What Are Stems in Background Music?

by
Editing video

When it comes to creating visual or audio content, background music plays a vital role in setting the right mood and enhancing the overall experience. However, finding the perfect piece of music that fits your project is usually challenging and time-consuming. Sometimes, though the music you found is good, you may want to make some edits to the music to make it suitable. This is possible if you have access to music stems. 

In this article, we will explain what stems in music are, the benefits of having access to music stems, how to use them effectively, and where to find them.

What are Stems?

Stems are individual tracks that make up a complete piece of music. Instead of having one audio file for the entire song, stems allow you to isolate and work with specific elements of the music, such as vocals, drums, guitars, and more. Each stem represents a different instrument or sound in the composition.

For example, say you have a piece of music you’d like to use for your content, which music is made up of vocals, guitars, bass and drums. Stems here would mean you would have access to individual vocal, guitar, bass and drum tracks and easily edit each of these instruments to your liking. Below image is a screenshot of how editing stems would look in a DAW or a video editor. 

How music stems look in a DAW

In a nutshell, exporting stems allows you to separate different parts of a song so you can control them separately. This is handy for people making videos or other projects who want to change the music to match different parts of their work.

Benefits of Having Access to Music Stems

As a content creator, having access to your preferred background music stems is helpful for these reasons:

  • Flexibility in Editing: Music stems allow you to manipulate individual elements within a composition, giving you creative freedom and allowing you to align the music seamlessly with your content. Whether you need to adjust the volume of specific instruments or add effects to a particular stem, stems provide greater flexibility and control over the sound.
  • Customisation: Stems enable you to customise the music to fit your project’s unique requirements. For instance, if you only need the instrumental section of a song for a specific scene, you can simply remove the vocal stem. This level of customisation ensures that the music complements your content perfectly.
  • Enhanced Mixing and Mastering: Utilising stems is particularly beneficial during the mixing and mastering process. By having access to individual stems, you can fine-tune the sound of each element, achieving a polished and professional final mix. This level of control is crucial for ensuring that the audio is balanced and optimised for different platforms and devices.

    • How to Use Stems

    If you have access to the stems of your preferred background music, here are some ways you can use it:

  • Aligning the Music with Your Content: Stems allow you to precisely sync the music with your content by making adjustments to specific elements. For example, if you want the intensity of a drumbeat to align with a thrilling moment in your video, you can increase its volume or add effects to create a more impactful experience.
  • Creating Unique Variations: Stems provide you with the opportunity to create unique variations of a piece of music. By muting or modifying specific stems, you can create different versions of the same song to suit different sections or moods in your content.
  • Mix and match with other pieces of music: You can get creative with your content’s background score by mixing stems of 2 different songs and then trying to match it to make a new song. This could be a bit advanced but gives you the freedom to not just source music but make your own background music.
    Make sure you read the terms of licence of the stock music library before you try this out. 

    • Here is an example of how a musician from Brazil added his own music with the music stems created from beatoven.ai,

    Where to Get Music Stems

    Finding high-quality music stems can be a challenge, as not all artists or platforms offer stem files. However, with the rise of dedicated music production and licensing platforms, accessing professional stems for your projects has become easier.

    With Beatoven.ai, you can create your own music with the help of AI and also download stems for the music you generate and download. Cool isn’t it? Signup and try it now 

    Other popular music stock libraries such as Epidemic Sounds and Envato also provide stems for the music you download.

    Conclusion

    Stems are resourceful for content creators. They provide flexibility, customisation options, and enhanced control over the background music in your projects. By leveraging music stems, you can align the music seamlessly with your content, create unique variations, and achieve professional-quality mixing and mastering.

    When looking for music stems, platforms like Beatoven.ai offer a wide range of genres and emotions to choose from, making it easier than ever to find the perfect music for your content creation needs.

    So, next time you search for the ideal background music for your project, consider using stems to unlock more creative possibilities. Happy creating!