How to Prepare Stems for Mixing - The Right Way! (Logic Pro X Tutorial)

[@ernestm8884]

So are we talking about TRACKS because a STEM IS a track that is mixed to a simple stereo file, where a TRACK is just as it sounds, a drum, a bass, a guitar. and those can be shared un-mixed so someone else can mix it for you. The STEM is the TRACK saved as a stereo file Drum, BASS, Vocals, they can be modified but there mostly locked and are used more for just playback or play along with. I dig the Vocals man!!!

[@alexkadetmusic]

I watched this for my first recording. Now I’m watching again for my 2nd. I really appreciate this video and the way you demonstrated it. Thanks Jake!

[@j.ninemusicofficial]

THANK YOU THANK YOU! Sometimes these DAW can be so intimidating... especially for first-timers! You made it so simple.

[@marshallcreates_]

Damn this is the only video that helped me with exporting all my midi drums on separate channel strips

[@samayyatri]

This is the Complete Tutorial i found across.. Good to get your Channel..

[@markdabeattraffickerm1051]

Thanks dom u helped out alot. I was having sonic issues

[@mp7nyc]

Jake, this video is my guide as i try to bring a project to completion and be sure it's tight before sending it to the award-winning mixing engineer. So thank you. Couple questions. 1. Not every software instrument has a gain control. Is there any downside to bouncing it at the higher level and then adjusting the gain on the bounced stem? 2. when sending a small 8 voice choir, would you want each individual stem for the vocalists, or a premixed version from the producer, or both? Thanks again for your comprehensive and easy-to-understand approach.

[@jakethomsonaudio]

Hey Michael, hope the vid helps you with your project! As for your questions: 1) In the digital realm there really isn't a huge downside to bouncing at a higher level, as long as it's not clipping either you or the engineer can turn it back down so that it hits plugins like compressors with an appropriate amount of headroom. 2) I would say sending both individual tracks as well as a premixed version is a good idea, that way the engineer has both a reference mix and separated channels just in case they want to pan/eq the vocals differently later. Thanks for watching and best of luck!

[@five21two059]

Not sure that I fully understand this all. Are you using the words “stems” and “tracks” interchangeably? Because they’re not the same. A track is an individual channel whereas a stem is a group of tracks brought together (like 10 tracks of drums grouped together into a stereo pair. Those grouped 10 tracks would be a stem).

[@jakethomsonaudio]

That has been brought to my attention from a few people since I posted this video...I admit I did mistakenly use the term “stems” to mean “multi-tracks” in the case of this tutorial, which was due to a bit of ignorance on my part with regards to the preferred nomenclature. I guess it was just a habit of mine for years to improperly refer to bouncing individual tracks in a project as “stems” and I never quite broke it until others pointed it out to me. However I’d like to think the basics I cover in the tutorial with regards to organization, proper gain staging, and labeling can apply to both stems and multi tracks, so that should be the main takeaway. But yes you are correct. Thanks for watching 🙂

[@castleparkstudioz]

Well done Jake great video keep it up man !

[@jg1772]

Dide this tune sounds awesome!! I’d love to hear the final product

[@TheeaMusic]

this is the best tutorial on this on KZbin, thank you so much!

[@samayyatri]

Hope more tutorials in near future.. Good Luck to You & To All Musicians Here.. ..🙏🏻..

[@brandyman5]

Exactly what I was looking for. Much appreciated. Thanks!

[@odile6301]

Loved this video & your sense of humor. :D Thanks lots!!

[@gcastroism]

Excellent teacher. Most skip things, you covered everything. The only one thing i would probably add, is to clearify what happens to audio files that are in mono , but if one has pluggins that turn it to stereo it will be bounced as stereo if you keep the plugin on. Still, i think it is the best video on this subject, thank you and i am subscribing asap.

[@declangibson1891]

Super helpful video, thanks so much dude!!

[@vewilli]

Thanks a lot! Very helpful! 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@comolasmovies6933]

Thank you so much for this video. Great content. Easy to follow. You are great at what you do. Cheers!

[@taahirxtee]

This video was brilliant! Thank you for sharing! 👍🏼

[@jakethomsonaudio]

Thanks for watching! ✌️

[@amdizle28]

Quality info damnnn been wondering this shit for years tbh

[@modernman4269]

great video THANK YOU FROM IRELAND

[@ouyubeats]

Really well explained. Thank you 🙏

[@SaminRazaMusic]

This video made me learn soo muchh. Thanks Man !!

[@thewatchers9123]

Great video.

[@bcdrummer1962]

Dude.....fabulous. Subbed. Love ya bro. Keep em coming.

[@jakethomsonaudio]

I appreciate it dude!

[@bcdrummer1962]

@@jakethomsonaudio Well I just got a note from the engineer I am using to mix an original song and he commented how everything was tight and really appreciated it. That's due solely to this vid dude. I was not hip to the pre-fader level setting. Now I am :-) Cheers.

[@chuckb5860]

This was vert helpful, thanks Jake!

[@jennagilmore1267]

Great tutorial. Thank you!

