Hi. First post here. I am learning to sing. I wish to record myself. I find it a lot easier to pitch correctly if I hear the original singer. What I want to do is hear the full vocal and instrumentals through the headphones but only play the instrumentals through the loudspeakers. I can then record myself and the music with a mic.
Any ideas if this is possible.
Regards Alan
Splitting out vocals
Moderator: Moderators
Re: Splitting out vocals
Hi Alan!
it may be possible or not depending on how you're doing it/what resources you have to do it. a few questions:
1. do you have the tracks of the song you want to record? (I mean each instrument isolated in a track)
2. which DAW are you using?
it may be possible or not depending on how you're doing it/what resources you have to do it. a few questions:
1. do you have the tracks of the song you want to record? (I mean each instrument isolated in a track)
2. which DAW are you using?
- ore_terra
Frequent Poster -
Posts: 1066 Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:56 pm
Location: Seville - Spain
Contact:
casmoestudio.com
Re: Splitting out vocals
Hi. Thanks for the reply.
Only tracks I have are from Apple music. No software at present.
I was reading how to use audacity. It splits out the voice frm the music then says to set each to mono. Could I then assign vocals to left and the instrumentals to the right channel. Could I then make a cable that is stereo on one end then splits to 2 mono cables. One mono cable to headphones and the other to a speaker.
I assume there is other software other than Audacity that can perform thrse functions.
Regards Alan
Only tracks I have are from Apple music. No software at present.
I was reading how to use audacity. It splits out the voice frm the music then says to set each to mono. Could I then assign vocals to left and the instrumentals to the right channel. Could I then make a cable that is stereo on one end then splits to 2 mono cables. One mono cable to headphones and the other to a speaker.
I assume there is other software other than Audacity that can perform thrse functions.
Regards Alan
Re: Splitting out vocals
I'm not sure that Audacity can extract vocals from music in a particularly clever way (although it is quite a while since I last tried Audacity). You'll be left with an echoey mono file if it does what I think it does. There are much cleverer programs like Izotope RX's Music Rebalance but they're not particularly cheap and even those won't work on everything.
- James Perrett
Moderator -
Posts: 14250 Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2001 12:00 am
Location: The wilds of Hampshire
Contact:
JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration. JRP Music Facebook Page
Re: Splitting out vocals
I just want to see if I understand you correctly - you want to record yourself singing the song by simultaneously recording your vocals and the instrumental track that's coming out of a loudspeaker. Is that correct?
I think the better option is this. Use whatever product to remove the vocals of the song you wish to record - now you have two versions of the song, one with vocals and one without. Since you mention Audacity - load the original song (with vocals) into Audacity. Play it back and overdub your vocals to a second track. Then replace the first track in Audacity with the instrumental version.
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tut ... bbing.html
I think the better option is this. Use whatever product to remove the vocals of the song you wish to record - now you have two versions of the song, one with vocals and one without. Since you mention Audacity - load the original song (with vocals) into Audacity. Play it back and overdub your vocals to a second track. Then replace the first track in Audacity with the instrumental version.
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tut ... bbing.html
-
- rockydennis
Regular - Posts: 142 Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2018 5:36 am
Re: Splitting out vocals
Hi. Thanks for the replys. Audacity may not be the best choice of software , I just used that as an example. I find when I sing I get closer to the pitch if I am listening to the original artist at the same time. I want to listen to the original artist through headphones. At the same time I want to play they instrumental through a speaker.
If I could synch a karaoke version through a speaker as well as a full version through headphones then that would be perfect.
Regards Alan
If I could synch a karaoke version through a speaker as well as a full version through headphones then that would be perfect.
Regards Alan
Re: Splitting out vocals
Why do you want to play the backing through the speaker if you are also listening to the original track on headphones? It would be much better to use a DAW like Audacity to record your vocal alongside the backing track and mix the two afterwards.
- Sam Spoons
Jedi Poster - Posts: 19590 Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2003 12:00 am Location: Manchester UK
People often mistake me for a grown-up because of my age.
Re: Splitting out vocals
I'm not clear as to why you need to be playing anything through a speaker when you are recording yourself.
Anyway, if I understand your question correctly, you want to record yourself while hearing the original track, and then be able to play back with just your own vocal against the instrumental track. All you need to do is line up the instrumental and original tracks in your DAW (commercial backing tracks almost always match the original in terms of timing so there shouldn't be any issues there), mute the instrumental while recording, and then mute the original when playing back. I do this all the time with novice singers and it's pretty straightforward. It's also possible to blend the instrumental and original tracks when recording to get some original vocal but at a lower level, as a guide.
Anyway, if I understand your question correctly, you want to record yourself while hearing the original track, and then be able to play back with just your own vocal against the instrumental track. All you need to do is line up the instrumental and original tracks in your DAW (commercial backing tracks almost always match the original in terms of timing so there shouldn't be any issues there), mute the instrumental while recording, and then mute the original when playing back. I do this all the time with novice singers and it's pretty straightforward. It's also possible to blend the instrumental and original tracks when recording to get some original vocal but at a lower level, as a guide.
-
- andy cross
Regular -
Posts: 187 Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2003 12:00 am
Location: Cambridge, England
Contact:
Re: Splitting out vocals
Maybe you should consider downloading separate multi-track files, from the likes of karaoke-version, where you will be able to mute/un-mute the guide lead vocal (or other elements) as you like. You will need to have a DAW and a basic grasp of it, but it will be worth the effort.
And, as above, you should avoid using speakers.
And, as above, you should avoid using speakers.
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.
Re: Splitting out vocals
andy cross wrote: ↑Thu Jul 29, 2021 12:13 pm I'm not clear as to why you need to be playing anything through a speaker when you are recording yourself.
+1
Normally the whole point of listening through headphones is so that you can record yourself singing via a mic without any contribution from the loudspeakers sneaking in.
Martin
- Martin Walker
Moderator -
Posts: 20599 Joined: Wed Jan 13, 2010 8:44 am
Location: Cornwall, UK
Contact:
Re: Splitting out vocals
There is probably no need to spend any money initially. If you are on Windows then Cakewalk by Bandlab is a full featured DAW that is free. If you are on Mac then there's Garageband which, as I understand it, has basic DAW features. There is also Reaper which is free to try (and cheap to buy) and works on Macs, Windows and Linux.
- James Perrett
Moderator -
Posts: 14250 Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2001 12:00 am
Location: The wilds of Hampshire
Contact:
JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration. JRP Music Facebook Page