how do people isolate specific audio tracks from a file without access to the master tapes? Such as when someone makes an isolated vocal or bass track of a song or when someone makes a mashup of instruments from one song with the vocals from another.

Question

Such as when people make “isolated bass/vocal,” tracks of popular songs or make a meme mashup of one song with he vocal line of another over it?

In: Technology

Answer 1

The song contains a range of sound frequencies. Think of these frequencies as “audio colours.” The bass is red, and all the way on the other end do the rainbow is high-pitched purple.

To isolate just one voice in the music, you can filter the spectrum so you only have the range you want — just the “orange”, for example, or just the “green”, like screwing filters over a lens, where some colours are blocked and others are let through.

With software it’s relatively easy to choose just the exact frequencies that comprise a particular sound in the mix, and filter out the rest. A couple of passes like this with different settings, and you have imperfect but workable “separated” tracks.

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Edit to add: I do this in the course of my work, when creating generative visuals from mixed-down audio files.