Cool Geek Tip: Removing Vocals From Songs!

Have you ever wanted to remove vocals from songs so that you could sing along and pretend you were the “star?” Or, maybe re-write the lyrics so you and your friends could sing to the background music and “mix it up?” Well, here’s a great FREE way to do that!

You already have Audacity, of course! It is simply the best audio editor in the universe, and it is Open Source and FREE! What could be better? You say that you don’t have it? Shame on you! Get it here:

Audacity – Open Source Audio Editor

Then, download this file:

Audacity Center Pan Remover

Then, un-zip the downloaded file, and move the contents (which will be one single file called “centerpanremover.ny”) to this directory:

C:\Program Files\Audacity\Plug-ins

or

C:\Program Files (x86)\Audacity\Plug-Ins

if you have a 64-bit Windows system.

Open Audacity, open your music file, and then select it by doing a “Control-A”, then select “Effect” from the top-most menu line, and locate “Center Pan Remover…” and click on “OK” (accepting the defaults.

Center Pan Remover in Audacity

After it does it’s thing… select another effect called “Normalize” and click “OK” to accept the default.

Play your tune! You will notice that the vocals are nearly gone! This works with MOST songs that have the vocals equally the same level in both stereo tracks. Of course, some instruments that were at the same level will be “minimized” as well. Your mileage may vary! Enjoy!