Acapellas are vocal samples that can be used in DJ sets or when producing music. They are like gold dust for any DJ or producer and knowing where to find free acapellas online is essential! We've scoured the internet to create our top ten places where you can find both free and licensed acapellas! Make sure you bookmark this page so you know where to find acapellas online!
Production Master – Divine – EDM and Pop Vocal Acapellas (WAV)
There are so many ways a DJ or producer can use acapellas, either in their DJ sets or in their productions. One of the key parts of our DJ courses is the use of acapellas and it's also an integral skill for our music production course students too. Check out this video for inspiration and if you have any questions feel free to contact us.
Acapella or 'A cappella' means solo singing without instrumental accompaniment. DJs and producers refer to using acapellas when talking about using recorded vocals samples without music in the background. They layer them into their DJ sets or add them to a track they are producing. Using an acapella in your DJ performance really sets the dance floor on fire and provides an instant way to remix a track.
One of the best tricks in the book is to find a classic acapella of a popular song and layer it over the instrumental from a modern track and thus creating an instant remix. This style of instant remix with an acapella vocal is often referred to as a bootleg remix or a mash-up. Some DJs specialise in this skill. It's also a secret weapon to get massive play counts on your remixes. If a vocalist is already popular, take Beyonce for example and you add that vocal to your instrumental you can benefit from the shear number of people searching for Beyonce remixes and her entire fan base! Algorithms cannot detect when acapellas are used in remixes so you can often avoid your remix being taken down by Soundcloud's copyright police.
Before you use any acapella you have to understand a little bit about copyright law. Most sources to download free acapellas online are just acting as a database of files and do not offer you a license to use the acapella in any commercial way, they most likely do not even have the rights to share the file with you. Of course this hasn't stopped DJs and producers using them. You can use any acapella or sample in a live DJ set or recorded DJ set without having any issues around copyright but you are not allowed to use an acapella if your own tracks unless you have permission from the owner. Of course not every record label has the time to track down everyone using a sample of theirs so most producers turn a blind eye to the law and use them anyway, sometimes cutting them into smaller parts to avoid detection. If you want to make a track with a vocal it's best to pay for the license for an acapella or record one yourself with a singer.
LSA production course graduates will be familiar with Splice. We use it because it's one of the best databases of samples on the internet and if offers an organised way to search and tag your favourite media. You pay monthly for this service and get access to a huge range of music production tools including vocal samples (acapellas). One of the best things about Splice is that it shows you the key of sample so you can make sure you mix it with an instrumental in the same key. It's really important to use acapellas harmonically.
Voclr is our favourite browser-based database for acapellas. We even reached out to them about this blog and they've given our readers a special discount code! Use the code LSAPRO19 on checkout to get a trial month with unlimited acapella downloads for only 1! Click here for their pro package details. One of the most useful features on Voclr is the unique acapella charts, making it easy to find a hit vocal fast.
The biggest downfall of using acapellas is that you're using something that many other people have access to, it's not unique and you often can't use it in your track without paying for it or without having copyright permission from the label. If you want to produce something that completely fresh and original you should up the game and start working with real singers. You can even record yourself if you're not a singer. Dialogue from the producer is often used and also rapping which requires less voice control training. It's easy to record your own vocals at home with a mic, a soundcard and a decent DAW like Logic or Ableton. The best thing is that because you recorded it you'll own the copyright, meaning if it becomes a hit you have full ownership and more scope to make money from your music. Really big hits can also mean you earn from that acapella in remixes later in time, think how many versions of popular songs you've heard in your lifetime.
Freesound.org is an awesome website hosting a database of free sound samples that are uploaded by a community of hobbyists. You can use any sample on the website in any commercial work but it's nice to credit the person who recorded it. You can use this website to find vocals and other sounds which you might want to use in your DJ sets of music production. It's a great place to find quirky sounds too, for example what is you want a flushing toilet sound or someone lighting a cigarette, you'll find all the weird and wonderful sounds you can imagine on this site in high quality free of charge!
There are hundreds of companies providing sample packs both free and paid and they almost all include some amount of vocal samples or acapella samples. You even get some for free with many DAWs like Logic. Splice is one such service but there are many more including Beatport Sounds, Looperman and Loopmasters. You can often find free sample packs with a quick google search. Give it a go! Click here for a great blog from Music Radar listing some of the best free music sample download sites. You might also be able to download acapella compilations from labels like Defected for your DJ sets. Click here for an example.
Toms is a music producer & DJ, born and raised in Post Soviet Latvia. Currently based in Brighton, Toms has had over 6 years of experience with all things production and in that time, he's done a tonne of cool stuff! He's played multiple festivals, had experience in the field with mixing & mastering and even become a freelance journalist in the music industry. 2ff7e9595c
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