Thank you! I've learned the majority of what I know about Reaper from your channel. Also found the sample song via the lyrics and the mix with the instruments in this video are much better than what I found on Spotify. Kinda bummed it wasn't as cool as what you're working with here. 😄 Thanks again!
Man, I just want to give a big thanks for these tutorials you put together. This is my first experience with learning ANY DAW and your instruction has helped me tremendously. Your efforts are much appreciated!
As always Kenny your tutorials are how I learn. I always struggle with stems, and I now realize it is because I have only sent them off 3 times in 2 years to my mastering engineer. Need to either get more prolific with song writing and recording or do an end of day render. cheers Peter
If you're using level dependent FX on your master bus then they will react differently when you render solo'd tracks through them (un-summed). For example, a bus compressor's level detector will not see the level of the whole mix that you've been listening to as you work when each track is sent through seperately. How do you compensate for this?
Very carefully. I ignored this as it's probably worth a whole another video. For multi-tracks, it doesn't matter (as you're not printing any effects) but for STEMS you have two choices. If you know it's for a commercial, TV show or movie, try to avoid any dynamics processing on the master track. Put it on busses instead. I know, it's not the same. The other way is using a sidechain. Have the dynamics processor triggered from the entire mix while only printing one STEM at a time. The STEMs will sound weird but they will recreate your mix perfectly when blended back together.
Thanks, Kenny. Fantastically informative, as always. I have a couple of questions: 1. At 7.38, you say that using 'Selected tracks (stems)' will not include FX returns; so what is the difference between 'Selected tracks (stems)', and Raw / Multi-track files (which also do not include FX)? 2. I am having a problem in making individual stems OR raw tracks, and wondering if you can help. My project is very short - just 1.24, and two files are that full length, while the other two files are 0.16 in length. Is there any way of rendering or consolidating the tracks so that the short tracks will not end up at 1.24 without having to do a Custom Time Selection to set the Start, End and Length for the 0.16 secs? In other words, is there any automated command that will export or render the tracks to their actual lengths and not include a longer period of silence? Thanks.
Wow, thank you for sharing this knowledge! Ps. Btw for the moment I thought that my work is... Done wrong by adding FX straight to the track, instead sending it; but actually all FX on tracks might be turned off before sending. Therefore my question is: Is there any other difference apart from saving/wasting time between sending stems and tracks? Or I misumderstood or overlooked something about the difference between stems (as collection of raw tracks) and tracks with turned off FX? Regards Mark, Poland
good info. I am sure this has been covered but say I have a sound design project with numerous bits and pieces of sounds and I want to export them all as separate items? I haven't gotten around to using regions either but perhaps that would be more ideal?
Hey, but when you're crating stems on a per track basis you're basically leaving out stuff like sidechain compression etc., right? So when you do use sidechain you should create folders based on the sidechain setup, and create stems for these folders, not single tracks, am I right?
Thanks for the info here Kenny. I am wanting to do something in between the two scenarios you outlined: I have a completed song, with all the track FXs done, and I have frozen all tracks to reduce CPU load. I want to export stems, and import them into a simplified new project for mixing. I figured I should have each track panned to centre, and all volumes at full strength for adjusts later in the Mixing project. Does this make sense to you?
HI Kenny, super cool tutorial but i have a question. Maybe I misunderstood some parts of the video but what if i want to render single stems of a DRUM GROUP and have them with the GROUP FX pasted on every track? To be more specific, i have a drum foldernamed SHELLS with compression on it, i need kick, snare, toms to be rendered one by one with the SHELL group fx pasted on every track. Maybe I lost something but does the "stems via master" option do this?
hey kenny please help me for some reason my reaper wont send signal to my plugins my ez drummer will play but all my guitar plugins wont get signal or my plugin meters either im not on mute my interface is good what gives this just happend when i set up tracks for a brand new project! please help thanks marty.
@REAPER Mania: Would you be ever so kind as to let me know or point me to your video that shows how to stop a sample in Kontakt from playing faster when you play higher on the keys and slows when you play on the lower keys. I like it balanced all across the keys to play at the same speed rate. I tried looking through your video and using the search but couldn't fine it. Would you happen to have info on that please?
@@georgenext3030 I had seen and done this task once before but I just could not for the life of me remember where I saw it and I did look around on web sites. Then I thought it came from Kenny's tutorials. Well anyway, thank you so kindly for helping me with this as I was reaching my limits trying to determine just how to alter it.
