Using audio "splitter" tools to isolate tracks/stems

[Kawai James]

Hello folks,

 

Tools that use AI to isolate tracks/stems from songs are nothing new, and I had experimented with them a few times in the past.

 

However, I recently started getting back into this technology, and using it as a way to learn/practise songs with my bandmates.

 

The "Spliteroo" app is quite nice, as it runs on both iOS and macOS, and allows stems to be extracted from uploaded audio files pretty quickly.  The other day I sent the parts to a song that our drummer and bass player had been struggling with, and I believe it really helped their understanding of the tune.  I'm only using the ad-supported free version which is limited to 4 parts (vocal, drums, bass, others), but I'm a little curious to see what the paid version can achieve with the more advanced AI models.

 

I also stumbled upon Fadr.com which offers a similar service, and can even export a transcribed MIDI version of a separated track.

 

I'm curious how other folks are using these tools in their music creation/performance, and if they have any that they particularly recommend, or have any tips to get the most out of the technology.  The quality of the track separation appear to vary considerably depending on the source recording/mix.  Sometimes I find it has been useful to upload separated left/right channels of a file instead of the original stereo version.

 

Cheers,

James

x

[niacin]

Moises gets highly recommended, it's a small monthly subscription fee, but tbh it does a less than commendable job separating 'other', say keys from guitar, such that I'll suggest that it or the paid version of Spliteroo probably aren't worth the $.

[erik_nie]

New separation tooling from OpenVino within Audacity does a pretty good job!

[Jose EB5AGV]

I pay the yearly Moises Premium fee (about 39€) and for me is very useful and fully worth it, as I record all my band rehearsals and can practice along vocals, percussion, bass and just the needed bit of guitar. It is also good to find chords on some songs we cover, when I am in doubt (or lazy or both!). Even the lyrics option is sometimes useful. And of course the key change, as it does a decent job when the jump is not too big.

 

Being multi platform is very convenient, as I use it on my iPads, PCs, Android phone and tablet, and so can access my library everywhere.

 

Maybe there are better options, but for my use it is a good fit.

 

Jose

[dbran]

I went down the rabbit hole on this topic about a year ago and stumbled upon this site:

 

https://mvsep.com/en

 

You upload your track into a queue for processing, and it lets you choose from a menu of different algorithms to do the separation, and after a time (maybe 10 to 30 minutes) you get another page with links to your separated tracks. All for free. There is also information there about which algorithms do better at certain kinds of processing. I don't understand all of it, but I find it very interesting. There are competitions that these algorithms get entered into, and scored based on how well they separate a standard set of test tracks into their component parts. The scores have been creeping up over the years. Many of the apps out there, like Moises and so forth, are just different wrappers with the same handful of underlying algorithms. And some of them are better than others at certain tasks -- for example, the ones that are best at separating out the vocals may not be the best at distinguishing keyboards from guitars, and so forth. However, they all seem to be getting better and better, so it may be that these differences matter less and less as time goes on.

 

In order to be able to use .wav files (which I believe should give better results than using mp3's although I have no evidence for that) I went ahead and made an account there and have suffered no ill consequences as a result (no spam or other malware). I've used it to isolate certain sounds and sound effects for a tribute band that I play in, and also, to hear the vocal arrangements and guitar/keyboard arrangements more clearly.

 

I really like listening to music and doing this kind of separation with my own ears, but there are certain things that the machines are better at, and also, when you want to convince your bandmates (or yourself) that "this is what that instrument is doing," it's a big help.

 

[Docbop]

Hanging about the Beat world where sampling for chopping and flipping is done all the time I hear about.    https://www.lalal.ai/    Serato Sample which comes with Serato Stems https://serato.com/sample .    The new Akai MPC Key 37 and 61 a software update is coming that will have Stem separating capability https://serato.com/sample   .    Really cool seeing and hearing what they do with stems when they are done chopping, repitching, changing tempo, and adding processing it's a whole new sound to be used in an arrangement. 

[ElmerJFudd]

I’m looking forward to the stem separation tools appearing in the macOS version of audacity.  At some point it will be in every DAW though, so I’m not in a rush to purchase a tool.  
 

Moises.ai works well enough for me at the moment.  My main use is getting some stuff out of the way when transcribing.  It’s really helpful for hearing bass lines, drum parts.  The harmonic instruments are also sometimes easier to hear with the drums gone.  👍 

 

It’s also fun to take a vocal and reharmonize for it. Or to practice your production and arranging skills using the original vocal from your favorite songs.   

