You can split a song into stems for free by signing in to the Unmix Studio stem splitter with Google. New accounts get 5 free credits, enough for one song up to 5 minutes, with no card. You get vocals, drums, bass, guitar, piano and everything else as separate MP3 files.
This guide walks through it, explains what "free" really covers, and shows how to get the cleanest stems.
A stem is one part of a song saved as its own audio file. The vocal stem holds only the singing. The drum stem holds only the drums. Play them together and you hear the whole song again.
If the word is new to you, read what are stems in music for the full explanation.
- Open the stem splitter and sign in with Google. You get 5 free credits.
- Upload your song. MP3, WAV, M4A and FLAC all work, up to 10 minutes.
- The split costs 1 credit per minute of song, and the price is on the button before it runs. A song up to 5 minutes fits in your free credits.
- Wait about a minute. Six rows appear: vocals, drums, bass, guitar, piano and other.
- Switch rows on and off. Hear the vocals alone, or the song without drums.
- Download each stem as an MP3 at 320 kbps, or everything you are listening to at once.
The splitting runs in the cloud, so you install nothing. On our test, a 4 minute 44 second song became six stems in 56 seconds and cost 5 credits. Each MP3 was about 10.9 MB.
The 5 free credits are real, and there is no card. But they run out. Here is what you can and can't do with them:
- One song up to 5 minutes as a six-part split.
- Five minutes of any 1-credit tool, for example the vocal remover or drum remover.
- Not the Best Quality splitters, which cost 4 to 6 credits a minute.
After that, credit packs start at $7.49 for 100 credits, about $0.30 for a 4-minute song. Credits never expire. If a split fails, the credits come back.
You do need to sign in. We don't offer a guest split. That is how we keep the free credits from being abused.
Six parts suit most people. But you can go smaller or bigger:
- Four stems. Vocals, drums, bass and other is the classic DJ and remix set. Use the 4-Stem Splitter.
- Six stems. The default on the home page, with guitar and piano on their own.
- Every instrument. The Every Instrument Splitter checks for more than 50 kinds of instruments and shows only the ones it finds.
You can also split any stem again. Drums split into kick, snare and cymbals. Vocals split into lead and backing.
The model does most of the work, but the file you upload matters.
- Use the best copy you have. A WAV or a 320 kbps MP3 gives better stems than a low-quality rip.
- Use the studio version. Live recordings have crowd noise and room echo that spill into every stem.
- Expect some bleed. In a dense mix you may hear a faint hi-hat in the vocal stem. Listen before you build on a file.
- Practice. Mute your instrument and play along.
- Remix. Drop the vocal stem over a new beat in your DAW.
- Learn a part. Solo the bass stem to hear the line clearly.
- Make MIDI. Turn a stem into notes with our free audio to MIDI converter. It runs in your browser and needs no sign-in.
If you use someone else's song, practice and personal study are fine. Publishing a remix needs permission from the owners.
A few small things cause most disappointing results.
- Uploading a video file. We take audio only: MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC. Export the soundtrack from your video editor first.
- Using a ripped stream at low quality. Swishy cymbals in the source become swishy cymbals in every stem. Start from the best file you can get.
- Splitting a song longer than you need. You pay per minute. If you only need the chorus, trim the song in any editor before you upload, and your free credits go further.
- Not lining up stems in a DAW. Every stem starts at the same moment as the original song. Drop them all at the very start of the timeline and they stay in sync.
- Forgetting to download. Files stay in your account for 30 days, then they are deleted. Save the stems you want to keep.
If a split fails for any reason, the credits come back to your account automatically, so a failed try doesn't eat into your free 5.
Yes, once. Sign in with Google and you get 5 free credits, enough for one song up to 5 minutes as six stems. After that you pay per song with one-time packs.
No. The stem splitter runs in your browser and the splitting happens in the cloud.
Each stem downloads as an MP3 at 320 kbps. We don't offer WAV downloads yet.
Most songs take 1 to 3 minutes. Our 4 minute 44 second test song took 56 seconds.
30 days in your account, then they are deleted. Download what you want to keep.