Isolating Bass Tracks

[wintremute]

Everyone is missing the obvious one: Logic version 11 has "stem splitter". They claim it uses "AI" but let's take that with a grain of salt.
Anyway, give it a mixed track and it gives you 4 tracks: vocal, drum, bass, rest. It is completely amazing. The bass is about 99 percent isolated.

OP said, " Is there a reasonbly priced software out there...". Logic Pro 11 is $200, and you need a Mac OS to run it. I'm not sure that fits his parameters.

@Gilmourisgod, what is your definition of "reasonably priced"?

 

[sokolasty]

Invalid Link Removed

Allows to split one song a day with quality sufficient to distinct bass lines

 

[Spectre Gunner]

You know YouTube has a built-in playback speed change feature, so you can use them on these isolated bass tracks. Gear menu then Playback Speed. Only in 25% increments (and it can get wonky at 50%) but it's right there to use.

Unlike slowing down a vinyl record or tape player, YouTube will maintain the correct pitch.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Thanks for suggestions all! As far as "resonably priced", I'd say under $100, I'm a crappy bedroom bassist, not a sound engineer, but I've seen a few incredibly sophisticated things online that were less than $100. I'll start by checking out the Moises App, since that seems to come up repeatedly.

 

[VicDiesel]

Logic Pro 11 is $200, and you need a Mac OS to run it.

If you have an Apple and you ever do anything with music you'd be silly not to get Logic. It does everything, and Apple's updates have been both spectacular and free for many years now.

So I'll rephrase: if you have a Mac, you really ought to have Logic, in which case you have the wanted functionality for free.

 

[Chris Chong]

Everyone is missing the obvious one: Logic version 11 has "stem splitter". They claim it uses "AI" but let's take that with a grain of salt.
Anyway, give it a mixed track and it gives you 4 tracks: vocal, drum, bass, rest. It is completely amazing. The bass is about 99 percent isolated.

I didn’t know about that, thanks.

To further add value, in logic, turn on Flex Pitch on the bass track, go to edit mode, export as midi track, and you will have all the notes clearly shown in midi with the note length.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Lots of review and tutorial videos on YT for the Moises App, looks like this might fit the bill!

 

[mdlewis]

I've also heard some talk about The Amazing Slow-Downer? Does that have similar functions for isolating bass tracks?

I use Amazing Slow-Downer, but mainly for practicing. It's good for changing the pitch of a song without changing the tempo or changing the tempo without the pitch. For learning songs, I find Transcribe to be more useful as it has the ability to visually annotate the track (mark off measures, beats and parts). Both programs isolate the bass tracks by using equalization.

Far more powerful are the new AI methods. The posters above reference Moises and I've found it works well, but it's subscription software. I've been a big Logic user (Apple's DAW) for a decade or more and the most recent update has a built-in four voice "stem-splitter" which allows for the clean separation of drums, bass, voice, and everything else. It works pretty well and is great for isolating bass lines without equalization compromises. I'm amazed at what the bass lines actually are for some of the recordings I've been learning. My perception of what's actually happening in the bass really changes when I listen only to the full mix.

None of these methods are perfect, but they're all better than the old needle drops. And easier on your recordings.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Do any of these programs include a looping function? Ideally I could slow a section down, more or less isolate the bass, and loop it. Can the Moises app do loops?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

If you have an Apple and you ever do anything with music you'd be silly not to get Logic. It does everything, and Apple's updates have been both spectacular and free for many years now.

So I'll rephrase: if you have a Mac, you really ought to have Logic, in which case you have the wanted functionality for free.

Alas, I am Mac-Less. Still flogging the old PC.

 

[BC Blackmur]

Audacity has been free forever, now includes being able to separate tracks. I compared a few songs with Moises and Audacity did pretty much the same and in a couple of songs it actually worked better. Free is always good.

Then I import the bass track into my DAW, reverse the phase and mix down with the original track. Instant original song with no bass.

 

[mdlewis]

Do any of these programs include a looping function? Ideally I could slow a section down, more or less isolate the bass, and loop it. Can the Moises app do loops?

Most of them do.

