. This trick relies on vocals being centered and is by far the easiest.
Healthyz: I love you ~nohomo~ hahahha But really Your the greatest You saved so much time and googling(not a word but it works) and finding out stuff. Thanks alot!!!!
r0b0flippin: Hey jimmy, I get so addicted to your brilliant video tutorials. They are so cool to watch... I end up going to bed hours after I intend to, because I get absorbed in all these programs. Anyways, just thought I'd finally tell you that.
**SUBSCRIBED**
Re4per: Hey. When I do this, ( When I play it ) It has really low sound of vocals and every now and again it will say some of the lyrics normally. What's happening ?
idolfan06: many artists record background vocals, and sometimes the background vocals are the same as the original ones, so it would have sort of a "double effect" on the vocal. So what you're hearing could quite possibly be a background vocal
Skycamper: haha, you started to put in subliminal images !
Healthyz: I'm gonna post this one more time... Jimmy Your the man I know you'll never answer me. Also Do you really live with your mom because your smart enough to be a professor.
jimmyrcom: Thanks. who the heck said that?
Healthyz: You did remember when you did the, and my personal favorite "secret cow"Or the one where you hide files in .jpg, you say I dont know for sure but Hey this comes from a kid who lives with his mom. And i think someone replied are you trying to say you look at stuff.
Healthyz: You did remember when you did the, and my personal favorite "secret cow"Or the one where you hide files in .jpg, you say I dont know for sure but Hey this comes from a kid who lives with his mom. And i think someone replied are you trying to say you look at stuff.
TigerSoldier: I clicked it because of the squirrel picture :).
Garritt24: God, there is not much you cant do huh? You're the man!
BTW, lol at the little random chipmunk
frozensundae: Nice tutorial, but I'm craving acorns all of a sudden...
Garritt24: Dude, you do not get the recognition you deserve!
zinezinzadan: ROFL the picture at 2:24 is cute, I use windwows media player, is it possible to make the image appear and disappear that fast on windows? You might wanna make a vid of that lol :P
dfrusdn: 5/5 like most of your other video. Highly useful
onemancapacity1: GREAT TUTORIAL
queens of the stone age is a awesome band..
Thanks
KGSProductions: why did you put a subliminal picture in your video?
PatriotismIsSlavery: Good question. There are at least two. Anyway... we noticed them... so I guess they're not really subliminal :)
meat2big: my song went chopped and screwed on me man what happen?
GiggityZZ: yeeee jimmy be the best d00d. improper grammer freaking rox! ok im done. anyway, i got some sweet instrumentals that i made now :D
GiggityZZ: but u know ive actually figured out this doesnt work for certain kinds of music like black metal with shrieking voices etc. it would be cool if someone went into this.
try using the song Dauden by Borknagar
RichJohnson06: Hmm, followed all the steps but it didn't work. I get to the end and it just played like normal :S
jimmyrcom: It does not work for all songs. Check the description for alternative methods.
mattbennington: Did you flash those pictures up really fast so you could have them as the image for your video or something?
yeniths: man them secret pics hurt my eyes
Reapa26: Thanx Jimmyr, i have been looking for a program to remove vocals for ages
and it works really well too :)
TehSkywalker: So helpful! No realy, your videos have too few views :(
elmojado21: jimmy postin videos like crazy now orale wey!!
greeny106: i am your number one fan! your awesome, where do you learn this stuff?
Hecter123: he learns it from watching jimmyrcon videos
superdarkfade: he makes jimmyrcom videos...
42ADENT: well done helping the stupid : ) cheers
Tophillious: Im surprised no one mentioned karaoke :P
antoTV: it doesn't really work that good
bballmaniac4444: is it just me or do i see random flashes of other things in the middle of the video? unusual..
very helpful vid though!
dannyjam: yes he does that so that the preview thumbnail - which youtube takes from the very centrepoint of the video is a picture of his choice. go down to the bottom of this page and press read all comments and look at the pictures on that page .
iGotSomeQs: Would someone mind telling how to switch from mono to stereo? I'm new to this.
pimpsahoy1594: well i did exactly what it said in here and nothing changed. i even did it a second time and it stayed the same. any suggestions?
pidman101: you really love that song dont u
willabbot: Jimmy!! you have subliminal advertising in this video! at 00:48, the audacity logo pops up for a split second!!! that's illegal!! why, oh why, jimmy...
jimmyrcom: There's no such thing as advertising when it comes to open source. It's sharing, there's no profit involved.
triforce209: are u trying to brainwash us cause around 2:24 is a squirrel with a peanut in its mouth.....
whats up with that?
triforce209: yeah i bought a couple pounds the other day. their good
JUk3Ak47: u can check ur audio driver or sound/audio tool of windows. Sometimes there is a option to remove vocals.
vista for example has it too ;)
Thank u for the tutorial Jimmy
nicanicamad: I love what you do for us all. So cool.
tempipas: thanks it works and its very cool :)
JohnnyBoyf: why would you want to strip the song of its vocals?
jimmyrcom: Either to dub videos with original background music, karaoke, or stip annoying vocals from an otherwise awesome song.
sayno2bugs: The title is a bit deceiving since you're only "filtering" out the vocals (along with other data btw), not actually "removing" them (which can only be done by remixing the original tracks (and of course, muting the vocal track)). Perhaps the word "filter" would have been more fitting.
