https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G728zwjJyDU
In the unlikely event that you’ve missed out on the hullaballoo surrounding the oft-talked about forthcoming Stems file format being spearheaded by Native Instruments, they’ve pushed a short but very effective demo of Stems files in action.
We exclusively hosted an official NI demo a few weeks back, but this video tells me that the official release must be imminent. I certainly hope so because I’m in dire need of a dabble with Stems.
So if you had any doubt about Stems before, this video should give you a little more clarity as to the application and fun that can be had.
OK, this is pretty damn cool. Is this tech exclusive to NI or will it come to Serato as well? From what I gather, this is a bit like production for DJs? Hopefully there is a way to use this tech with decks as I fall into the old school category.
It’s an open source format being spearheaded by NI. But it’s open to anyone, but will depend on other software companies supporting it themselves.
Stems will work with DVS if you are a TSP user ;)
Much like with the Remix decks, you can cut and scratch your stems. Either by turntable or jogwheel; DVS or HID.
I can’t wait for a video by either Shiftee or Craze tearing up a few stem files
You know that! I’m not a fan of his music, but Shiftee’s skills are insane!
Wholy macaroni! DJ’ing and live producing will not be the same anymore! The audio technology is here to allow “3D recording”, that is each instrument and vocal can be recorded individually where the sum of all is a track. Mark, you recall an audio software that offers artists the ability to “correct” their musical note after recording. I can’t recall the official name but you did an article on it. You thought it was a game changer recording technology. Now imagine each instrument and vocal is recorded individually and brought into this software to “manipulate”. Think of Comelot Key chart. The possibility is endless!!! Stem format is quite brilliant actually, converting score sheets into musical waveforms!!! Damn. I am sold! The only downside I could think of is the file size but wasn’t that the sentiment for “HD” vids back then?
maybe that was sarcasm but just in case, the technology you seek already exists. it is called a DAW. stems will not turn midi into multichannel audio
Looking better and better.. Really tempted to get a couple of D2s now.. My setup is starting to be.. a wonderland of limitless possibilities.
I assume there will be just a few producer releasing stemptracks in the next years
Even downplaying much of the marketing gumph from NI, it still looks like there’ll be quite a big adoption from the off. There was mention, on the live D2 event, of a Truncate album in this format (giggetty!), Toolroom Records getting on board.
I can see this taking off in underground house and techno before a mass uptake elsewhere though. This just seems purpose built to how a lot of DJs are playing those particular kinds of sounds. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what I can do with techno once these eventually drop!
They slipped in an update to the supposed release date too if anyone missed that. It’s gone from an infuriatingly vague “summer” to a slightly less annoying “August”.
If the Maschine 2.2 update was anything to go by (the “November” release date was the 25th), that basically means plan to have Stems for September’s gigs.
The success of Stems will pretty much entire depend on labels and artists putting Stems files out there, and even more so if they look at the back catalogues to knock out some vintage Stems too. If I could get my hands on 82-92 dance, Hip Hop, and assorted genres of House Stems, I’d be in heaven.
My feeling is that some will embrace Stems fully from day one, and the underground will drive forward popularity. If these early creators and adopters can put out some really cool sets, then that may grab the attention of bigger labels and artists, who in turn may be persuaded to make some Stems too, especially as that 99p download could become £4.99. Aside from creative options, it can turn old catalogue into a new money earner.
This in turn will see changes in DJ technology, as companies realise that an all-new way of DJing more akin to production is real. Not for everyone you understand, because for most DJing is still A to B and back again.
But the above scenario won’t happen unless Stems are available. Fingers crossed it pans out, because I for one (and I speak for the team here) am very excited about the possibilities.
Hey Mark, since Stem Sets will be open source can’t we just repackage dj tool stems that we have gotten our hands on in the past? Artists like Extrawelt have been putting out single track releases for a while with all the track stems included in the album.
I believe so. From the screenshots I’ve seen, it seems to be a simple matter of pointing the four tracks and master to files on your drive to make a complete Stems package.
I figured as much, but this means that we really don’t have to wait for content… it’s already out there, it just needs to be repackaged.
With the added bonus of adding compression and limiting to that content to give it that complete, unified sound.
I would be into buying broken-down tracks but I don’t see this as a huge “game changer.” The motivated can, and already have, done this. You can dig out the original samples, loop them up and put them in whatever player you choose (DVS, MPC, looper pedal). Plus with all the single/club/inst versions of tracks on the 12″ singles you can often pull isolated loops off the records even without tracking down the original samples. It will be more convenient to have all of this handed to you but beware lazyness.
I’m a little more interested in the interface than the idea of the broken down tacks. The ease of working with the “stems” would seem to make a big difference.
As far as this being like “production”, I don’t know. Much of production is digging and creating your own sounds. Since you’re using other producer’s sound (their filters, their EQs, their chops, etc.) it’s still more like DJing as far as I’m concerned.
Ignore my previous comment, NI have given a firm release date! Aug 3rd!
Back in the day (2004), I ditched the decks so I could use Ableton Live and a MIDI controller to play out separate layers of tracks that I used to produce with extra loops on top. It’s 2015 and I’ve long since ditched Ableton so that I can sit and produce tracks in a dedicated DAW and DJ out with using Traktor Scratch. I’ve personally been dreaming of a format like Stems so I can have the option to spin tracks like a DJ and have the option to drop audio like a producer. I’m looking forward to Stems (providing Traktor updates and iTunes compatibility doesn’t cripple my Mac).