@@musicbycandlelightmbc3225 You're welcome, glad it helped!! I know, many times I'm looking for something that I've done a few times before, and while it is right there in front of my eyes, it is forgotten or some how invisible 😄
Very interesting... unfortunately I'm afraid that modern mixing makes this stem thing much more difficult because many plugins work with cross-track information (like Track Spacer or Izotope Neutron) so tracks are actually no longer totally segregated. Also, if more tracks send to the same receive bus and this has some kind of compression or dynamics processing the sum of single tracks is different compared to all together, so the summed stems likely won't sound exactly like in the full mix...things are getting trickier nowadays...
That is correct. I address this in a new video that will be released today about sidechaining STEMS. Still difficult and not ideal but it works if you're just using a simple compressor on the master track you can sidechain from the full mix. The sad thing is most people just send the STEMS improperly.
0:21 - 1:48 *Example project* - 2:43
3:44 *Multi-track files* - 4:13🧊 - 4:48💾 - 5:50▶
6:44 *Stems* - 8:11▶ - 9:04🎚 - 10:20📂
00:00 Intro
00:21 Purpose of this video
00:45 Difference: intended recipient
01:48 *Example project*
02:43 FX
03:44 *RAW MULTI-TRACK FILES*
04:13 Freeze MIDI tracks
04:48 Consolidate/Export tracks
05:50 Result: raw tracks
06:44 *STEMS*
08:11 Result: stem tracks
09:04 Recreating & adjusting the Mix
10:20 Folders (grouping tracks)
12:15 _Summary_
12:46 Outro
cheers mate
Thank you! I've learned the majority of what I know about Reaper from your channel. Also found the sample song via the lyrics and the mix with the instruments in this video are much better than what I found on Spotify. Kinda bummed it wasn't as cool as what you're working with here. 😄 Thanks again!
Man, I just want to give a big thanks for these tutorials you put together. This is my first experience with learning ANY DAW and your instruction has helped me tremendously. Your efforts are much appreciated!
Illuminating as always man! Thanks Kenny!
I thought I knew this! 🙃 Boy was I wrong. Thank you again Kenny for the excellent explanation with examples. Top Shelf. Love it.
As always Kenny your tutorials are how I learn. I always struggle with stems, and I now realize it is because I have only sent them off 3 times in 2 years to my mastering engineer. Need to either get more prolific with song writing and recording or do an end of day render. cheers Peter
Thank you Kenny. From a newb, you make things very understandable and clear. PS Love that NY accent :)
Clear succinct explanation with very practical examples. Just another day for Kenny...
Thank You soooooo much, Kenny Gioia !!!! 🙏🙏🙏
That clears that up. Great demo.
Thank you so much!
Cool Kenny, yeah, Kenny's in the house!! Thanks for your great videos man!
Thank you thank you thank you! This was on point
Fantastic as always.
Just learned something new. Really simple explanations. Thanks very much.
Great work Kenny..
Now I understand the difference between track and steam. And I know how to do it right.
If you're using level dependent FX on your master bus then they will react differently when you render solo'd tracks through them (un-summed).
For example, a bus compressor's level detector will not see the level of the whole mix that you've been listening to as you work when each track is sent through seperately.
How do you compensate for this?
Very carefully. I ignored this as it's probably worth a whole another video. For multi-tracks, it doesn't matter (as you're not printing any effects) but for STEMS you have two choices. If you know it's for a commercial, TV show or movie, try to avoid any dynamics processing on the master track. Put it on busses instead. I know, it's not the same. The other way is using a sidechain. Have the dynamics processor triggered from the entire mix while only printing one STEM at a time. The STEMs will sound weird but they will recreate your mix perfectly when blended back together.
Cheers Kenny.
Thank you again Kenny for this great tutorial! Just what I needed to know!
Thanks again!
Thanks, Kenny.
Fantastically informative, as always.
I have a couple of questions:
1. At 7.38, you say that using 'Selected tracks (stems)' will not include FX returns; so what is the difference between 'Selected tracks (stems)', and Raw / Multi-track files (which also do not include FX)?
2. I am having a problem in making individual stems OR raw tracks, and wondering if you can help. My project is very short - just 1.24, and two files are that full length, while the other two files are 0.16 in length. Is there any way of rendering or consolidating the tracks so that the short tracks will not end up at 1.24 without having to do a Custom Time Selection to set the Start, End and Length for the 0.16 secs? In other words, is there any automated command that will export or render the tracks to their actual lengths and not include a longer period of silence?
Thanks.
Wow, thank you for sharing this knowledge!
Ps. Btw for the moment I thought that my work is... Done wrong by adding FX straight to the track, instead sending it; but actually all FX on tracks might be turned off before sending. Therefore my question is:
Is there any other difference apart from saving/wasting time between sending stems and tracks? Or I misumderstood or overlooked something about the difference between stems (as collection of raw tracks) and tracks with turned off FX?
