Acapellas are the “bare” vocals that allow you to hear just the singer’s voice without any background instruments. They have many uses, but it seems like there aren’t that many places to find them. Separated vocals are in such high demand that even producers are releasing them as part of commercial records, like this one from Peggy Gou.
But let’s avoid spending money for now and see where you can find free acapella vocals.
Who Uses Acapellas and Why?
Music producers use acapellas to make new tracks or remixes. You’ve definitely heard these kinds of arrangements plenty of times. Whether you’re a fan of them or not, they serve a great purpose in bringing new energy and creativity to music. There’s even a whole subcategory of producers who focus exclusively on creating remixes.
Read also: How to Isolate Vocals from a Song on Desktop, Mobile & Online with These 6 Tools
Another group is DJs that use acapellas to create mashups live. For example, if they have a great beat-heavy instrumental, adding a vocal track on top will make it even better. They can even pull off a clever trick by adding a familiar vocal to get the crowd excited and singing along. The twist is that it’s not the original track they know, so it’s a creative surprise that still keeps the energy high.
As for non-professional use, it can really be anyone for any purpose.
Where Do DJs Get Acapellas?
Studio-quality acapellas are top-notch but are hard to find. You can look at:
- Online stores — Check music download sites like Traxsource, Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes. Search for “acapella” and variations like “a capella” or “acappella” to find what you need.
- DJ streaming services — Use platforms like Tidal, Beatport, and Beatsource, which work with most DJ software. Create playlists with acapellas in these services and access them directly from your DJ setup. Amazon and Deezer also offer some options.
- Download pools — If you’re a dedicated DJ, consider a subscription to a DJ download pool. These services, like DJcity, BPM Supreme, and zipDJ, give you unlimited access to new music and acapellas for a monthly fee.
Note that these options aren’t free, so we won’t go into the details of how to use them.
Besides, not every acapella library has every song you might want. In that case, you’d want to use source separation tools that extract vocals from any track, regardless of genre or availability. Plus, they manage to preserve the quality of the extracted stem. We’ll start with this method first because it gives you endless possibilities. After that, we’ll look at a few ready-made options.
How to Create DIY Acapellas
Let’s say you’re listening to a song, and you really want just the vocal track. You can actually create your own acapella from any song quite easily these days — there are online tools, such as LALAL.AI, that allow you to upload a song and then separate it into different components.
You can choose the vocal part specifically to get an acapella. The tool is flexible and produces high-quality results for isolated vocal tracks. Here’s what you do to create one:
- Open your web browser and go to the LALAL.AI website.
- Choose the Vocal and Instrumental stem from the list.
- Click on "Select Files" to upload your audio or video file. Supported formats include AAC, AIFF, AVI, FLAC, MKV, MP3, MP4, OGG, and WAV.
- Choose the song you wish to upload by double-clicking on it.
- Allow a few seconds for the processing to finish.
- Mute individual stems by clicking the crossed speaker icon, then press the play button to listen.
For Premium users: To get the output in a different format, click the arrow on the Split in Full button and choose your desired format from the list. If you prefer the results in the same format as your original upload, you can skip this part.
- Select the Split in Full button.
- In the Vocal [Full] section, click on the download icon.
The output files will be saved in the same format as your original upload unless you specify a different format. Also, you will receive email links to download both the instrumental and vocal tracks.
How to Get a Clean Acapella
There’s not much you can do manually to get a clean acapella — most of the work is done by AI in automated tools. If you’re using a good tool, like the one we’ve recommended, it will do the job for you, and the result should be clean.
However, if you want to boost your chances, it’s always a good idea to start with high-quality source material. Audio comes in different bit rates, and 320 kbps is considered good quality. An audio file of 128 kbps is lower, so the acapella version from it may not be as crisp.
If you've tried a separation tool and are not getting good results, try to find another version of the track. The file you’re using may have too many underlying sounds that block the AI from separating them cleanly.
Is It Worth Paying for Acapella Tracks?
That’s something you have to decide for yourself. If you’ve never dealt with acapellas before, you shouldn’t just start throwing money at them. First, try to DIY your own or find free ones online. This way, you’ll get a feel for how they work and what you can do with them before making any financial commitment.
How to Get Free Acapellas: 3 Methods
YouTube
The first place to check is YouTube, which has a large collection of free acapellas. Simply search for terms like “acapella for remix” or similar keywords to find what you need. You can also follow channels that focus on acapellas to get more studio-quality vocals. To download the acapellas, use a YouTube to MP3 converter to save the tracks from the site.
Looperman
Looperman is a community site for acapella download where users upload, share, and download free loops and vocals. There are over 10,000 tracks available, so you can find great options for your next remix or mashup. Each track is tagged with details like BPM, style, and genre and includes licensing information so you know how to use it.
The website looks a bit old, but it still has plenty of good content. Just know that it has a huge number of users and no strict quality control, so you’ll find both excellent tracks and some that may not be as useful.
Freesound
Freesound is more of a library of various sounds, including many free acapella samples. These files are available under Creative Commons Licenses, so you can use them in your projects for free, though it’s good to credit the original creators. What’s great is that many of these files are high-quality, available in formats like WAV, FLAC, and AIFF. Once you register, you can download as many tracks as you like.
Are Acapellas4U and Voclr Still Around?
Not anymore. Acapellas4U used to be a top place for free acapellas, with a huge collection that DJs and producers loved. However, it has faced some problems. If it comes back, it could be a great resource again.
Voclr also provided free acapellas but had some licensing issues that made many of its downloads unavailable. They’re working hard to fix these problems, and you can still create an account there. But it’s no longer a good place for acapellas.
Good to Know: Copyright Considerations for Using Acapellas
Copyright laws are a mixed bag, so it’s important to check the rules for any acapellas used. DJs have used acapellas in their mixes for years, and it’s generally okay for such use. However, many free acapellas can’t be used for commercial projects.
For personal enjoyment or practice, there are usually no issues. But if you plan to upload remixes or DJ sets to platforms like YouTube, there might be takedown requests or restrictions on ad revenue.
Also, there has been a recent increase in action against free acapella sites. It shows that record companies and artists are cracking down on copyright violations. With the availability of mainstream acapellas for free decreasing, creating your own might become the new norm.