Nonetheless, it is still a fun & useful quick-tip for people who want to create a crude karaoke version of a song. ThumbsUp^
jimmyrcom: -_- no one has the original tracks unless they made the song. If you do this properly and lower the audio the volume settings you can completely remove the vocals. It's not filtering either, it's making an invert track so the waveforms cancel, and it only works if the vocal part is centered.
sayno2bugs: From your desciption: "Goldwave has High/lowpass *filters* for vocal *reduction*"
"reduction" not removal - you're simply making it (along with other data) inaudible. They call it a "filter" because that's exactly what you are doing is filtering. You are also filtering out other data in the same frequency range as the vocals and thus you are not simply "removing the vocals" (hence the lower quality of the remaining song).
sayno2bugs: Again, the only way you can truly remove ONLY the vocals (leaving the rest of the song untouched) is by remixing the original tracks. Whether or not people have access to the original tracks is (although true) irrelevant. It doesn't change the fact that it is still required to completely accomplish this objective.
jimmyrcom: I consider having the vocals inaudible removing the vocals. I didn't say a perfect removal captain technicality.
sayno2bugs: And I complimented your efforts. I'm simply saying the title is a bit misleading. Since your goal seems to be to "teach" something to your audience, I assume you'd want to be technically accurate and not misleading. Your overly defensive response seems rather odd given your apparent goal.
jimmyrcom: if they follow the steps they can make the vocals inaudible. The title is not misleading. Your obsession with the definition of remove, and attempting to tell me a programmer, what filter means, annoys me to no end.
jimmyrcom: They call things filter in photoshop and gimp too and a variety of other programs where programmers can add their own filters using a set scripting language, does that mean mean adding monochrome is a filter and not a remove color effect? Don't bullshit me, I'm a programming.
sayno2bugs: "adding monochrome" - "removing color" is a contradiction. How this is accomplished depends on what result you want (nearest color, error diffusion, dithering, etc), but regardless of what method you use, it is a conversion, not simply a removal of color. If you removed the color bits you'd have no way to convert it to a corresponding monochrome (1 bit) value (ie. a blank image).
What language do u program in? I've been at it for about 20yrs - mostly gaming (sound) related software.
jimmyrcom: Thanks again captain technicality for using your dictionary rather than your brain. wikipedia monochrome. We use the term to indicate grayscale or black and white when referring to images. Add monochrome as in add a filter that sets the picture to monochrome or grayscale. I'm going to block you now you suffer from the Dunning Kruger effect and will only waste more time.
jimmyrcom: Ok I've deleted your disgusting other posts. Quit making new accounts to spam me. You're like a 3 year old arguing that windows ME is better than ubuntu. I won't waste my time with gross incompetence.
seanw23: but can lower the background music so that you only have the vocal??? because using this software, i can make my own remixes of my favorite songs.
that is when i use this along with atomixmp3
jimmyrcom: check the description for more alternatives
hazukisan7: once again great video audacity is a great program it can also be used to record songs from myspace u have to change it to "wave out mix" and then hit record while the song on myspace plays .
xjosephx504: NIiIiIiiCE! I've been wanting to know how to do this! Thank you
dudebromanbra: yes! this is great, but someone just said that you could record mp3's from myspace, etc.. how can i do that?
SAYDABABY: did anybody else see the sephiroth subliminal? lol
sparxblade: How do you find this stuff out!?
tocen: awsome, ive been tryin to find a program that does this right, thanks
whitekid452: lol whats up with the crazy pics lol
Tacomonday: can I do this with the guitars/bass/drums to??
waffles911: it didn't work for me.
it was an mp3, and i followed you directions exactly.
but all it did when i inverted it, it played the song backwards.
it sounded like the devil.
help please!
jimmyrcom: Check the video description for more methods. Make sure you invert only the bottom track not both and then play it back.
culwin: Ahhh! Subliminal messages! Worship Satan!!
SignorSincero: Didn't work for me either, I'm afraid. I followed the instructions, but when I play the track i get a second of scratchy noise, even when i try to play an mp3 without altering it. Am I using the program incorrectly? I just installed it and it was like this... please help!!
jimmyrcom: mmm I'm not sure. I hadn't heard of audacity doing that. Try using goldwave, it's a similar program, going to effect - stereo - remove vocals
BHLMR0: lawl jimmy uses subliminal messaging =D But on a serious not thx. Makes it alot easier. Now to go remix. Keep it up!
