neato -- using Audacity to remove VOCALS from music tracks!

[Darren Dirt]

it's apparently as simple as splitting into left+right channels, doing an invert, making them mono, yada yada technical stuff have a look


http://www.howtogeek.com/56335/how-to-remove-vocals-from-music-tracks-using-audacity/

[Mr. Analog]

Okay, this is sort of an older technique (newer ones actually distinguish vocal waveforms and white noise them out) so you should know a few things:

If the stereo separation for the vocals is not balanced evenly you'll still hear it (quieter, but still there).

The other thing you'll find is that if there are echo effects on the vocals they tend to stay as they are often bounced alternately in the mix, this leaves a weird effect that sounds like someone singing in a bathroom in another room.

Backup singers are usually still audible as they are usually unevenly mixed in the background, which can lead to some oddness.

Finally there's going to be a loss of fidelity no matter what you do using this technique.

But it sure beats trying to find karaoke tracks for your fave-yet-obscure tracks (and it's cheap!)