HOW STEMS MAKE YOUR PROJECT BETTER

If you’re reading this, the chances are you already know the power the right music can bring to your production. But are you aware just how much more efficient using music stems can be? At Audio Network we offer a vast catalogue of high quality, expertly-mixed stems, essentially offering our customers bespoke musical solutions for tv, film, adverts and more.

In this blog we run through everything you need to know about stems, from what they are and why they’re beneficial to editors, to where to download music stems in the first place.

What Are Stems in Music?

Music stems are individual audio tracks featuring groups of instruments that have been separated from a full mix. Typically, files are divided into four separate stems and each stem represents a specific part of the song, isolated as a distinct file. These stems allow users to manipulate or remix a song by altering or rearranging individual elements. In addition, a single stem may be delivered in mono, stereo, or in multiple tracks for surround sound.

But what are the 4 stems of music? Broadly speaking, they are:

• Drums/rhythm – Featuring isolated drum or percussion elements
• Bass – Featuring the bassline or low-end elements
• Instruments – All the instruments without the vocals
• Melody/vocals – An isolated vocal track.

At Audio Network we offer five or six stems per track. For example, a snare drum as part of a kit is a single recorded track, while the grouping of an entire drum kit with all recorded components in one separated subgroup and audio file is a stem. And if all the song stems were played simultaneously – without any edits or amendments – it would sound like the finished, mastered version of the track.

What Are the Benefits of Using Stems?

Whether you’re working on behalf of a big brand or as an individual creator, stems offer a huge amount of creative flexibility. With improved control over audio elements, editors are able to customise music to suit the mood or style of each individual project, offering a level of accuracy that saves significant time in post-production.

For example, you might want to lower the volume of vocals for background usage in film or TV. Or perhaps you wnant to highlight key moments, by isolating vocals for effect or by enhancing instrumental sections. Working on a granular level, you can add effects like reverb or EQ to individual stems without affecting the whole mix. And more creative control equals cleaner edits, both in terms of syncing music more smoothly with visuals and in terms of the precision with which you can make cuts to the audio or create loops.

Where Can I Get Song Stems From?

If you don’t have access to the original multi-track recordings, you can use a music stem splitter, which is a software tool or algorithm that separates songs into their individual audio stems. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence models trained to recognise patterns and frequency rates associated with instruments and vocals, stem splitters identify and extract these components into separate audio tracks. Popular stem splitters include iZotope RX, Spleeter by Deezer, LALAL.AI and Audionamix.

For a far easier and more efficient solution, you can access a huge range of high quality, expertly-mixed music stems right here at Audio Network. From pop to rock, electronic to jazz, classical to Latin music, we have every single genre and mood of music covered, plus we’re adding brand new releases all the time, with more than 90% of new tracks offering stems.

Thanks to our intuitive interface and advanced search capabilities, they’re super easy to find too, allowing you to search by keyword, prompt, scene description or even YouTube link. Simply check the ‘Has Stems’ box on the advanced search filter and you’ll be shown a selection of tracks with stems available. Alternatively, get in touch with a music brief, and our expert team can curate a range of suitable stems for you.