KasHCubeD: so how do you remove the instruments and extract the vocals?
altrisounder: Theorically you should sum the track without vocals with the original track, inverting one of the tracks' phase.
demonhand: Very interesting. Thank you for another educational video!
Alabama64lee: cool I need to try this sometime ,thanks for the tutorial
StarWarsGataradeRain: I am not trying to diss you but what the heck is with all these subliminal pictures about, Im not going to do this but I am pretty sure you could get banned for doing that.
jimmyrcom: Click view all comments at the bottom andlook at the thumbs.
StarWarsGataradeRain: oh yeah I like your vids they help me learn I just wondered. I am even a subscriber.
StarWarsGataradeRain: Oh yeah for anyone who did not see there is the audacity sign at the 48 second mark a fury animal eating a nut at the 2:24 mark and I don't know where the anime character is but if anyone could help me out to where to find it that would be fun.
LProcka: its a picture a sephiroth at 1:36
its hard to spot
sirguyofsebastian: Already knew that mate, I thought you might have a more effective method.
dan2741: everytime i try this it doesnt work, all its doing is removing the bass, it has no effect on the audio, PLEASE HELP!!!
syed1994: What if I want the vocals only?
zoidberg590: exactly, the question was how to rip vocals, not remove them. countless software can remove vocals automatically, what is needed is software to isolate vocals.
pokemonlovermand: NICE its just what I nedded thanks very much
ningwilliam: i never know i can do it on audacity
btw, wut if i wana save the final work?
ningwilliam: yea i know, i thought mine it doesnt work coz i cant click the export thing but actually i forgot that ive clicked PAUSE so yep. silly me.
johnremad: and why are there secret images in this video?
johnremad: and why there are secret images in this video
atoma12: because it's... TOP SECRET AGENCIES AGAINST VOCAL REMOVAL
Fafifoeni: and why are there secret images in this video?
Bleh7777: Talking in a "no wai" type of voice makes it very hard to listen to.
DuMbGuM: yeah jimmy love ur blog site but whats with these hidden images in the video?
Vandflaske4545: Nice know how.....
I think its sad that you have to make your track a poorer a quality for it "really" to apply (amplify and loss data).
thenoseymethod: has anyone had there mp3 song end up sounding a little worse in quality when vocals are removed?
reg2800: What's with the squirrel at 2:24?
Remaker: this is a mind control video . don't watch it. beware of the squirrel !
johnremad: OMG squirrel!!!, we are doomed
justusbruns: it didn't work with billie jean
zzubnik: Awful. Sorry, but this method fails much of the time. Also, the annoying semi-subliminal pictures made me want scream.
Fail.
FrankieBoombatts: This is going to totally help with making custom Guitar Hero songs. Thanks a bunch man!
johnremad: people want answer mr. jimmyrcom, why? why subliminal(not very subliminal) images?
jimmyrcom: I've answered 100 times now. Thumbnails
cr3ated: That may be an answer that works, but it's not a wise idea. It just pisses everyone off, seriously. It defeats the point of the thumbnails in the first place and is very distracting.
jimmyrcom: or it gives you 12,000 views and the most discussed list.
cr3ated: I completely assure you it was NOT the thumbnails that did that.
Digg did that.
jimmyrcom: I know. But I've had my videos posted to digg many times and I rarely get votes. The vivid picture definitely played a part. People don't click screen captures because they expect super blurred notepad annotated nonsense with pop music in the background.
johnremad: ooh thumbnails, now everything fits
graaaag: yeah this only works if the artist pans the vocals into only one speaker.
jimmyrcom: no it only works if the vocals are centered and the same on both tracks. Inverting one track makes makes the waveforms cancel. None of this pan in one channel craziness.
graaaag: i see. It didn't work for a song i tried it with ("Eunuch Provocateur" by the Mars Volta), which had centered vocals. Another video showed how to remove vocals, and he came out and said that it's because all the vocals are on the right speaker, so i guess that's where i got the idea.
but whatever, i'll try it with another song.
fraglessone: didn't he want to know how to extract the vocals from the song? if that's the case, first remove the vocals, then invert the wave form and paste it over the original so the two waveforms will cancel each other out and leave only the vocals.
originalph00tbag: Doesn't work. You just get a stereo inversion. It is physically impossible to exctract vocals from a track. I'd explain, but the comment would be too long.
roflcoptors: Sephrioth is a Badass, you win for putting that frame in thur.
Bloodox1: I like how u put in a picture of a gerbal/mice for a easteregg ahahaah nice one
Bherget3: Ok, well it did remove the vocals for me, but I also lost all of my bass and drum tracks.....
jimmyrcom: check the video description for more methods
thrrr: If he plays the song for the first time after the edit, you can see a single frame with a chipmunk!
smartalecks: ... was that a subliminal advert of the audacity logo at :47-:48?
