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TEMPLATES IN LOGIC PRO STEP 4: STEM

MIXING SETUP
by Luke Prosser | Dec 11, 2016 | Logic Pro, Mixing, Production, Workflow & Productivity | 0
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Continuing with the Templates series, the next stage in building our template project is Stems.
Im going to show you how to create your stem busses in advance, so that youre ready to hit the
ground running with stem mixing in future projects.

If you havent seen earlier posts in the series, you can head back to the start here.

Whats the point?

If youve never used stem mixing with busses before, you may be wondering what they are and
why you need them. You may have been coping just fine without them. I would argue, however,
that you may not know what youre missing.

Ill note a caveat here in that not all producers use stem mixing. Many will simply mix tracks
individually and take it no further, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

If you can produce great sounding mixes, it doesnt matter what your process is.

In this post, however, Im going to tell you why I use stem mixing, outline the many advantages
and show you how to get things set up in your template project.

What exactly is stem mixing?

Stem mixing is the process of combining individual audio tracks (including so#ware
instruments and audio tracks) into groups, and processing these separately before combining
them into the overall stereo (or master) mix.

Think of the individual tracks as branches on a tree, flowing into the main stems, then forming the
trunk i.e. the overall stereo mix/master.

Semantics
Stem mixes are o#en referred to as submixes, subgroups or busses. However, dont let these terms
confuse you, theyre all the same thing

The key di(erence to note is that stems are not the same as Auxiliary busses, as they serve a
di(erent purpose. Auxiliary busses are used when we want to add the same e(ect/processing to
multiple channels, but we want to have control over the amount of the e(ect applied to each
individual track.

With a stem bus, any processing applied to the bus will be applied in equal measure to all of the
tracks routed to that bus.
Where does stem mixing come from?
Stem mixing developed in the analog days of recording as a predominantly practical measure.

In a traditional analog studio, before the days of automation and, due to the number of tracks
involved in a mix, engineers would need to recruit as many people as possible to be part of the
mixing process. It was quite literally a case of all hands on deck!

This was because it was impossible for one mix engineer to have control over all of the faders and
e(ects sends on a mixing desk (there could be hundreds). So they would o#en call on assistants,
admin sta( and even the artists themselves to have command over their share of faders!

The introduction of stem mixing was therefore a very practical one. It meant that engineers could
balance an entire mix by simply controlling a small number of busses.

Processing separately
As an added bonus, routing channels to submixes also meant that mix engineers could apply
additional processing to the stems themselves. This technique is still used today in order to add
processing to groups of tracks at the same time.

For example, you could add the same compression to all of your drum parts for a more cohesive
sound, or add analog warmth (e.g. tape saturation) to synths that have been mixed digitally, i.e.
in the box.

Why use stem busses?

If youre worried that stem mixing sounds complicated or convoluted, dont be. One of the main
purposes of stem mixing is that it actually provides more control and makes the mixing process
more simple. This is why I feel its important to discuss, so that you can try it for yourself and
consider adding it to your workflow.

There are a number of advantages to stem mixing:

1) Easier organisation
You may have many individual tracks in your mix. No matter how well you organise these with
labelling, colour coding and ordering, it can become di(icult to remember whats what when it
comes to the mixing process. This is especially true if youre revisiting a project a#er some time,
or recalling a mix for a client.
2) Increased speed
Routing all of your individual tracks down to a handful of stems means that you have less faders
to control, and therefore less to think about. Obviously its essential to achieve a balanced mix
before hitting the stems, but once you get used to this workflow it can drastically speed up the
mixing process.

3) Greater control
Organising these individual tracks into stems provides a simple and e(ective way to control the
levels of groups of similar tracks. For example, its not unknown to have 16, 24, maybe even 32
microphones or more on a drum kit, depending on its size and the room its being recorded in.

32 channels is quite a few to deal with, particularly when you consider that there may also be
bass amps, bass DIs, bass room mics, and the same for guitars, keyboards, entire orchestras,
choirs you see where Im going with this!

If you have a single fader called Drums that contains a balanced mix of all of the individual
drum tracks, it becomes a lot easier to mix an entire session.

Some drum setups require a decent number of microphones!

Also, in terms of frequencies, this technique allows you to create more separation between
instrument groups. For example, its much simpler to solo drums and bass and analyse their
frequencies, and then adjust their relationship with EQ.
4) More cohesive sound
From a mixing and sound quality perspective, grouping separate tracks into busses allows you to
process them as a whole. This is handy for essential treatment, such as EQ and compression, but
also for subtle e(ects like saturation.

One of the additional benefits of processing stems as a whole, is that it can be used to create a
more musical, natural and cohesive sound for groups of similar tracks. As mentioned earlier,
drums benefit greatly from unified compression, EQ and e(ects such as tape-style saturation.

5) Simpler processing
This also makes group e(ects and automation much easier! Having the ability to treat groups of
individual instruments as a whole also has great benefits for processing and e(ects.

For example, rather than creating many auxiliary sends for multiple individual guitar tracks, you
could simply route the guitars to a guitar bus, and then send this bus to the reverb. This is much
easier to do, much easier to reference visually and therefore faster to work with.

As an added bonus, any automation is also a breeze, as you only need to work with one track. In
Logic (and any other DAW), you can automate plugin parameters placed on the stem bus.

What stems do you need?

I organise most of my projects in a similar way, so that I know exactly where I am from the start.
For this template, there are a number of stems that we could create based on the instruments
that we built in the previous lesson.

However, its always a balance between how much flexibility and control you wish to have during
mixing, and how simple you want your workflow to be.

As mentioned, one of the key advantages of stem mixing is that it allows easier control over a
handful of tracks, so creating many stems technically defies the point.

