Two Methods to Remove Vocals from Songs (Using Audacity)

Audacity is a very handy tool to edit audio files.  Lately, I've been testing its capacity to remove vocals from songs, using two different methods and obtaining mixed results.

The first method:  The "Vocal Remover" tool:

This is simple and relatively fast.  You need to go to "Effects" and once there, all the way down to "Vocal Remover".  Depending on your version, you might need to look for it under "Effects/Plugins/"

Once there, you run it, making sure you chose "remove vocals" from the drop down menu of the plugin.  And that's it! 

Vocal Remover will work well with some songs.  An important observation is that you need an unsplit stereo track for this method to work. What is an unsplit stereo track?  What can you do if you tried Vocal Remover and you didn't like the result?  Please read the second method to find out the answers.

The second method: Using "inversion" for one channel:

This is more difficult.  Stereo tracks have the audio in two different channels (left and right), and such channels are merged (unsplit) in most songs.  The second method consists of splitting both tracks and then applying the tool "inversion" to one of them.  Once done that, both tracks must be set to "mono" to be exported. 

That sounds a bit confusing, especially if we do not know much about sound edition.  Fortunately, several people have posted video tutorials.  This is one by Jimmy Ruska:

There you go!   The second method has worked better in my case, but it's a matter of testing to see what works best for you. 

Multimedia, Education, and Free Software

I was surprised today. A colleague showed me a CD that someone gave her in a course related to the Ministry of Education of my country. According to her, the CD contained "software for audio activities."

I took the CD. I expected to find a bunch of windows-only demos with a limited functionality or designed to expire in a month but my eyes read a familiar name: Audacity

Maybe Audacity doesn't mean much in the world of Windows but this name identifies the most famous audio tool in the world of Linux. Audacity is a multi-platform, open source audio editor, as the educational software should be.



Another of the programs included was new to me. Its name is JClic. JClic is an interesting set of educational activities that students can use.



However, it goes beyond that. It also lets teachers create their own activities...



What surprised me most wasn't the software, but the fact that the Ministry of Education is promoting the use of free software. Well, it actually shouldn't puzzle me: in a context of an economic crisis, schools must save costs and at the same time maximize their efficiency.

Moreover, open source applications tend to be inclusive since they frequently run on different systems instead of requiring their users to acquire licenses of OSs that such users can't even call legally their own.

Multimedios, Educación y Software Libre

Hoy me llevé una sorpresa. Una colega me prestó un CD que le habían regalado en un curso relacionado con el Ministerio de Educación de mi país. Según me había dicho ella, el disco contenía "software para actividades de audio".

Tomé el disco. Esperaba encontrar un montón de "demos" sólo para Windows con funcionalidad limitada o diseñados para expirar en un mes, pero mis ojos detectaron un nombre conocido: Audacity

Tal vez en el mundo de Windows Audacity no signifique mucho, pero ese nombre identifica a la herramienta de audio más famosa en el de Linux. Audacity es un editor de audio de código abierto y multiplataforma, como el software para la educación debería ser.



Otro de los programas en el CD era nuevo para mí. Su nombre es JClic. JClic es un interesante entorno de actividades educativas que los estudiantes pueden realizar.



Sin embargo, va más allá. También permite al docente crear sus propias actividades...



Lo que más me sorprendió no fue tanto el software, sino el hecho de que el Ministerio de Educación esté promoviendo el uso del software libre. Bueno, en realidad no debería sorprenderme: en un contexto de crisis económica, las instituciones educativas deben ahorrar costos y a la vez maximizar su eficiencia.

Asimismo, las aplicaciones de código abierto tienden a ser inclusivas ya que con frecuencia funcionan en diversos equipos en lugar de exigir a los usuarios adquirir licencias de sistemas operativos que éstos ni siquiera pueden llamar suyos legalmente.