I always think that Ableton couldhave capitalised more the army of proucer/performers out there who use Live and for whom the Multitrack/Stems/Groups concept is second mature. If they developed their own system or even bought out someone they could win the DVS/Stems game. The idea of going out and buying a bunch of construction kits from any of the usual suspects (Vengeance, loopmasters etc) to produce on the fly is not new and has been used by a lot of folks to rock a lot of rooms. Acess to these individual tracks also allows you to get into the heads of the sound designers and producers and really get a feel for how it’s done with a view to incorporating your lines into your set. NIs real advantage is that there are some very solid and attractive “turnkey solutions” to just go and buy rather than pulling together a custom controller rig like a lot of early Ableton DJs.
Wonder if this is gonna be incorporated into Serato and Ableton’s Bridge 2……
That’s up to Serato and Ableton once the code is released.
really? woulda never guessed as much
But are they going to make stems for music that I care to listen to?..
Time will tell on that.
More importantly will artist from other genre’s beside edm and dnb sign on? I would love to see this infiltrate the hiphop scene.
Based on what the guys from NI were saying, there’ll be some kind of simplified conversion of stem to remix deck function in future Traktor. As a techno DJ, I wouldn’t mind putting the odd hip-hop track through that and looping verses over techno. Yeah, I could do it now with extracted vocals, but working with clean accas would be much preferred.
I’m really hoping they do something more complicated than the stuff I’ve seen/heard at this point. I know it’ll never hit my scene, but that’s not NI’s fault.
I can’t find the link, but just yesterday i was watching one of Hawtins CtrlEDU lectures where at one point he is going on about how guys used to cut out paper discs to cover their record labels and cut out train spotters and then later on he is hyping stems… There seems to be a lot of potential for artists to horde unreleased stem tracks in a similar fashion, which will be interesting for the music but bad for the platform…
I mean, I guess? You could just rename the id3 tags and put a privacy screen on your laptop if you’re that concerned.
And exclusives are far from a bad thing. I think of it like a reward for diligently looking for music. The real strength of stems is that we can make our own.
right, but what I am getting at is that if artists/labels are too shy about releasing the format, less people are apt to use it, less incentive for NI to maintain the spec/software
Oh of course. But that’s the risk they are taking, and why I give them credit for it. They have to work really hard for there to be artist buy-in AND DJ buy-in for the competition to embrace it and make it kind of run itself. And that’s a hard challenge.
What I don’t understand is, if stems is the intended use of the s8 and d8, then why didn’t the make something with a larger screen, centered, so you could actually see the waveforms. It just seems like a lot of new info to keep up with, and a really poor interface for doing so. It would be much better to have the controls surrounding a larger screen, so you could see what’s happening without having to lean over it and squint down. I think if the s8 had been done with a big screen in the middle(not top) this would have worked way better.
But you can see the waveforms on the D2 and the S8. I mean, I can. And it’s not that much information, really. It’s just four stacked waveforms, and you don’t need to see all of the detail to control it. The advantage of having them on the deck, instead of the center of the S8, is the controls are right underneath it. If the screen was in the center of the S8 you would have the controls on the far left and right of the device and it would make it very difficult to keep the concepts tied together. Having the faders directly below the screen is much easier.
Though, there is something to be said for making the screen a little bigger and giving a vertical option for the waveforms, directly in line with the knob and fader.
Suddenly I find myself pricing two D2’s and a z1 for delivery to Bosnia… :D
Why not buy a S8 for the same price that is way more capable?
Mark, will NI be showcasing Stems on your stand at BPM?
I haven’t seen the schedule yet, but I’d expect that’s a given.
Don’t know if everyone’s missed it, but Stems are out right now!
Looks like a lot of fun, but using a 4 channel controller and already existing stems and remix packs can do literally the same thing. They make it look fun with the Z2 and two D2’s, but is it actually doing anything different than what we can already do with the smallest bit of ingenuity? Am I missing something here?
“using a 4 channel controller and already existing stems and remix packs can do literally the same thing. ”
That’s literally what the video is though :/
No, using the existing stems, you cannot export dynamic compression. You can only export the audio as it. Therefore, when you play the 4 stems together, they sound vastly different from the mastered track. Check out the live-streamed video where they explain the compression.
Will take a closer look thanks :)
You’re missing the point entirely. This is far from a new concept, it’s like the original iPod. Take an idea and make it work better than before. As much as I dislike apple for many things, I have to give credit where it’s due. This is much the same. They’ve taken what people have been doing in DAWs for ages, refined it and improved it.
The fact that they’ve taken into account master compression and sidechains shows that they’ve really put some thought into this and I think it’s worth everyone checking out, even if they don’t see it working for their own DJing.
Why such fuss. This should have existed at least for 10 years, it seem so natural, why so late :)
Download Free Stem : David Guetta Ft. Sia Titanium.Stem ( DJ Yahil)
Download: https://goo.gl/1wNVs5
Youtube: https://youtu.be/88Kq4yDzY_o