[analogman1]

I have Moises, Fadr and the standalone app simple stems. 
They all are slightly different in how accurate they are. 
Sometimes I’ll use all 3. 
I’d suggest trying demos of all of them and seeing which one you like best! 

[Docbop]

Here's a review that lists their top five stem software.    Their number one is a free program.   

 

Link to Music Radar's list of 5 best stem programs

[Kawai James]

Thanks very much for the replies folks!

 

I'll definitely have to check out some of these other options - the MusicRadar article is interesting too!

 

The songs that I play with my bandmates are typically mid/late-60s, however sometimes the sax player will recommend a 50's R&B number. Those source recordings are typically mono, and the reference I receive is often a YouTube link. The other day I spent some time search for cleaner/remastered versions of a tune, and managed to purchase and download the track as an uncompressed WAV, as like dbran I believe that's the best source to use for this kind of processing (rather than a lossy MP3 that has already had frequencies "thrown away").

 

It's really great fun to run some of your favourite tunes through these algorithms, and listen to the individual instrument parts (or combinations of parts) in isolation. On some occasions, I've heard new things that I had not noticed previously, and enhances my appreciation for the players' musicality.

 

Thanks again!

 

Cheers,

James

x

[zxcvbnm098]

I've used lalal.ai, and it's decent. My only gripe is it doesn't split up vocal harmonies, which is really what I need it for. But darn, it's really handy for isolating keyboard parts etc. Not perfect, but like all things software I suspect that these tools will continue to improve exponentially over the next  couple of years. 

 

I wish I knew what all the MAL system that Peter Jackson's company created for the Beatles projects could do, and if that will ever be available for purchase? I've heard stories that they can separate even different drum's on a kit....

[Moonglow]

The guitar player in my band has Moises and briefly demonstrated it to me the other day. Worked great when isolating guitar and bass, but the keys sounded horrible, nearly unusable. From what I’ve read above, it might have been a function of the source recording (I don’t remember what it was) or the algorithm employed, not sure. I wonder which of these apps fares best for isolating keys?

[niacin]

1 hour ago, Moonglow said:

The guitar player in my band has Moises and briefly demonstrated it to me the other day. Worked great when isolating guitar and bass, but the keys sounded horrible, nearly unusable.

 

That reflects my experience with Moises.  Guitar survives the process relatively intact, but the default assumption seems to be that if it could be guitar it probably is, and where there's overlap in frequencies/sound with keys they get removed from the keys stem, leaving a hollowed out keys track with just the bits you could already hear sticking out when you listened to the full mix.

 

[Jwave]

I use the free online service Gaudio Studio (winner of the MusicRadar roundup) which can split to six tracks including acoustic piano and electric guitar. I’m in a Steely Dan tribute, and Gaudio has been a gamechanger for figuring out tricky piano parts such as Victor Feldman’s voicings in “Home At Last”. As well as allowing downloads of separate stems, it has an excellent online mixer for creating backing tracks.

[Kawai James]

I've also been using the Gaudio Studio site - it works really well, and the ability to share the "separated" tracks via a URL with bandmates is really great.

There was one tune I tried which struggled to extract the bass part compared to another tool I have been playing with, but other than that, the results have been very impressive.  I think it will also be a great tool for pratising, especially for tunes that have a strong keyboard/piano part, as you can essentially mute that part and play-along to the original accompaniment.

 

I would share an example, however I'm unsure about the legalities of this kind of thing...

 

Cheers,

James

x

[Iconoclast]

The biggest problem I've seen, already described, is that they do a good job of separating out drums, bass, and vox, and pretty much put everything else in the same track. So getting a separate keyboard track is near impossible.

What I like about Moises is it also has loop/key change/speed change so, even though the mechanization of it isn't stellar, it's a great rehearsal tool, especially if you're a guitar player.

But if anyone finds one that can split out the guitar and keyboards with any clarity just let us know that!

[Kawai James]

2 hours ago, Iconoclast said:

What I like about Moises is it also has loop/key change/speed change so, even though the mechanization of it isn't stellar, it's a great rehearsal tool, especially if you're a guitar player.

That's pretty cool. I used Audiostretch on iOS for quite a while to slow down and loop difficult parts when learning new songs, so the ability to do something similar within a tool that can also extract the different parts would be very handy. As it happens, the other day one of my bandmates would like to play the Bobby Womack tune "Across 110th Street", so I ran it through Gaudio Studio and sent him a link.  However, he said he would also like to play it a half-step lower so that it can segue into another tune.

