Bounce mastered stems for live performance: same issues as mastered stems for mixing?

[d53]

Hey everybody!

So I'm bouncing 4 stems for Traktor (Stem Mixing mode).

-Would I be able to use some of the effects (or all of the effects) in my mastering chain?

-Could I still apply the parallel eq's and maybe even the dynamic eq's to the individual sends (a few of the stems being sums of a few tracks)?

-Should I leave out all dynamic processing? Or just the sidechained items (if any)

-Would the gain increase from lets say Waves L2 still be worth having applied so the level is the same as the mastered version?

 

Let me know if y'all have any answers to these, I'm trying to figure out a good method to bounce my stems for Traktor.

Thanks

[Darude]

You can apply parallel stuff by changing the trigger output to a bus/output that is muted, so that the trigger tracks plays, but doesn't go to the desired bounced output, so all the ducking etc effects are heard on the stem you're bouncing.

You can bounce thru your mastering chain stem by stem, so any colour or other desired effect will be present in the individual stems. Be aware though, that any dynamic processors and similar might SOUND different when fed lower signal, as it would be one stem coming thru, compared to the whole mix, so you might have to compensate for that, but it might (or might not) affect the balance between the stems. 

The NI stems format lacks a lot, or the Stems tool to create the stems file does. Naming and other editing is cumbersome and there's no proper re-editing, you have to start from scratch every time, or at least it was like that last I used it.

Also I'd let go of trying to make it as loud as commercially mastered tracks and then use Traktor's auto gain and compensate the rest in the DJ mixer, it's no big deal really. I'd do it 3-6dB quieter, though now that latest Traktor has Izotope Ozone Maximiser it IS better than Traktor's own, but still, you don't NEED to crush it. It'll sound better with more dynamics and detail preserved and you CAN compensate for the level loss in the mixer. You can try and hard cut some peaks in the individual stems with a clipper or L2 etc so that combining them together again in Traktor would lead to smaller piled-up peaks, but I'd go less than more there to preserve detail.

Edited October 25, 2022 by darudevil

[d53]

Incredible answer, thank you Ville! I'll put some time into this

Much appreciated!

[Darude]

👊