Removing vocals from a CD for...

[Neubill]

...karaoke!

Actually, I'm just interested in removing the fool lead vocal from songs so I can listen to the music, Muzak-style. It's great when you're putting background music to home videos and such.

Anyone know of some killer software that does this sort of thing? I've tried a few which claim to do it, but they lie.

Thanks in advance!

[Kryptonite]

Heh.

I'm not sure if such a product exists. But what does exist are the instrumental versions and karoke versions and such. That might be your only bet.

[Neubill]

I bought a product called Antbytes, which claims to do exactly what I'm looking for, but Antbytes bytes the big one.

[spejic]

Yeah, given what I know about sound information (which isn't a lot, but it is some), I really don't think it is possible to do from a CD with any decent results. I would follow what Kryptonite said, and look for karaoke CDs. Try doing searches for "CD+G", especially on Amazon. You might be surprised by the selection.

[fresh aah]

Did you try the free 'vocal remover' directX plug-in by analogx already?
http://www.analogx.com/CONTENTS/download/audio/vremover.htm

Since vocals are mostly situated in the middle of a song's stereo panorama, you need to decrease middle volumes. Plus, vocals use a certain frequency width, which you could try to filter out. I guess that's what these vocals removing tools generally do/try to do.

But I'd recommend you download Midi files (*.mid) of your choice and a good generalmidi soundfont/-bank (*.sf2, 10mb+), in case your soundcard can handle soundfonts.

[That Phat Hat]

If you go to p2p file sharing networks, you'll find lots of instrumental tracks of popular songs, which I found useful when I was messing around with mashups.

Just search for the title of the song and the word "instrumental" and see what comes up. YMMV.

[servotron]

You can also get free plugins for WinAmp and other programs that turn any song into a karaoke-able tune. We used to do it for impromptu punk rock karaoke nights at a bar I used to frequent. It's not perfect, but it's decent enough for karaoke.

(I was famous for doing Minor Threat's "Straight Edge" while holding a beer and a lit cig)

[yammy]

...karaoke!
Actually, I'm just interested in removing the fool lead vocal from songs so I can listen to the music, Muzak-style. It's great when you're putting background music to home videos and such.
Anyone know of some killer software that does this sort of thing? I've tried a few which claim to do it, but they lie.
Thanks in advance!

Can't directly edit the audio CD track, so import the audio CD track to PC, using Mp3 editing/ converting software, suggests FlexiMusic Wave Editor (http://www.fleximusic.com/waveditor/overview.htm). Using "Save As" command convert and save the audio CD track to Mp3 file format. Completely removing the vocals from audio is not possible. Using either “Band Pass/ Stop Filter or channel mix” command you can eliminate the vocals to some extend.