Replace the vocal on a demo and keep the music

Start from the cleanest backing you can get

An instrumental from whoever made the track is the better starting point. It has no trace of the old singer, so nothing needs repairing. If you only have the full demo, Dhun can separate it into vocals, drums, bass and other music, or into six parts that also pull out guitar and piano.

Separation estimates the parts of a finished recording, so the old vocal can leave a faint shadow in the backing, most often where the voice and instruments share the same range. Listen to the backing alone through the loudest chorus before you record over it, and only work with a recording you own or have permission to use.

Record against the same arrangement

Sing along to this backing, not to an older version with a different tempo or structure. Headphones keep the backing out of your microphone, which makes the take far easier to mix. If a little spill is unavoidable, keep it low and tell the producer about it.

Upload the new take and say plainly which file is the new vocal and which is the old demo. Keep the old singer muted in the project as a timing guide instead of deleting it. You can check your phrasing against it line by line, and a muted track stays out of the final render.

Place it, then mix it

Fix timing before anything else. A constant offset is one move of the clip. If a single phrase rushes, that is an edit to that phrase or a new take, not a reason to slide the whole vocal. Check the first line, the line after a long rest and the final chorus.

Then treat the new take as the lead. Balance it against the backing, clean only the problems you can hear and confirm the old vocal is really gone. Ask for a render of the complete song and listen to that file, because the finished export is what people will hear.

Common questions