What is Stems?
Also called: stem mixes, submixes
Stems are a song's mix split into a few grouped audio files, such as drums, bass, music and vocals, that play back the full song when combined. They sit between a full multitrack session and a single stereo mix.
Each stem is printed from the same mix, at the same length and starting point, so lining them up recreates the song. They are used for mastering with more control, live performance, remixes, sync edits and film mixes, where a vocal might need to be turned down under dialogue.
Stems are not the same as multitracks. A multitrack session has every individual recording, often dozens of tracks; stems combine those into a handful of groups.
When you do not have the original session, AI stem separation can split a finished mix into stems, with some loss of quality compared with real stems.
Put it to work
Split a finished song into vocals, drums, bass and other stems.
Stem Isolator