My current hard and soft:
Mac G5 dual
M-Audio FireWire Solo
GarageBand
Audacity

I'm not a professional musician and don't intend to be. I just want to start singing and playing guitar Blues on my own as a retirement hobby.
Instead of using loops for the drums and bass backing I would like to use actual recordings of my favorite musicians as karaokes. Is it possible to remove both voice and guitar from a recording? If so how?

Secondary question, a little off topic: I need to buy an electric guitar, not too expensive, possiblly second hand.
As a matter of fact I'll stick to a slow tempo, like Blues does, so I don't need a "fast" guitar. I don't care about the look or the shape since I find them all ugly whether Strato or LesPaul or whatever. I don't care about accessing the highest treble notes.
I care only usability and sound.

What are the specs I should put on my list? Any brand you would recommend?

TIA

Nick

Not really. More discussion about it here.

What do you mean "not really" ;-)
is it possible a little, not at all, else? ;-)

That's what I feared anyway. I suppose it's a technological challenge to identify instruments and voices.

What solution would you suggest in order to play with some backing if you don't have a "live" drummer or bass player who want to partner with you.
I'm kind of a loner so I have to rely on myself but I would like to have some backing, not too mechanical if possible.

Nick

hi


well there's is a way to get the vocals 'faded' but you'll have to trade that with sound quality and not always works.there's a little app that can take the middle part of a stereo file away by changing the phase on both sides cancelling the center ,so the vocals will dissapear(if they're placed in the middle) but all the reverb and choruses will remain(supposing they're panned on the sides,the standard way).
the app is called Amazing Slowdowner and is a very inexpensive shareware,you can also as it's name suggests slowdown tracks without changing pitch,ideal to copy solos and stuff like that.
mmm,guitars ,it's a very deep topic indeed.it all depends on your budget,tipe of sound you're looking after(even within blues!).i recomend you to get a decent guitar ,something that you can play for long time,that will remain tuned ,and most of all that you'll feel a connection with(this is not a new age comment!).
a Fender Stratocaster is a good guitar ,versatile ,easy to play(this can be fixed by taking it to a luthier to calibrate it,but not always) .a second hand guitar is definitely something that you can check and rely on( the older the better) since the wood becomes mature and wont bend,check that the electronics are good ,that it's got good pickups.
good luck!

This post has been edited by gonechan: Sun 9 Oct 2005, 05:33

http://www.mtu.com/testimonials/vocal-elim...nator-users.htm

Vocal remover software...this is one, there's a few out there.

Hi nickdaum,
This is what I use. A Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2. I can plug it into an old Vox powered amplifier, or I can plug it into my Digi 002 Rack. It’s easy to operate; you can pick out a Latin style, Swing, March or Waltz. Turn a knob for your volume and tempo, step on a foot pedal and play away! Years ago they called the rhythm machines “Sideman”. I played piano. It took the place of having to have a bass or drummer for a small job that was stretching just to hire a piano player. These rhythm styles are probably outdated for your taste, but if you could find a rhythm machine with the beats that you like, you’d have that rhythm backing your looking for.
Just an idea.

zrobert

http://www.keyboardmuseum.org/ar/m/mae/mrk2.html

Hi
If you check out pure-mac.com in the Audio or Music section, I'm sure I saw a program for removing any instument or voice from a sound track. Can't remember the name, sorry. They have other programs you might like.

gonechan sez:

> well there's is a way to get the vocals 'faded' but you'll have
>to trade that with sound quality
That’s OK with me, I am loud enough ;-)
It’s for practice and what I need it the recording ‘sound and feel’ to help me getting in the mood.
Many Blues recordings are of a rather mediocre quality anyway.

About Amazing Slowdowner I checked the Roni Music site but it doesn’t mention any karaoke or fading function. Slowing down may help me keeping with the tempo though ;-)

Thanks for tips and advices.


Luke Davison sez:

>Vocal remover software...this is one, there's a few out there.

This one as well as most of the other ones I found are Windows apps. My issue is that I would like to remove guitar too.

Thanks anyway. Tips and links are always good since it may lead to something else which fits you needs.


zrobert sez:

>This is what I use. A Maestro Rhythm King MRK-2

I would rather not use a hardware solution. My purpose is to use actual recordings as backings. But I suppose I should forget about removing or fading specific instruments.

Thanks for your feedback.


halidom sez:

>If you check out pure-mac.com in the Audio or Music section…

Thanks for this very interesting site I didn’t know yet. It’s good to know the softs are for the Mac while most of the time the platform is not mentioned at all (which usually means is Windows only).
Yet I didn’t find what I looked for so far. I’ll have a closer look later.

Thank you all for your input

Nick

Hi Nick,

I just thought I'd add my 2¢ to all the excellent suggestions you've gotten.

First of all, Amazing Slow Downer does indeed have a karaoke funtion. Download the free demo. Also, you might consider a MIDI player. MIDI files are readily available for just about any song out there and allow you to remove any unwanted tracks. Any given MIDI file is only as good as the musician who created it, however, and you may not care for the quality of the built-in QT sounds.

If you were interested in a back-up band application, as opposed to favorite artist recordings, I would strongly recommend checking out Band-In-A-Box: http://www.pgmusic.com/band.htm. Again, download the free demo. It's very versatile, fun, and affordable.

Concerning the guitar, there are many options, but you just can't go wrong with a Strat. They sound great, they're rugged, and they're comfortable to play. You can get started in the $200-$400 range:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guit...ase_pid/511681/
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=guit...ase_pid/510000/

Good luck in your search. It sounds like you're going to enjoy your retirement.

Ron

Another option is to check out a music store for James Aebersold’s Music Minus One tapes or disks. Can also "Google" him.

zrobert