[@Dregarf]

Helpful Vid... I'm from the 1990s when digital home recording was first coming out and I always read that when recording digital if you record too low you introduce hiss and noise but red is digital distortion so they said get the optimal Green highest level for optimal quality so, does bouncing the - 12 DB on all the tracks result in more noise and hiss or is this the "Headroom" required for best mixing results ?Why not record at just under red clipping (best hottest level) and then just lower the levels in final mixdown ?

[@susandeanebeckles1253]

This is such a clear and incredibly useful tutorial, Jake. Gonna make a cup of tea, then do exactly as you demonstrated. :D

[@johnbiebel8023]

Extraordinarily helpful in preparing some tracks, thank you :-)

[@iplaytheorgan2]

Very helpful, thank you. Sending stems to a client right now! 😉

[@MarkChiassonGameDev]

Perfect, thanks.

[@morethanaphase1716]

Brilliant video thanks a lot

[@milky4814]

Very helpful, thanks👍🏻

[@a.d.r9066]

Hi the stems aren't including all my effects or busses. So my final mixed WAV has all of that and the stems do not.

[@MrJaapdeboer]

Why is it important to meter pre-fader? I would assume the output is more important post-fader, as this is what will be exported? Especially when using amp sims for guitar and bass, messing with the gain of the audio file can really alter the sound

[@lewthetiger5475]

Super helpful, great vid

[@dugknndy]

Thanks, extremely helpful!

[@mitchellford1598]

So what exactly are we doing for the mixing engineer when we're adjusting levels? How does it make it easier for him? Does he use the reference mix to get it back similar to how our original mix was, and then go from there? Like what problems would arise if I just sent it how it is?

[@jakethomsonaudio]

The most important thing is to have clean-sounding, organized stems that aren’t too loud or too soft, although the engineer can adjust gain levels if needed before they start their own mix. I have had people send me audio files that were bounced exactly how they were in their own reference mix (volume-wise) and I had no real issue getting my own levels set, it’s just nice to have things peak at roughly -12db so that when they are routed into compressors/saturation/etc they don’t overload the plugins right out of the gate (or are too soft to be detected). So basically it’s not always required to adjust gain levels before sending audio files but it does make the engineer’s job a little easier :)

[@Bullynho]

very help thank you

[@natemusiic]

very useful! thanks Jakes!

[@phugenla]

cool video but its multi-tracks not stems; Stems mean a combination of tracks like bus channel

[@ElyJaffeMusic]

this was extremely helpful, thank you!!

[@jakethomsonaudio]

Glad it helped, thanks a lot for watching! 🙏

[@ElyJaffeMusic]

@@jakethomsonaudio literally needed this to send an acoustic album for mixing yesterday. So thank you thank you 😊

[@andrefavreau9818]

Do you export your vocal tracks and bass in stereo?

[@daniel-1998]

Fantastic thank you

[@eddiejarmon1935]

Thanks!!!!

[@VicenTormoMusic2023]

Thanks a lot Jake!

[@warmadden]

Great great video! I appreciate. I know this is an older video, but hopefully you can help. I have a Kontact instrument that has a HUGE range of lows and peaks. It is very hard to get it to 12db average without it spiking to 0db, and going as low as 24db. How does one handle that situation? Should I put a compressor on it just to tame it and THEN bounce it out as a stem? Also, I am looking for someone to mix my instrumentals, if you know someone looking for work. Thanks!

[@skylerkelly597]

Thank you!

[@johntbd]

Very cool.

[@Mr_Brooklyn_Truth]

What about AUX tracks?

[@jamesdangerhowlett]

cheers bro

[@jasonlelas3120]

Top vid. How much does an average'song' cost to mix

[@Rio-uv1gs]

Do you think a UV meter works similarly as the pre fader in logic? Odbvvu being the sweetspot during gainstaging.

[@SIYDMusic]

Hey this has been my favorite video on stems that i've found thank you! Im currently on a budget and the mixer that i'm working with has a limit of 4 stems per project so i was wondering what would be the best way to combine vocals to be within 3 stems with the beat taking up one of the stems?

[@jakethomsonaudio]

Hey thanks a lot! :) Just so I have a better idea of your project, how many individual vocal tracks are you working with?

[@SIYDMusic]

@@jakethomsonaudio On average i would say about 13-18, i record every part of the song individually like the verses and chorus and then add some vocal stacks on the chorus and a couple on the verses and maybe another track for some background vocals/add libs or other sounds.

[@jakethomsonaudio]

I would say just go with what makes the most sense for grouping purposes - all the lead vocal parts could be bounced together into a single stereo track for your first stem, then you could do the same process for grouping your doubles/harmonies and leaving the last stem for the ad libs or other background vocals. If you can only provide four stems total for the whole song then obviously you’ll have to make some mixing decisions that will sound best for grouping the background vocals and hopefully the mixing engineer can apply some additional eq/compression to help them “glue” a bit better to the main beat. It’s definitely limited but not impossible! Hope that helps!

[@SIYDMusic]

@@jakethomsonaudio That makes sense, this helps a lot thank you! I'll keep this in mind when sending out stems.

