Isolating Vocals

[Gurby]

Hey guys!
I'm quiet new to recording and stuff,
The stuff I've been reading on this forum is very interesting and I learn a lot!
but I was wondering if it's possible to isolate vocals in an already existing song?

Yours,
-Gurby

 

[Morgan C]

Essentially, no. You might be able to make them pop out a bit more, but they'll sound weird and you'll never get them by themself.

Unless they were in Rock Band/Guitar Hero before.. I think Sept09.

 

[-JohanFrisk-]

There are a few programs actually, sonicWORX Pro (mac only) for example.
However, they are FAR from perfect and the extracted audio elements contain lots of artefacts especially for more complex audio material.

 

[Gurby]

Thanks for the replies!
I do understand that it's quiet impossible to get vocals competely apart from the rest of the music,
but as long they are a bit apart, it's already perfect!
That is, because I want to use vocals from already existing songs for covers i'm making,
and since I'm a pretty crappy vocalist myself,
I would like to take as much of the vocals out of some songs,
record the Guitars and Bass,
put the drums through either Addictive Drums or Superior Drummer,
and put the vocals over it
Does this sound like a working plan to you guys?

And thanks again for the replies!

EDIT: Are there maybe other programs worth checking out? The more, the better!

 

[-JohanFrisk-]

I haven't really tried that but it could work. (but there's no substitute for a "real" singer)
If you don't know of a better way to extract the vocals you could try cutting the lows from the original song (so that the vocals stay intact, yet removing as much as possible. compromise) and then remove the stereo "sides" of the track to leave the mids (if the vocals are really wide in the mix then try removing the mids) with a suitable mid/side processor (edit: or something similar). might work, this could be done well with freeware plugs if you're on a tight budget. the guitars and stuff that are still in the original mix after this should blend in with your backing track

 

[Trevoire520]

Can you remove the egg from a cake after it's baked?

 

[-JohanFrisk-]

Can you remove the egg from a cake after it's baked?

You can extract the molecules and reassemble it

 

[Gurby]

Can you remove the egg from a cake after it's baked?

You've got a point there!
But since I don't know very much about editing and stuff yet,
I was just wondering (and hoping) that it could be possible in some way

 

[Deadstar]

You can extract the molecules and reassemble it

+1
yeah try winrar