FoxNewsLies: This is a very old trick, and the resulting audio quality is bad though.
FoxNewsLies: n physics, phase cancellation is the effect of summing two waves that are out of phase with each other. Since the waves are not in phase, the crests and troughs will not match up, and the end result could be a wave that has less overall amplitude than both of the original waves, or if the wavelengths are completely 180° out of phase, there will be no sound.
Like I said this is old news.
stizz84: thanks for all the videos keep doing it i call it internet education for the ineret...
jimmyrcom: check the description for more methods. works for songs that have vocals centered/stereo.
CurlyHayami: Wow this kid has the worst voice for vid voiceovers, lmao. Oh well-still awesome.
maulwurfmann000: Works well enough... cool dude
miezu: HMM it did not work, I clicked under the title and it did grey out the bottom track jest like in the video, but when i went to effect nothing in that pull down menu was highlighted.
miezu: also is there anything that would let me download jest the music from a music video, so i can listen to it on a normal CD?
jimmyrcom: set stereomix in audacity and click record. You can get a detailed tutorial searching "jimmyrcom capture audio". Just use goldwave or audacity instead. For audacity you'll need to download lame. search audacity lame.
peeeanuts: check out my vid for more details =)
doooooob: This didn't work for the 1 mp3 I tried it with.
greatguitargoon: Right.. so how do you take off instruments?
robvicious: this is only working with the song where the voices are only on one side... And it's never working with "electronic" song...
jimmyrcom: no it works on tracks where vocals are centered and the audio is stereo. If the voices are only on one track that means you'd only hear singing on one headphone/speaker. That'd be annoying.
aznby: how do u select and delete a segment of the song?
justmadethisupok: Wtf is up with the subliminal messages man?
0:48s picture of audacity pops up
1:36s picture of some guy with a sword???
2:24s squirrel with a walnut (wtf?)
I don't know what you're doing but it's pretty weird.
jimmyrcom: scroll to the bottom and click "view all comments" look at the pic at the top.
justmadethisupok: Ah I understand now. I understand the audacity logo but why the others?
jimmyrcom: because they're cool and standout. Most people don't recognize the audacity logo anyway.
jon7mac: yeah this method really doesn't work at all
albertrombone: ahhahahah, you are perfectly stupid.
albertrombone: Seriously, I respect your work, ...
AHHAHAHHAHA
claudiolucero: this sucks, there are loads of frequencies disappearing as well.
the drums are gone too.
jimmyrcom: its success rate depends on the song and how its formatted. Quit jumping to conclusion after one attempt.
jon7mac: try two attempts...yours and mine
xicyxkaylax: Pretty cool! Sometimes I run into issues with vocals being echoed.. any way to fix that? Also, how do you get just vocals, because I can get the background music without words but I can't get words without background music. Thanks!
fipman2: this rocks! thanks so much for the help!
mazdec: why are their flashing images like sephiroth and a squirrel
Tophillious: For all the people asking about the pictures flashing throughout the video, Jimmy inserted them in the video so the thumbnail would be the picture in the middle of the video. Now please shutup about it.
eduardo172a: It worked for me alright . awesome.
fashnek: This filtering technique rarely works and in general is finicky at best. I've personally tried it on hundreds of tracks and had a very low number of successes.
Unfortunately it's the best thing you can do without a studio's help. A capella and instrumental/karaoke versions are always nice.
eduardo172a: you invert one channel and keep the other one. The sum of the two channels is the song without voice. That´s interesting, not intuitive at all. If you play only one of the channels you can hear the voice. If you play them together you can´t. That´s odd.
eduardo172a: I think I figure it out. The voice is the only waveform/track that is played in both channel. So that´s the only waveform/track that completely disappears. Since it is not true for all recording (voice identical in both channels), this method does not work for all songs. Just a thought...
Zalo10: At 1:34-1:36 There is a blink pictar.
Prolly a subliminal message.
globe46: thats sick
pls watch my vid it has me jumping 10 ft. in the air
i have super powers?
mtber4lyfe: whats up with the anime guy at 1:36?
Kyle0random1: at 2:24 theres a queirl pic eating a nut!!!! hahahahaha and there sephiroth at 1:36 at 0:48 theres head phones with eltrisity in it!!! kool eh kool how i can see it?
iownsssowns: WTF u had random pics pop up like with the hamster
thundersky209: I think he was hoping that the random pix would make it as an icon or something
nicoli492: congrats on being #3 in Digg today with this vid!
lynch03: I don't like how you just skip out off the last step. You just assume people know how to save it to one file?? The process seemed to work, until you describe the amplify part. Which for me it just reforms the song to how it originally sounded. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I'm not sure because you completely skipped over the last part pertaining to removing to saving it and boosting the amplification.
bigtom726: JimmyR, making stupid people look smart. Great Job.
garyhampton: Tried it...didn't work for me. Just made the track sound terrible and I could still hear the vocals, they were just lower and distorted.
