How to Prepare Your Stems for Mixing

Getting your stems right before sending to a mix engineer is one of the most important things you can do for your record. A well-prepared session saves time, eliminates unnecessary back-and-forth, and lets your mix engineer focus on what they do best - making it sound great.

Here's exactly what we need, and what to avoid.

What Are Stems?

Stems are individual rendered audio files - one per track or group - exported from your DAW and sent to the mix engineer. Unlike a project file (which is DAW-specific and tied to your plugins), stems are universal. They can be opened in any DAW, on any system, anywhere in the world. That's the whole point.

Format: WAV or AIFF Only

Export as WAV or AIFF. Not MP3, not AAC, not anything with lossy compression. MP3 introduces artefacts that are baked permanently into the audio - even at high bitrates. Once it's gone, it's gone.

Your export settings should match your session exactly:

• Bit depth: 24-bit (32-bit float is also fine - never 16-bit for a mix session)
• Sample rate: use whatever your session is set to - 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 96kHz. Do not convert.
• File type: WAV (BWF/Broadcast WAV is also fine)

If your session is at 48kHz, export at 48kHz. Converting sample rates introduces subtle artefacts and is a step the mix engineer doesn't need to undo.

Consolidate From Bar One

Every single stem must start at exactly the same point in the timeline - bar one, beat one. This ensures that when the mix engineer imports everything into their session, it all lines up perfectly without manual alignment.

Even if a part doesn't come in until bar 64 - say, a string section or a vocal harmony - export it from bar one anyway, with silence at the start. The silence costs nothing and saves significant setup time at the other end.

If stems don't share a common start point, the mix engineer has to manually align every track. That's wasted time you're paying for.

Remove Everything From Your Mix Bus

This is critical. Before exporting, remove all plugins from your master mix bus - EQ, compression, saturation, limiting, everything. The mix engineer needs to receive your tracks with no prior processing applied to the overall mix.

If you've been referencing against a loudness target with a limiter on the master, remove it before you export. Your rough mix will sound quieter than you're used to - that's completely normal and expected. The mix engineer's job is to build that back up properly.

Wet vs. Dry - Know the Difference

One of the most common points of confusion. When we say "send dry stems", we mean:

• Vocals: send the dry recorded vocal - no reverb, no delay, no pitch correction printed into the file
• Guitars: send the clean amp recording or DI, without reverb or room sound printed in
• Synths: if you used internal reverb as part of a patch, that's usually fine - it's part of the sound design

The rule of thumb: processing that shapes the character of the instrument (gentle compression, subtle EQ, light saturation for warmth) can stay. Time-based effects - reverb, delay, chorus, flanger - should be removed. Those are the mix engineer's tools.

If you're unsure about a specific treatment, just mention it when you send the files. We can always work around it.

Include Your Rough Mix as a Reference

Export a stereo rough mix and include it with your stems. This tells us what your creative intent is - the vibe, the balance, the energy you were going for. We won't copy it, but it's invaluable context. It answers questions like "why is the bass so prominent?" or "is that vocal meant to sit back in the mix or be upfront?"

Without a rough mix reference, we're guessing at your intent. With one, we can hit the mark faster.

Label Your Stems Clearly

Label every file descriptively. This sounds obvious but is one of the most consistently neglected parts of stem delivery.

Good labelling:

• Kick In.wav
• Kick Out.wav
• Snare Top.wav
• Snare Bottom.wav
• OH L.wav
• OH R.wav
• Lead Vocal.wav
• BV Verse Stack.wav

Avoid:

• Audio 01.wav
• track3 final2 FINAL.wav
• new export(1).wav

For larger track counts, organise files into subfolders by section: Drums/, Bass/, Guitars/, Keys/, Vocals/, FX/. A ZIP of a well-labelled folder structure is a pleasure to work with. A ZIP of 80 files all called "Audio" is not.

Note the BPM, Key, and Any Quirks

Include a simple text file or just put it in your email:

• Project BPM (and any tempo changes if applicable)
• Song key
• Anything unusual - e.g. "the bass drops to a half-time feel at bar 32", or "the string section was recorded at a different sample rate and I've converted it"

Quick Checklist

• ✓ WAV or AIFF, 24-bit, at your session's sample rate
• ✓ All stems consolidated from bar one
• ✓ No plugins on the master mix bus
• ✓ Time-based effects removed (reverb, delay)
• ✓ Files clearly labelled and organised in folders
• ✓ Rough mix included as a reference
• ✓ BPM, key, and any notes included
• ✓ Everything zipped and ready to upload

Ready to Send?

Once your stems are prepared, you can upload them directly when filling out the quote form - we accept up to 100MB per file, and ZIP files are ideal for larger sessions. If you have questions before booking, reach out via the contact page and we'll help you get set up.

What We Send Every New Client

Before a new mixing project starts, JNP sends every client a stem prep document that covers everything above. It's not because we assume clients don't know what they're doing - it's because it takes the guesswork out of the handoff and means we spend session time on the mix, not on troubleshooting exports.

If you're thinking about working with us on a mix, you'll get that document as part of the onboarding. And if you have a session that doesn't perfectly fit the spec - older recordings, unusual formats, a session that was tracked differently - just get in touch and we'll work through it.