deconstucting a mp3 song file

[regor1962]

Hello, now I know it's possible to remove vocals from a recording but is it possible and how do you remove or ENHANCE specific sounds or instrument's. Mix craft pro studio 8. Thanks

[dpaterson]

Hello.

Melodyne is your answer. Fantastic software. Comes at a price (but we won't get into that!!! LOL!!!).

Regards,

Dale.

[regor1962]

thanks dpaterson, is Melodyne not part of the studio 8 package? I just installed studio 8 and I'm sure I was asked if I wanted to install it....not sure how it works though? Have to have a look for it if I don't have it.

[Mark Bliss]

Well, lets back up here.
First of all, the included version of Melodyne is a limited version. It is aimed at (and works best at) basic vocal pitch correction. Higher level upgrades allow more advanced tricks like changing notes in chords. It has the capability of doing this very well and can be very "transparent".
There are some other capabilities, most of which don't seem relevant to the question.

Yes there is software that is aimed at vocal removal. Such as the "Vocal Zap" plug in also included with Mixcraft. But if you have ever used these types of software, you have probably, like me.... found the results to be varied and often quite um.... underwhelming.

But now we have worked backwards to your original question.
"Remove" or "Enhance" other sounds?

I have found that many people seem to think you can simply break apart an audio file into separate sounds. And it simply ain't so...….
There does exist software that makes some pretty wild claims, but it isn't cheap and you can put me down as skeptical.

[dpaterson]

Hello.

Actually Mark is right (as always) and, to be honest, maybe I was a bit over keen and excited to answer your question.

Melodyne will allow you to extract sounds (instruments) from an audio track and manipulate them e.g. replace them (this in addition to being able to change pitch, timing, a whole range of things). But I caution you by saying WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY AND A LOT OF PATIENCE AND LOADS OF SPARE TIME ON YOUR HANDS (and not the Melodyne that's included with Mixcraft either). Unless this is a one of a kind, rare, never to be repeated piece of music: you're probably better off either re-recording or using a decent equaliser to enhance the sound. Really. These chaps on YouTube that give these Melodyne tutorials make it look so simple but it ain't. Not by any stretch of the imagination. They take a very simple audio track and manipulate it and say "well there you go". Not so. Don't get me wrong. It's a really fantastic piece of software. No question about that. But I dunno. Me. I'm funny in this way i.e. everything should sound right going into a mix. This business of vocal pitch correction and changing guitar notes in solos (and the rest) after the fact (after the performance)??? Well. Maybe that's why I'm not a professional at this and maybe will never be. I mean: if your vocals or guitar solos (or whatever) are audibly THAT bad that they have to be corrected with software well then isn't maybe time to practice a bit more before recording??? And is this not the reason why some bands sound MONSTER on albums but terrible live??? For what it's worth: I've gone to great expense and spend a LOT of time trying to ensure that what I lay down live is what my recordings (albeit that it's forever a learning process) sound like. "One take" is my mantra!!!

Oops. Evidently I went off at a tangent!!! LOL!!! Sorry!!!

Ummmnnn... (as he gather his composure). Perhaps it would have been better to ask you for more detail i.e. exactly what it is that you are trying to accomplish (in detail) and why???

Regards,

Dale.

P.S. Geez. It just ocurred to me. rigor1962: I was not referring to YOU in my rambling above. Not at all. I was just thinking out aloud and speaking generally.

[Mark Bliss]

Perhaps it would have been better to ask you for more detail i.e. exactly what it is that you are trying to accomplish (in detail) and why???

Perhaps.

[regor1962]

Ah funny, your much like me when it comes to rambling on...I maybe should have mentioned at the very beginning of this post that I am a beginner when it comes to Mixing music. I have over the years played a bit with older versions of mix craft but only really "played with". Never really created any project worth saving , mostly because it is like you said difficult and time consuming. But lately having more time on my hands I decided I would give it another try. What I'm currently trying to do is … take an original .mp3 or .flac audio file preferably .flac because of the quality and extracting certain parts of it ie… like a drum sequence or really any other part of the music that I like the sound of, extract that piece and either add into another totally separate .mp3 or .flac audio file or add it back into the original file. So, I know that there are effects in the program that I can add into a track like guitars, drums or organs, but I'm not a musician and it would take me forever to try and place the right effect into a track with the correct notes and pitch, even saying that I'm out of league. I just know that these " notes, pitch, range and cords" and other's I'm sure make up a song/ audio file. Hahahah, I'm not totally ignorant when it comes to music but like I said I'm no musician. Members of my family are very musically talented, but I never perused music to see if I ever had any talent. I believe I do have a good ear for music and I like listening to music and picking out the instruments being played if I can. So what my end goal is to create an audio file by taking different pieces of an original audio file stringing them together to create my own version of a piece of music, and call it my own. I really think I could put something together that would sound really pretty good......so I think so anyway

Thanks guys for your help and input

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Yeah, there's a reason that audio engineers keep tracks separate until they create the final product: once you mix different sounds together, it's difficult or impossible to extract the individual sounds and have them sound good. That's because there are too many similar frequencies. Sometimes you can extract the vocals from a song, depending upon how it's mixed (like maybe the vocals in the center and the instruments in the left and right channels), but more often, it will just sound lousy. Mixcraft comes with the VocalZap plugin that definitely works better on some songs than others.

