Extrack: Stem Separator, Chord

Yamaha Corporation

In-app purchases

About this app

Extrack is a music app that lets you practice your instrument and play sessions along with your favorite songs.
・When you load a song from your smart device, the app breaks it down into each instrument part. You can adjust the volume of each part as you like.
・Extrack breaks down the song into vocal, guitar, piano, bass, drum, and wind instrument parts, allowing you to take out the part you want and play along.
・The app analyzes the chords of the song, and shows the chord progression and where to place your fingers for guitar and piano.
・It comes with plenty of convenient functions: change the tempo (speed of the song) or key, repeat certain parts, and more. It's easy to use, even for beginners.
Note: The basic functions can be used free of charge for an unlimited time. Purchase a subscription to unlock a wider range of functions.

■Feel like you're playing in the band!
Load a song from your smart device into Extrack and it will break it down into the instrument parts. You can adjust the volume of each part (or “stem”) as you like, whether it's guitar, drums, bass, piano, or sax or other wind instrument.
If you're a guitarist, mute the volume of every part except guitar to practice playing by ear down to the most detailed phrase.
Then mute just the guitar and play the phrases you listened to along with the other instruments. It will feel like you’re playing a session as a member of the band.
Alternatively, turn up the drums and bass to work on improving your sense of rhythm.
You can also take out the vocals and sing karaoke along with the original band performance.

■Easily play your favorite song!
Extrack automatically analyzes and displays chord progressions. Even if you're not good at playing by ear, you can easily play a session while looking at the chords.
The app also displays how to play the chords on guitar and piano (or keyboard), so even beginners who can't read music can play along. You can start playing with the music right away.
If the song you want to play is full of difficult chords, you can use the key change and capo functions to make it easier to play.

■Get serious about practicing phrases you haven’t been able to play!
Want to play a single phrase over and over or take your time practicing a song at a slower tempo? Extrack is the ideal partner to help you.
You can easily set which parts you want to repeat, skip a bar, or change the speed.
There is even a metronome that automatically matches the tempo of the song. Extrack will help you when you want to get serious about practicing timing and rhythm.

Ratings and reviews

Not bad for what it is and on the go ease of use. What would set this light years apart is if the app would display tab parts for fast runs or notation for other instruments along with the basic chord structure. Im still amazed that technology cant overcome pitch issues when you slow something down. Still its better than the old way using analog gear.

First, be upfront about what is free and what is paid. And cost of sub. I shouldn't have to install to find out. App worked for me (free only). But, some big issues. Stem separation is slow. Maybe 5 minutes for a 4 minute song. And stems don't seem to be saved. So every song change takes minutes. I think the paid version allows a few to be saved. but it will be easier to get stems I want on PC and download to phone. if I miss one, this can help, but I can't see running through a set list.

Just tried it out by uploading a random song and it works beautifully. The drums, guitar, vocal, and backing melody from the song were isolated into individual stem tracks. I believe you can drill down to isolate more instruments (say from the backing track) with a subscription. The interface of the app's audio player could be improved, but nonetheless Yamaha has built something truly special here.

What’s new

・Tablet-specific display has been implemented.
・Fixed minor bugs and made other small improvements.