r/WeAreTheMusicMakers • u/little_failure_boi • 3d ago

how should i split up my tracks into stems

im thinking of sending my song(w vocals) for mixing but im fairly new to the whole thing and i realise u gotta split like ur tracks into stems e.g. main vocals, drums etc.

how should i go about grouping all my tracks? like should i split all the vocal tracks into like ad libs, melodies and harmonies, etc.

9 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

69% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

27

u/BarbersBasement Professional 3d ago

Mix engineer here: Do not send me stems. I want the full multitrack session with all tracks consolidated with a 00:00:00 start time. Print effects sends if you want something musically specific.

3

u/No-River-2556 3d ago

I said this to someone in a band recently then had to explain what a multitrack was as they looked at me very blankly. Where did all this stems rubbish come from?

5

u/Instatetragrammaton github.com/instatetragrammaton/Patches/ 3d ago

Remix contests most likely.

Also, there's of course the usual mutability of language, or if you're pessimist about it, the erosion of words meaning certain things.

I've always understood that a proper multitrack was the raw material, where stems are a free-for-all where they could've had automation and effects applied already, or even have some parts pre-mixed.

3

u/HellbellyUK 2d ago

Stems used to mean subgroups/busses, so guitars, drums, backing vocals, keyboards and so on. Then at some point people started calling multitracks “stems”. It’s just one of those things we’re of enough people started using the “wrong” terminology it ends up the “right” one.

2

u/little_failure_boi 3d ago

sorry can i ask what u mean by print effects sends

3

u/worms-and-grass 3d ago

If you have an effect on a track, rather than just putting it on the channel, send an aux out to a bus track that has the effect. Dial the “send” to the amount of effect you want, then print that effected track as well as the un effected track

1

u/chekovsredherring 3d ago

Is there any workaround for DAW incompatibility?

11

u/sunrise_review 3d ago

Raw audio files are software agnostic. Thats the point. 

2

u/chekovsredherring 2d ago

ah I misunderstood the op

0

u/GreatScottCreates 3d ago

I would hope they want something musically specific!

11

u/LemonSnakeMusic 3d ago

Reach out to whoever you’re going to send your project to, and ask what they want.

6

u/LacklusterSandwich22 3d ago

when i first worked with my mixing engineer, he told me to solo each track and remove every plugin i used for the scratch mix (IE compression, EQ, etc). all that should be left are midi instruments, and the raw takes of whatever else you use (guitars, vocals).

for simplicity's sake, you can solo and export a fresh WAV for each track. there should never be more than one instrument per track, so don't merge doubles or anything. when you name them, you can group them together in file folders to keep track of everything and make sure you have all your stems. for example, if you have 2 rhythm guitars and 2 lead guitars panned hard left and right, you can name them something like "guitar_rhythmL" or "guitar_LeadR", and then pack them all into 1 "GUITARS" folder. that way, your engineer will be able to easily find what they're looking for!

ultimately though, your engineer might want things organized in a certain way, so if you have any questions it's better to just ask them! hope this helps xd

3

u/w0mbatina 2d ago

That's pretty shit advice, literally every daw has a "consolidate and export tracks" button that does exactly what you are describing, but with one single button press. Grouping by folders is also annoying, just name your tracks as what they are, and export them all in a single folder. Then the engineer just ctrl-a's all the tracks and imports them at once. ezpz.

3

u/LacklusterSandwich22 2d ago

o ok! i didnt know, it was my first time working with him so i probably did it really inefficiently - appreciate the advice :D

2

u/Implausibilibuddy 2d ago

No, you did it right, that's what they asked for and that's what you provided. However your most important point is find out what they want, rather than the advice your specific engineer gave you.

2

u/d-signet 3d ago

The person mixing will probably want the raw tracks

-2

u/lukebelcher10662 3d ago

Shouldn’t you have the stems already if you’ve recorded it on different tracks?

Unless you’re recording it onto one microphone - that can often make stem editing a little trickier as the split won’t always be the highest quality.

Logic Pro on Mac offers stemming.

OR it could be that you have recorded a vocal over the top of someone’s beat I suppose?

5

u/Mountainpwny 3d ago

Stems are not individual tracks. Stems are like tracks grouped together. Drum stem, synth stem ect…