Wish it worked though!
dag204: That was cool but doesnt work too well with harsh vocals, I tried with Amon Amarth and it was still too audible, the same with Dio.
frank26080115: I call bullshit, this theoretically shouldn't work.
phyzome: That means you haven't tried it.
It does work, but adds distortion with some MP3 files.
frank26080115: Inverting should have made it silent though.
I'll take that back, now I see why stereo was so important.
la0zxb0ixx: its called phase inversion,learn somthin about music.thanks
bjhorton2005: Hehe. I have to say.. I did subscribe then unsubscribed from you. But I use your website ALL the time. And then I see a link to this helpful video. So, I suppose I am actually going to resubscribe haha. Good stuff dude :)
dudeguyevil: this is awesome! thanks jimmyrcom!
Tyrantulas: Considering that your example didn't even work, I'd say your method is flawed. Also, "remove" is not the same thing as "lower the volume"
PridhamPro: It didn't work for MC Hammer =( But it worked for the Beatles!
deernardz: wxcellent tutorial, didn;'t know audacity had the power to do these kinds of things
hikyle: this didnt work for me i tried three songs.
dewyjuhl: whats with the single frame of anime at 1:36? I hate anime
asdwasdw0: The reason why it works on some tracks but not others is that in order for this technique to work well, the vocals have to be in the centre. In other words the vocal component has to be balanced equally in both the left and right channels. The further away from the centre it is, the less effective this method will be.
iluvsnickerdoodles: wow...wats with the anime guy with a sword????!?!?!? it like quickly flashes...but i got it paused on the pic! at 1:36....as your saying "mono format" its a cool pic
jimmyrcom: It has a high success rate and is relatively fast to test. The alternatives are more annoying and usually ask you to pay (vst/dx plugins). check description for more options.
backupunit: this really works indeed,stupid people dont know how to configure their settings.
marleyinoc: didn't work for me on the track i tried but thanks for the heads up on this program, it will work for other things i have in mind! and i am sure it will work on some songs for removing vocals, so I will try it for that to when needed...
Gabbos: wow, he posted a video for something that didnt work.
Gabbos: the title says "Remove"... at the end I can still hear the vocals. So it didnt work... asshat! Title should read "Make vocal volume really low so people dont notice"
jimmyrcom: thank you retard again. You didn't follow the last recommended step. Just lower the volume to delete the softest parts then raise it again.
albertrombone: Your operation, technically speaking, is the phase inversion subtraction. It works if the stereo track is composed by a "mono" voice equally distribuited on the two channels, and instruments tracks panned in space.
In this case the inversion and subtraction can work, but this is NOT the standard mixing of a recording.
syed1994: What if I want the vocals only?
bodom0015: What's with the random flashing subliminal messages? I swear to god i saw sonic the hedgehog in there! lol
mistercurls: Wow this is just a form of intentional phase cancellation. The reason it doesn't work for certain songs and/or a majority of them is because it depends on how it was mixed.
jlsjavi: This video has subliminal advertising!! Look at 1:35 and there are more!!
voltage2unlimited: my country made this application. SLOVENIA
and it rly does work :)
20149: uhhhhh 1:35-36 and there is a little squirral eating a nut in there. theres sepiroth from ff7 in cartoon form too rofl
schmobot: Those random frames placed in the video are clearly put in there to be used by YouTube as thumbnails for the clip. Pretty clever actually.
gonzalezandres36: im glad that i learned from you how to at least decrease the vocals of the song. can you suggest a way to really diminish the vocals? because in this application, there is still the vocal at the bacground and also the percussions are very much affected in the inversion. You did a great job also to introduce to us this program and i appreciate you for that. More power and i want to hear more from you.
aeglorre: Lol, this doesnt work, the whole song gets screwed up... Thanks for the effort though.
jayisstudios: i did this and it made the vocals soft and made the drums sound weird, great tutorial but i wish we could totally get rid of the vocals
jxnblk: This only works to get rid of sounds that are centered in the mix, while leaving everything that has been widened in the stereo sound (i.e. the left channel is different from the right). Vocals are general left in the center when mixing down a track, because it would sound like a duet if it was widened. This works on the same principle as a basic remixer's trick where you take the acapella version of a track, invert it, then mix it with the original.
jimmyrcom: as stated in the video description
Doxtu: This doesn't work for me. I clicked split track and it grays out everything on the menu and the song wont play or anything. It doesn't work for me. No I'm not using vista.
CiceronesTelecomm: I know that you mentioned it in the video, but how can I rip the vocals off a mono track? Is it in a link under the descriptions? Thanks! Very helpful.
jimmyrcom: use goldwave high/lowpass filters and try to isolate the frequency to reduce/remove or use one of the vst/dx filters that are shareware.
