Stem files vs. multi-track

[sunrat]

Come back Till, we love you!
This is the internet. Keeping topics on track, relevant, or not a total waste of time is harder than herding cats.

And with that in mind, I hereby unsubscribe to this topic. Everything has been said, it's all going in eternal loops now, and the possibility of changing the status quo is a bee's dick away from zero.
Further discussion is pointless.

[WMitch]

Sorry that you feel like this...

...and I'm sorry you completely misunderstood Till's Mixbus/Cubase thread. Maybe something was lost in translation.

I'm hopeful Till with stick around. He's got pro chops and more than a few of us here can enjoy and learn from his work experience.

[Jostein]

Sorry that you feel like this...

...and I'm sorry you completely misunderstood Till's Mixbus/Cubase thread. Maybe something was lost in translation.

I'm hopeful Till with stick around. He's got pro chops and more than a few of us here can enjoy and learn from his work experience.

The only thing I have questioned is the stem/multi-track point, nothing else. If you believe I have completely misunderstood that thread, then I have no problem with that.

[Till]

The only thing I have questioned is the stem/multi-track point, nothing else.

That's OK.
There is a very helpful video of a Mixbus User online now,
who explains how to export audio material for various purposes and also stems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0kFq8n_2bM&t=1s

Such Online Tutorials are very helpful.
I'm also sometimes too lazy to read the manual and I'm glad if someone is reading it for me.

There are some more videos also from an experienced Sound Engineer with great Recordings Tips you can find here:

http://mixbus.harrisonconsoles.com/forum...-9030.html

[Jostein]

The only thing I have questioned is the stem/multi-track point, nothing else.

That's OK.

Hi Till, I'm very happy that you're, back! Big kudos to you for that and for the links you provided above!

[PBuryk]

There have been many good points made in the postings of this, and the previous,
thread about the topic. There have also been a number of great vids cited as refs.
It seems to all boil down to this:
- "multi-tracks" is a collection of "tracks"
- a "track" is an arbitrary length of audio, specifically pertaining to some instrumental,
vocal or rhythmic performance.
- a "track" can exist as one complete contiguous stream, from start-of-performance to
end-of performance (notice - I did not say from start of song to end of song).
- a "track" can also exist as a single, or progression of, separate "regions", again,
from start-of-performance to end of performance.
It is the above that are undesirable to send from one mixing suite to another.
Rather, it is more expected to exchange "stems":
- collections of "tracks" (from either audio channels or buses) that are contiguous
streams of a performance - from the start of song to the end of song.
These, being all the same length, can be imported to any receiving DAW for further processing without guess as to what should start where within the song timeline.

Note: it is only the "stem" that is - currently - expected to be the exact length of the song that it is part of.
"Partial Stems" are a misnomer, no different than "regions"... unless...
they are exported as a collection from a cross-cut of all tracks
at the same start/end points in the song timeline. Their resulting
export, being all the same length, can then be used to mix "snippets" of the song.

In addition to preparing "stems" as an exchange format for export of performances
the originator should also:
- Prefix the name of each steam with a (minimum) 2-digit representation of its
placement within the mixing console layout.
- Include a tempo map of the resulting song.
- Provide any other information, in a simple text file, that might help the engineer at the destination suite.

Cheers!
Patrick

[madmaxmiller]

I'm also sometimes too lazy to read the manual and I'm glad if someone is reading it for me.

You want to call this user:

oh in the manual? no... it's not there. I'll read you the manual online in a call without the pages open. A bedtime story.

MMM

[Chainsaw Curtis]

•Warren Huart is absolutely correct on this. One would not send another engineer 75 tracks of a song unless they specifically asked for it.
•Stems are indeed sub-mixes that have been turned into .wavs or .aifs or whatever that can be dropped into a project at the beginning and will play with other stems at the correct tempo and starting point. Mostly stems will only have effects pertinent to the instrument. You might have all the electric guitars in a stereo mixed stem but not have overall reverb on them.
•In Digital Performer (I'm new to Mixbus), I find stems easy to make - mute everything but what you want in a stem and bounce it to disk with the appropriate name [rockerxxxguitars110] or [rockerxxxbgvocals110].
• Now - is it mike or mic?

[PBuryk]

Mic(rophone)

And, yes... I also agree with Warren.

Cheers!
Patrick

[Dingo]

• Now - is it mike or mic?

Both I like to mike the kick with an EV667. Or An EV ND408 is a handy Dynamic mic to have in your kit. it depends on what you feel like at the time.