Subject:Filtering out a drum beat in a song with a vocal

Posted by: Stunads

Date:12/15/2007 1:22:53 AM

Hello All:

I recently bought Sony Acid Pro 6.0 with Kompakt and Sony Sound Forge 9.0 with the Production Suite. However, I am not new to the software, for I already owned Acid Pro 4.0 & Sound Forge 6.0 since 2002.

I remake a lot of songs and have been able to do so successfully with the help of both programs (Acid & Sound Forge). However, some of my tracks lack a professional appeal, mainly because I am not able to fully filter out or partially eliminate drum beats out of pre-made songs with vocals. As some of you obviously know, it is not always possible to obtain a cappellas from the original artists when making remixes.

Any tips on how one can do this other than using equalizers and resonant filters?

Even if you do use these "said" tools, how do you usually do it? I have fooled around with this for many tracks and some work and others do not.; some tracks sound flanged because the beats cancel each other out because the original beats are so dominant; (i.e. my newly added drum beat when mashed with the original drum beat).

Thanks much, I appreciate any and all responses!

Subject:RE: Filtering out a drum beat in a song with a vocal

Reply by: Kennymusicman

Date:12/15/2007 4:46:00 AM

The only other real trick I tend to employ, is phasing - by inverting one and mixing with the other (referring to stereo tracks) it allows centre channel cancellation. BUt this usually results in the opposite of what you want - removal of vocals and bits of the drum like kick and anything else panned centrally.

Another trick you can try, is a similar idea - playing with channel phase. But take a channel, and call it o1. Take this channel, and run it through a compressor, and call it o2. Now invert o2 and combine with o1. It can help with removing other items such as reverb tails a little.

Finding a good source of accapellas is golden and by fair the best way. Look into the vinyl market. You'll often find some gems on the B-side. The net has some too, and the market is growing slowly for it

Subject:RE: Filtering out a drum beat in a song with

Reply by: Stunads

Date:12/15/2007 10:52:31 PM

Thanks much for the tips, I will be sure to try them out as soon as I get a free moment!

Further, I have a crap load of a cappellas, both from my vinyl collection and from various CD Maxis. The problem is that many of the tracks that include an a cappella, usually were sampled previously by other mainstream artists. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather, be a little more original. I mainly produce house music and look for a lot of soulful and/or disco tracks. To avoid the struggles of copyright laws, royalties and residuals, sometimes, I feel I should just write my own lyrics! But my House roots all come down to sampling, and it is hard to stir away from that.

Thanks again!