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talbot
Participating Frequently
November 10, 2019
Question

How do you remove drum tracks from an MP3 file

  • November 10, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 5189 views

I have Adobe Master Collection CS6 

I am an aspiring drummer and would like to remove drum tracks from songs so I can practice without hearing the original drums. I do not know what program to use but assuming Audition would handle it.
Can anyone advise?
Thanks in advance for your time!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

SteveG_AudioMasters_
SteveG_AudioMasters_
Community Expert
November 10, 2019

To save you a lot of unnecessary searching, let me tell you that there is no software at all that does this. There are one or two programs around that claim to be able to, but the results are invariably unusable. And MP3 files, because they are compressed, make a lousy starting point for any form of audio manipulation. If I were you, I'd go with SuiteSpot's advice!

    T
    talbotAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    November 27, 2019

    Check this site out Steve. They do it and I've seen plugins for Audition which I heard them say was similar to what Audacity does.
    https://phonicmind.com/
    Maybe I should say suppress the drums instead of eliminate...
    Any thoughts?

    SteveG_AudioMasters_
    SteveG_AudioMasters_
    Community Expert
    November 28, 2019

    My thoughts are that you haven't tried using it for your specific application, and that people are so desperate to be able to do this that they'll believe almost anything... and they make a major fuss about vocals. Vocals are invariably placed dead centre and are relatively easy to isolate, although if there's any stereo reverb added, this will invariably remain as a ghostly echo. Drums recorded in stereo are a completely different issue, and won't respond to the same treatment at all. I tried this particular software with a simple drum track in a mix, and it did a typical beat extraction, but when the extracted track was played in isolation, it was clear that it had taken out a lot of other stuff too. And that was with a relatively good wav file, not an MP3. On that basis alone, the chances of it working successfully with any sort of complex rhythm track are negligable to non-existent.

      SuiteSpot
      SuiteSpot
      Inspiring
      November 10, 2019

      It's a bit like trying to get the eggs out of a cake once it is baked

      You are better off searching the 'net for said tracks without the drums 

        J
        James5C3A
        New Participant
        August 23, 2020

        I actually laughed out loud at your first sentence, not because I thought it was ridiculous or anything, but it's rare that something is summed up so very perfectly and also so clearly. You nailed it my friend. I was looking for a way for a long time and ended up just digging up available drumless tracks. Youtube is also a good source if you're looking for freeness. I don't know where they are being gotten, but you can also find an absolute ton of isolated drum (and isolated other instrument ) tracks on youtube. They sound like the real tracks so I have no idea where they're being found, but they can be a godsend if you want to hear JUST the drums to learn the part, or JUST the keyboard, or any instrument. I've babbled long enough lol. Thank you for your spot on answer

         

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