Norah Studio Get the app

Make a backing track

Your backing track.

Norah Studio on a Mac with the vocals muted, the key lowered and the tempo slowed

Make a backing track

Leave out your part.
Keep the band.

A backing track is the song without the part you play. Norah Studio makes one from any song file you own: mute a lane, set the key and the tempo, and export what is left.

Download on theApp Store

How it works

Mute a lane.
Export the rest.

Singers mute the vocals. Drummers mute the drums. Bass, guitar and keys stay in the instrumental lane, so other players play over the full band, in the key and at the tempo they choose.

The export picker on iPhone with Drums and Instrumental chosen

Three steps

  1. Open the song and mute the lane you will play.
  2. Set the tempo and the key.
  3. Export the lanes you keep, in your key and at your tempo.

On Mac

Click Export stems (⌘E), or drag a lane into the Finder. The Mac guide

On iPad

Tap Export stems and choose a folder in Files. The iPad guide

On iPhone

Tap the export button at the top of the desk. The iPhone guide

Export

Ordinary audio files.
Named after the song.

Each lane leaves as its own file with its effects printed in. The file name says the song, the track and what you changed, so a set of backing tracks stays in order.

The export picker on iPad, with Drums and Instrumental chosen

Proportionate

Lossy in, lossy out: a 3 MB MP3 does not come back as 200 MB of WAV.

Just the loop

Export the whole song, or only the passage you loop.

Library

Recent songs reopen with their stems and effects, without separating again.

Questions

Short answers.

Which parts can I leave out?

Any of the three lanes: vocals, drums or instrumental. Bass, guitars and keys share the instrumental lane.

Can I play it without the app?

Yes. Exported stems are ordinary audio files.

How good is the separation?

Good enough to learn a part, build a backing track or pull a drum loop. No separation is perfect: on a dense mix a little of the voice can stay in the instrumental.

Which songs can I open?

Any audio file you already have that the system decodes: MP3, M4A and AAC, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, CAF and more, up to ten minutes. Norah Studio cannot open songs from streaming services: their files are locked to their own apps.

Something else? Support answers every message.