Can you provide Stems AND Master the tracks you submit?

[ChrisOlson]

(I hope I don't double post - I thought I submitted and it never showed up)

I am not a member of Taxi, but I was hoping to get some advice from this awesome community.

I've been lucky enough to sign a few songs to a music library, and I'm getting another dozen tracks ready for them right now! (woo hoo!)

As far as STEMS go, I understand and can provide "sub-mixes" such as Drums, Bass, Guitars, Vocals - each as a separate stereo rendering - all adding up to the exact same mix I started with. Got it.

But.... I am also Mastering my tracks.... so if I provide the library with my final stereo mix (MASTERED), my stems won't add up to the same as my Mastered final mix.... Is there a way to provide stems that add up to the same as the final mix that has been mastered as well? Or do I just provide a "Mastered" final mix, as well as an "Unmastered" final mix with the stems to go along with it?

My setup -- Using Reaper as my DAW. I use limited plugin's - mainly T-Racks3 Deluxe Mastering Suite and Classic Studio Reverb. I will use individual compressor/eq from T-Racks on my instrument and vocal tracks as needed -- Once I have my mix dialed in with at least 2 or 3 db headroom peak levels, I add my Mastering T-Racks3 on the master buss - I usually have to dial back some of the compression and limiting, but I really like the sound I get with it and it adds a lot to the final product.

Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated. I only have a week or so to get these ready. All of my mixes are finalized (and MASTERED!) - but now I'm trying to figure out how to provide these stems and it's driving me a bit crazy.

Thanks,
Chris
olsonson.blogspot.com

[crazyhooks]

Hey Chris,
I know from reading here , that the taxi listings ask for MASTERs,
and it means in " owning the complete song / work top to bottom"
Im sure the Music librarys know the "level difference" of an unmastered track to a Mastered track.
Now your contact is asking you for " Stems" as well as Master mix.

When Im asked for stems it means " theyr'e Engineer will re-mix and master to theyre liking.
I bounce my stems with every eq , bus, etc that i used before the "final Master bounce".
Its about having the client recognize it sounds like what they liked the first time.

Hope that helps.
Johnny

[ChrisOlson]

Hey johnny, thanks for the reply. By "mastering", I mean the art of taking the mix engineers final mix and having a mastering engineer add further eq/compression/limiting to the final mix.

I am mastering my own tracks after I finalize my mix.

The question of mastering songs for taxi submissions has been addressed by michael a few times on taxi tv.

He has stated that it is not necessary to master tracks before submitting.... But... It seems to me that if you decide to master your tracks, it is not possible to provide stems that would equal the final "mastered" mix. If I do not add mastering effects, my stems equal my final mix.

I'm thinking I may provide the "mastered" stereo mix along with the "un-mastered" stereo mix with the stems to match it.

But if anyone can provide a method to get stems to match a "mastered" final mix, please enlighten me!

Thanks

[ChrisOlson]

Oh... And the reason I want to use the mastered version as opposed to un-mastered... It sounds better!

[guscave]

Hi Chris,

I had a similar problem until about a year ago when one of the library asked me to simply send them the song un-mastered with the different stems. Apparently sending them a mastered version plus an un-mastered version plus un-mastered stems just gave them more work when it came to cataloging stuff.

Another library also told me that they preferred un-mastered version because many production companies will re-master and compress the heck out of a file anyways.

So unless I'm going to be releasing the song on my own CD or online site, I just don't bother with mastering anymore.

[matto]

Chris, you really have to ask the library what they prefer. None of us here know, we can only speculate.

If they want the stems so they can make the final mix of your song, then giving them a mastered mix would be pointless.

If they want the stems in order to have some flexibility in case a client might want a different mix or custom mix in the future, then they probably want a mastered mix if you have it, because that's what they will use 99% of the time and the stems are just "insurance" so to speak. In which case it wouldn't matter if the combination of the stems sounds exactly like the mastered mix, since those stems would only be used if an entirely different mix is desired.

If they want the stems so a client can edit back and forth between the main mix and various combinations of stems, then the stems should probably be "mastered" the same way the main mix is mastered, with the exact same settings and without any changing of the make up gain. That will give the most useable results for this scenario.

But, nobody except for the library knows what scenario they want to be prepared for, so they are the only ones that can give you the answer you are seeking.

matto

[ChrisOlson]

Thank you kindly. All great advice. in the end I'll just ask. Helps me to bounce this off respected peers with the same goals as myself.

[mojobone]

To further complicate matters, (you're welcome!) as Matto and others have mentioned in prior threads, some clients ask for "stems" when what they really mean is "submixes"; they aren't at all the same thing, which is what leads to all the confusion. When in doubt, ask.

[ChrisOlson]

Yes, as I am finding out.... The "stems" are more like "sub-mixes" for this library.

All my tracks that I'm submitting are instrumental rock, so my "stems" are all stereo sub-mixes: 1 for Drums, 1 for Bass and 2 or 3 separate for guitars! (one of my slogans is "Just the right amount of too many guitars!" hahahahahah)

considering that I layer ton's of guitars,whoever ends up using the tracks may want to be able to remove some of them but not all.... as I'm not providing music for the main focus of the media -- it's supposed to support! I bet they could use just the drum/bass stems for a bunch of stuff too without using any of my guitars.

But yeah, asking is important, drrrrrr... it's all about the relationship in the end. Thanks for the encouragement.

Taxi rocks! (I'm not a member but I benefit from all the information on the forums and taxi tv - great stuff!)

Chris
olsonson.blogspot.com