Mixing from stems.....

[andygabrys]

interesting thread.

before I got my most recent machine, i would bounce a mix and master in another session as the Slate FGX that I like to use was buggy and CPU hungry before it went 64 bit in AU format. But that slowed me down and I hated having everything not contained in the same program.

Now, I don't bounce or freeze anything as I have lots of horsepower.

Here is what i do instead:

for Non-exclusive cues that I might sign to a library and / or pitch myself I
1) leave everything in the session, leave MIDI instruments as MIDI
2) bounce full mix, and several alts (bass and drums, VX acapella if its a vocal track etc.)
3) bounce stinger / bumper / cut downs
4) archive it on a RAID mirror drive.
5) don't think about it again.

For Exclusive cues
1) exact same thing
2) for some publishers that are particular I export stems (post mix fx and post master FX) because they want to be able to remix in the future. That's done upon signing.

For every situation, I don't bother. Here's why:

1) Slows you down and converting all stems to audio takes more disk space (albeit cheap $$ these days)
2) Unlike Guscave, in my experience I have never had a publisher, music super, or agency contact ask me to remix anything except in the first few days / week or having a cue / song prepared for a custom use. Doing a few alt mixes also CYA for any occasions.
3) Even when opening an old project and finding a certain plugin didn't exist any longer (which was usually a "free" plugin like Amplitube) having to spend minimal time "remixing" has always lead to a better production anyways. I notice this frequently if I go back to my graveyard of pieces that I didn't feel were finished and open them back up and work a little on it.

but honestly - at this point, I haven't had an issue where a plugin didn't exist on my computer that I had installed previously since 2011 - when I resurrected an older piece and used it for a film score. Then I had to replace a few "lite" plugins.

As you can see, most people above are erring on the side of bouncing a lot of stuff, and thats totally cool as its a personal thing. For me, I am not too worried about it. My DAW's open up legacy versions.

Chuck - it seems like most of this issue is driven by what your computer can handle based on its existing power. If that is the main thing, and you are just trying to get through it, then you should explore freezing tracks. In Logic 9 / X it works pretty well and is easy - in Pro Tools 12 is also really well implemented if you ever want to go back to Pro Tools.

If either case, you can get a lot more of your computer power back by doing that.

Good luck

[CHuckmott]

It really is a matter of horsepower. If I have the sound I like, and by the time I get to th point where I'm ready to mix, I usually do, then I'll bounce just to free up horsepower.

Some folks like to do it as part of their mixing flow. Bounce everything to audio, with no plugs, and then start your mix from scratch. With no extra horsepower going towards plugins.

My biggest resource hogs, as far as my VSTS are concerned: Amplitube, Ozone, Addictive Keys. Ozone I can't add new tracks or audio with it on, it causes all kinds of weird latency issues. But really , mastering should be a final step anyway.

Thanks for the input all.

[dougstronach]

I always bounce my MIDI tracks, even though they're running on a 2nd machine using VEPRO and not taking up much resources inside my session. Helps me make decisions and not spend hours endlessly tweaking MIDI notes. It's a way to move forward with a track. I also don't trust MIDI. Timing is often suspect if you ask me...not glaringly out but phasey out depending on the computer load. A small thing but bugs me so i bounce asap. Audio is typically rock solid.

I mix into 8 stereo busses (setup with a template). I use one template for everything I do.....I used to use several templates but that got confusing and I hate when the process takes away from the writing and listening so I made one large template and show or hide tracks as I need them. These 8 busses are my stems and now as of PT 12.4, those busses can be bounced in one go (takes no time at all). I rarely mix with those bounced stems but they are in the session if I ever need to go back to them. A nice safety feature. I have had moments where I needed to return to a mix from many years ago and wasn't able to without a huge hassle in time and energy. it is rare though.

One thing i've noticed is that once the process you're going to use is established, then you can stop spending energy on that and start to think more about the actual music. Most top engineers and producers have a process they use regularly and over time they don't have to think about it at all. It becomes their sound, as a result of their process. Very important IMHO to get on with what's really important...making music!

Doug s.

[TheElement]

I just recently upgraded to Cubase 8.5 Pro which can batch export stems.

So I got bogged down on a recent project. I had automation all over the mix and then at the end I was stuck I couldn't tweak volume levels. So I took the opportunity to export all the stems and import them into a new project where I was able to remix it. It came out much better than I had hoped.

Working with the audio I added some more sidechaining and tweaked eq. Also what I really liked was I was able to do edit points much easier and was able to remove a lot of clutter that was taking up some space in the mix. So outcome I feel I had a cleaner more balanced mix.

More work but worth it. Will get faster at it I'm sure.

Btw I exported all the stems without master chain on and then in new mix project just loaded up my master chain on that. If you are interested I uploaded this mix to my Taxi page. Track is called "Get Up And Go": http://www.taxi.com/elementproducer

stems and stereo mixdown were exported at 48kHz and 32 bit float. working in the project also at 48kHz and 32 bit float

All the best!