 

[HotelX]

Everyone is missing the obvious one: Logic version 11 has "stem splitter". They claim it uses "AI" but let's take that with a grain of salt.
Anyway, give it a mixed track and it gives you 4 tracks: vocal, drum, bass, rest. It is completely amazing. The bass is about 99 percent isolated.

Logic is what I use

 

[wintremute]

Audacity has been free forever, now includes being able to separate tracks. I compared a few songs with Moises and Audacity did pretty much the same and in a couple of songs it actually worked better. Free is always good.

Then I import the bass track into my DAW, reverse the phase and mix down with the original track. Instant original song with no bass.

I use Audacity all the time. I need to look at that.

 

[tom-g]

If you have an Apple and you ever do anything with music you'd be silly not to get Logic. It does everything, and Apple's updates have been both spectacular and free for many years now.

So I'll rephrase: if you have a Mac, you really ought to have Logic, in which case you have the wanted functionality for free.

True, but you need Apple silicon for that to work. Intel Macs won't work.

 

[mcnach]

Do any of these programs include a looping function? Ideally I could slow a section down, more or less isolate the bass, and loop it. Can the Moises app do loops?

It does.

Another alternative to Moises that you can buy outright (it wasn't much) instead of having a subscription is RipX. It can do a LOT, including editing individual notes which blows my mind.
I prefer the quality of the results with Moises, but RipX is not bad at all and the extra functionality can be handy.

 

[Semi Actuated]

I've tried many of these types of software, and preferred RIP-X. I like the one-shot buy vs. the subscription model. I've owned RIP-X for two years now, and so far they have been really good about free updates.

The ability to edit individual notes in RIP-X is very helpful, because every one of the stem separation software I have tried will occasionally "assign" the bass guitar notes to a different instrument, so with Rip-X you can cut-and-paste from say, guitar to bass, if that happens. That's nice when you are making a "bassless" version of a recording to practice with, and you want to make sure you cut out all of the bass guitar part.

I actually thought the quality of separation overall was slightly better with RIP-X vs. Moises, but it depends on the original recording, Some of these models do better than others, depending on the song, so YMMV.

 

[Chris Chong]

True, but you need Apple silicon for that to work. Intel Macs won't work.

Mine is the last Intel Mac mini

 

[mcnach]

I've tried many of these types of software, and preferred RIP-X. I like the one-shot buy vs. the subscription model. I've owned RIP-X for two years now, and so far they have been really good about free updates.

The ability to edit individual notes in RIP-X is very helpful, because every one of the stem separation software I have tried will occasionally "assign" the bass guitar notes to a different instrument, so with Rip-X you can cut-and-paste from say, guitar to bass, if that happens. That's nice when you are making a "bassless" version of a recording to practice with, and you want to make sure you cut out all of the bass guitar part.

I actually thought the quality of separation overall was slightly better with RIP-X vs. Moises, but it depends on the original recording, Some of these models do better than others, depending on the song, so YMMV.

That's a good point: although I prefer Moises for my main use, I noticed that some songs are better separated by Moises but some by Rip-X. Not a big deal the way I normally use it for [1], but if you want a nice quality result and are prepared to play a bit with it, RipX has more options.

[1]: I use it mainly to learn new songs quickly. I dep from time to time with a few bands and there's always new material to deal with. I plug the track into Moises, let it do its thing, and I can listen to a bass-heavy mix (or only bass) to get my ear used to it, and practice by playing along to the original sounds but with my bass. I tend to save the individual tracks so that I don't need to use Moises to play back later, just load them in Reaper.
One thing that's been really handy is that it does a good job also from ambient recordings. With my main band where we play mostly originals, we've just been writing new material over the past few months. We meet at our singer/guitarist's place, a nice isolated house where we can make noise. He's got a room permanently set up with a drum kit, PA and all the rest. I record our sessions on a little Zoom H2 with its built-in microphones. From those recordings Moises will easily separate tracks and remove bass, so I get to play at home trying alternative basslines, without whatever I happened to play at the time distracting me.

 

[VicDiesel]

True, but you need Apple silicon for that to work. Intel Macs won't work.

Good point. Here's where Apple's durability is a disadvantage. I think I ditched my previous Mac after close to 10 years.