How can I rip drum tracks from an .mp3 or other audio file?

1	I am producing some music, and as a test I would like to rip drum tracks from an mp3 to use as a backing track for my recording. Which software can I use to rip the drum track from a song? drum track rip recording mp3 producing asked Feb 28 '11 at 20:53 The Boss 2.1k●54●65●99

4 Answers:

oldest newest most voted

Well, MP3's don't work that way. They are not a multi-track audio file. There is no way to extract one particular track of audio from an MP3 so it's either all or nothing.

The only way this could be done is if you had audio software that supported multi-track recording and it was a multi-track file, or if it was some sort of MIDI file with each individual MIDI track mapped out with a separate drum track.

Sorry to tell'ya, but that's the way it is.

answered Feb 28 '11 at 21:12

Rizzy
4.4k●19●42●89

edited Feb 28 '11 at 21:12

Thanks for replying. So, I found a MIDI file of the song I want to play. But there's annoying music with it. I just want the drums. So I can use something like audacity to extract the drums?

(Feb 28 '11 at 21:57) The Boss

No, as Audacity does not handle MIDI. Simply WAV/MP3 audio.

If you'd like, my E-Mail address is listed in my profile, if you want to send me the MIDI file, I can take out the other instruments, and simply leave the drums. This, literally, would take me about 2 seconds, and I could send it right back. Let me know if you want to do that.

(Feb 28 '11 at 22:15) Rizzy

Thank you for your help. Actually Audacity does support MIDI. Anyway, I used Sony Acid, which is better than Audacity for certain things. Thanks again though. I'll contact you in the future if I ever need help! :)

(Feb 28 '11 at 23:43) The Boss

Oh wow...I stand corrected, and thanks for that update. I haven't used Audacity in about 146 years now, as I use Adobe Audition for all my audio editing, and Cakewalk/Rondo for my MIDI editing.

Didn't realize Audacity did MIDI now!

Glad it worked out!

(Mar 01 '11 at 00:30) Rizzy

0	Rizzy is right. The only other way to get the drum track is if you play and record it yourself. answered Feb 28 '11 at 21:43 catchatyou 20.7k●89●165●383

i dont think it is possible, but the closest thing you can try is use a vocals remover so you at least have something close to just the beat. I reccomend audacity.

answered Feb 28 '11 at 22:04

iGeek3
1.6k●39●49●72

@iGeek, I think what he wants to do is essentially "transplant" the drum track from one recording into another. Doing vocal removing isn't going to help, as you still get "bleed-through" from the different frequency ranges with "vocal removing".

(Feb 28 '11 at 22:07) Rizzy

well i thought it would at least make it stand out more

(Mar 01 '11 at 18:09) iGeek3

It may be possible, but not without a lot of hard work and even still it probably will not work all that well but here is how I would approach it:

The MP3 has the drum data encoded in it, the issue is that it has a lot of other things mixed in as well. But the drums have a frequency range. Being a computer engineering major i had to take a class on signal analysis. It is possible to extract a range of frequency's from a signal you can create a filter, or series of filters, to filter out all other sounds but the drums.

The issues with this is there is a good chance that some other non drum sound crosses over the drum track. and thus you will have overlay and unwanted sounds in your drum track...

Many algorithms have been developed to remove the blur from a blurry photograph, it is simply image processing. One filter to do this with photos is the Wiener Filter. Law enforcement does such things when solving crimes, a security camera gives a grainy blurry photo, they can enhance it. Image processing is not much different from audio signal processing, believe it or not. Historically the Wiener Filter is for noise reduction and although I am not sure exactly how to apply it for this application, but it is still possible.

So final thoughts, yes I'm sure you can do it, I am not sure how but the data is there somewhere, you just have to find it and find a way to remove it.

answered Mar 01 '11 at 00:01

trueb
15.0k●49●99●256

Your answer

toggle preview

community wiki

Follow this question

By Email:

Once you sign in you will be able to subscribe for any updates here

By RSS:

Answers

Answers and Comments

Markdown Basics

*italic* or __italic__
**bold** or __bold__
link:[text](http://url.com/ "title")
image?![alt text](/path/img.jpg "title")
numbered list: 1. Foo 2. Bar
to add a line break simply add two spaces to where you would like the new line to be.
basic HTML tags are also supported

learn more about Markdown