howto: make your own song a capella

[omardude39]

@GuitarCoverNathan Thanks very much - I'll be sure to add this step into the remake I'll be producing soon; I've been considering ways to make the tracks the same volume (a necessity for it to work)

[omardude39]

@SwiTchPro413 Either:

a) the tracks aren't aligned perfectly - try moving one a fraction of a second later or earlier, to see if you hit the right point, or

b) you haven't inverted the instrumental. See Step 5 - Inverting (at 2:16)

Try these :)

[NatWolff43567890]

awesome

[DjBigboxify]

good tutorial but it doesnt work 4 me 4 some reason did everything u said but still nothing i have 2 look into it more

[zimoowa]

thank you so much <3 i created an awesome ear-orgy acapella XDDDDDDDDDD

[omardude39]

@zimoowa You're very welcome - pleased to hear it worked so well!!

[smilzzx3x3]

i love ur voice

[FestMonster]

Ignore the stupid comments good tutorial although if I used torrents I could get 1000s of acapelllas already made for me just a shame I'm a slave to iTunes

[TheArisz]

So what does LAME encoder have to do with this?



[omardude39]

@TheArisz LAME is just a plugin that enables Audacity to produce MP3 files, which it doesn't do directly to avoid legal issues with Technicolor (who own the patents for MP3 encoding).

It's freely available, and the most recent Audacity installer makes it as easy as possible to get hold of it.

[ETFxISxTHExBEST22]

YOU SOUND LIKE YOU'RE FROM LONDON.

[omardude39]

@ETFxISxTHExBEST22 pretty much am, I've lived in Buckinghamshire (only ~30 miles away) for the past 7 years or so!

[S0meDJ]

This is such a simple, but brilliant idea! Excellent work. Thanks for the tutorial!

[omardude39]

@S0meDJ So pleasing to see it helps!

[jossr71]

hey man nex time turn off the music i can't hear wat you saing

[omardude39]

@jossr71 I'll be reproducing this video soon with much clearer voicework and more up-to-date music, feel free to subscribe so you get all the info as soon as it's out!

[craigjrknox]

what if you made the instrumental version with audacity...bc i made it and then tried it and it didnt work at all

[omardude39]

@craigjrknox The way this works means that the instrumental has to be a studio version; it also has to be identical to the original track except the vocals. Sorry it's limiting, try to find an official instrumental and have a go with that.

[JoaoTheodoro]

what a cute accent aww

[ThePullOuts]

I have the official instrumental... but it seems to be a bit different than the official original... whenever i try and match it up, the end of the song doesnt match... am i basically screwed?

[omardude39]

@ThePullOuts It sounds like your instrumental either isn't official (remade by somebody else) or is of a different version; sometimes CD singles of songs are longer than the Radio Edit which they do by cutting out verses. Unfortunately you can't apply this technique unless they're identical, and that'll mean they're the same length (not including any silent spots at the beginning or end)

[TheFreshPeddler]

if its your own song wouldnt you likely have a copy of the audio track already lol

[omardude39]

@TheFreshPeddler If its your production then you'd not need to do any of this because you recorded the vocals as well, or have a version without music. People usually try this technique if they're trying to remix a commercially available track.

[RocksnRagsProduction]

Nice. Lol u sound like fogel from Superbad. Anyways can u please do the same thing for S&M by Rihanna? and send it to me at sambrodie18@gmail.com

Thanks

[omardude39]

@RocksnRagsProduction This video now gets viewed over 100 times per day all over the world, far more than I ever initially anticipated, but I produced it hoping people would be able to learn how to do it for themselves. Because of the number of people who want to do it, I'm afraid I can't just do it all for everyone! Please try the technique for yourself to see if you can do it, or search for an acapella that somebody else has already made available for you.

[AlmostHacker]

Purple beggining arrow......YEYZ FOR TEH COLOR BLIND

[omardude39]

@AlmostHacker Hahaha, I laughed at this - can't believe I made such a dumb mistake! Will correct in the soon-released reproduction of this tutorial :)

[EmagineDat]

Dude, is that your real voice? Shit is wicked! Could you record a dj drop for me?

[omardude39]

@EmagineDat That was definitely my real voice back in 2009, I speak more deeply now and have been training in voiceover and vocal work. I'm intreagued, message me with more!

[heestenhats]

Your are a good speaker:)

[omardude39]

@heestenhats Thanks very much, it's a couple of years old now but I've left it up because I think it still does the job and so many people seem to find it helpful!

