Instrumental/Karaoke versions of songs?

[Chipsonfire]

Hey, I wasn't sure how to search for this topic to see if it had been covered, so if it has please just point me in the right direction What I'm looking for are instrumental versions of songs so that it is easier to learn them by ear. Some songs I've been trying to get a hold of are very difficult to hear the basslines in over the vocals. I have Transcribe! which lets me "isolate" the bass, but it makes it muddy and I can't tell if I'm matching the note or not, and it also tends to knock out those high bass notes (gotta love Flea ). So if anyone knows where I can get some instrumental versions of songs I'd appreciate it

[Deacon_Blues]

I think you could try finding some midi versions instead. Then you can mute the tracks you don't need, slow down the tempo as much as you like, and you can even open the bass track and print out the staff.

[Chipsonfire]

Originally Posted by Deacon_Blues

I think you could try finding some midi versions instead. Then you can mute the tracks you don't need, slow down the tempo as much as you like, and you can even open the bass track and print out the staff.

Hmm, I'll give that a try. Any ideas where I can find MIDIs of songs, perhaps a MIDI converter?

[Deacon_Blues]

Try Google. I've never done what I suggested, but I've heard of people that has done this. (You could probably can find something with a napster type of program, too... )

[Chipsonfire]

Originally Posted by Deacon_Blues

Try Google. I've never done what I suggested, but I've heard of people that has done this. (You could probably can find something with a napster type of program, too... )

But that's illegal! (I would have done this already, but I'm at work and can't till I get home )

[David Lansen]

GuitarPro tabs aren't too hard to find for many well-known songs/bands, including the Chili Peppers. They are essentially multi-track MIDIs and each track can be selected/muted etc. Demo version of GuitarPro is free. The accuracy of those you find on the internet varies though. The guitar parts are usually okay but sometimes the bass parts can just be completely wrong...

Edit:

I often find that EQing a song can help making the different parts a little more distinguishable. Most music players (e.g. WMP, WinAMP, foobar, ...)have graphic EQ function. Try messing around with it. Boost in the middle and a little cut in the very lowest frequencies usually works for me.