First, make sure all your stems are of identical length, and that all ‘lead-in’ elements and reverb tails aren’t lopped off, so that they all line up perfectly when the mastering engineer drops your audio files into their project. Just as you would with a single-file premaster, it’s a good idea to run through a few basic routines to make sure your stems are delivered to the engineer correctly. This will neaten up the final mix session, and ultimately will also allow you to keep track on your groupings. These groups will then be your stems, and you can solo each in turn and export them. The best way to do this is to create five or six group channels (ie, buses) in your DAW, route signals into them, then label them all appropriately.
STEREO MASTER VS STEM MASTER HOW TO
You’ll want to sum your collection of tracks down to a handful of stems that will facilitate the engineer’s job down the line, and as every mix has its own unique characteristics, it’s vital that you understand how to take full advantage of this approach.
![stereo master vs stem master stereo master vs stem master](https://www.sott.net/image/s11/220968/full/2454D04D00000578_0_image_a_58_.jpg)
![stereo master vs stem master stereo master vs stem master](https://www.dummies.com/wp-content/uploads/306345.image0.jpg)
However, prepping your mix session for stem mastering takes a bit more consideration. Helps isolate the exact stage of the process in which any particular problem emerges, making the diagnosis and resolution of said problem FAR simpler.Preparing a finished mixdown for ‘regular’ mastering is simple: make sure your track doesn’t peak above -2dB, export the track down to a stereo file, then send it to the mastering engineer. Prevents backtracking / wasting time by compartmentalizing the processįrees up system resources, resulting in cleaner sounding stems
![stereo master vs stem master stereo master vs stem master](https://producerhive.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Logic-Timeline-Selection-Example-1400x806.png)
TL DR In summary, stemming and splitting your process up into stages is useful for several reasons: With multi-track releases like EPs, I've started using an "Overlord" Mixing & Mastering template for all of the tracks in the release to make sure they all have a consistent sound. All in all, I usually only end up with a max of 3 project files per track. Then, if I'm ever tempted to change something from an earlier stage, the somewhat annoying process of unfreezing & re-freezing the channel stands in my way to ensure that I only actually do it if it REALLY needs to be done.įinally, in the Mixing stage, I add EQ, panning, and levels automation to sort out any remaining headroom issues before heading into the Mastering phase. I find that this process turns out much crisper, tighter, and more consistent sounding stems than if I was processing all of the VSTs/AUs/Resamples/etc alongside their respective effects chains. Then, when the Arrangement stage is complete, I freeze the existing channels, bounce their stems into new channels inside the same project file, and then begin adding effects to them. During the early stages, I try to focus strictly on the raw sounds, and ignore the urge to polish them with effects and EQ. In doing so, I've given each stage of the process a bit more isolation and sovereignty, and prevented myself from regressing to earlier stages when I should be focusing on finishing up the track.Įven more recently, I've been experimenting with adding an Effects stage between Arrangement and Mixing, and this has made me appreciate the stemming process even more. Now, I've broken up my process into stages (Sound Design > Composition > Arrangement > Mixing > Mastering) and started using different project files to establish a more tangible distinction between them. Until recently, I always found myself going back and re-tweaking stuff that I'd already done quite well, and just wasting time fiddling with stuff that you'd never even be able to hear in the final mix anyway. If you're doing your own mastering, then stemming out is a fantastic way for you to break the production process down into its individual "stages" and force yourself to work on one at a time. It allows for greater control over the end-product.
![stereo master vs stem master stereo master vs stem master](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91EpN6kF5HL._AC_UL200_SR160,200_.jpg)
In conclusion, stem mastering is just another option. Stem mastering for this purpose would involve a subgroup your whole song except rhythm, then a subgroup of your rhythm section without kick, then a stem containing only your kick drum. To get max RMS, you typically want to mix your kick drum a lot louder than you normally would, and then limit the hell out of it and bring the rest of the track up to the kick's level with your master chain. You can more easily and accurately compress separate groups of instruments (instead of just relying on multiband compression), and it's easier to say, make your leads wider without changing how the drums sound.Īnother reason to stem master is for maximum RMS. The main reason to stem master is that you get a bit more control over the final master. All of your basses will be on one, your drums on another, your leads on another, etc. There may be 3-8 stems for stem mastering. Stem mastering doesn't involve every stem of a track, but rather subgroups. Stem mastering is essentially the same as stereo mastering.