[tumarox]

works great! thank you

[SZS0001]

After this you can go for "equalization" to effectively remove most of the instruments, would need to experiment though.

[omardude39]

@SZS0001 you can use some plugins to apply narrow-band frequency filters that could help eliminate hi hats and things, another option is also to gate the acapella to remove everything in between the vocals. I'm gonna be covering this in a remake of this tutorial out soon.

[happytrickyfox]

Did that ( invert instrumental) but it ended up in just silence...weird... I got a flac version of "The Great Gig in the Sky" as well as a midi instrumental that I converted to .WAV to use as instrumental track. I used Audacity software.There absolutely no vocals in the final product, nor any music at all...What am I doing wrong?

[omardude39]

@happytrickyfox MIDI Instrumentals *definitely will not work*. The instrumental of your chosen track must be an original, studio instrumental, it needs to be *identical* to the original track apart from the vocals. Some of the other comments here explain how the technique actually works.

[Tone92z]

legend i didnt think this was possible

[omardude39]

@Tone92z Neither did I, till I tried it and actually got it to work!

[kl2488]

Too Much Work

[omardude39]

@kl2488 “When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it.” - Jim Rohn

[omardude39]

@kl2488 “When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you will find a way to get it.” - Jim Rohn

[johnjeans93]

If you cant find a instrumental of a song could you use audacity to take out the vocals and then use that as an "instrumental" version?

[omardude39]

@johnjeans93 have a quick look over my other answers, where I've covered this question. (short answer: No, sorry!)

[firevid90]

THANKS A LOT XDXDXD!!!!! i just tried it on 2 by britney and it works like a charm XD!!! although i can hear the beats when i max the volume i dont care XD still made an acapella T^T

[xStaYinAliVex]

This does not make acapella!

[omardude39]

@xStaYinAliVex ... Yes it does.

[sijenkinson1]

do u invert the one with words or the instrumentle

[omardude39]

@sijenkinson1 It doesn't matter, so long as only one is inverted - it makes more sense to invert the instrumental though.

[SKiiTZSO]

i need Break your neck acapella by busta rymes but it doesnt seem to work. the song and instrumental are two different lengths and in time go out of sync

[omardude39]

@SKiiTZSO I'm afraid all you can do is keep looking for two identical tracks - sorry!

[TheJonko92]

why do you need LAME

[omardude39]

@TheJonko92 Please take a peek at my other answers which explain this fully :)

[FieryRedDonkeyOfHell]

I wish I had a British accent...

[omardude39]

@FieryRedDonkeyOfHell

I wish I had a convincing American accent, and I'm not kidding! Unfortunately if I visit America, people will hear one word I say and assume I'm some upper-class posh guy; in person I'm really not! But I'm complimented :)

[xXominousXx]

i love your voice lol

[o2nuke]

wew!! your so cool!! i can mix now

with no original music

d

[elsnickerdoodle]

just for the record "file sharing" isn't illegal but thx for the video, very helpful

[omardude39]

@elsnickerdoodle For the purposes of this tutorial it always will be, since you only need to use this method if the original track is produced by somebody else (ie. you don't have the legal right to make copies of it). I put this disclaimer here just to ensure that people understand what they can and can't do within the law!

[metalhead4858]

Ok, as I really appreciate this tutorial, I've found myself in a bit of a rut. I'm not trying to use the same song, in fact I'm trying to use "Tik Tok" by Kesha. I don't know if that may make a difference or what. But to continue, I've have a clean original and a great instrumental and I've lined them both up to perfection as you said. However the tricky part comes in when i try to invert the instrumental portion. I do that, but the 'original' still has its background music. Any suggestions?

[dayday8421]

Best tutorial for this I've seen mate :)

[MikeGoGettersVLOG]

I'm very confused as to why you need an instrumental to create an acapella. What sense does that make?

[omardude39]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG

By getting the instrumental you're just getting everything you want to get rid of. By inverting it, you are 'cancelling out' those sounds (the music), which will just leave the vocals left. ;)

[djaekemusic]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG That tells the software what to remove, silly

[xXxSMDJxXx]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG when you invert the instrumental it cancels out (So to speak) the background music in the original. that is the simplest way to explain it.

[Tabascoguy715]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG What you're doing is cancelling out the background by having the inverse sound waves hitting each other. similar to how if you have two identical cars drive head first at each other at the same speed, they'll come to a complete stop. if you cancel out the background beat, then all you have left is the singing/MCing/whatever is not in the instrumental. "Science rules!"

[omardude39]

@Tabascoguy715 Like a Boss.

