Free Ways to Split Music into Stems: A Complete Guide
Whether you’re a music producer, DJ, or enthusiast looking to remix a song, one of the essential skills you may need is splitting a track into its individual stems. Stems are the separated audio tracks that make up the full song, such as vocals, drums, bass, and other instruments stem splitter free. Traditionally, separating these elements was reserved for professionals with expensive software, but thanks to advances in technology, there are now free tools available to do this. In this blog post, we’ll explore how you can split music into stems for free and how you can use these tools to enhance your musical creativity.
What are Music Stems?
Before diving into the methods, let’s quickly review what stems are. When you’re working with a piece of music, a stem is essentially a specific audio element or a set of related elements in the track. For example:
- Vocals (lead vocals or backing vocals)
- Drums (kick, snare, hi-hat, etc.)
- Bass
- Melody instruments (guitar, piano, synth, etc.)
- Effects (synthesizer effects, sound design elements)
Having access to stems can give you full control over a song’s production, which is particularly useful for remixing, sampling, or improving your mixing skills.
Free Tools to Split Music into Stems
- Spleeter by Deezer
- Overview: Spleeter is a powerful and free tool developed by Deezer, designed to separate music into multiple stems. It uses AI-based deep learning models to split songs into high-quality stems.
- How it Works: Spleeter can split tracks into two, four, or five stems. The tool is available as a command-line tool, which might require some basic knowledge of how to use the terminal or command prompt. However, there are also various user-friendly applications and GUIs that have been built around Spleeter.
- Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
- Usage: You can either use the pre-built software, like SpleeterGUI, or run it through Python if you are comfortable with coding.
- Pros: High-quality separation of audio elements, free, open-source.
- Cons: Requires installation and some technical knowledge.
- Install Python on your system.
- Download Spleeter and its dependencies.
- Use the command line to run the separation process on your chosen track.
- iZotope RX Elements (Free Trial)
- Overview: iZotope’s RX Elements offers an easy way to split tracks into stems, albeit with some limitations in the free trial version. It’s a professional audio restoration and separation tool, which includes capabilities for removing unwanted noise and separating elements of a track.
- How it Works: The free trial of iZotope RX Elements includes a tool called “Music Rebalance,” which can isolate or remove vocals, bass, percussion, and other elements. It’s highly effective and user-friendly.
- Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS
- Pros: Professional-grade tool, easy to use.
- Cons: Free trial limited in time and functionality. Full version is paid.
- Download and install the trial version of RX Elements.
- Open the track you want to work with.
- Use the Music Rebalance feature to adjust the levels of various elements, or separate them entirely.
- Export the stems in different tracks.
- Moises.ai
- Overview: Moises.ai is an online platform that allows users to upload songs and split them into stems. The service uses AI to process the track and return individual stems (vocals, drums, bass, etc.).
- How it Works: After uploading your track, Moises.ai splits the song into separate components. You can download these stems in different file formats.
- Supported Platforms: Web-based (accessible on any platform with an internet connection)
- Pros: No installation required, simple to use, and quick processing.
- Cons: Free version limits the number of tracks you can process per month and the length of each track.
- Go to the Moises.ai website.
- Upload the song you want to split.
- Wait for the processing to finish, then download the stems.
- Audacity (with Stem Separation Plugins)
- Overview: Audacity is a free, open-source audio editing software that can be used for many tasks, including music splitting. While it doesn’t have a built-in stem separation tool, there are plugins available that can help you split tracks.
- How it Works: You can use Audacity’s built-in features, like the Vocal Reduction and Isolation tool, to attempt isolating certain elements in a track. Alternatively, you can search for and install third-party plugins that provide stem separation features.
- Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
- Pros: Free and open-source, works on most platforms, highly customizable.
- Cons: Requires more manual work and may not be as effective as AI-based tools.
- Download and install Audacity.
- Open the song you want to work with.
- Use the Vocal Reduction and Isolation effect or install plugins for better stem separation.
- Edit and export your desired stems.
- StemDrop (by Universal Music Group and OpenAI)
- Overview: StemDrop is a new AI-powered tool developed in collaboration with Universal Music Group and OpenAI. This tool allows users to separate music into stems with ease using AI models similar to those used by professional music producers.
- How it Works: StemDrop uses AI to separate the track into high-quality stems, giving you access to individual elements like vocals, drums, bass, and more.
- Supported Platforms: Web-based, accessible through a browser.
- Pros: Simple, intuitive interface, high-quality stems.
- Cons: Still in the early stages, may not have as many features as other tools.
- Visit the StemDrop website.
- Upload your song and let the AI work its magic.
- Download the individual stems for use in your project.
Best Practices for Using Stems
Once you’ve successfully separated a song into its stems, there are several ways you can use them creatively:
- Remixing: Take the isolated vocals or instrumental stems and create your own version of the track.
- Music Production: Use stems as building blocks for a new composition, combining different parts from various tracks.
- Practice Mixing: Stems are a great way to practice mixing, as you have more control over the individual elements of the song.
- Learning: By isolating specific elements of a track, you can learn how certain instruments or vocals are mixed and balanced.
Conclusion
There has never been a better time for aspiring producers and musicians to explore the world of stem separation. With tools like Spleeter, iZotope RX Elements, Moises.ai, and others, you can easily split tracks into stems for free. Whether you’re remixing, practicing, or just experimenting, these tools can help you unlock new creative possibilities and enhance your musical journey.