Have you ever been listening to song and though, "I would love to remix that"? But when are you going to find the time to sit and figure out each and every note and track down the instrument and settings that were used? This is where stems come into play.
Stems are parts of a song broken down and separated into individual tracks. For example you may find the following files included in a stem package:
It all depends on the elements that make up the track itself and how it was broken down. There are no one hits. Generally each stem will last the entire duration of the song, silence and all. So don't freak out when you preview a stem and are over a minute into it and you still hear nothing. That part just may not come in until later. If you want to extract certain parts or cut the silence out, you can easily cut it or slice it.
Not all packaged stems are the same and there really is no standard format. There are some made DAW specific that will include each part set to a mixer track and have the project file. Those are actually considered mix multi-track packages. The awesome thing about stems is that they come in audio formats such as FLAC, WAV, MP3, AIFF & OGG. So even if it is not a file type accepted by your DAW, that can be easily fixed by an online free audio converter.
Once you have the stems you simply ad them into your sound library the way you would any other audio sample, loop, or one hit. Then you can slice, dice, compress, distort, and contort it any way that you would like.
So, are you ready to remix the world? Than let's do it.
*Some websites do require you to register/login in order to gain access to their free content.*
Artist: Mr. Black
Song: Lights
Genre: Electronic/Dance
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Artist: Hardwell, KSHMR
Song: Power
Genre: Electronic/Dance
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Artist: Cheat Codes
Song: I love it
Genre: Electronic/Dance
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Artist: Black Dave
Song: Hang Over
Genre: Electronic/Dance
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Artist: Klaas
Song: Close to you
Genre: Electronic/Dance
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Artist: Koltbach
Song: Multiple
Genre: Electronic/Chill
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Artist: Moby
Song: Don’t Leave Me
Genre: Electronic
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Artist: DeadMau5
Song: Some Chords
Genre: Electro
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Artist: Pegboard Nerds
Song: Hero
Genre: Dubstep
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Artist: Karetus
Song: Rave On
Genre: Dubstep/Electro
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Artist: Unkle Ricky feat. MYNXY
Song: Come stay with me tonight
Genre: Deep House
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Artist: B.T.
Song: Paralyzed
Genre: House/Progressive
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Artist: EIN Musik
Song: Blooming
Genre: House/Progressive
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Artist: RYZY
Song: Nothin’
Genre: House/Electro
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Artist: Krewella
Song: We are one
Genre: House/Electro
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Artist: Zedd
Song: Spectrum
Genre: House/Electro
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Artist: Danny Darko
Song: Mountain Top
Genre: House
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Artist: Dimitri Vegas, Hardwell, Like Mike
Song: Unity
Genre: House
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Artist: Asgeir
Song: I know you know
Genre: Nu Disco
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Artist: Hidden Empire
Song: The Last Trip
Genre: Techno
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Artist: Borgore
Song: Ratchet
Genre: Trap
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Artist: Gent & Jawns
Song: Fireball
Genre: Trap
Download Here
Another way to score big on free stems is to stay current on websites that offer remix contests. Some will even keep the stems available for free after the contest has ended. Here are a few websites to keep your eye on.
Go grab some stems and put your own twist on the next best remix. Feel free to come back and share your results in the comments section below.