Stem Separation · Vocal Removal · Key & Tempo · Model EK-84. Manual as PDF.
ELEK takes a finished track apart. It writes the vocals, drums, bass and everything else as separate files, takes the vocal out of a song, or tells you its tempo and key.
Stem separation writes four files: vocals, drums, bass and other. Vocal removal writes two: the vocal and the instrumental. Key & BPM reads the tempo, the key, its Camelot code and how sure the reading is, without separating anything. Dropping a file only loads it; nothing runs until you choose an operation and press Run.
The separation runs on your own processor. No file is uploaded, no account is needed to use the app, and it works offline.
Each run gets its own folder in Music/ELEK, with the track name, tempo and key in the file names. The start screen lists your earlier runs, so a separation you made last week opens again with one click.
ELEK has four views:
| Control | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Choose file | Start screen | Loads a track. Dropping a file on the window does the same. Nothing runs yet. |
| Key & BPM | Choose | Reads tempo, key, Camelot and confidence. No separation, no files written. |
| Vocal removal | Choose | Writes Vocals and Instrumental. |
| Stem separation | Choose | Writes Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other, plus the Instrumental. |
| Run | Choose | Starts the chosen operation. It stays grey until one is chosen. |
| Play / seek | Mixer | Plays all stems together. Click any waveform or the bar on top to jump. |
| Drag a stem | Mixer | Grab a stem’s waveform and pull it onto a track in your DAW: the stem’s WAV lands there. A click on the waveform still jumps. |
| M / S | Mixer | Mute or solo a stem while you listen. The files are not changed. |
| Level | Mixer | Playback level of each stem, 0 to 100. The files are not changed. |
| WAV | Mixer | Drag it into your DAW, like the waveform, or click to show the file. |
| Show files | Mixer | Opens the run’s folder. |
| Other operation | Results | Back to the three operations with the same file loaded. |
| New file | Results | Back to the start screen. |
Every separation writes a new folder in your Music folder (macOS: ~/Music/ELEK; Windows: Music\ELEK in your user folder). Nothing is ever overwritten.
| What | Example |
|---|---|
| Folder | Bir Araya Gelemeyiz_144BPM_Bmin_2026-10-12 1729 |
| Stem file | Bir Araya Gelemeyiz_Vocals_144BPM_Bmin_ELEK.wav |
| Run record | elek.json: source file, operation, date, tempo, key and the file list |
Any operation
A WAV or a high-bitrate file separates more cleanly than a small MP3. The encoder’s artefacts are spread across all the stems.
Vocal removal
The instrumental is the mix minus the separated vocal, so everything that is not the voice stays in it, effects included.
Stem separation
Take the drums for a break, the bass for a groove, or Other for the chords and leads. The stems line up with the original to the sample, so they drop straight under the track in your DAW.
Key & BPM
Read the tempo and the Camelot code before you build a set. A slow track can read at half its felt tempo or a busy one at double; ELEK folds tempos into 70–180 BPM, so check by ear when a number looks odd.
No separation is perfect: a little of one instrument can be heard in another stem, most often in Other. Tempo and key need at least 6 seconds of music; on shorter files, or on silence, ELEK says so instead of guessing.
The separation engine is HT-Demucs, a hybrid model that works on the waveform and on the spectrum at the same time. ELEK runs it over overlapping windows of the track with a 25% overlap and cross-fades the windows into each other, so there is no click or level jump where they meet.
The engine works at 44.1 kHz. Files at other sample rates are converted with a windowed-sinc resampler, and the converter’s delay is removed, so the stems come back aligned to the original to the sample. Stems are written as 24-bit WAV at 44.1 kHz.
Tempo comes from the onsets of the whole mix; the key from its chroma against the Krumhansl–Schmuckler major and minor profiles. The confidence says how far the winning key stands above the next one.
ELEK installs as an Audio Unit (AU) and a VST3 plug-in on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), and also runs there as a Standalone application. On Windows (64-bit) it installs as a VST3 plug-in and a standalone application.
.pkg) you downloaded and follow it. It puts the ELEK app in /Applications, ELEK.vst3 in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3 and ELEK.component (Audio Unit) in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components. The installer is signed and notarised by Apple.ELEK.vst3 folder to C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\ and rescan plug-ins in your DAW.ELEK.exe, onnxruntime.dll and htdemucs.onnx together and start ELEK.exe.The app plays through your default output. To choose another device, press Audio output in the window. The plug-in plays through your DAW.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Formats / platform | macOS 11 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel: standalone app, VST3, AU · Windows (64-bit): standalone app, VST3 |
| Input files | WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC; mono or stereo; any sample rate |
| Output files | 24-bit WAV, 44.1 kHz, aligned to the original to the sample |
| Stem separation | Vocals, Drums, Bass, Other (+ Instrumental) |
| Vocal removal | Vocals, Instrumental |
| Key & BPM | Tempo (70–180 BPM), key, Camelot code, key confidence; needs 6 s or more |
| Engine | HT-Demucs, overlapping windows (25%) with cross-fades |
| Memory | About 2.4 GB at the peak of a separation; 8 GB computers are enough |
| Speed | A 4-minute track: about 3.5 minutes on an Apple M2 with 8 GB |
| Network | None needed; nothing is uploaded |
Numbers from the release tests of ELEK 1.0.0; the separation is unchanged in later versions (same stem peaks on the release test file).
Buy ELEK on subverselab.com/plugins/elek through Lemon Squeezy, then sign in with the e-mail you paid with: the download appears on that page and on your Account page. Includes 2 years of updates; the version you have keeps working forever. No licence key to type: install it on your own computers and play.