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9. RX 7 Music Rebalance Mode

1 As well as the usual audio restoration tools, the latest version of iZotope’s RX audio editing suite also offers a brand new Music Rebalance Mode, which can be used to change the balance of instruments in a full mix – ideal for the bootleggers among us. Let’s try it: start by opening the standalone RX 7 editor.

4 Next, we’ll remove the vocal from the mix to create an instrumental by turning the Percussion and Other faders up to 0, before hitting Preview. As the human voice sits across most of the frequency range, tweak Sensitivity for best results. A setting of 6.5 removes most vocal without overprocessing the mix.

2 Drag Full Mix.wav into RX’s editor: this is a complete mix of vocals, bass, drums and synths that we can pick at. Scroll down the Repair menu and select Music Rebalance to bring up controls for mix rebalancing. Click the + sign next to the Bypass button to increase the Buffer Length for a smoother preview.

5 To finish, try removing the Percussion by pushing the Voice fader to 0 and the Percussion to silence with Sensitivity at 10. Switching Separation algorithms gives different results depending on what’s being processed: Advanced Joint Channel removes drums without excessive artefacts and aliasing.

3 First, we’ll isolate the bass from the mix. Pull down the Voice, Percussion and Other faders to silence, then hit the Preview button. You’ll hear the bass playing in isolation, but there’s still a bit of vocal and drums sneaking in. Reducing Sensitivity to around 2 removes most of these artefacts, leaving a usable bass take.