An Introduction to DRAMEDY Music - STEMS

[stevebarden]

Here are the stems for a few of the Dramedy tracks I posted in this thread:

An Introduction to DRAMEDY Music

For reference, here are links to the entire playlist (both YouTube and Soundcloud):

YouTube

Soundcloud

I thought it would be useful for you to hear the actual stems from some of the tracks. This serves two purposes:

1) Provide an example of how tracks are remixed as stems (most libraries require this)

2) Give additional insight into the composition and its orchestration

For dramedy cues I typically deliver the following stems:

1. Full - The complete track

2. No melody - Removing the melody instrument(s). This version, more often than not, gets used. Perhaps the melody is too obtrusive and fights with dialogue. The lesson here is: Don't get too hung up about the melody, they may never use it!

3. No melody and no percussion - Removing the percussion elements gives the track a simpler "bed" to lay behind the scene. This is truly "wallpaper" music.

4. Pizzicato strings only - The is the main instrument in dramedy tracks. This stem will get used A LOT!

5. Stinger - I always extract this stem from the FULL version. This is the piece that editors will use to wrap up your cue since it's rare that your entire cue will be used. So if you cue is 90 seconds and they can only use 12 seconds of it, they will edit the stringer to the end of it.

Here are the stems (please refer to the above links for the FULL versions):

Desperate Elves

Man of the House

You Don't Know What You're Talking About

Let me know if you have any questions. Happy writing!

Steve

[markhimley]

Steve you are the man!!! Thank you so much, very useful knowledge. If I run into you at the Road Rally, I would love to buy you a beer.

[LeKenneth]

Thank you so much for this!

[ComposerLDG]

Thanks, Steve!

[andygabrys]

cool!

[edmondredd]

Thanks for sharing that Steve..
A question though: Does the library requires the stems for their use (selling the tracks in different 'forms') or because they do re-mix the tracks and master them?
When you look up for tracks on libraries, they do all seem equally loud and mastered.. Just wondering..

[HenriettaAtkin]

Steve,

Thank you -- I've been studying all your tracks on Youtube. Please forgive me if you've heard me say this before -- you are a fine orchestrator. I think you're going to do very well in film trailer cues.

[stevebarden]

Thanks for sharing that Steve..
A question though: Does the library requires the stems for their use (selling the tracks in different 'forms') or because they do re-mix the tracks and master them?
When you look up for tracks on libraries, they do all seem equally loud and mastered.. Just wondering..

Edmond, most libraries require that you provide several stems. The purpose is for editors to make music choices that work within the scope of the film they're working on. Imagine a scene with dialog and your music works wonderfully with the melody when they aren't talking, but gets in the way when they are. An editor can essentially put your stems on multiple tracks and basically ride the fader to include or exclude your melody instrument in a way that is seamless and stays out of the way of the dialog.

Regarding volume levels, stems should match the basic sound level. In the example above, if you switch between the melody version and the non-melody version, the rest of the instrumentation should sound exactly the same. It should sound as if you just pressed mute on your melody instrument.

Hope that answers your questions.

Steve

[edmondredd]

Edmond, most libraries require that you provide several stems. The purpose is for editors to make music choices that work within the scope of the film they're working on. Imagine a scene with dialog and your music works wonderfully with the melody when they aren't talking, but gets in the way when they are. An editor can essentially put your stems on multiple tracks and basically ride the fader to include or exclude your melody instrument in a way that is seamless and stays out of the way of the dialog.

I imagined that

Regarding volume levels, stems should match the basic sound level. In the example above, if you switch between the melody version and the non-melody version, the rest of the instrumentation should sound exactly the same. It should sound as if you just pressed mute on your melody instrument.

Hope that answers your questions.

Steve

I was actually talking about the overall level of the submitted track. You do all the mixing and you submit it, right? It's the composer mix, not the library one?

Thanks a lot Steve,

[LarryWhitler]

I love this post. Thank you for sharing your talent and knowledge, Steve. You are a true inspiration. I have never been to a Road Rally but I plan to go this year (not sure when it is) and hope to be able to say hello to you if you are there. (Maybe by then I'll actually have a cue that is being used!)