Stem Mastering
Stem Mastering is a process that offers greater control over the sonic shape and balance of your music. It allows the engineer to not only shape the overall tonal balance of a track, but also to go even deeper into each component part to help achieve an even better result.
Stereo mastering uses only a stereo mix as its source, which limits the possibilities to re-shape a track. For example, if you need to increase the volume of the vocal, stereo mastering would likely also increase the volume of the other elements. The same rule applies to EQ, dynamics, distortion, reverb, delay, and so on.
With stem mastering, all of these elements are accessible separately, meaning that just the volume of the vocal could be increased, for example.
Essentially, it allows an engineer to affect just one single element of a song in isolation. Stem mastering can be as simple as having two stems (e.g. acapella and instrumental) or multiple stems (up to 8) allowing greater flexibility and control.
The engineer may not need to make changes to every stem, but the process gives him the option to do so in order to get the most out of a recording and mix, and ultimately the song.
Once the stem mastering is complete and approved, we’ll apply a finishing touch to each stereo track in order to ensure the release as a whole is a fluid listening experience.
Stereo mastering uses only a stereo mix as its source, which limits the possibilities to re-shape a track. For example, if you need to increase the volume of the vocal, stereo mastering would likely also increase the volume of the other elements. The same rule applies to EQ, dynamics, distortion, reverb, delay, and so on.
With stem mastering, all of these elements are accessible separately, meaning that just the volume of the vocal could be increased, for example.
Essentially, it allows an engineer to affect just one single element of a song in isolation. Stem mastering can be as simple as having two stems (e.g. acapella and instrumental) or multiple stems (up to 8) allowing greater flexibility and control.
The engineer may not need to make changes to every stem, but the process gives him the option to do so in order to get the most out of a recording and mix, and ultimately the song.
Once the stem mastering is complete and approved, we’ll apply a finishing touch to each stereo track in order to ensure the release as a whole is a fluid listening experience.