Center Channel Extraction

[Georgia_Boi]

I noticed that on most commercial songs that the backing vocals are always mixed so that you can remove the lead vocal but leave the backing in place. I tried to get this this on my mixes but it don't work. How would I go by mixing my backing vocals to get this effect? Hope I havn't confused anybody.

 

[moses]

Contrary to popular belief, there's no general way to do "center channel extraction" of a stereo source. In most cases, it doesn't work.

But, your questions seems to be more related to basic production techniques in a multi-track environment. Engineers simply record several separate takes to achieve the effect you are describing. That is, you record the lead vocal and the backing vocals independently. The music you hear on the radio already has been "baked" (mixed), no way to remove the eggs out of a cake.

In case the latter is something new for you, I strongly recommend you to post such questions in the "beginners forum" instead. The answers you'll get in this forum will most probably confuse you. "How to extract the center" is actually worth a detailed discussion, but I suppose your actual question was more like "How is music created/recorded in general?"

 

[Georgia_Boi]

I noticed that on most commercial songs that the backing vocals are always mixed so that you can remove the lead vocal but leave the backing in place. I tried to get this this on my mixes but it don't work. How would I go by mixing my backing vocals to get this effect? Hope I havn't confused anybody.

Beginners my butt. I already know how to extract the center channel. I see you don't fully understand my question.

 

[epotts06]

You probably should rephrase your question..When I read "remove center channel" Immediately think of a surround mix. Since most people dont listen to tv in surround I assume your are listening to a stereo source or worst, mono. Either way Moses is correct they do separate mixes

 

[Georgia_Boi]

You probably should rephrase your question..When I read "remove center channel" Immediately think of a surround mix. Since most people dont listen to tv in surround I assume your are listening to a stereo source or worst, mono. Either way Moses is correct they do separate mixes

Alright thanks, I should have worded it differently, but I found the answer to what I was looking for.