[gtranslate]
Pro Audio

LALAL.AI: a vocal remover, stem separator, and so much more

A trusty vocal remover and stem separator is a critical tool for music production, remixes, and even education. LALAL.AI is a sophisticated platform that makes it easier than ever.

It sounds like magic — and using the power of some pretty sophisticated algorithms — it kind of is. LALAL.AI is an easy to use vocal remover but is also clever enough to take full stereo mixes and split them up into their constituent elements.

So whether you need that signature drum break without a pesky band playing over the top, or if you need to burrow into the heart of a mix to extract a particular bassline, LALAL.AI aims to do just that.

LALAL.AI vocal remover

First look

LALAL.AI is a cloud-based service that operates from a very slick and user-friendly interface. Signing up is almost entirely frictionless: simply hit the little square-person avatar in the top-right hand corner, enter your email address, and you’re set.

From the get-go, you’re encouraged to dive in and get stem-splitting straight away with an option to upload your files on the homepage. But if you want a tour first, scroll down to get a friendly explainer and a powerful demonstration of what LALAL.AI can do: a full mix goes in and the separate vocal and instrumental comes out. It really is that simple.

A little further down you’ll find the price points. Refreshingly, there are no ongoing subscription fees: it’s just a one-time payment. For the $30 Plus pack, you’ll get 300 minutes worth of uploads, totalling 2GB, with a variety of audio and video formats, including MP3, OGG, WAV, FLAC, AVI, MP4, MKV, AIFF, and AAC. You’ll also get the fast processing queue feature and you’ll be able to upload your files in batches (which is a brand new feature) for maximum productivity.

The Lite pack ($15) shares all the same features, with a 90-minute limit instead of 300. Thankfully, LALAL.AI is available as a Free pack, with a 10-minute/50MB limit, and is restricted to MP3, OGG, and WAV file types.

LALAL.AI software

Workflow

As already mentioned, LALAL.AI has prioritised a frictionless workflow, so in terms of its functionality, there’s not much to talk about! You drag and drop your file onto the arrow and watch while the algorithm does the heavy lifting.

And while LALAL.AI’s most obvious application is separating vocals from the instrumental mix, you can really get creative with your stem selection. You can extract drums, bass, electric or acoustic guitar, piano, and synth — with the resulting files conveniently delivered to your inbox. So how convincing is it?

Sound of the Phoenix

LALAL.AI relies on the power of the Phoenix neural network. According to the company:

“Compared to the previous neural network, Phoenix processes and splits files into stems twice as fast, delivers higher quality vocal extraction, handles backing vocals much more carefully, and produces significantly fewer artifacts.”

While everyone can appreciate speed as a benefit to productivity in the studio, the sound is paramount for the producers, DJs, and musicians who would make use of stem extraction. The ‘penalty’ for this process is ‘artifacts’ — strange, quiet, ghostly sounds that can be heard in the separated stems.

The great news is that the new Phoenix algorithm preserves tone with maximum fidelity and minimum artifacts. Testing it myself, it was a breeze to zero in on the elements I needed from a dense mix and instantly acquire solo tones that could be used in new contexts.

Who is it for?

Of course, a tool like this is only as good as its creative applications. So who could benefit from LALAL.AI?

Firstly, it has immediate implications for producers and DJs in remixing. Finding a vocal remover to repurpose mixes isn’t easy, so LALAL.AI is a no-brainer on that front. Sampling is another production application that could easily benefit here: slicing and dicing short drum breaks, vocal hooks, guitar licks, and more from your favourite vintage hit is made easy.

Using this platform as an educational tool shouldn’t be discounted either. Imagine being able to zero in on a particular instrument part in order to nail an intricate solo? Or having the power to break down and analyse the constituent elements in a piece of music for your students?

So while LALAL.AI can simply be your next vocal remover, there are a whole host of creative and inspirational uses that make it an incredibly powerful tool in the studio.

Visit LALAL.AI for all the details.