THE COMPLETE 10 POINT

MIX-STEM CHECKLIST
FOR
PRODUCERS AND ENGINEERS
GETTING YOUR RECORDINGS AND
PRODUCTIONS READY FOR MIXING
THE ULTIMATE 10 POINT MIX-STEM
CHECKLIST

1. Naming Channels

What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet…
But for your humble mix engineer, it’s a very different story. Good, clear and consistent file
naming conventions can offer far more information than you may think and save you time sifting
through files that could be better spent shaping your sound. This is a crucial step in effective file
and session management.

Here is a naming convention I typically employ:

[Source]_[Additional Note](microphone, patchname if applicable, dry/wet)_[ddmmyy]

For example:
Snare_Bottom(SM57)_210316
Lead Synth_Topline(Serum star-shooter)_210316
Bass Guitar_Verses(DI)_210316
Drum Overheads_Left XY Pair(Neumann KM184)_210316
Kick Sub_Key-A(55Hz)_210316
Vocals Male_Harmony(SM7A-Wet)_210316

Naming convention breakdown: |

[Source] - Everyone of us can't deny working on a project and being frustrated where there is
a clip or set of clips labelled "Untitled." let's not put anyone through the agonising task of organis-
ing sets of; untitled_013.wav, new_track_022.wav, newProject_012.wav

The source name instantly tells the engineer what the content of the audio file contains, allowing
them to import and drag the audio clips onto the respective channels and groups within their mix.

[Additional Notes] - Knowledge is power, the power to do good or evil.

The time position of when an audio clip plays in a mix, relative to the beginning of the track
(0m0s). This is best written as, 0h0m0s (Hour minutes seconds)

Position of microphones relative to the source of your sound. If stereo, specify the type of
microphone configuration - XY, ORTF, MS, etc

How the material was created/recorded or the key/relative key of a particular sample

The intent of the given source whether it's a topline, background pads, etc.

This information is a great assistance to any engineer providing an important context to with the
material and allowing them to make informed decisions when mixing.

[Date] - n the day and age of readily available technology, we're not bound by what is set in
stone at the recording studio. It isn't uncommon for a guitarist to record new solo takes whilst on
the road, vocalists to record harmonies or a producer to complete chop, change and reproduce
parts of your stems on the fly during mixing. Having your stems dated allows you to identify
which of the stems is the most recent. This is best written as, ddmmyy (Day Month Year).
THE ULTIMATE 10 POINT MIX-STEM
CHECKLIST

2. Edits/ Fades

It can be hard at the best of times but poor edits, and fades are the difference between a
master-stroke mix and something that is "almost there". We should always practice due
diligence in ensuring our edits are always faded at either end or crossfaded between clips. It
pays to double check all our vocal comps, drum edits and clip editing and ensure no clips go
unfaded at the beginning and end as this can cause difficult to identify clips and pops in a mix of
consolidated stems.

3. Artefacts

Don't leave yourself or mixing engineer to mix a record with their hands tied behind their backs,
I encourage you to solo each channel, listen all the way through and ensure no artefacts are
plaguing your stems before you print. While you mightn't hear them when all your elements are
playing together in a production session, when present, artefacts can limit the result of your mix
and flexibility when processing a source.

4. Levels

In these hard economic times, you’ve gotta know how many duckets are in the bank. Gain is the
same, don't over or under-invest, spend wisely. We typically recommend a peak level of approxi-
mately -16dBFS. If you don't invest enough, a poor noise-to-signal ratio can be an issue later
down the track. If you invest too much, a 24 bit or 32 bit 8 bit float bank can only hold so much
and will segue itself into the next check-point.

5. Clipping

If you're redlining you ain't headlining. So to give your music the best opportunity it deserves
during mixing, ensure the output of every channel and their respective plug-ins are not clipping!

6. Stripping Silence

Stripping silence pertains mostly live recorded material. Where there are breaks in performance
instead of having the noise of the microphone play through, remove the silence and clean up
your noise floor. Most mixing engineers will do this on import, but it's just good practice and cour-
tesy to clean up the material before exporting stems.

7. Tuning and Timing

Tuning and timing is a bit of a grey area between production and mixing, usually negotiated with
the mixing engineer. Typically it will be the responsibility of the production to take care of tuning
any vocals and or editing the timing of takes. Ensure that before exporting stems everybody
knows their role.
THE ULTIMATE 10 POINT MIX-STEM
CHECKLIST

8. Effects

This is something every client I have ever worked with has asked me - do I keep my effects on
or turn them off before bouncing stems? Here are my three key points on when and when not to
print effects:

Is it creative effect? Leave it on

Mixing isn't a process to undo all the efforts made in production. When you applied an effect
with artistic merit on a source during production, it is the mixing engineer's role to honour and
embrace that intent.

Is it technical? Print a reference with the effect/s on and a dry stem with the effect/s off.
During mixing the engineer will be making a lot of surgical and critical decision making. Typi-
cally having the dry stem will provide more "meat" to grab onto and work with during mixing.
However, having a reference there will also give some context as to what you may have been
trying to achieve in a rough mix of your own.

Unsure? Print a wet and a dry stem.

While mixing, the mix engineer can always try to match the effects of the wet stem on the dry
one, providing more flexibility down the track if anything needs to be changed.

9. Bit depth, sample rate

Export your track in the sample rate it was produced and recorded in. Doing so is critical as you
don't want to be down/upsampling unnecessarily when exporting the stems. As for bit depth
either 24bit or 32bit 8-bit float are completely ideal.

Most importantly, ensure the files are lossless .wav/aiff.

...
.
THE FINAL CHECKPOINT
.
...
 THE ULTIMATE 10 POINT MIX-STEM
CHECKLIST

10. Notes

Once you have exported the stems; compress them

into a .zip folder and upload them to a file sharing site
like Dropbox or wetransfer. It's imperative the stems
are .zip'ed as this will ensure if any data packets are
lost during the transfer up/down the corrupted stems
will not open at the receiving end.

Author, Nicholas Di Lorenzo is a Mastering

Engineer from Melbourne, Australia operating
out of the Panorama Mixing and Mastering
Studio facility.

Web: http://panoramamastering.com.au
Email: nicholas@panoramamastering.com.au
Mobile: +61 439 906 989