Celesta Extractor

How to extract a celesta from a song

1. Upload a track. MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC, up to 10 minutes.
2. Press Extract the celesta. The price shows on the button before it runs: 1 credit per minute of audio. New accounts get 5 credits after signing in with Google.
3. Wait a few minutes. It usually takes 1 to 3 minutes, longer when many people are processing.
4. Listen and download. You get two files: Celesta and Without the celesta. Click either reel to hear it alone, then download each as a 320 kbps MP3.

If a job fails, your credits are refunded.

What a celesta sounds like

The celesta looks like a small upright piano, but inside, the keys strike steel plates instead of strings. The sound is soft, glassy and music-box-like, with a short ring. It sits high in the range and usually plays a simple, quiet line.

You hear it in orchestral scores, film music, lullabies and holiday songs. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is the classic example, and many fairy-tale and magic cues lean on the same sound. Pop and indie producers use it too, often as a soft sparkle over a chorus.

Who uses it

• Pianists and arrangers who want to learn the part or write it out.
• Producers sampling a celesta line for a new track, or muting it to make room for their own.
• Film and game composers studying how a cue was voiced.
• Video editors who need the music without that sparkle under a voiceover.

What to expect

The celesta is a quiet, high instrument, so it often hides behind other parts. The model does best when the celesta is clear and exposed, such as an intro or a delicate passage. Results are weaker when it is doubled with other bell sounds or buried under a full orchestra.

It is also easy to confuse with its neighbors. The glockenspiel is brighter and harder, a metal bar struck with a mallet. A celesta is rounder and gentler. If your track has bright bells instead, try the Glockenspiel Extractor, the Vibraphone Extractor or the Bells Extractor. Another option is the Metal Bars Extractor. Wooden mallet sounds belong to the Marimba Extractor.