[Beautyelenas]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG to extract original vocals for instrumental

[TheFreshPeddler]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG - because you are inverting one of the waves. just like you can do the same with an acapella and the full song to get the instrumental. inverting the instrumental basically cancels out the instruments in the song. it does work but not always that well

[omardude39]

@TheFreshPeddler absolutely right; I'm glad other people also take the time to explain things :)

[omardude39]

@MikeGoGettersVLOG The idea is to 'knock out' the instrumental part (essentially, if you can show the part that you don't want to be there, you can sometimes get the computer to remove it).

[ALmakoto]

what if u dont have an instrumental, but u have the original?

[omardude39]

@ALmakoto

You need the original and the official instrumental for this to work - sadly without the instrumental, there's nothing to work with, and an instrumental isn't available for every song.

[leoschanel]

@omardude39 you do not need the official instrumental you just need a insturmental that sounds almost right

[omardude39]

@leoschanel no, I'm afraid for it to work the instrumental has to be official. If it has been made by somebody else it will always be very different, when you're doing something technical like this. The ear works very different from a computer; while we can listen to two different sounds and say "they're similar" or "they're different sounds", as far as a computer is concerned, if it's not *identical*, it's completely different.

[omardude39]

@leoschanel no, I'm afraid for it to work the instrumental has to be official. If it has been made by somebody else it will always be very different, when you're doing something technical like this. The ear works very different from a computer; while we can listen to two different sounds and say "they're similar" or "they're different sounds", as far as a computer is concerned, if it's not *identical*, it's completely different.

[71234523]

@ALmakoto You can use Adobe Audition... and just EXPLORE it...... it hard to explain

[idan2228]

thx man !!

[omardude39]

@idan2228 welcome!

[supersamster50]

i keep trying with tons of different songs and it still does nothing!!!!

[omardude39]

@supersamster50

It doesn't work with every song because of the complicated way songs are made in studios. But it does work for some- perhaps check your technique to see that you aren't missing anything? It's rare to have a whole load of songs all not work.

[njishottlikeatamale]

This makes no sense to me. If we are trying to remove the music from the song, why would you add a karaoke track? That's just making the music itself louder. Every video says to do this, but it doens't work for me!

[DjLOCKSTEADY]

yaw..

give thanks fr this vid!

why couldnt someone explain it as simple as that the first time!! lol

shot

[RockaZtubeHD]

You've probably heard this a million times, but do you absolutely need the instrumental of the original song???

Because this particular song doesn't have one available.

[futureoverlord13]

I got an instrumental and normal version of my song. They are lined up perfectly and I inverted just the instrumental. it didn't change anything. what happened?

[M4TR1X35]

what if you use remove vocals for an instrumental?

[HazardSub]

If i send you a link with an instrumental track and an original track, can you do it for me please? :)

[omardude39]

I can try

[Mastersun88]

This did not work I still hear Red Already over with the music instead of just the voice I know how to make it an instrumental but what about Acapella the music in the background is still on at the same loudness also I had to turn Already Over into an instrumental so I could not find it without the vocals.

[omardude39]

I have found that if you use Audcity's "remove vocals (center-panned)" tool to create your instrumental, it won't work.

I can't really explain why; on paper it should - but unfortunately it doesn't, so sadly you won't be able to make an acapella of Already Over if you can't find an official instrumental.

[ploomk]

where can i get and instrumental version of the song?

[omardude39]

'fraid I can't recommend anything for legal reasons.

I have advised that you don't use peer-to-peer software like Bareshare, or search for mp3-download sites.

[NikDanielle]

hey, uhm, sorry i say this, but i dont understand anything of what you are saying in your video, cause of the music, can you please send me the steps in a mail, and tell me over mail how to do it?! thank you (:

[omardude39]

I'mm afraid I'm a pretty busy person - I took the time to subtitle this video when I published it; please switch them on and watch again.

The steps are clearly outlined in the video, so you can pause it while you do each task.

[Atusile]

Thanks! I'll try it out.

[DropScape]

I thought your tutorial is explained perfectly man, nice and simple. And the people who dont get it probably shouldn't be allowed near a computer ever again. I really need an acapella of; you could be happy by snow patrol. Urgently.

I have the song and the instrumental but i think maybe because of the instrumentation in this song that it didn't work for me. If you could try for me and tell me where im going wrong that would be great. Cheers man, JB

[MrMashUpz]

PLEAS HELP!!!

Whtas The Name Of The Song In The Background!!!!

(Not Ne-Yo´s Song)

[omardude39]

this is not an emergency...

