Want to create professional-quality vocal tracks easily and quickly? Learn how to isolate vocals in GarageBand Mac with this step-by-step guide. Compare AI vocal removers, GarageBand methods, and pro tips for clean vocal separation. Updated for 2025.
--kayjay_akmusic from Reddit
Utilizing GarageBand on Mac for remixing, sampling and music production significantly benefits content creators, music producers, and enthusiasts alike. Learning how to isolate vocals in GarageBand Mac can unlock a realm of creative possibilities. This post explores two methods to accomplish a GarageBand vocal removal project on your Mac.
GarageBand is a free music creation software developed by Apple for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS. With it, users can create, record and edit music. For many music producers, this software can essentially meet their needs for expensive audio equipment and studios.
Before diving into learning how to remove vocals in GarageBand, users need to understand a concept: the isolated vocal track. It refers to an audio or recording file that solely contains vocals without any instruments, harmonies, or other background elements.
Removing vocals using GarageBand is not as difficult as you might think. There are two scenarios: having an isolated vocal track and not having an isolated vocal track. For these two situations, we provide two different processing methods.
If you have an isolated vocal track, you can perfectly remove the vocals using the following method. The steps are as follows.
Step 1. Open the File
Open GarageBand on your Mac. Create a new project and import the song or audio file you are going to isolate the vocals.
Step 2. Mute the Vocals
In the track controls window located to the left of the track's waveform, click on the "Mute" button to silence the vocal track.
If you wish to delete the vocal track entirely, select the vocal track by clicking on it to highlight it, and then press the "Delete" key.
📺To provide you with a quick understanding, there is a related YouTube video available that you can watch to gain more detailed information.
If you don't have an isolated vocal track but still want to remove vocals using GarageBand, you can accomplish this using EQ (Equalization). However, it's important to note that using this method may not completely eliminate vocals, and other elements such as instruments or reverberation may still have residual sound.
Here is the method to remove vocals using EQ:
Step 1. Open GarageBand and upload the file from which you want to remove vocals.
Step 2. Locate the "Smart Controls" area on the left side of the screen or click the "Smart Controls" button in the toolbar.
Step 3. In the Smart Controls area, click on the "Track" button.
Step 4. Once the EQ is enabled, you will see a graphical display of the frequency spectrum with sliders or knobs. Use these controls to remove the vocals.
Generally, the frequency range of vocals falls between 80 Hz and 3.5 kHz (lower-pitched male voices occupy approximately 80 Hz to 2 kHz, while higher-pitched female voices occupy around 100 Hz to 3.5 kHz). By removing these frequencies on the EQ graph, you can effectively eliminate vocals from the mix.
If you encounter difficulties while using GarageBand to remove vocals, you can consider using EaseUS Online Vocal Remover. It is an AI-powered online vocal remover tool that utilizes deep learning technology to isolate vocals, noise, or background music online. Additionally, it can be used to remove music from TikTok videos, Spotify songs, and YouTube videos.
Features:
Follow these steps to separate vocals from your audio:
Step 1. From the main page of EaseUS Online Vocal Remover, choose "Vocal Remover" from the left, and click "Choose file" to upload your video or audio files. You can also drop the file into the window.
Step 2. By AI algorithm, all the vocals in the audio will be recognized automatically and then separated from the music in seconds.
Step 3. Once vocals are extracted, audition the audio, and then choose to download the extracted Karaoke, instrumental sound, or background music.
Audacity, as one of the most powerful open-source audio editor, allows you to separate vocals from music. There are several ways to perform vocal removal, but here I list the most common method: using the Vocal Reduction and Isolation Effect. More ways, click here!
Step 1. Go to "File" > "Import" > "Audio" to select and import the audio file into Audacity.
Step 2. Click "File" > "Export" > "Export as MP3/WAV/OGG…" to keep a backup. Name it and click "OK".
Step 3. Click "Close" on the original audio track and import the newly exported file.
Step 4. Click "Select" > "All".
Step 5. Click "Effect" > "Special" > "Vocal Reduction and Isolation" > "Action" > "Remove Vocals".
Step 6. Click "Play" to listen to the result.
When it comes to isolating vocals on a Mac, both GarageBand and AI vocal remover tools have their strengths and limitations. Here's a quick comparison to help you decide which one works best for your project:
| Method | Pros | Cons | Best For |
| GarageBand | ✅ Free and pre-installed on every Mac ✅ Offers manual control over EQ and channels ✅ Great for learning audio editing basics | ❌ Technical steps required ❌ Results may vary depending on the track ❌ Time-consuming compared to AI tools | Mac users who want to practice production skills or DIY editing |
| AI Tools | ✅ Fast and automatic vocal separation ✅ Clean, high-quality stems ✅ No audio engineering skills needed | ❌ Limited free usage quotas ❌ Requires stable internet connection ❌ Less manual control for advanced tweaking | Beginners, quick projects, or anyone who values speed and convenience |
After reading the above article, you should have a better understanding of GarageBand and be able to choose the most suitable method based on whether you have an isolated vocal track or not. Although using EQ to remove vocals may not always yield satisfactory results, with familiarity, you can make adjustments based on frequencies.
Feel free to share this passage on your social media platforms to help more people discover how to isolate vocals in GarageBand Mac.
In addition to the methods we have discussed, there are several other related questions that users often ask. You can explore these questions to further expand your knowledge on the topic.
Using these tools can help you isolate vocals on a Mac. The first category includes vocal remover software like Audacity, Adobe Audition, or EaseUS Online Vocal Remover. The second category consists of built-in tools on Mac, such as GarageBand.
To remove vocals and instruments in GarageBand, follow these steps.
Step 1. Select the specific region you want to split by clicking on it in the Track area.
Step 2. Move the playhead to the desired location within the selected region.
Step 3. From the menu at the top of the screen, choose "Edit" and then select "Split Regions at Playhead."
Yes, you can remove vocals from a song in GarageBand by muting the vocal track in the mix.
There are numerous online and offline tools available to isolate background vocals from a song, including Audacity, WavePad, and LALAL.AI. However, we highly recommend using EaseUS Online Vocal Remover for its exceptional quality and accuracy in removing vocals.
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