Learn · Stems
What stems are.
Learn · Stems
A song is layers.
Stems are the layers, apart.
A stem is one part of a finished song, on its own: the vocals, the drums, the instruments. A record is made by mixing the parts together. Separation works backwards from the finished mix.
Download on theApp StoreMixed, then printed.
Where they come from
Recorded apart.
Heard together.
In the studio, each instrument is usually recorded on its own track. The engineer balances those tracks into one stereo mix: the song you hear. Stems are submixes of it, all the drums or all the vocals, printed on their own.
Once printed, the parts are no longer apart. The file holds one sound wave per channel, with every instrument added into it.
Three lanes here.
In Norah Studio
Vocals, drums,
and everything else.
Norah Studio separates a song into three stems: vocals, drums and instrumental. The instrumental holds the rest together: bass, guitars, keys and strings.
Each stem becomes a lane with its own gain, mute, solo and effect stack, and leaves as a file of its own when you export.
What they're for.
Uses
Practise, sing,
remix, study.
Musicians practise against the stems they do not play. Singers sing over the instrumental. Producers remix the parts, and students listen to one part at a time to hear how a song is built.
Try it yourself.
In Norah Studio
