Stem Mixing & Mastering

Stem Mixing or "Stem Mastering" is a hybrid between our mixing package and our mastering-only package, designed for artists and producers with songs which have already been fully or partially mixed.

Mixing from stems enables us to do almost everything we would during the mixing stage–punchier drums, tighter low end, vocals more up front–all while retaining the essential character of your existing mix.

Before (volume raised for fair comparison):

After:

Before (volume raised for fair comparison):

After:

With stem mixing, you're giving us more to work with than you would for mastering (a single audio file), but less than you would for mixing (all of the track layers separated). You take all of your individual tracks and export them in groups called "stems."

A stem, also known as a submix, subgroup, or bus track, is a single audio file made by combining similar tracks. For example, you can create a "vocal stem" by soloing all vocal layers simultaneously and exporting them as a single stereo audio file. Unlike for traditional mixing, you should leave all of your volume, panning, plugins, and automation enabled when exporting stems.

With Stem Mixing, we literally "fix your mix": we take care of any technical issues while leaving the creative aspect of the mix to you or your engineer.

Stem Mixing Is Great For:

• Artists who mix their own music
• Producers and engineers who mix their own projects but want fresh ears to tweak their mixes after spending many days or weeks on a project
• Rappers or singers who purchase beats/instrumentals online and only have access to the stereo instrumental file and their vocals

More About Our Stem Mixing Service

• What you'll send us: up to 7 stem files per song, depending on how much flexibility you want to give us (more stems gives us more control over the sound).
• $120/song
• Mastering included
• The essential character of your existing mix is retained.
• 30 days free revisions
• You're also welcome to send us 8 or more stems, which is billed at our full mixing rate ($200/song)
• For more info check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

Things Generally Not Included

While it's ultimately up to the discretion of your engineer, it's best to accomplish the following before you send your stems, unless you've paid for full mixing or 8+ stems (same price as full mixing):

• Automation (volume rides, EQ changes from section-to-section, delay throws, etc.)
• Editing (although you're welcome to request a fade-out at the end as part of the mastering process)
• Any non-subtle effect such as distortion, heavy echo/reverb, etc.

Note about delays/reverbs: If you're not happy with the ambience you already have, you're welcome to bypass those effects and let us know you want them, but keep in mind that we can only reach a certain level of detail with 7 stems. For example, if you send us an "all vocals dry" stem and ask for echo, we can't make the background vocals wetter than the lead vocal. They will all have the same echo setting.

Examples of Common Stem Groupings

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