I recommend 5-8 stems, maybe 9-10 at a push. With the modern digital DAW, anything is
possible, and it really comes down to personal preference. However, I recommend not going
overboard.
Below is an example of how you might group your tracks into stem busses:

Drums
Percussion
Bass
Synths/Keys
Guitars
FX
Vocals

Straight away you can see that ahandful of stems will be much easier to think about than
potentially hundreds of individual faders.

What were aiming for: neatly organised stems in Logic

What are Track Stacks?

Not long ago, stems needed to be configured and organised manually in Logic. The main benefit
was grouped processing, so we used to put up with the not-so-great organisation. You could
create folders of tracks, but the method wasnt great. Fortunately, in Logic Pro X, Apple brought
in Track Stacks to solve this problem.

Originally, when building templates, I used to create all of my stems as busses within the mixer
and route to these for processing. However, since the introduction of Track Stacks, my approach
has changed slightly. The routing is very similar, but the workflow and organisation is much more
e(icient.

Visually (and functionally) I find it much easier to create Track Stack folders as Summing busses
within the Arrange window so that I can pack tracks into folders or stacks. Most of my projects
contain a lot of individual tracks, so the Arrange and Mixer can become pretty confusing unless
organised carefully.

This is especially critical when returning to a project at a later date. I may, for example, wish to
come back to a sketch or dra# that I quickly created a#er being struck with an idea, or a client
may ask for a mix project to be recalled.

For specific tips and advice about organising projects in Logic Pro for a more e*icient
workflow, you can check out a previous post where I go into detail on my process.

Track Stacks o(er a very clear view and a great way to organise tracks into stems, so its basically
killing two birds. Having the ability to show and hide groups of tracks at the click of a button is
also a real boon for workflow, as its quick and easy to stay organised and know where you are
within a project. It also helps to avoid distraction, which is always welcome!

For more information on Track Stacks you can visit Apples support page.

Creating a Track Stack

First of all, before I go into more detail, youll need to know how to set up and use a Track Stack.

In the previous part of this series, we prepared all of our instruments and audio tracks in
advance. The hard work is done, so now we simply need to route these tracks into a handful of
groups.

As with setting up e(ects sends in advance, there are certain things we know that well need and,
once again, wherever we can eliminate repetition, we should.

Its great to have all of our stems preconfigured, as we then have immediate control of the mix
balance when starting a new project. Its also brilliant from a workflow perspective. You can
easily solo/mute individual submixes for referencing, and check the balance between the main
elements of the mix very quickly.

Building a Drum Bus

Back in the template project, lets start by creating a drum stem bus.

1) Select the first drum track i.e. the Kick drum.

2) Hold shi# and select the last drum track (in my template project, this is the ride cymbal).

3) Right-click any of the selected tracks (being careful not to deselect them all).

4) An option list will appear simply select Create Track Stack.

 5) In the dialogue box, choose Summing Stack this is really important and Ill explain why
below.

Which Stack Track?

The di(erences between a Summing Stack and a Folder Stack can seem subtle, but theyre
important to understand:

Folder Stack
Think of folders an organisational tool. All of the individual subtracks within the folder will keep
their original routing, and there are no further mixing controls (you cant add any processing to
the stack master).

Summing Stack
A Summing Stack sums the signals of all of the individual subtracks into the stack master and
allows you to add overall processing. This type of stack has all of the organisation benefits of a
Folder Stack, and also o(ers all of the advantages of a traditional bus.

Additional busses
There is no merit in me explaining how to create a stem bus for every instrument group, as the
process is exactly the same. So, my only direction here is rinse and repeat. I will, however, o(er
some thoughts:

Do you need a separate Kick stem?

Before you ask, I skipped over the Kick bus on purpose. For most people, a simple drum bus will
do. There are a number of reasons for this and you have a couple of options when it comes to the
kick drum:

Option 1
The kick drum is one of the most important elements in most mixes. I like to create a direct out

for the kick to ensure that I have maximum control and that the sound is as clean as possible. You
can still include it in the drum bus if you like for organisational purposes, and change the kick
output back to Stereo Out so that it bypasses the stack master.
Option 2
Alternatively, if you have multiple kick tracks (for example, di(erent samples, filters, FX kicks etc.),
you can create a separate stem bus for kicks only. Ive used both methods depending on the
track and its totally up to you which you prefer.

Degrees of separation
As mentioned, how far you separate your instruments is totally up to you. Once again, its a
balance between what gives you a satisfactory level of control, and having so many busses to
manage that it essentially defies the whole point.

My advice when considering this is to ask yourself one simple question: Does it sound better? If
it sounds better with one approach, then that approach is the right way to do it. Thats really all
it boils down to. Im ok with a complex bus routing if it makes my tracks sound better.

For example, for many projects I prefer to have separate control over percussion tracks, so I
create an additional stem for percussion (e.g. shakers, cowbells etc.) that is separate from the
main drums and I can apply unique treatment.

You could combine drums and percussion together (particularly if you dont have a great deal
going on in the percussion anyway). You could also combine Leads with Synths, but, again, I
like to have separation between the two, mostly due to spatial di(erences (leads should be more
present in the mix most of the time). Its about whatever works for you and your music.

Give it a try
Why not have a go at stem mixing by creating your own stem busses as part of your project
template? Id love to hear what you think and if this technique helped you! Let me know in the
comments below.

Processing and e:ects

In the next post well look at setting up essential processing and e(ects to both individual tracks
and stems. Although this can seem strange at first as there isnt a lot of audio to process, there
are certain basic tools that we are likely to need in every project.

Again, theres no sense in repeating steps over and over again, so its better to set these up ahead
of the writing and mixing stages so that you can focus on the task at hand.

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How to finish tracks and free your
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