Isolate the drums from a song (even the kick or the snare)
3 min read · Updated
Hearing the drums on their own helps you understand a groove, transcribe a beat or grab a loop. For a long time, you needed a multitrack recording for that. Today, a separation model can extract the drums from a mixed song, and even split them into individual pieces. Here is how to do it, and what to expect.
In short
- Separate the song into at least 4 stems: the drums get their own track.
- Listen to the drums in solo, looping the passage you are interested in.
- To go further, separate into 8 or 10 stems: kick, snare, toms and cymbals.
- Lightly clean up (gate, EQ) any bass or vocal bleed.
- Export as WAV or drag the stem into your project.
Listen to a real separation
14 seconds of an original NAUPLY track. Switch stems while it plays: the position is kept.
Split by NAUPLY Stems for desktop into 4 stems, MEDIUM quality (Premium and Pro editions), untouched. Each stem is brought to the same loudness so you can compare by ear; MP3 128 kbps. Song and stems: NAUPLY's own material, no third-party song.
Why isolate the drums
To learn a part: a drummer hears every hi-hat stroke and every snare ghost note. To produce: grab a break, analyze how a kick and a bass share the low end, or replace drum sounds. To mix: hear how much room the drums take up in a reference.
The method, step by step
In NAUPLY Stems, choose 4 stems (vocals, drums, bass, other) or 6 stems (plus guitar and piano), then start the separation. Solo the Drums stem and set an A–B loop on the passage you want to work on.
Drums are often the best-separated instrument, because their transients are very recognizable. The most common bleed is a very percussive bass that follows the kick, or vocal consonants in the cymbals.
Split the drum kit into pieces
With 8 stems, Stems also outputs the kick and the snare; the Drums stem then keeps the toms and cymbals. With 10 stems, toms and cymbals get their own stems too. This split happens after the main separation, so it takes longer.
It is useful for resampling a kick, reinforcing a snare that is too quiet in an old recording, or studying the hi-hat playing on its own.
Clean up and export
A light gate removes the bleed between hits; a low cut around 40 Hz on the cymbals keeps them from holding on to low end. The Premium and Pro editions have an EQ per stem, and Pro adds gate, compressor and saturation per stem. Then export as WAV or drag the stem into your project.
In the Pro edition, MIDI transcription also converts the drums into General MIDI notes (kick, snare, toms, hi-hat, cymbals), ready to replay with your own sounds.
Which edition for what
The Free edition separates into 2 stems (vocals and instrumental): it does not output the drums on their own. You need Premium (up to 6 stems) for a Drums stem, and Pro (up to 10 stems) for the separate drum pieces and MIDI transcription.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you isolate the drums from an already mixed song?
- Yes, with a separation model: it reconstructs a drum track from the mix. The result is an estimate, often very clean, sometimes with a little bass or vocal bleed.
- Can you separate the kick and the snare?
- Yes: with 8 stems, NAUPLY Stems outputs the kick and the snare; with 10 stems, the toms and cymbals too (Pro edition).
- Can you get the drums as MIDI?
- In the Pro edition, MIDI transcription converts the drum stem into General MIDI notes, ready to drag onto an instrument track.
- Am I allowed to sample the drums from a song?
- For practice or study, yes, that is private use. To release a track containing that sample, you need permission from the rights holders.
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