On release day the only file anyone asks for is the master. A year later someone wants the instrumental for a TV scene, a DJ asks for the vocal to remix, and your band needs backing tracks for a festival set. If all you kept was the final WAV, and the session no longer opens because a plugin is gone, you have nothing to send.
What to export the day a song is finished
Do this while the session is still open and everything still loads. It takes half an hour and saves you weeks later.
- The final master, as a full-quality WAV.
- An instrumental: the full mix without lead vocals.
- An a cappella: lead and backing vocals only, with their effects.
- A clean version, if the original has explicit lyrics.
- Stems: the mix split into groups such as drums, bass, music, lead vocals, backing vocals and effects.
- Optionally a TV mix: the instrumental with the backing vocals kept in.
Why these files come back
Sync
TV, film, adverts and games almost always want an instrumental, and often stems so the editor can pull elements down under dialogue. If you cannot deliver quickly, the music supervisor moves on to the next song on the list.
Remixes and collaborations
A remixer needs at least the a cappella, ideally the stems. So does a producer who wants to build a new version of the song for another market.
Live shows
Backing tracks for live sets are built from stems. You mute what the band plays on stage and keep the rest.
New versions
Acoustic, slowed or sped-up edits, a radio edit, a remaster for an anniversary. Each one is far easier to make from stems than from a stereo master.
How to export stems that actually work
Stems are only useful if anyone can drop them into any software and they line up.
- Start every stem at the same point, usually the very beginning of the session, even if the part comes in later.
- Make them all the same length, running to the end of the song.
- Export WAV files at the same sample rate and bit depth as your session.
- Print the effects that are part of the sound, like a vocal reverb or a filtered synth.
- Bypass the master bus processing, or state clearly that it is on, so the stems added together sound like the mix before mastering.
- Name each file with the song, the stem and the tempo, for example "Yay gecesi - Drums - 92bpm".
Add a small text file with the tempo, key, any time signature changes and who played what. It feels like overkill until the day a remixer asks.
A folder you will understand in five years
Keep one folder per song with the same structure every time. For a made-up song called "Yay gecəsi" by Lalə Nova it could look like this:
- 01 Session: the project file and all its audio, collected in one place.
- 02 Bounces: rough mixes and reference tracks.
- 03 Mix and master: final mix, master, instrumental, a cappella, clean version.
- 04 Stems: the exported stems plus the text file with tempo and key.
- 05 Release: artwork, lyrics, credits and the split sheet.
Before archiving, use your software's collect-and-save function so the session is not pointing to samples scattered across your drive. Bounce to audio any track that depends on a paid plugin or virtual instrument. Plugins get discontinued, licences expire and computers die. Audio files keep working.
Finally, mark the exact file that went to distribution. Names like "final", "final2" and "final real" are funny until you need to know which one is on Spotify. Add the word "released" and the date to the file you actually uploaded, and never overwrite it. When you send stems to someone, put them all in one archive so nothing goes missing on the way.
Backups: one copy is no copy
A common rule of thumb is three copies, on two different kinds of storage, with one kept somewhere else. In practice that could be your working drive, an external disk at home and a cloud folder. Drives fail without warning, laptops get stolen and phones end up in the sea.
Test your backups now and then by actually opening a file from them. A backup you have never checked is a hope, not a backup.
Quick checklist when a song is done
- Master, instrumental, a cappella and clean version exported.
- Stems exported from the same start point, at the same length, clearly named.
- Text file with tempo, key and credits saved in the folder.
- Session collected, and plugin tracks bounced to audio.
- The whole folder copied to at least two other places.