# Is there a way to extract just one part of a song?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 12, 2002, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585 "2002-07-12T07:42:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585/1 "2002-07-12T07:42:49Z")

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I’m wondering if there is a way (preferably a computer program) to extract just one aspect of a song. Say…the vocals. I mean so that I can have either a song without vocals or vocals without a song. Is that possible?

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**Author:** ![robwrigley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@robwrigley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robwrigley)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585/2 "2002-07-12T07:54:40Z")

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Simply, no.

Its possible to do something along those lines through the use of EQ and phase-reversal. But it doesn’t work very well, even when done by a seasoned pro.

What do you needed it for? How high-fidelity are you looking for?

Rob

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585/3 "2002-07-12T09:59:20Z")

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Hey, if the file is in MIDI format, any MIDI editor would let you process the tracks seperately.

WAV or MP3 is somewhat more complicated. There are ads for devices that can _eliminate_ vocal tracks in the back pages of _Popular Mechanics_ (i.e. to make your own handy-dandy Kareoke machine) but trying to extract the lyrics with any quality is damn-near impossible. I would suggest getting a copy of the intrumental and finding your own singer to re-record the lyrics. Have the singer listen to the intrumental with headphones while you record his/her voice. You can do this on the cheap with fairly basic equipment; getting the singer being the only real problem.

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**Author:** ![DangerDan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@DangerDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DangerDan)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585/4 "2002-07-12T10:04:42Z")

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Short of getting ahold of the master tapes/files, any other method will give less than great results.

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**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2002, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-way-to-extract-just-one-part-of-a-song/118585/5 "2002-07-12T10:16:21Z")

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    - Yes, but often the audio quality of the end product ranges from poor to terrible. Many audio editors and audio mixing software has the feature built-in.

- See also:  
[http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/files/59DF95F3E26CA553862567C9000A9B48](http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/files/59DF95F3E26CA553862567C9000A9B48)
- DougC