VooDooRex: Nice pic of Sephiroth at 1:36 man.
lemonpaper7: y do u have a pic of a chipmonk on 2.24
st3v3j: Is there a way you can remove bass lines? or remove entire instruments so I can listen to the bass line? I'm not paying £40 for guitar pro >.> Please reply =]
BigMac8000: I imagine this works with most bands, but it didn't with Dragonforce. Guess I'm gonna have to live with that dudes screaming :)
omgheatherface: That's because DragonForce is awesome, and ZP's voice shouldn't go anywhere. ;)
fritts1227: Thanks for flashing annoying pictures faggot. that'll be the last time I ever watch one of your videos again.
b0r3d2006: buddy you let people get to you to easily.... just ignore ignorant comments.... its not worth the stress honestly...
StarWarsGataradeRain: They aren't being ignorant just curious why he is flashing images aka trying to do subliminal messaging. Its kinda wierd, I thought it was illegal but I guess not because there is no real advertising just annoying.
b0r3d2006: im curious as well myself, i find it annoying when people do it... BUT lets re-read what was said "Faggot" wasn't needed...
Better ways to express anger with situations and as i said i am curious myself doubt we'll get an answer but people don't need to talk to someone who tries to help like that
b0r3d2006: also i am curious why he deleted his comment after mine as mine looks aimless now
b0r3d2006: Well i told him i support his efforts 100% and he's doing a great thing for everyone. As a supporter i also made a suggestion aboiut the small resolution making me very dizzy and got a very short response as my opinion didn't matter.
I hope he takes it to consideration as i've not one issue with the guy he is doing a lot of help, but flashing stuff in the middle for your thumbnail picture i'd love for him to see it just doesn't need it.
b0r3d2006: I'd like the videos to earn credit for the work not views for what people think it is.
Jimmy buddy since deleting your comment leaving my defending comment open air, please delete it as it makes me look stupid and defending nobody.
Keep up the work but listen to users once and awhie, they are possible subscribers, don't get upset because they comment but aren't subscribed yet. I think i messaged you before i was then i subscribed few days later.
StarWarsGataradeRain: I am also subscribed to JimmyR. I like his video tutorials also.
machograpes: when i split the track, clicked on the bottom track, and then go to effects, the effects tab is all unclickable like the words are transparent to the tab instead of black...
am i doing something wrong?
Airsoft19: yo whats up with the subliminal message of a squiral? lmao
NOVA911: yeah wat is with sephirpth poping up like that??
Sonicdman: Mine doesn't let me select anything for the "Effects" Button
Krazyrocko: try stopping the track by clicking the square button...
pinkp02: dizz was sooooo helpfulllllll! =D
thanxxx <3
vonsusername: i got half tha job done but i cant select both tracks to amplify
peanutsnpeppers: yeah but i couldnt see what it was, the first one is the Audacity logo...
killuacaper: OMFG TY SOOOO MUCH
i needed to get the instrumental of a song and you are my god
TY SO MUCH FOR THIS
elior21: nice, but not a 100%..
tnx a lot
Bobertoq: lol what happens 0:48? Anyways very nice I didn't know about the de-ampfly thing I'll try it.
peanutsnpeppers: oh its like a subliminal message thingy... its actually the Audacity logo in 00:48, and also another one in 2:24 though im not sure what it is.
Laogeodritt: It's a squirrel with a large nut in its mouth. (For the one at 2:24).
peanutsnpeppers: oh yeah i actually got to see it
lili4trees: Yeah, that was kind of scary... :O
Bobertoq: subliminal message? I don't like subliminal messages :(
MagL33To: There are actually 3 "hidden" images in the video. One of the Audacity logo @ 0:48, one of Sephiroth @ 1:36, and one of a squirrel @ 2:24.
peanutsnpeppers: oh yeah but i thinks its more like 01:34 or 35... who is Sephiroth, and why is it in the vid. Or better yet why is there 3 images?
Bobertoq: Jimmyrcom can you tell us why you put subliminal messages in the video?
peanutsnpeppers: lol hopefully you get an answer. =D
MagL33To: The answer is simple. They are not actually "subliminal messages". When you upload a youtube video, it takes a snap-shot of the video at 1/4 through the vid, 1/2 through the vid and 3/4 through the vid in order to make the pre-view pictures for it. For a video of length 3:12 (what this one happens to be), these points are at: 0:48, 1:36 & 2:24. So Jimmy placed pictures there to "fool" the preview system.
lamaz1928: LOOKING 4 A GOOD TUT ON THIS thankssomuch
whitedaliah: did anybody catch the little character that pops up
Bobertoq: Why are they there what are they for?
peanutsnpeppers: uhm im guessing the first subliminal message 00:48 is to advertise Audacity... but the ah squirrel 02:24 i have no clue.
tinomart99: I tried it twice with two different songs, but it didn't work. I followed the directions exactly! The vocals are not much quieter, just more distorted. Help?
peanutsnpeppers: i tried it too but i had to save it first then when i opened it again it was a lot better although you can still hear the vocals but not as much.
