DELETING VOCALS

[daffsongwriter]

Hi, this is probably not the correct subject but I couldn't think what to call it, sorry I haven't been on this for a while, I haven't needed to ask any advice lately as things are going well with music.On behalf of a friend who wants to sing November Rain to one of the tracks on her album. She asked me if I know how she can take the track from the cd then use it's backing with her vocals. I would offer to give her my keyboard version of it which is on my Myspace but I use that myself, I know how she can rip the track onto her pc and make it into mp3 or WAV. I have never had cause to do use an artist's original backing from their album so I wouldnt know. I have never tried it. I would simply make my own backing but I can do that, she can't. Also I live in the UK and she lives in the USA, if I were round the corner I would trot round with my mixer etc and help her out. I think she is hoping to find some software that will do that, I am assuming though because it is already mixed and mastered she may be unlucky.Does anyone here have any advice on that, I am happy to play the peice for her, just piano music and email it to her but she would still need to record her vocals into her pc and mix them as she doesn't have any other equipment. She is trying to do what I do but is at the very beginning stages. See I just bought the BOSS BR 900 and use that, plus I can play the piano so when I got my Roland E60 I was away.Thanks in advance. Take care, Daff x

[rld]

I have never heard an acceptable result from the "remove vocal" type of software. It can remove the center channel where most main vocals reside, but it mangles the background music leaving it unusable for any serious project.Maybe find her a karaoke version?

[mojobone]

^^^What he said. It's a pretty well-known tune; you can likely find a Karaoke version by searching amazon or any number of sites. Audacity, a laptop and a USB mic would complete the arrangements on the cheap. I bet there's also a fully orchestrated MIDI version somewhere that could be wrangled into shape if you have some good string samples.

[aimusic]

Possibly even I-Tunes? I've found a lot of kareoke tracks there....

[christig]

I always wondered about the software that claimed to do that. That is good to know.Christi

[mojobone]

It can work for genres where the vocal is way out front; I used an Aiwa karaoke vocal canceler to remove James Brown from a track. (sacrilege, I know) Didn't work perfectly but didn't need to, either. The reverb on James' voice was still there, but since the new singer was sticking to the original notes exactly, it sounded odd, but not too terribly objectionable.

[rld]

Christi, Let me amend my statement by adding the software works fine for rehearsal type usages...I've removed guitar solos to jam along with Steely Dan for instance, but IMO you couldn't use the backing tracks after removal for anything, copyright issues aside, cause the quality was severely compromised.

[mazz]

You can't legally use the backing track from another album anyway, even if you could effectively remove the vocals.You can use your own, or someone else's arrangement (if you get their permission) of it but you can't use the original recording. Just ask all those hip hop folks that got sued early on for sampling records and selling their cds with the samples on them without clearing it first.Good luck,Mazz

[prez]

Sept 12, 2008, 8:11am, mazz wrote:You can't legally use the backing track from another album anyway, even if you could effectively remove the vocals.You can use your own, or someone else's arrangement (if you get their permission) of it but you can't use the original recording. Just ask all those hip hop folks that got sued early on for sampling records and selling their cds with the samples on them without clearing it first.Right on the money here. Best bet is to make your own arrangement and come as close as you can to the original feel if possible. Jude 2

[guscave]

You might want to look into midi files that you can download into your DAW software (garageband, cubase, etc.). I've used a few to do covers at small gigs and with a little tweaking they sound very good. You still can't use them on an album, but ok for live shows. Here's a couple of links:http://www.mididb.com/http://www.findmidis.com/You can also do a search for both free and paid files.