Talk:List of musical works released in a stem format

Move any Mountain
I'm not sure if it would fit in this article - the samples weren't released to the public domain - but certain releases of The Shamen's Move Any Mountain / Pro-gen contained all of the individual samples, beats, and vocals as bonus tracks at the end of the CD. They weren't technically stems (the samples were one-shots rather than sequenced tracks) but it's the earliest example of this kind of thing I can think of. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 10:21, 29 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Sorry, just noticed this! That's interesting. I can't really think there would be any other way to distribute stems before the Internet. I guess the only defining criterion is "Can you recreate the whole song using only those tracks?" Thanks for contributing! :) -Evil Eccentric (talk) 19:52, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Death Grips
A huge portion of the Death Grips library has been released in stem form. Exmilitary is already listed, but No Love Deep Web, Government Plates, and Bottomless Pit all have stems released officially. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.115.107.8 (talk) 21:55, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Linkin Park Catalyst Link -> Virus!!!
Sophos AV blocks the linked website: Ort: www.dsnextgen.com Der Zugriff wurde aufgrund der Erkennung des Threats Mal/HTMLGen-A auf der Website verweigert. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.246.2.50 (talk) 00:59, 10 August 2011 (UTC)

WTF is a stem?
I'm on this page because I'm trying to work out if a "stem" is a synonym for multitrack or a specific garageband/rockband format. I *know* multitrack backwards (been there done that on analogue tape) but I'm so un-bleeping-hip I don't know what you kids are talking about.

Help me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.171.13.238 (talk) 12:38, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

Haha, yeah, a stem is a generic term for a multitrack. I'm not entirely sure of the entomology of "stem" vs. multitrack, but they mean the same thing. For instance, "The Hand That Feeds" may come with like 10 different WAV, AIFF or other formats that each represent a different instrument. Put together, they recreate the entire track. --Evil Eccentric (talk) 23:06, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

"Stem" usually relates to a master multitrack that's been mixed down into chunks of some kind. Instead of having 4-6 tracks of the individual takes and overdubs and such, it'll have all that baked into a single piece for whatever purpose they were used for. Multitracks are usually considered to not be altered in that way... at least as far as I know. It's worth the distinction. --96.246.238.35 (talk) 09:33, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

An audio stem is simply a wav. File. The reason the term “stem” is used instead of “track” is a “track” is a singular wav. File and a stem is a collective/group of wav. Files mixed down (into each other)...

An example... I would create a drum stem which is simply mixing all the drum tracks down into one wav. Track instead of sending 16 separate wav. Tracks out to final mix down.

Now that you know what a stem is... You might find you like to create stems one way while another swears by a different method. Some create stems with more tracks and mix down at a faster pace while others create smaller stems (track groupings) and are more meticulous about piecing together (mixing down) the stems. The final mix down will eventually be one or two tracks for mastering... Some like to begin the mastering process with the instrumental and vocals as separate stems; this happens a lot in hip-hop due to rap artists providing pre-mixed and mastered instrumentals/beats to the engineer who now must blend the vocals into the already mixed down instrumental stem which adds a different dynamic to the whole mastering process. Some are so used to doing it this way, they naturally handle all mixing and mastering the same way and always mix down the instrumental and vocals into separate tracks and do not merge the two until the transition of final mix down and initial master track.

Each DAW has its own style of workflow so I suggest reading and learning the best way of creating stems and mixing down in the particular DAW you are using. Nexogen (talk) 12:38, 12 March 2020 (UTC)

Indaba Music
Here's a bunch with recognizable artists; Metric, OK Go, Sleigh Bells, etc. Most are from concluded contests. (Link) --96.246.238.35 (talk) 09:33, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton has released numerous songs in stem format under a Creative Commons license --134.193.112.29 (talk) 05:09, 27 August 2013 (UTC)


 * cool man. Someoneinmyheadbutit&#39;snotme (talk) 02:04, 28 August 2013 (UTC)

Remix competitions
There are sites like http://www.remixcomps.com/ that lists a lot of tracks available as stems, but how open they are differ. Some are free for all, but other are "we own all right even to your remix" so we need a better definition of "released legally in a stem format for public use". // Liftarn (talk)

Moby's Innocents
The entire album of "Innocents" is available in multi-track form via bit-torrent