Post Mixing & Stem Mastering Services

I offer “Post Mixing & Stem Mastering” services for clients who have mixed material/songs themselves, or had someone else mix and can provide a breakdown of the elements of the final mix.

With more control over the different aspects and instruments of a mix, I can use my skills, equipment and experience to treat it with exactly what it needs for a much higher quality finished product.

Standard “Stem Mastering” would be a simple breakdown of stereo groups of instruments/channels that make up the final mix, which once put back together recreate the final mix exactly how it was.

However with my “Post Mixing” service this can be used to allow me to go further into your mix, and can be tailored to each projects requirements/budgets.

“Post Mixing” can vary depending on what is required for the project/material, some examples used for projects could be.

I mix all of your Bass & Percussion/Drum tracks, providing you with a sonically solid and level foundation for you to then mix/balance the rest of the instrumentation/elements around it. Once the mix is completed, stereo WAV stems of your processed mixed instruments could then be given to me for final treatment, further processing and levelling before Mastering.

I mix your Vocal tracks into the instrumental, if you have a solid instrumental mix but are struggling with the vocal production. With your edited/tuned/processed vocal tracks as individual WAV files I could take everything to the finish line, getting the vocals to sit better in the mix, focusing on the fine details and have them sounding more like they should for a finished record.

How to prepare files for Post Mixing & Stem Mastering?

The simplest way to create a stereo “Stem” of individual elements/groups from a finished mix is to “solo” everything related to it in the DAW session (or mixing console) and export/render a stereo WAV file of it.

Please ensure all exported/rendered WAV files start at the same point (from zero) and end at the end of the track. Even if the recorded sound is at the end of the track, export that entire track from the start, so when I load them in here at the studio all the tracks align correctly.

Doing it this way helps to ensure everything is included in the stem that should be, and that it is 100% correct to the original full final mix in regards to sounds, volumes, balances and panning.

For example if a “Drum Mix Stem” is required, you would need to “solo” all the channels in the mix that is Drum related, including any Automation and any FX channels the drums run through, reverbs, compressors, extra FX’s. Then once exported/rendered as a stereo WAV, this file would play back the Drum Mix exactly how it sounded when in “solo” within the original DAW mix session.

This exact same method would be applied for creating individual “Mix Stems” for other elements/groups of the final mix such as Guitars, Bass, Keyboards/Strings, Vocals etc.

“Post Mixing” – Depending on what is needed for the project some “Stems” will be required differently and possibly more like standard mix files without any processing. All projects are different and discussed/planned together after I hear the material to work with.

If any processing has been done on the overall mix/stereo out bus (for example Compression and EQ), please inform me of what has been used. It could be that versions of the stems/files would need to be rendered/exported without this processing, and for it to be recreated by me when working with the material.

File formats?

I like to work with 48kHz/24bit WAV files, but 44.1kHz/16bit and 96kHz/32bit is also accepted if the project has been recorded/mixed in that sample rate. What is most important is I work with the same sample rate files as the project has been created with. Please inform me of these details when sending the files.

When exporting/rendering stem files, please ensure peaks on the main mix/tracks no higher than -1 dB. If the meters are peaking over 0 dB, please lower the individual mix elements to remove the overload. By sticking to these guides, this will ensure I have the headroom needed and nothing has digital clipping.

Get in touch with me via email to discuss projects, rates and bookings.

Frequently asked questions and more information can be found here FAQ