Bleach2891: If you pause you can drag the thingy to 2:24 and see the squirrle.
Bobertoq: Why did you put a "subliminal" message in the video?
hollohill: I think it's for video thumbnail purposes...
Nixlplix: The Soundblaster Xi-Fi comes with software that does this automatically. And like this method here, it doesn't work on everything.
lowerMyIQ: This does not only get rid of the vocals, but anything in the track that is panned in the center. So snare drum, kick, and bass all lose volume.
Ouroboros22: I get everything up till about 2:34, I don't get the save thing and the thing after it, I need like a step by step thing or something.
"save it and open it so its only one track."????
i don't understand
jimmyrcom: file save, then drag the new file back into audacity.
Ouroboros22: i'm still having trouble understanding, it would be more clear 2 me if it was in a step by step thing, oh well, whatever, thanx anyway
bonFreakingJovi: Well... I did this and the vocals are gone, but the quality is pretty bad, it's getting a lot of high pitched annoying sounds.
guitarboy356: The quality is poor because you're not actually removing the vocals. You're actually doing something called phase inverting. It cancels out any waveform that is present in both the left and right channels of the song.
There is no perfect vocal removal, aside from removing them during the mixing stage of song production.
Vocal Removing not only removes vocals, but also generally the snare and other instruments that are mostly mono, panned center in the mix.
bonFreakingJovi: I see... I think lol
But thanks for the tut anyway
atarikg: so thanks but i didnt understand what you are doing because i dont care about what you are doing :) but it seems nice job...
CatswillRule: AHHH Your wonderful thank you sooooomuch!!! I've had audacity for like ever but I never knew how to do that but somone sent me this video of yours and omg thank you soo much for posting this video!!!
~Raisia Rue
Errianno: Didn't worked. I guess the vocals are too loud.
EruIluvatar: thanks but as i used it and saw its not even close to the music quality of the original .
Also, it would be easiser if u would provide the link to the dll to save in MP3 .bye
jimmyrcom: I did in the description and results completely depend on the song which I also mentioned .bye
thedeadserv: this method isn't very accurate. cuz it seems as though the inversion cuts the sound spectrum around our voice's capability. the problem is various instruments use the same frequencies especially drums and basses. the result is a music without vocals, drums and bass. the best results are obtained when the instruments and vocals are veeery distinguished in their own spectrum zone. many sound cards use the same process for the karaoke effect.same crappy results though. good tutorial still.
chaosspartan2: i need help!!! where can i get the mp3 thing cause i rlly wanna rip vocals!!!!!!!!!!!!plz tell me
mrdrstandrew: jimmy, I'm sorry the people commenting on your videos are such idiots.
anyway, I've been using Audacity for years and I'm surprised I never realized that you could use invert like that.
dayoffire613: Hey, thanks for the turorial. I can do a lot with that. I'm having a little trouble but I've never done this 'till now so I'll get used to it.
By the way, nice subliminal messages. :D
Arrowdance: Hi, Could you tell me how can I make a song in karaoke mode in goldwave?
xxlucky09xx: Thanks i didnt know that, i have been using audicity to make ringtones lol.
geekyvince: what was up with the quick flashes of those anime pics?
3LANCER: Good tutorial. But, what's up with those random flashes of pictures? Subliminal messages?
hyperscooby: Thank you - this is brilliant!
snesjunky: man your smart.this tutorial is great.Keep your videos up there awesome.
thashroko: was there a picture of sonic the headchog in tehre????? because it looked like it.
cleartext: This also removes anything that has a zero balance or no stereo seperation.
UCMAXEL: wow, nice tutorial dude, It really helps with about 90% of my songs! UR MY HERO! lol
killsforfun: now how to i get my drums back? :(
Malocosa: Great tutorial and info. BUT, what was with the subliminal Chipmunk image that flashed for about 2 milliseconds???
cypherphage: anyway to easily prevent people from doing this?
mongoose7001: I guess put the vocals in one earphone, or maybe unbalance it. If I understand correctly how this works, that would make this technique not work so well.