 

2 hours ago, Iconoclast said:

But if anyone finds one that can split out the guitar and keyboards with any clarity just let us know that!

I noticed that in one of the promo videos for Gaudio Studio, there was no "Piano" option - just a "Coming Soon" button.  It seems that the developers are continuing to improve their algorithms, so perhaps we will see improved separation for guitar and keyboard parts in the future?

 

Cheers,

James

x

[Jwave]

The separate acoustic piano track created by the free Gaudio service is generally very good, and invaluable for study purposes. It can also create an electric guitar track, though if there are multiple guitars then some tend to go to the Other track. I’m hoping their “Coming Soon” promise means there may eventually be separate electric keyboard and synth tracks.

[JohnH]

The Queen isolated piano tracks I found were immensely helpful. There are parts that are completely buried in the mix and impossible to hear. Such as the middle uptempo part of Bohemian ("so you think you can- can you listen to me baby section". There is a rhythm piano there that you cannot hear on the full version. And piano arpeggios on We are the Champions during "No time for losing" that are completely buried. Huge help and wish I had these when I started subbing in a tribute in 2021. This gig was very hard to get down, mainly due to so many parts and the tempos are so laid back and slow and behind the beat. Worked with a metronome and started pulling it back while practicing. And I also moved to the back, so the drummer is just at my left.

[Kawai James]

On 3/25/2024 at 11:31 PM, Jwave said:

The separate acoustic piano track created by the free Gaudio service is generally very good, and invaluable for study purposes. It can also create an electric guitar track, though if there are multiple guitars then some tend to go to the Other track. I’m hoping their “Coming Soon” promise means there may eventually be separate electric keyboard and synth tracks.

 

I've noticed that I get different results when uploading discrete left and right channels of a track compared to when uploading the stereo original. Sometimes the results are worse, other times, such as one of the tracks I'm working on, "Harlem Clavinet", the keys part is more cleanly separated.

It seems this is not an exact science, and a fair bit of experimentation is required, but is great fun (re)listening to some of your favourite tunes in this way! 

[obxa]

Wanted to say thanks to everyone for the link to Gaudio!

I've dabbled with LALAL,  which my drummer uses it all the time to remove drums for his students.

 

I'm knee deep finishing Easter music- had our opening Video's audio soundtrack where  needed just some of the track.  Needed to create a performance track with  stems , clicks &  cues  for band  and small orchestra to play along with.  Didn't need the piano, bass and drums.  Plus needed to transpose the key to segue into our  opening song for the service. The track was fairly simple, but didn't have time to create one from scratch.

 

Gaudio did an amazing job. Most importantly, all stems were time correct and lined up perfectly.    If I wanted, could of used the drums and guitar. Bass track had artifacts but wasn't using that either.   Piano track was clean enough to leave on to create a rehearsal mix.   I transposed, assembled and edited everything in Logic, then imported to Abelton.- saved me a ton of time. 

 

Original track (transposed), and final Abelton performance track w/clicks & cues (piano won't be used live)

[TommyRude]

I had to layer additional AI cyber algorithms to my tracks to prevent them from being able to be split.  So many people trying to split my tracks without paying me.  Taylor Swift, Brad Pitt, Mick Jagger, Zac Effron, Wolf Blitzer, Dave Grohl - all have been trying to split my tracks, and that’s just in the past week.

[kelp]

I had to prep for a show recently and went for a demo of Steinberg's SpectraLayers Pro. It's an expensive program but I got what I needed out of the demo. I'm excited to try Demucs GUI, which I've been reading/seeing good things about. Free. Open source.

 

 

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

They've come a long way. I could use iZotope RX Music Rebalance to do what the tool's name implies, on all-in-one mono band tracks, but it didn't really achieve stem isolation. On the other hand, the latest version of SpectraLayers, now owned by Steinberg (it has had a slew of owners), is a true miracle worker and does achieve usable stems from combined tracks, even with challenging instrumentation.

[Kawai James]

2 hours ago, kelp said:

I had to prep for a show recently and went for a demo of Steinberg's SpectraLayers Pro. It's an expensive program but I got what I needed out of the demo. I'm excited to try Demucs GUI, which I've been reading/seeing good things about. Free. Open source.

That looks great, thanks for the link!

[b3plyr]

Couple more. For iPad, try transcribe+. Not only can provide 4 stems but has looping, slow down, pitch change, etc. 

 

For the Mac, if you have iZotope Rx Advanced, it can do 4 stems. Expensive but powerful. It can do many hard to do audio operations, and it does them very well.