Greg

[Mark Bliss]

Hey Regor,
I would suggest many people who aren't "much of a musician" manage to find satisfaction in some method or another of making music anyway!
But instead of the thought process of "deconstructing" existing audio tracks, may I suggest experimenting with editing and constructing with loop song sets as a more satisfying place to start. You might find it is fun and instructive and a great way to begin learning more as you "play" with it.
Let us know if we can help further!

[starise]

Hello, now I know it's possible to remove vocals from a recording but is it possible and how do you remove or ENHANCE specific sounds or instrument's. Mix craft pro studio 8. Thanks

You can't " deconstruct" an mp3. as others have said. You can import one and play with the eq that could make a difference. Most engineers don't prefer working with an mp3 file since it is a compressed version of the original file making the quality bad to begin with. On one sense an mp3 file is already deconstructed. The codec that made it an mp3 removed a bunch of data it didn't think you would hear.

You might find either a midi or an audio version of the song you seek to change in multitrack format online. You simply import and mix the files.
Here is one source-
http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

Here is another-
https://behindthespeakers.com/300-free-multitracks/

[regor1962]

Hey Regor,
I would suggest many people who aren't "much of a musician" manage to find satisfaction in some method or another of making music anyway!
But instead of the thought process of "deconstructing" existing audio tracks, may I suggest experimenting with editing and constructing with loop song sets as a more satisfying place to start. You might find it is fun and instructive and a great way to begin learning more as you "play" with it.
Let us know if we can help further!

Interesting Mark, I will have to play with that idea.

[regor1962]

Hello, now I know it's possible to remove vocals from a recording but is it possible and how do you remove or ENHANCE specific sounds or instrument's. Mix craft pro studio 8. Thanks

You can't " deconstruct" an mp3. as others have said. You can import one and play with the eq that could make a difference. Most engineers don't prefer working with an mp3 file since it is a compressed version of the original file making the quality bad to begin with. On one sense an mp3 file is already deconstructed. The codec that made it an mp3 removed a bunch of data it didn't think you would hear.

You might find either a midi or an audio version of the song you seek to change in multitrack format online. You simply import and mix the files.
Here is one source-
http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

Here is another-
https://behindthespeakers.com/300-free-multitracks/

Yes, this would definitely address what it is I'm trying to do. I had mentioned earlier that I do prefer .flac format because I do believe it is a uncompressed file format but, I have also noticed Mix craft does not support this file type. So I guess that is another reason to use a midi file, or any version of a song that is not compressed and is compatible with mix craft.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Mixcraft 8 and Mixcraft 7.7 both support .flac format.

As starise points out, playing with ready-made MIDI files would be a fun way to deconstruct songs. Be sure to open the .mid files by choosing Open Project from the File menu.

Greg

[Mark Bliss]

Yeah, tons of multi track projects out there for practice mixing, deconstruction, if that's what you seek.
Many imaginative ways to go about this.

[regor1962]

Thanks Greg, I thought the .flac format was not available in mix craft 8, maybe it's the melodyne program that does not support .flac format? I do have another question when it comes to uncompressed audio files. So, .flac is uncompressed so can it not be pulled apart into single tracks depending on how many tracks there are? Also, I'm not sure, can you convert most any audio file i.e...mp3 or .flac into a .midi or .wav file and then separate tracks from the new converted midi or wav file? I ask this because after looking online for certain songs in .wav or .midi format, I can't find full original versions of certain songs in theses formats ie...midi or .wav. Now, maybe I have gotten things mixed up, since I have mentioned uncompressed audio formats like .flac, .midi and .wav and I've talked about being able to separate parts or tracks from these files, I don't know why I would convert a .flac file into a .midi file when it seems like I can treat both the same way...separating parts of or pulling out parts of these files, I'm missing something here I think, what I'm saying is....if I can treat a .flac just like I would a .midi file why would I use a .midi file when I can't seem to find them in original versions, pretty sure music is not originally recorded in a .midi format? Definitely need some help with this issue. I hope I have made sense while explaining things.... I put this question to all interested, hope we can all somewhat agree on a answer.