How to Remove Vocals From Songs on Apple or Mac Computers

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
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.

Advertisement

Step 1

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

Video of the Day

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.

Advertisement

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."

Advertisement

Step 5

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

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Step 8

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

Video of the Day

Advertisement

Advertisement

references & resources

Report an Issue

screenshot of the current page

Screenshot loading...