Preparing Stems For Mastering
A very simple version of stems for a mix would include one stem for the instrumentation and another stem for vocals.
Engineers may also separate singular elements from their mix groups for stemming. This might involve separating the
kick or the snare from the drum stem, or separating the lead vocal from the backup vocals.
It is likely that all of the vocals are sub grouped together via a stereo aux send, or lead vocals and backup vocals have separate sub mixes. All of the drum tracks are grouped together and there are separate groups for the acoustic guitars and keyboards.
The way a mix engineer sub groups tracks in a mix, is a good way to print stems.
A sub-mix is bus routed in real time during playback.
The stem is a printed version of the routed audio.
Rendering or bouncing a sub-mix return as a stereo audio file creates a stem.
Dither should not be applied to any of the stems.
Print the stems and play them back. All of the stems should playback to sound identical to the original mix.
If playback of the stems (all at unity gain) does not sound the same as the original mix, then
they haven’t been stemmed correctly and stemming should be performed again.
It's always important to provide the mastering engineer with reference mix files.
The original mix should be sent along with a file of at least one song that resembles realistic sonic goals for
the final mastered product.
In addition, include any notes in the email for the mastering engineer.
You can send us up to 8 stems for Stem Mastering!
Finished songs are delivered as downloadable AAC-LC files.
Engineers may also separate singular elements from their mix groups for stemming. This might involve separating the
kick or the snare from the drum stem, or separating the lead vocal from the backup vocals.
It is likely that all of the vocals are sub grouped together via a stereo aux send, or lead vocals and backup vocals have separate sub mixes. All of the drum tracks are grouped together and there are separate groups for the acoustic guitars and keyboards.
The way a mix engineer sub groups tracks in a mix, is a good way to print stems.
A sub-mix is bus routed in real time during playback.
The stem is a printed version of the routed audio.
Rendering or bouncing a sub-mix return as a stereo audio file creates a stem.
Dither should not be applied to any of the stems.
Print the stems and play them back. All of the stems should playback to sound identical to the original mix.
If playback of the stems (all at unity gain) does not sound the same as the original mix, then
they haven’t been stemmed correctly and stemming should be performed again.
It's always important to provide the mastering engineer with reference mix files.
The original mix should be sent along with a file of at least one song that resembles realistic sonic goals for
the final mastered product.
In addition, include any notes in the email for the mastering engineer.
You can send us up to 8 stems for Stem Mastering!
Finished songs are delivered as downloadable AAC-LC files.