acapellas

Acapellas (or acapella tracks) are vocal-only versions of musical recordings in which the instrumental accompaniment has been removed or isolated from the original stereo mix. The term derives from the Italian a cappella, meaning "in the chapel," though in common practice it refers to any vocal performance delivered without instrumental backing. In modern music production, acapellas are used for remixes, mashups, and DJ sets, as they allow producers to combine vocals with new instrumentation or beats. They may be released officially by record labels as separate stems or "acapella" packs, or recreated by engineers and artists through vocal isolation techniques.

Extraction methods range from traditional multi-track stem separation to signal-processing tricks such as phase cancellation, and increasingly to machine-learning-based source separation. None of these methods is perfect; residual instrumental leakage, phase artifacts, and altered vocal quality can occur, especially with dense mixes or reverbs. Newer AI approaches have improved results but vary by song.

Acapellas circulate in music communities and licensing contexts. When released officially, they come with clear rights for remixing and distribution; unofficial or unauthorised acapellas can raise copyright concerns. Producers and DJs often seek acapellas to practice, perform live, or enter remix contests.