How do I extract the acapella from a song?

Split the song into stems and take the vocals stem. In zann, upload the song or paste a link, wait about a minute, press S on the vocals row to check it, then download the zip; the vocals MP3 is your acapella.

Is the extracted vocal clean enough to release?

Treat it as a practice and sketching tool. On many songs the vocal is clean; on dense or reverb-heavy mixes you will hear bleed from cymbals or synths and a watery warble on held notes. Listen on headphones before deciding.

What format is the acapella in?

320k MP3, the same length as the original so it lines up sample-for-sample with the other three stems and the source track.

Does zann give me the tempo and key for mixing?

It gives estimates. The Find the groove panel shows a tempo, a rough key with alternatives and the main bass notes. Slow tracks can read at half or double tempo, so confirm against your DAW or your ear.

Yes. No account, no payment, files up to 50 MB or a link.

Extract the acapella from any song

To extract the acapella from a song, split it into stems and keep the vocals stem. zann does this free in the browser: upload a file or paste a link, wait about a minute, solo the vocals to check them, then download the zip. The vocals MP3 is the acapella, the same length as the original.

Because all four stems are cut from the same file, the vocal lines up exactly with the drums, bass and other stems and with the source track. Drop it on a new beat, or use the instrumental stems as a ready-made instrumental.

Split a song now

How it works

Upload an MP3, WAV, FLAC, OGG, AAC, MP4 or MKV file up to 50 MB, or paste a link from YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Suno and a few other sites. zann separates the song with the htdemucs model into drums, bass, vocals and other (guitars, keys, synths and everything else). It takes one to three minutes. The player shows four synced waveforms with solo, mute, volume and pan; click to seek, spacebar to play. Download gives you all four stems as 320k MP3s in a zip.

Using it for mixing and mashups

Solo the vocal first and listen through the whole track before you build anything on it. Note where it is clean and where it is not; a chorus with stacked harmonies and a wall of cymbals will have more artifacts than a sparse verse, and those are the passages to avoid or to cover with your own arrangement. Loop a few seconds around any doubtful spot and decide by ear. The listening checklist describes this habit.

The "Find the groove" panel gives a tempo estimate, a 16-step map of the drum and bass pulse, a rough key with alternatives and the most frequent bass notes. For a mashup these are a starting point for matching tempo and key, not a verdict: the tempo of a slow track can read at half or double the real value, and the key guess comes from the instruments, so it can disagree with what the vocal implies. Check both in your DAW.

The other three stems are useful on their own: the drums stem as a drum-only reference, the bass stem to study the bass line, or all three together as the instrumental, which is the same thing singers use as a backing track.

What to expect from the separation

Be realistic about the result. On a dry, well-recorded lead vocal over a sparse mix, the acapella is often clean enough to use directly. On dense mixes you will hear bleed from cymbals, bright synths or distorted guitars, and sustained notes can carry a watery warble; heavy vocal reverb comes along with the voice because the model cannot tell the two apart. Lead and backing vocals arrive together in one stem. Vocoders, choirs and voice-like synths are often filed as vocals too. Listen on headphones; the ear is the final judge of whether a passage is usable.

Formats, limits and sources are on the stem splitter page.

Use audio you own or are allowed to use, for your own practice and sketches. Separating a song into stems does not transfer its copyright, and releasing work built on someone else's vocal needs their permission. Files are processed on zann's servers.

FAQ

How do I extract the acapella from a song?: Split the song into stems and take the vocals stem. In zann, upload the song or paste a link, wait about a minute, press S on the vocals row to check it, then download the zip; the vocals MP3 is your acapella.
Is the extracted vocal clean enough to release?: Treat it as a practice and sketching tool. On many songs the vocal is clean; on dense or reverb-heavy mixes you will hear bleed from cymbals or synths and a watery warble on held notes. Listen on headphones before deciding.
What format is the acapella in?: 320k MP3, the same length as the original so it lines up sample-for-sample with the other three stems and the source track.
Does zann give me the tempo and key for mixing?: It gives estimates. The Find the groove panel shows a tempo, a rough key with alternatives and the main bass notes. Slow tracks can read at half or double tempo, so confirm against your DAW or your ear.
Is it free?: Yes. No account, no payment, files up to 50 MB or a link.