Regards
Mark, Poland
There's nothing wrong with putting FX on the track or on FX sends and returns. Both ways are fine for either workflow.
@@REAPERMania thx!
good info. I am sure this has been covered but say I have a sound design project with numerous bits and pieces of sounds and I want to export them all as separate items?
I haven't gotten around to using regions either but perhaps that would be more ideal?
Thanks for explaining that! Also... I like the song... where can I get it?
th-cam.com/video/srbrWCZaa1s/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the video!. Have you seen The Bus Driver by Monkeybars for Reaper yet? It is a really nice script
Checking now.
Hey, but when you're crating stems on a per track basis you're basically leaving out stuff like sidechain compression etc., right? So when you do use sidechain you should create folders based on the sidechain setup, and create stems for these folders, not single tracks, am I right?
Correct
Thanks for the info here Kenny. I am wanting to do something in between the two scenarios you outlined: I have a completed song, with all the track FXs done, and I have frozen all tracks to reduce CPU load. I want to export stems, and import them into a simplified new project for mixing. I figured I should have each track panned to centre, and all volumes at full strength for adjusts later in the Mixing project. Does this make sense to you?
You could just do what I did here for multi-track files but don't render them thru the master.
HI Kenny, super cool tutorial but i have a question. Maybe I misunderstood some parts of the video but what if i want to render single stems of a DRUM GROUP and have them with the GROUP FX pasted on every track? To be more specific, i have a drum foldernamed SHELLS with compression on it, i need kick, snare, toms to be rendered one by one with the SHELL group fx pasted on every track. Maybe I lost something but does the "stems via master" option do this?
What is the song you're demoing with here? It's pretty good!
th-cam.com/video/srbrWCZaa1s/w-d-xo.html
@@REAPERMania Thanks! Love it!
Hey Kenny can I ask what reverb you are using here? Reaverb with a long hall impulse?
It's just ReaVerbate set to room size of 95, and low pass at 5kHz
👍🏻👍🏻
Hi Kenny so which one should I use stem or multitrack ? When I purchase a beat it only comes in stem ?
hey kenny please help me for some reason my reaper wont send signal to my plugins my ez drummer will play but all my guitar plugins wont get signal or my plugin meters either im not on mute my interface is good what gives this just happend when i set up tracks for a brand new project! please help thanks marty.
@REAPER Mania: Would you be ever so kind as to let me know or point me to your video that shows how to stop a sample in Kontakt from playing faster when you play higher on the keys and slows when you play on the lower keys. I like it balanced all across the keys to play at the same speed rate. I tried looking through your video and using the search but couldn't fine it. Would you happen to have info on that please?
This is what you are looking for, (not Kenny's) th-cam.com/video/t08yyroD8rQ/w-d-xo.html
@@georgenext3030 I had seen and done this task once before but I just could not for the life of me remember where I saw it and I did look around on web sites. Then I thought it came from Kenny's tutorials. Well anyway, thank you so kindly for helping me with this as I was reaching my limits trying to determine just how to alter it.
@@musicbycandlelightmbc3225 You're welcome, glad it helped!! I know, many times I'm looking for something that I've done a few times before, and while it is right there in front of my eyes, it is forgotten or some how invisible 😄
Very interesting... unfortunately I'm afraid that modern mixing makes this stem thing much more difficult because many plugins work with cross-track information (like Track Spacer or Izotope Neutron) so tracks are actually no longer totally segregated. Also, if more tracks send to the same receive bus and this has some kind of compression or dynamics processing the sum of single tracks is different compared to all together, so the summed stems likely won't sound exactly like in the full mix...things are getting trickier nowadays...
I think part of what you are talking about is adressed by the “render track via master” render setting.
That is correct. I address this in a new video that will be released today about sidechaining STEMS. Still difficult and not ideal but it works if you're just using a simple compressor on the master track you can sidechain from the full mix. The sad thing is most people just send the STEMS improperly.
What is the song name?
th-cam.com/video/srbrWCZaa1s/w-d-xo.html
hello! At 4:29 , for me unable to transform midi in audio track. Can you tell me why ? Thank a lot.
You need a vst on that midi track?
@@elmolewis9123 i have only hardware synth.
OK how about rendering tracks with outboard gear instead of plugins
I would think that you would have to record/print the outboard gear to do that first maybe.
STEMS or Multi-Track Files?
@@REAPERMania How about both
@@brentharmonmusicproduction You wouldn't need to print Multi-Track Files through outboard because you wouldn't want to print FX.