How to Remove Vocals From Songs on Apple or Mac Computers

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Tweak your sound files to remove the vocal track.

If you have an Apple Mac computer and you want to remove the vocals from a song or piece of music, you're in luck. You don't even have to pay for proprietary software that doesn't give you control over the vocal-removing process. Free open-source software exists to take the vocals out of almost any music track, giving you an instrumental version suitable for use as a karaoke track or when you just don't want to hear the words of a song.

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Step 1

Download Audacity, the free software best suited to this task. Double-click the downloaded image to mount it for installation.

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Step 2

Create a folder in your Mac's "Applications" folder called "Audacity." Drag "Audacity" from your mounted image into this folder to install the software.

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Step 3

Double-click Audacity to launch. Drag your audio file into the main window of Audacity to open for editing. Your audio file will be displayed as two linked blue waveforms.

Step 4

Open the pull-down menu in the top left-hand corner of your audio file and select "Split Stereo Track."

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Step 5

Click the gray panel at the left end of the lower audio track to select this track.

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Step 6

Open Audacity's "Effects" menu and select "Invert."

Step 7

Open the pull-down menu for the first track and select "Mono." Repeat for the second track.

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Step 8

Open Audacity's "File" menu and select "Export as MP3." Select the destination for your new vocal-free track and click "Save."

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