🤯 Now THIS is the truth about STEM MASTERING!

Hey Friends,

What is marketed as stem mastering, is far away from what I actually experience in the studio.

Stem mastering levels;
Beginners “it gets better results because you can tweak EACH stem”
Intermediate engineers “helps balance the details”
Working pro’s “it provides flexibility”

So to understand the “reality” of stem mastering we’re going to explore;

1. My first time working on a stem master for a major label

2. How marketing “poisoned” stem mastering for me.

3. What stem mastering ACTUALLY looks like for professionals in the studio

1. My first time working on a stem master for a major label

There were 13 stems and I thought it was time-to-go-to-town.

The mix engineer who sent the stems did so at the request of the A&R.

The A&R knew the artist was more than "a bit" indecisive, and wanted to make sure we had flexibility.

In the morning we sent off the master and everyone signed off on it.
- The artist before they got on a flight requested the FX turned up 3dB.
- After they got off their flight, they requested the FX turned up another 3dB.
- The next morning we found out they wanted to go with the original master with the stems as per the original mix.

Fun HEY!?

But the reality of stem mastering for many projects is simply, flexibility.

​Here’s a walkthrough of the before and after for a master I did for the producer Machina;​

For this actual project, there were 2 revisions we worked through one where we brought the FX down 3dB and another where we brought the lead vocals down 1dB.

My mastering chain on the 2bus remained the same from the first version I sent them to the last.

2. How marketing “poisoned” stem mastering for me.

Many studios sell stem mastering as a superior service, or advanced or improved results. This never sits well with me.

The other way stem mastering was poisoned for me was by “mastering purists” that if you weren’t doing stereo mastering, obviously you weren’t mastering at all. You were mixing not mastering or there was something wrong with the mix.

But the reality, here's when stem mastering actually happens;

1. Clients request stem mastering;

   • To produce deliverables or alternates for publishing, even though it's possible for the mixing engineer to do this, they want flexibility to make edits in the process.

   • Because they wanted additional creative input or are indecisive about particular elements of the mix, Voc up or Voc down, etc.

   • Self produced artists that can't quite hit the mark on their final mix.

2. I request stem mastering when;

   • There are clear technical short-falls on the mix I could manage if I had access to the stems.

   • The overall balance is out of balance, even though the creative aspect of the production works.

   • I could explore a few versions / presentations for the client to decide from.

I’ve aimed to detail my mindset and process behind stem mastering in this stem mastering masterclass.

Not only does it detail the processing, but it also walks you through, how to onboard projects for stem mastering, quality control, and preparing deliverables for clients.

3. What stem mastering ACTUALLY looks like for professionals in the studio.

So what does stem mastering ACTUALLY look like for professionals in the studio? Here are a few real life scenarios.

Scenario A

Most mixing engineers I know already produce stems for stem mastering without knowing.

Industry standard deliverables from mixing engineers to publishers and labels are as follows;

1. Full Mix

2. Instrumental Only Mix

3. TV Mix (Full mix sans lead vocals)

4. Lead Vocals Only (Acappella)

The most common feedback on a master from an artist is the level of the vocals, which can create a stem mastering situation.

What's awesome is, with these files present it doesn’t involve “upcharging” clients to a “superior” stem mastering service.

It’s purely a practical consideration and like I've said before, "flexibility"

Scenario B

The client requests stem mastering because they think it will yield “superior” results.

The question I ask when someone requests stem mastering for “better” results is;

"...WHY?"

Often they’ll reference an element they’ve struggled with in the mix, I’ll give them some mix feedback to correct it and we end up working from the stereo mix!

Scenario C

Finally, is when the mix I’m sent is far away from the direction, references and creative brief the client is providing me.

I hear the opportunity to hit that mark, but albeit I can’t do it with the stereo mix I’ve been provided, so I request the stem outs of the sub-busses and we're off to the races

Most commonly this will look like;

• Kick

• Snare

• Drums (Other)

• Vocals

• Bass

• Instruments

If you're curious what this looks like in practice, check out this stem mastering masterclass​

Warmly,

N

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