How-to guide
Drum separation with Spleeter vs DrumSplit
Spleeter from Deezer is the original open-source stem separator. In 4-stem or 5-stem mode it produces a combined drum track — but never individual kit pieces. DrumSplit goes deeper with 5-stem kit-piece separation.
Spleeter's 2-stem mode (vocals + accompaniment) does not separate drums at all. In 4-stem mode (vocals, drums, bass, other), you get a combined drum stem. Neither mode produces individual kick, snare or hi-hat tracks.
Step-by-step
- Spleeter's approach. Install Python, pip, TensorFlow and ffmpeg. Download model weights (~300 MB). Run from command line. 4-stem or 5-stem mode produces one combined drum track.
- DrumSplit's approach. Open drumsplit.io, upload, wait 2-3 minutes. Get kick, snare, hi-hats, toms, cymbals and a drumless track.
- Quality comparison. DrumSplit's model is newer and trained specifically on drum separation. Spleeter's 2019 model produces usable but noticeably less clean results on drums.
- Setup comparison. Spleeter requires a working Python environment. DrumSplit requires a browser.
- When to use each. Spleeter for free, local, bulk processing if you only need combined drums. DrumSplit for individual kit pieces and zero-setup convenience.
Tips for better results
- If you have Spleeter set up, use it for the initial drums-vs-music split, then run the drum stem through DrumSplit's Direct mode for kit-piece separation.
- Spleeter has not been updated since 2019. DrumSplit's model is actively maintained and improved.
- For a one-off job, the time spent installing Spleeter usually exceeds the $0.99 cost of a DrumSplit split.
Try DrumSplit
Upload a song and get 5 individual drum stems plus a drumless music track. From $0.99 per split. No subscription. Credits never expire.
Try DrumSplit