WHAT TO DO BEFORE
YOU SUBMIT YOUR STEMS
MIXING
STEP 1: TURN OFF CHANNEL PROCESSING AND CHECK FOR CLIPPING
All files must be submitted as raw vocal stem files and all effects must be disabled
on every channel unless you want a very specific effect that may be hard to recreate.
TURN OFF ALL MASTER CHANNEL PROCESSING.
Now that you've turned off all your master bus processing, its time to check
your track levels. Make sure the peaks at minimum are not louder than -4db
or clipping! Digital clips will destroy the quality of your music and are almost
impossible to repair.
Note: Make sure your recordings are in the right TEMPO/BPM so effects can have the
correct time setting with your instrumental.
STEP 2: GET YOUR TRACKS IN ORDER
Be sure to set tracks to where everything aligns correctly. Now that you've
done that go through your session to name and number your tracks.
Most DAW's will import your files in alphabetical order. So when exporting,
make sure mono sources are exported as mono and stereo as stereo.
DO NOT EXPORT EVERYTHING AS STEREO!
Sample rate / bit depth should be at least 44.1kHz / 24-bit
STEP 3: SET UP YOUR FOLDERS FOR DELIVERY & EXPORT
"Artist name / Service name / Song name / Song references / Stems"
Create folders like the above example and submit files to designated folder.
All tracks must be in a .wav file format and dithering set to “None” if any.
STEP 4: SET UP A TEXT DOCUMENT
This document will go into your folders and will also include any other details
of additional notes for the project as a whole. You can add some information
like special effects if you desire any "Be sure to confirm if the engineer can do
any specific effect before submitting". Sending a ROUGH MIX will help give
your engineer a good idea of the overall vision you have for the song. Include
meta-data encoding and TEMPO/BPM information. Also sending REFERENCES
to other songs you like with a similar sound will help give them a good idea of
where you want to take it. "A YouTube link is fine"
STEP 5: HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR FOLDER
Compress your folder into a zip-file. This file can be submitted through any one these
share file sites:
Note:
You can also send in your Project Session File of your favorite DAW.
See the below list of the DAW's that are being Accepted right now.
(Logic Pro X, GarageBand, BandLab, Pro-Tools, & Fl Studio).
then once the engineer receives the session, they will then extract
the stems from your DAW's project session file.
WHAT TO DO BEFORE
YOU SUBMIT YOUR MIX
MASTERING
STEP 1: AVOID CLIPPING IN YOUR MIX
This means your music shouldn't be hitting in the red on your faders
or it will effect the quality of the master. This does not mean putting
down the volume on your master fader.
STEP 2: DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH HEADROOM?
Submit all mixes as .wav files with a db level of at least -5db to -8db.
This headroom will help the mastering engineer make a better master.
STEP 3: REMOVE PROCESSING ON YOUR MASTER BUS
Take everything off your master bus. This includes EQs, Compressors,
Saturation, limiters, etc.
NOTE :
Your mastering engineer can always add effects, but they can’t remove effects if you’ve
baked them into the mix. This causes more restrictions on your mastering Engineer. If you’ve
removed all your master bus processing and your mix doesn’t sound good anymore, it means
that you have mix issues. Your song should sound amazing without master bus processing
applied to it. If it doesn’t, then you will need to revise your mix before sending it off for mastering.
STEP 4: FIX ANY MIX ISSUES
Mastering won’t make a poor mixes sound good. In fact, it can actually end up
highlighting the flaws in a poorly mixed track. Low-level issues like background
noise will become more obvious, and so can undesirable characteristics like
harsh resonance. So make sure you fix those mix issues before submitting your mix.
STEP 5: BOUNCE YOUR SONG AT THE RIGHT SAMPLE RATE
Be sure to bounce your song at the sample rate you've recorded at.
The most common recording sample rate is 44.1 kHz. But if you've
recorded your audio at a higher sample rate, export your project at
the higher sample rate. And be sure not to export your mix with dither
or normalized applied to it.
Now you are ready to submit your mix for mastering :