Right/left From Center Audio Separation Options

[Voicedude]

Here's the BIG question for Mac audio manipulators:

But first, some backstory: I love my Mac. And I love my ProTools. I mean I * L - O - V - E * my ProTools! I enjoy Remixes, Megamixes, etc., and I just discovered Mashes somewhat recently. This is where Producers take the vocals from ONE song and 'mash' them with the instrumentals from ANOTHER. The results (depending on the Producer) are often geniuis! I am, to say the least, OBSESSED!

Problem is, that many of the programs I've been reading about for making the homemade 'Pellas & Instrumentals won't work. They are for PCs.

So, I beg my Mac friends out there to help me out - throw me a bone: ARE THERE ANY MAC PROGRAMS OUT THERE FOR SEPARATING VOCALS FROM THE INSTRUMENTS? (i.e. Separate center from right/left the way SoundForge and others sort of do!) I do the OOPS method (I forget what that stands for) but often lose drums and/or bass. I know there is hardware out there that does it to a degree (Thompson Vocal Eliminator, f'rinstance!), but I need it done digitally. Because I don't want just 'karaoke' instrumentals but the acapellas as well! If it can be done, it should be like separating eggs: sometimes I want the yolks, sometimes the whites.

I've heard there are also ways of matching an exact instrumental version against the regular one and canceling out audio so that most of what remains is acapella vocals. How is this done? (It must be a BIT different from OOPS because I can't seem to get it!)

Besides my precious ProTools, I've got Amadeus & a bunch of VST plug-ins for it, Cakewalk's Groove Maker Max, and a PC version of Acid 4.0, but not a real good PC to use it on (and Virtual PC is so frustrating!) I know it's not going to be perfect, that it many cases it's like Gump Chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get! - but I figure there HAS to be some Mac assistance out there for 'Mashing' Somebody knows about 'em or has been working on it; and this is my humble plea to them...

Thanx in advance!

- Voicedude

[sunnylew]

Hi,
I just wanted to add, that if you find you lose the kick and bass whenever you cancel the centre frequencies (because they're usually centred with the vocal ) there's a fairly simple workaround: Before you start playing with the frequencies, copy the recording to another track, and add a low pass filter. Play with the cut-off until you only have kick and bass ( or near enough), and then recombine this with the result of your phase manipultion with the other copy of the track.