How to send your stems so nothing gets lost
Almost every delayed mix starts with a bad export. Ten minutes of care here saves a week of back and forth.
Export every track from the same start point
Consolidate each track from bar one of the session, even the ones that do not come in until the bridge. If every file starts at the same place, they drop into a new session already lined up. If they start where the audio starts, someone has to rebuild your arrangement by ear.
This one habit is the difference between a mix that begins in five minutes and a mix that begins in two hours. It is also the most common thing people get wrong on their first send.
Sample rate, bit depth, and the master bus
Export WAV at the session sample rate, at 24 bit, with no conversion. Do not bounce to MP3 at any stage. Do not resample to something you read was better, because converting twice is worse than leaving it alone.
Turn off everything on the master bus. Limiters especially. If a plugin on an individual track is part of the sound, print it. If you are not sure, send that track twice, one wet and one dry, and say so.
Naming and delivery
Name files so a stranger knows what they are. Lead Vox, Dbl L, Dbl R, Adlib 1, 808, Kick, Snare, Hats, Bass, Keys. Avoid Audio 14 and Track 03 Copy. Zip the folder and name it with the song title.
Send through any large file service you already use. Also send the reference track you want it to sit next to, the tempo, and the key if you know it. That reference tells more in thirty seconds than a paragraph of description.
Questions about send your stems
What if I recorded in a different sample rate than the beat?
Send both at their native rates and say what happened. Fixing it once at the start is clean. Fixing it after the mix is not.
Should I tune the vocals before sending?
No, send them raw. Tuning is included and it works better before compression and effects are printed.
Can I send a Logic or FL Studio project instead?
Stems are safer. Projects depend on plugins that may not exist on this end, and a missing plugin changes the sound without warning.
How big should the folder be?
A three minute song with a normal track count usually lands between 500 MB and 2 GB. Much smaller than that usually means something got bounced to MP3.
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