Audacity Forum

Sorry, I know this is a tired topic. Obviously, I want to isolate vocals. But I can't find a straight forward tutorial on it. I was able to remove the vocals quite easily using this tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqXiKYG3J7M

It worked really well.

So now I have to original file with instruments and vocals, and the new file with just instruments. Is there a way to compare the two files and remove the sound that is common to both? (I.e. the instruments?)

I was able to remove the vocals quite easily using this tutorial:

Right. And you can get precisely the same effect in Audacity 1.3 with the pre-packaged Effect > Vocal Removal, or the earlier name, Center Pan Removal. It does all that splitting, management and arithmetic for you in one step.

That one YouTube video made quite a lot of problems for us because in spite of the assumption in the video, most songs don't work. The one he picked is a musical celebrity. Billions of people arrived at the forum wondering why their completely inappropriate song didn't work "Like that guy on the YouTube Video."

But I can't find a straight forward tutorial on it.

That's because, unlike Vocal Removal, Vocal Isolation via a simple arithmetic progression doesn't exist.

So now I have to original file with instruments and vocals, and the new file with just instruments. Is there a way to compare the two files and remove the sound that is common to both? (I.e. the instruments?)

Sure, try it. Import both versions. They will load one above the other and play together unless you tell them not to with the [S]olo and [M]ute buttons. Select one whole track (click on the number panel on the left). Effect > Invert. Play and both tracks will play at once, cancelling the common parts -- hopefully, the music.

You may have to slide one song earlier and later with respect to the other to get the cancellation with the time shift tool (two black sideways arrows).

Let us know how it comes out.

Koz