How to Make an Acapella: The Best AI Acapella Maker Right Now
Acapellas have many uses in music production, whether it’s remixing an existing track or sampling a specific vocal passage.
But accessing vocal stems isn’t always straightforward. If you don’t have the DAW project in hand or you lost the original recordings, extracting an acapella from a complete song is your best option.
Luckily with modern AI tools, it’s easier than it’s ever been to extract an acapella from song and grab vocals stems for use in remix projects, sampling and beyond.
So if you’re curious about using AI tools to extract vocals, we’ve got you covered. Let’s dive in.
What is an acapella extractor?
Acapella extractors are AI-powered tools that can analyze a track and separate vocal stems from the rest of the track’s arrangement. They use machine learning to recognize vocal timbres in a track and then isolate them from other instruments in the back ground.
Acapella extractors come in many formats, in most cases they’re used in browser based applications, but some acapella extractors can also be used as VST plugins inside the DAW.
How to make an acapella
Here's LANDR Stems acapella making abilities in action.
If you want to make an acapella you need to find an acapella extractor and go through the process of using it.
In most cases the process is simple, you just have to upload your track and the tool will do its work to extract the vocal.
But some tools offer more advanced features that produce a better acapella, especially in they work inside of the DAW as plugin.
Here’s a quick workflow for making acapellas with an acapella extractor.
1. Upload a track
To get the best possible vocal extraction you’ll need a high quality audio file version of the track you want vocals from.
Ideally you should use a .WAV file, but if you can’t find one a .MP3 file will work.
2. Allow the tool or plugin to analyze the track and extract the vocals
Once you upload your track, the tool will need a short amount of time to analyze your track and start the stem separtion process.
In general, it will take a few seconds to a few minutes to fully analyze and extract vocals from your track.
3. Download the stems for use in your DAW
If the tool you are using a stem separator, it will separate each part of your track in individual stems.
LANDR Stems for example breaks tracks into vocals, percussion, guitars, bass and other instruments.
In the browser version of LANDR Stems, your extracted vocals will appear in the LANDR Library where you upload your initial version.
In the plugin version, LANDR Stems will show the wave forms of each stem. You can click and drag any stem you wish to use, including vocals into your DAW for further production uses.
🧠 Hot tip
Remember, you can only use vocals you have rights to in music you plan on commercially releasing. You may need special permission from the artist if you plan on sampling their voice in a new track or remix.
Best acapella maker
We’ve covered stem separator tools in-depth in a past articles, so chek it out for a more comprehensive breakdown of every option on the market.
In this Rhythm Roulette video from Mass Appeal, JAE5 uses LANDR Stems to separate a vinyl sample into stems.
When it comes to vocals though, the best acapella maker from our testing was LANDR Stems.
Here’s a demo of it in action, if you’re curious how it works.
Here's the original vocal track before extraction.
Here are the vocals extracted from the track with LANDR Stems
LANDR Stems was able to produce incredibly clear vocal extraction with minimal artifacts or background noises
While it isn’t free to use, you can either purchase the plugin outright for unlimited use or you can grab it as part of a LANDR Studio subscription and also gain access to unlimited mastering, distribution, samples and the other 70+ plugins that come bundled with the subscription.
Compared to the freemium vocal extractors on the market that only offer minimal access tot their “free” tools, LANDR Stems ultimately provides a better service at a lower price if vocal extraction is something you intend to do often.
Make an acapella
Extracting acapellas from songs has become significantly easier with the advent of AI-powered vocal extractors.
These tools analyze tracks to separate vocal stems from instrumental arrangements, making them invaluable for remixing, sampling, and other music production needs.
While many browser-based and VST plugin options exist, LANDR Stems stands out for its ability to produce clear vocal extractions with minimal artifacts.
Its comprehensive features and integration with a LANDR Studio subscription offer a superior service for those who frequently require vocal isolation, ultimately providing a better value compared to limited freemium alternatives.
Alex Lavoie is a drummer, music producer, songwriter and marketing professional living in Montreal, Quebec. He works as a staff writer at LANDR by day and writes indie post-punk tunes in his band UTILS while moonlighting as drummer for folk-rock outfit The Painters. Connect with Alex Lavoie on LANDR Network!
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