SupHobagg: Hey i tried it and thanks!!!! That's spifferss
sebamierda: Added: 6 days ago
From: jimmyrcom
Views: 91,018
the picture worked xD
your vid rulz :)
flyingace15: jimmy r,
how do you record in stereo with audacity??
i dont know how to change the channels/source
audacity will only record in mono so far
also, i only have m4p files because of itunes
do you know how to change them to mp3 since audacity wont read the m4p
jimmyrcom: record two mono tracks, set one as right channel and one as left using the down arrow then click the down arrow again and click make stereotrack
flyingace15: thanks a lot, but does the audio have to start at the same time?? because there is a delay from when i hit the record to when i hit the play button on the track, which i found using your music search =]
jimmyrcom: if you're looking to create a stereo track from a mono one then invert the left channel it will not work. All waveforms will be exactly the same so inverting one track will just make the song inaudible.
flyingace15: yea.... i ran into that problem, the sound was garbled
Gutelimpa: Whats the song called? I wanted it for years since I watched a CS movie :)
soakley75: No One Knows -Queens of the Stone Age
flyingace15: jimmy, nothing is working, where did you get your mp3 from, i think im going to try it using the same one
Romperjet: i already had the program, but i wasn't aware that you could do this with it. thanks for posting!! :D
ladypyramidhead: I've seen several flashes of pictures in this... are you trying to send us subliminal messages? ;P
Thanks for the superhappyawesomenipplewow tutorial! <3
THEOMAR911: Yea i do have audacity is awesome im making a spoof about james blunt coming this 2008
cyberguy23: I can tell that one of the pics is a chipmunk with a walnut or just a nut.
Funny though!
I got it for my mac and it does a great job!
Thanks!
pelicanghost: I saw two flashing images, the icon for the software audacity at .48, and then a chipmunk with a nut at 2:24.
shrouded60606: I think im going out to buy a chipmunk and nice bag penuts. Not really sure why, I just have a strong desire to do so.
wobinidan: Subliminal messaging is not cool.
yunalesca15: Damn doesnt work for me , which version is that?
CunningHydra54: for me some of the lyrics i was not able to hear but other lyrics either sounded diferent or were unchanged
CunningHydra54: do u think its because of the type of song?
Jacquie47: linux cannot run on shockwave, too bad, linux has no online games, its just penguin junk
JarvidO: Yes it can! Shockwave is a plugin devoloped by macromedia which can be used with any browser on linux.
mimislillamb: what version of Audacity were u using?
RoboStone: I tried doing this just to see if it would turn out like crap. I pulled out Thom Yorke - And It Rained All Night, applied what the video said. Result? An echo-y unlistenable song that sounds unlike the original. However, it did get rid of the vocals though. What he did was a form of noise interference and phase cancellation. Easier thing to do that sounds better? Find an instrumental version of the track.
Porcz86: Thanks mate, really useful. Anyone know how to create an acapella. I know how 2 do it when I have and instrumental version as well but not when I just have the full song? Peace...
Asteao: I tryed this trick with Billie Jean by Micheal Jackson and it made all the music quite and kept the vocals. So if anything I made my problem worse.
1234AKbar: how do u remove vocals from the song phantom of the opera, i cant, can u help me?
urqshizzle: awesome man this will help so much with my guitar playing
mortproductions: It works on some songs and others not. For example, I tried "Gimme" by Alice Cooper and got nothing. Then I tried "Black Widow," also by Cooper, and it worked great. But they're both in different styles, maybe it just depends on the vocals in relation to the sound of the music?
123nameless123: the simple fact is thats it's just based on the way the song was layered. The background becomes the foreground and generally the background is the instruments but if both are upfront and loud when inverting the composition and become messed up. A program called cool edit pro also has this feature expects its a bit better
nibbler66: Jimmy, I need more help on changing the Mono song for Vocal seperation.
darkayam: nice now i know how to remove vocals cool
darkayam: how about how to remove instrumental? is there?
darkayam: and yes theres a cute squirrel 2:24 Xp
bighunterman77: num 430 awesome jimmy you are awesome
assive2007: Unfortunately it doesn't work for me! It takes out some of the vocals but not all + the music comes out terrible after. Thanks for the tip anyways - Keep up the work!
jimmyrcom: If you post chain mail messages as comments on my videos your entire family tree branching back 100 generations will die in one day. No, reposting this message will not help, you're now doomed.
dnay292: nice subliminal advertising :48 and 2:24 nice vid tho
jimmyrcom: I'm advertising squirrels and anime?
jimmyrcom: wow i didn't notice, who put that there
ZachsMind: This is an idea that was shown to me years ago but it doesn't work well on most songs I try it on. Some songs work better than others. I wish there was a way of just separating the different sounds, but I guess computers aren't that smart yet.
jojobevco: hahah u say google funny thanks. for the video
PimpMatt0: lol that picture at 2:24 was funny with the squirrel eating a nut how did that get there anyways?
BigBird1337: Wait are you just tricking us? Cause first off you could've just added the song in with vocals and non vocals after you made it, and plus the song played before you pressed play the second time. Don't give me that "the sound is delayed" crap!. LOL, jk jimmy. Thanks very much but this barely works for most songs!
MaskedRiderFan: Works Like A Charm.Thanks jimmyrcom you rocks and make more tutorials again thanks