Sitar Extractor

How to extract the sitar from a song

1. Upload the song. MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC, up to 10 minutes. You sign in with Google the first time.
2. Press Extract the sitar. The button shows the price first: 1 credit per minute of music. New accounts get 5 credits. Most songs take 1 to 3 minutes.
3. Listen and download. You get Sitar and Without the sitar. Click a reel to hear only that file. Each downloads as an MP3 at 320 kbps.

If the job fails, the credits come back.

The sitar in a song

The sitar is a long-necked Indian instrument with a buzzing, resonant tone that comes from its curved frets and the sympathetic strings that ring along with the played ones. It carries the melody in Indian classical music and film songs. Western pop and rock records from the 1960s onward also use it for a psychedelic color, and some modern tracks sample it for the intro or a hook.

Who wants it alone

• Sitar students who want to hear the playing without tabla and vocals, and follow slides and bends.
• Producers and beatmakers looking for a sitar phrase to sample.
• Arrangers studying how a pop track layered a sitar.
• Film and video editors who need that sound as an atmosphere.

Without the sitar suits a singer or a band that wants the original track with room for their own lead.

What to expect

The sitar has a buzz that is unlike most other instruments, so it is one of the easier plucked instruments to spot. The sympathetic ringing is part of its sound and may stay in the Sitar file along with the main notes. A tanpura drone in the same recording is a different instrument but can sit close to it. Tabla and other drums are not part of the sitar; if you want those, use the Percussion Extractor.

If you do not know which plucked instrument you are hearing, try the Plucked Strings Extractor first. A dobro, which also glides between notes, has its own page: Dobro Extractor.