How to Make Drumless Tracks from Any Song (Free)
Drumless tracks are the best way to practice drums: the whole band plays, and the drum chair is yours. Ready-made drumless tracks only cover a small set of songs, though. With AI stem separation you can make one from any song you want to learn.
This guide shows how to remove the drums from a song for free on a Windows PC with underdaw.
Step 1. Install underdaw
Download underdaw free from the Microsoft Store or get the installer from the home page. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, with no account, trial or watermark.
Step 2. Split the song
- Open Stem separation and pick your music file.
- Choose 4-stem (vocals, drums, bass, other). That is enough to take the drums out. Use 6-stem if you also want guitar and piano on their own tracks.
- Start. A graphics card (GPU) makes it much faster.
Step 3. Remove the drums
In the Library mixer, press M (mute) on the Drums row. Everything else keeps playing: vocals, bass, guitars and keys.
Want to study the original part first? Press S (solo) on the Drums row to hear only the drums, then switch back.
Step 4. Practice with it
- Slow it down without changing pitch while you learn a groove or fill.
- Loop a section, such as a tricky transition into the chorus.
- Add a count-in so you can come in on time every run.
- Keep the bass a little louder: locking in with the bass player is half of good drumming.
Step 5. Save your drumless track
Click Save and export WAV, FLAC or MP3. Put it on your phone, in your practice-pad setup, or on the speaker next to your kit.
Tips
- Cymbal tails can leave a faint trace. Long crashes and rides sometimes leak a little into other stems. Once you play over the track, you won't notice.
- Electronic drums and percussion are sometimes split between drums and "other". If a shaker or tambourine remains, it usually sits in the Other track.
- Use the best source you have. Higher-quality files give a cleaner drumless track.
Record your drum cover
When you're ready, record your playing over the drumless track in the built-in studio, mix it and export a finished cover.
Use separated tracks for personal practice and study. Publishing or selling anything made from a copyrighted song needs the rights holder's permission.