how to play music without lyrics
an online service called Artificial Intelligence for Sound! can remove vocals for you automatically. I don’t know who these guys are but it sounds to me like it’s a quick route.
If you’re interested in DIY, keep on reading my answer.
For voice removal (in random order):
- Combine L with phase-reversed R to mono
- Apply fine-tuned, decisive EQ (e.g., mouse-drawn EQ/notch filter, with lots of DBs)
- Use Audacity’s sampled noise filter (or Reaper’s Reafir VST in subtract mode) to remove specific sounds
For voice isolation, the best results I got involved:
- Resample to a lower frequency, for example, 22KHz
- Apply fine-tuned, decisive EQ (e.g., mouse-drawn EQ/notch filter, with lots of DBs) to remove all frequencies that are not within the human voice range; and the specific singer’s voice range
- Use Audacity’s sampled noise filter or Reaper’s Reafir VST to remove specific sounds (like snare hits)
- Scan the song to find the most convenient part to sample
- If you end up with too little midrange, use some sort of “exciter” filter to rebuild the higher frequencies with harmonies
- At this point, it might sound like a mess, but In the context of a remix/mashup – cover up the glitches with effects.