"Background music is Jaybee - Suddenly."

Read the description, that was a waste of time.

[MrMashUpz]

THX

[Svenskarnasegna123]

Why do I need the instrumental part?

[omardude39]

explaining it simply, this works by "knocking out" the music from behind the song by playing the exact 'opposite' sound to the music along with it, and the result is that you only hear what's left, which is the vocals.

[DawnKittyLucindaElly]

It won't work. I can't make a cappellas of Naraku No Hana or Save My Life T-T

[omardude39]

sadly it doesn't work with every song; it's not a foolproof method. Sorry!

[Total1Chaos195]

If i give you a mp3 track (original) and

a mp3 track (instrumental) of the same song....can you do the acapalla for me? i have try'd to do it many times but i failed....it would help me out alot. i will sub u+freind. :)

[ghossler]

m8 i have done exactly what you did.. but my song is still the same.. the music is still there and so are the vocals.. could u help me please? i need the vocals of coldplay - the scientist

[heavenofficial]

adobe audition makes better ones but you gotta do this same thing he did in it

[omardude39]

I'm sure it does; Audacity's just a great way of doing the basic thing without being a more advanced user or just someone who needs to make a one-off a capella.

[heavenofficial]

yeah plus adobe audition is a trial and audacity never expires

[danieldoscher]

Not really. Have you seen any of my Videos with music? I made all of them myself using Audacity. Audacity its GREAT for advanced users!!! I use it all the time in my own home studio. =P lol Oh, and sorry if I seem rude, I'm not trying to be. =)

[omardude39]

I myself am an audacity-fanatic; I just think open-source is awesome.

All I mean is that, thanks to it's slim size and the fact that it is free, it's perfect for someone to do a one-off task like this with, so they could quickly uninstall it after if they really didn't want to get involved with it.

I use a home studio too (not that you'd notice with this mic!). It's just so user-friendly.

[danieldoscher]

lol yeah. =) I love audacity. there's just a couple things. like the pitch that need to be fixed. and I can explain why it doesn't work when you use a vocal remover to make the instrumental. =)

[drew1soccer]

how do I drag songs into audacity? when i try to do it, it wont let me. there is a circle with a line through it. i have to go to file, open. but then i cant get both the song and instrumental in at the same time. they open up in different windows. thanks

[omardude39]

If you can't drag them in for whatever reason, use File > Import > Audio... and you'll be able to get both tracks in the same way.

[Mathis96hotmailde2]

it works :D thank YOU

[omardude39]

good to hear! :)

[KohhiAi]

This acutally works

Not PERFECTLY... but it did make the vocals louder.

Thanks for the tutorial!

[omardude39]

It won't ever work perfectly, but the result's definately usable most of the time. You're welcome!

[sillymansam]

well that didnt work

[omardude39]

I think the fact that people here are saying it does is pretty conclusive - which suggests you either didn't get good-quality tracks, or you aren't doing it right.

There's no point just commenting to say "it doesn't work" - while I know it does work, I can't help find your problem!

[EminemLeaked]

Nice Advice But If Im Gonna Waist My Time.. Does It Actualy Work?

[omardude39]

No, I Made This Whole Video Just To Lie To You And Piss You Off(!)

Of course it works - I highly doubt your time is any more important than anyone else's, I just find it incredibly rude that you want me to -waste- my own time answering an obvious question, so that you don't have to use any of yours.

[aproi]

the inverting doesen't work. :(( WHY??? i aligned it perfectly. what about the instrumental of the original song? how do i get that out?

[omardude39]

sadly it doesn't work completely with every song due to differences between the two songs in quality or volume. Those imperfections can cause a 'dirty' acapella, or even one that's unususable.

if you private-message me a download of what you have done, I can try to tell you what the issue might be, or even try to do it myslef for you.

[TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

one question i have had this issue with many songs why is the origonal soing not the same as the instrumental even though the 2 song the same and theyare the same quality cause their from the same cd

[eisontv]

is this supposet to be a easy tutorial??

u didnt explain annything properly at all..

what about splitting the splitt stero track.. or maybe turning the background music, so that we can hear u properly...

[omardude39]

I've split everything up into steps to make it as easy as possible, and explained everything as fully as I could, but I'm sorry if you didn't understand something. What is it you need help with?

You should note that this technique has nothing to do with splitting the track; it uses music dropout instead of central cancellation.

I tried to make it as obvious as possible that the video is fully subtitled so you can read what I'm saying if you can't hear - I will re-upload without backing music.