Stems Part 1: Knowledge is Power

(7 min read)

Stop us if this has happened to you, virtual crate-diggers: you’ve just come across the perfect piece of production music with the exact sound and feel you’re looking for, only to realize there’s just one tiny thing you wish you could change. Maybe the cue is just a bit too short for a scene, maybe it has a vocal part when you need an instrumental track, or perhaps you hear a phrase that would make a perfect “stinger” sound—if only you could isolate it.

While you could simply move on and choose the next best track, what if we told you that you don’t have to settle?

What if we told you there are hidden resources and clever hacks you can use to make almost any track fit your musical vision to a T?

That’s right: today, we’re kicking off the conversation about stems, the incredibly useful (but often underutilized) tool that can unlock the hidden potential of library music, going far beyond the constraints of traditional “stock music.”

Need to remove a vocal? No problem. Want to use just the string section? Can do. Got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell? You got it.

All About Stems

We’ll answer the burning question first: what exactly is a stem?

Essentially, stems are just sub-mixes within a larger audio mix. In fact, many of our readers may already be familiar with stems in the context of film and television production, where it’s standard practice to deliver separate audio files of the music, dialogue, and sound effects mixes. Retaining control of these primary soundtrack elements allows producers to easily insert localized dialogue, substitute different music cues, or make other small edits without changing the rest of the mix.

And guess what? The same is true in the music world: mixing engineers often create submixes of similar elements, such as drums and percussion or main and backup vocals, within their master mix. These submixes can then be rendered individually as stems, which—just like in film and TV—are useful for making basic tweaks without going all the way back to the mixing stage.

Still with us? Good, because the real magic happens when stems and library music come together. With just a few exceptions, stems are available for the vast majority of License Lab tracks, which allows you to customize our production music to fit in your story.

Need to remove a vocal? No problem.

Want to use just the string section? Can do.

Got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell? You got it.

Stems allow the music to make a strong statement without getting in the way of the message or advertisement.

Limitless Possibilities

Now that you’re familiar with the concept of stems, let’s take a closer look at some of the ways they can be used in different types of media.

In film and TV production, stems provide music editors with myriad ways to fine-tune production music to match the action and emotion on-screen. Here are some creative ways to use stems in your next production :

Increase tension throughout a sequence by taking a high-energy track and layering instruments one by one to build up the mix
Enhance a dramatic moment by dropping out certain elements of the music like percussion or a lead instrument
Create a haunting credits sequence by extracting just the lead instrument or vocal from a cue used earlier in the film

In radio and TV commercials, stems allow the music to make a strong statement without getting in the way of the message or advertisement. Try taking some of these ideas to the next board meeting and you just might have a hit :

Get the viewer’s attention by starting with the full song, then drop the vocals out to make room for a voice-over
Keep the focus on the ad by lowering the volume of a distracting solo or lead instrument
Seamlessly loop a rhythm section groove over a longer commercial spot, then cut to the end of the song for a perfectly-timed outro

For Youtube videos and podcasts, good background music can be a content creator’s best friend. You’ll need every edge you can get to stand out and build an audience, so instead of settling for “free music for YouTube” or “free music for videos,” try some of these ideas :

Use an energetic track as your intro or theme song, then strip it down to the drums & bass to talk over
Create a non-distracting music bed for podcast ads and sponsors by removing the vocal stem or lead instrument
Create unique “stingers” to signal segments of your podcast or YouTube video by extracting isolated hits, licks, or phrases from the stems of your theme song

For video game developers, stems are the ultimate cheat code. By combining music stems dynamically in the background, you can create a fluid soundtrack that responds to gameplay in real time—while saving precious computer resources. Use these hacks to get the most out of your video game music :

Create a seamless loop of ever-changing background music by randomly combining different instruments on each repetition
Make combat more exciting by bringing in a frantic percussion track when the player encounters enemies
Provide auditory feedback for the player by introducing certain instruments when power-ups or other game states are triggered

Now that your imagination is brimming with possibilities, check out our curated labels of production music through our network of global distributors to find the sound of your next story (and the stems to go with it).

In Part 2, we hear from colleagues who use stems as a part of their creative process in order to wow clients and save time while doing it.

Continue to Part 2