Turning a YouTube video into a karaoke track is easier than most people think. You don’t need a home studio, an engineering degree, or a stack of plug-ins. With the right tools, you can pull clean audio from YouTube, strip out the vocals, and get a ready-to-use instrumental for parties, rehearsals, and cover recordings. Below is a clear walkthrough using 4K YouTube to MP3 and LALAL.AI, plus a few practical details you’ll want to know before you start.

Why People Still Make Their Own Karaoke Tracks

Karaoke videos exist on YouTube in every genre, but they don’t always match what you need. Maybe the song isn’t available in the original key, or the version online cuts half the intro. In some cases, there’s no karaoke version at all. DIY karaoke solves this. You can take a studio version of a track, remove the vocals, and keep the original mix intact.

Creators also use this method to rehearse harmonies, practice instruments, or record quick Instagram or TikTok covers without background crowd noise. YouTube is the largest music library available for free, so it’s a natural place to start.

How to Make a Karaoke From a YouTube Video

Step 1: Pick the Right YouTube Video

Not every upload on YouTube makes a good karaoke source. You’ll get better results from tracks labeled as “official audio” or “HQ.” A live performance can work, but it often brings in cheering, room reverb, or uneven vocal levels. If you try stripping vocals from a shaky live clip, you’ll hear leftover traces or warping in the instrumental.

A good test: play a section where vocals are quiet. If you hear hiss, distortion, or compression artifacts, choose another upload before you continue.

Tip: If there’s room reverb in the audio, you can easily remove it with LALAL.AI Echo & Reverb Remover.

Step 2: Extract the Audio with 4K YouTube to MP3

Once you’ve found a promising video, you need to pull out the audio without running it through low-quality online converters. 4K YouTube to MP3 handles this neatly: it maintains the original bitrate and doesn’t touch your browser with spammy pop-ups.

Install and open 4K YouTube to MP3.
Copy the YouTube link and click Paste Link.

The tool will then automatically start downloading the video and converting it into audio. The ripped audio will reflect the same mix you hear on YouTube, without added compression.

Tip: You can search for videos right in 4K YouTube to MP3 in-app browser.

Step 3: Remove the Vocals with LALAL.AI

With the audio file in hand, the next step is vocal removal. LALAL.AI separates stems with much more clarity than older “phase cancellation” tricks that float around forums.

Go to LALAL.AI and choose the Vocal Instrumental option.
Upload the file you downloaded by clicking the Select Files button.

Wait while the tool analyzes the track.
Preview the result and tap Split in Full if you want to process the entire track.

Download the result. You’ll have two stems: instrumental and acapella.

On modern pop tracks, the separation is impressively clean. Older songs, especially ones recorded before the ’90s, may leave faint vocal prints, but the results are still usable for karaoke.

You can also keep the isolated vocal stem if you want to study phrasing, build mashups, or practice harmonies on top of the original singer.

Tip: You can use LALAL.AI on your desktop (Windows and macOS), smartphone, and as a web tool.

Step 4: Optional Cleanup

Most people stop after downloading the instrumental, but a little polishing can improve the karaoke experience. In audio editors and DAWs like Audacity, Ableton, or GarageBand, you can trim silence at the beginning, normalize the volume so the track doesn’t boom out of your speakers, or smooth out harsh frequencies with a basic EQ.

If your instrumental still has tiny vocal remnants (common in songs with heavy reverb or doubled vocals), cutting around 2–4 kHz by a few dB often makes them less noticeable.

Step 5: Set Up Your Karaoke Session

Once your instrumental track is ready, you can load it into any playback setup, such as your phone, laptop, TV, or Bluetooth speaker. If you want lyrics on screen, you have a few choices:

Open the original YouTube video muted while you play the instrumental from your device.
Use lyrics from a trusted lyrics website and place them in a notes app or slideshow.
Add subtitles to a simple video in iMovie, CapCut, or any editor, if you want a permanent karaoke file.

For recording your own cover, keep the instrumental on speakers and record with a separate device, or use a simple DAW to play the track while you sing over it with a microphone.

Legal Notes

Keep in mind: converting YouTube videos is for personal use only. Creating karaoke tracks from copyrighted music doesn’t give you the right to upload them publicly or monetize them. If you post a cover online, platforms may mute or restrict it depending on rights holders.

FAQ

Can I convert YouTube videos to karaoke tracks?

Technically yes, but audio quality varies. Videos labeled as “official audio” give the cleanest results.

Does LALAL.AI remove vocals completely?

On most modern songs, it gets very close. On older or heavily processed tracks, you may hear faint traces, but the instrumental still works for karaoke. However, it really depends on the quality of the original recording.

Which format should I download with 4K YouTube to MP3?

MP3 is fine for casual use. If you want the cleanest separation, choose M4A or OGG.

Can I use the karaoke track on TikTok?

You can record a cover using it, but the platform may replace or restrict the sound depending on licensing.

Can I make a karaoke track directly from the YouTube URL without downloading first?

It’s better to extract the audio first. It gives LALAL.AI a cleaner file and avoids compression from online converters.

Why not use YouTube’s built-in karaoke videos?

They don’t always exist for the song you want, and some versions change key, tempo, or arrangement. DIY karaoke gives you control over the exact version you need.