Glossary

What are stems?

Stems are the separate parts of a finished mix, kept as individual files — the voice on one, the drums on another, the bass on another. A stereo mix is those parts already blended together and no longer separable.

Stems are the parts of a mix kept as separate files — voice, music, SFX — so any one of them can be changed alone. A stereo mix is those parts already blended and no longer separable. — Stems keep the parts pullable apart. A mixdown does not.

They matter because they are what lets someone else keep working. Handing an engineer a finished mix means they can only adjust the whole thing; handing them stems means they can turn the music down without touching the voice.