STEMS MASTERING
How to prepare your track for Stems Mastering
Send me up to six 24 bit stereo subgroups of tracks.
For example:
1. Kick drum
2. Bass
3. All drums & percussion except kick
4. All other instruments
5. Vocals
*Any effects should be exported together with the instrument that is affected.
Remove any compressors or limiters from the main output channel before exporting.
Ensure that the highest peak does not exceed -4 dBFS (more headroom is better).
Stems Mastering is similar to Stereo Mastering with the added benefit of having more control of the different groups of elements in the mix.
Stems Mastering allows processing to be applied to one area without affecting the rest of the mix. This could be extremely useful for taming wild peaks, smoothing out harsh frequencies or widening certain elements without affecting the rest of the mix.
This is the best option for you if your mix sounds great but you want to give your mastering engineer greater control to ensure the best possible results.