How-to guide

How to separate drums using Direct mode

By DrumSplit · Updated 4 Oct 2026

Direct mode skips the music-vs-drums separation step and goes straight to splitting an already-isolated drum track into kick, snare, hi-hats, toms and cymbals. Use it when your input is a drum bus bounce, a loop pack, or a stem from another separator.

Step-by-step

1. Prepare your drum-only source. A drum bus bounce from your DAW, a drum loop from a sample pack, or a drums stem from another separator or DAW (Demucs, Logic Pro, Ableton).
2. Upload to DrumSplit. Add a supported audio file up to 100 MB and no longer than 8 minutes. The first limit reached applies. Common formats include WAV, MP3, FLAC, M4A, AIFF and OGG. Convert multichannel audio to stereo first.
3. Select Direct mode. This tells DrumSplit the input is already drums-only, so it skips drum isolation and splits the kit pieces.
4. Pay and wait for processing. Splits start from $0.99. A typical 3-4 minute song takes about 2-3 minutes to process.
5. Download 5 kit-piece stems. Kick, snare, hi-hats, toms and cymbals. No drumless track (since the input was drums-only).

Tips for better results

• For Demucs, use demucs --two-stems=drums song.mp3, then use the resulting drums.wav as the Direct-mode input. This is a drums stem; Direct mode makes the kit-piece split.
• For a loop, bounce several repeats instead of a single bar so the source includes repeated examples of the sounds you want separated.
• If you are starting from a full song rather than an isolated drum part, choose Natural or Puncher instead of Direct.

When to choose Direct, Natural or Puncher

The input determines the mode. Direct expects drums already separated from the rest of the song. Natural and Puncher start with a full mix and isolate its drum part first.

• Choose Direct for a DAW drum-bus bounce, a drum loop or break, or a drum stem exported from your DAW or another separator. It goes straight to kick, snare, hi-hats, toms and cymbals.
• Choose Natural for a full song when you want the default mode for clean acoustic separation across genres.
• Choose Puncher for a full song when transient enhancement suits an EDM, hip-hop, pop or heavily compressed mix.

Preparing a good drum-only input

When you control the session, make a fresh bounce from the drum bus. Mute non-drum tracks and export the drum bus by itself. Bypass the master limiter for this bounce so full-mix limiting does not reshape the drum transients. Keep the full stereo image rather than collapsing the output to mono.

Include a few bars of pre-roll before the section you need. This gives the file context before the first hit and makes it easier to place the separated audio back on the session timeline. For a short loop, repeat the loop several times in the export instead of supplying just one bar.

Normalize only if the export is unusually quiet, and leave headroom so peaks do not clip. Check the rendered file itself. It must be 8 minutes or shorter and 100 MB or smaller. Common formats include WAV, MP3, FLAC, M4A, AIFF and OGG. Convert multichannel audio to stereo before uploading.

Heavy reverb and other effects are part of the rendered input and can make kit pieces less distinct. If you do not need them, make a separate, drier drum-bus bounce.

Using a drum stem from another tool

Direct mode can take a drums stem produced elsewhere. Demucs, for example, can export drums and everything else as two stems. Install it with pip install demucs, then run:

Demucs writes a drums.wav file in its output folder. Upload that file to DrumSplit and choose Direct. Demucs has made a single drums stem; DrumSplit then separates that stem into its five kit-piece outputs. A drum stem exported from your DAW can be used the same way.

For another tool, use its drum track as the input. Keep it stereo and check the size and duration before uploading. Direct does not return vocal, bass or guitar stems.

What you get and how to use it

The download is a ZIP containing six 24-bit WAV files: kick, snare, hi-hats, toms, cymbals and a drum bus. The files are aligned to the same source timeline, so import them together in a DAW or place them together in a sampler or drum rack. Direct mode returns no music stem because its input is already drums-only.

Import the files at the same start point and preserve their timing. Then mute or balance a kit piece, process it separately, or load the parts into a sampler or drum rack. To get the original song without drums, use a full-mix mode.

Splits start from $0.99, with no subscription; purchased credits never expire. DrumSplit runs in a browser and processes audio in the cloud.

Troubleshooting by symptom

• The stems feel thin or smeared. Check whether the source bounce has heavy reverb or other effects. If the effects are not needed, export a new drum-only bounce with them reduced or bypassed.
• Hi-hats and cymbals are confused on a busy track. These high-frequency parts can overlap in a dense drum arrangement, so some confusion is an expected area for errors. Try a cleaner source with fewer competing sounds or less processing.
• One output is silent. That kit piece may not be present in the source. Check the drum-only file and confirm the instrument appears in the section you uploaded.
• The result still contains other instruments. Confirm you chose an input that is already drums-only. Direct skips drum isolation; for a full song, use Natural or Puncher.

Common questions

Does Direct mode separate drums from a complete song?

No. Direct expects an already-isolated drum part. Use Natural or Puncher when your input is a full mix.

Does Direct mode include a drumless music file?

No. It returns the five drum stems (kick, snare, hi-hats, toms and cymbals) and a drum bus, with no music stem.

What should I do with the six files?

Import them together in your DAW, sampler or drum rack and keep their shared start point so they remain aligned.

What are the upload limits?

The file must be 100 MB or smaller and 8 minutes or shorter. It must also be stereo if the source is multichannel.