What you might hear
- A faint voice in the guitar or piano part, or cymbals in the vocals.
- A watery, “phasey” or robotic sound on long notes.
- An instrument split between two parts, or placed in Other.
What helps
- Use a better source. A lossless or high-bitrate file separates more cleanly than a low-quality or re-recorded one (supported files).
- Turn parts down instead of muting them. Lowering the vocal to 10–20% often sounds more natural than removing it entirely.
- Listen in the mix. Artifacts that stand out on a soloed part usually disappear once the band plays.
Why it happens
Instruments that share notes and frequencies are hard to pull apart, especially in dense, live or heavily processed recordings. See how stem separation works.