[@kyleholland5853]

Just an FYI, this is an extremely odd limitation to have. No mixer should be limiting your track count and 4 tracks is very small. If you're grouping lots of tracks down your engineer is basically stem mastering your song, not mixing it.

[@jaredsalzano]

Why not skip the volume adjustments and just turn normalize on? Or use the normalize function & set it to -12db?

[@danecolfax2458]

Curious...why would anyone remove effects before sending the stems for mixing?

[@jakethomsonaudio]

I often like to receive “dry” stems without effects like reverb or delay baked into them already because it’s important to have the flexibility of adjusting those effects during mixing to achieve the right amount of space and balance between all the elements. However if certain effects are crucial to the sound of the track(s) then you can always print both dry and wet versions to have multiple options while mixing - and of course you can always bounce just the effect sends as their own “wet” tracks so you can blend them in later! Thanks for the question! :)

[@FreggoX]

Why do you turn off your plugins??

[@cjamz7240]

Why -12 db is that standard for mixing?

[@trentmarderosian9690]

Is there a downside to clicking "by pass all effect plugins, and panning automation" when bouncing?

[@THEFUTURESOUNDBEAT]

yes

[@mastermind5601]

Is it right to create stems even if you are mixing it on your own? What is better if you are the producer and mixing engineer as well?

[@darude]

Many producers who mix their own projects do make everything audio or, say, 4-10 stereo stems of the various groups (for me often kick, clap/snare, other drums, bass, vocals, synth (lead), synth pad, other) and drop them in a fresh final mix (& mastering) project. Bouncing everything as separate tracks is not necessarily necessary (stems are enough for that, and in some ways better, IMO), BUT coming back to the project years later wanting to re-mix/remix it and finding several key plug-ins being obsolete sucks big time, so having it as dry audio and wet, too, will save the day there. Bouncing to stems for final mix & master helps your head, you get to put your mixer’s hat on more, when you can’t adjust all the small things in the “live” project anymore, you listen and treat your track differently.

[@discasdomanoodairdacosta5220]

hello mate. this is valid for all type of musics or differs from type? for exemple, rap to blue??

[@jakethomsonaudio]

Should be valid for whatever genre of music you’re working with! 👌

[@discasdomanoodairdacosta5220]

@@jakethomsonaudio thanks.

[@discasdomanoodairdacosta5220]

Do you do mixing and mastering?

[@angus_maude]

How do you export stems with varispeed on?

[@jakethomsonaudio]

It seems that Logic won’t include varispeed settings when using the “export all stems” function, so you’ll have to solo and bounce each track individually which does include varispeed in the printed audio files.

[@JoshSource]

I watch this video just for the vocals

[@Blacklightermusic]

doesn't work for me ...no bounces folder even though I just did what you said

[@jakethomsonaudio]

Just curious, is your project saved as a folder or a package? If it’s saved as a package the “bounces” folder might appear in your main Logic projects folder (Music>Logic) instead of in a folder with your project. But really it doesn’t really matter where you save your exported files, you can save to whatever folder you like when bouncing.

[@lovepulse]

So the method you are proposing is to strip all tracks of any panning, effects sends or automation and set all volumes to -12. Hmm

[@rasfelippe]

tks bro

[@michaelalvarez1336]

Multi tracks

[@sendforacar9323]

You are perpetuating miss information. These are not STEMS, these are tracks. Stems are a collection of like instruments bounced to a stereo track. All the drums in stereo would be bounced to a stereo track ie, drum stem. Lead and background vocals bounce to a stereo track ie, vocal stem. All guitars and bass bounced to a stereo track ie, guitar stem. These are just tracks. Engineers use stems for specific situations. If an engineer ask for stems and you sent them this they would be confused. Once again these are tracks not stems. Stop using the term stems. If anything use the term project.

[@yamansitar6153]

Hi when your useing stem would you keep your reverb ,Delay buss. In the stem ,thanks

[@the_musician5373]

Yea they are called multitrack

[@cederickforsberg5840]

You are using the wrong word... You are talking about MULTITRACKS. Not stems. SOURCE: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_mixing_and_mastering STEMS ARE A GROUP OF TRACKS PUT TOGETHER

[@SCHALLZENTRALE]

what you are calling "stems" are actually called multi-tracks. stems are submixes. ;-)

[@strodeo]

thanks bro! and no bullshit about plz like comment and subscribe for the 5 first minutes. beauty

[@bobstark6190]

great tutorial except these are not stems. they are tracks. stems has a completely different meaning that usually refers to group submixes. you may want to refer to kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5yccnp7pNiApa8 for a proper definition of stems.

[@stamecec2003]

dop

[@alexyakas]

Stems for mixing? There is no such thing. Multitrack for mixing, yes, stems for mastering, good too, stems for mixing is a joke! 😂😂😂

[@zabavno2112]

If someone can answer me, when I buy a beat with stems, do I get stems with effects or without, and what is better to buy stems or wav beats if I want a beat maker to prepare an instrumental for a vocal mix?

[@antoinenioi6863]

Super tips thanks you man

[@odessachen]

thank you! Super helpful!

[@sisinn8437]

THANKS A LOT !!

[@roykable]

Thank you 🙏🏾