NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

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Tarekith
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by Tarekith » Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:12 am

Currently they open simply as stereo files in Live, but there's been suggestions in the beta forums to support the format fully. I'm fully on board with and will push for this myself.

It's not a zip file either, the MP4 container has always been able to support multiple channels for things like surround sound.
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by S4racen » Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:25 am

To concur with Tarekith, i'm using actual STEMS files from NI and dragging them into a set simply converts them to WAV, they are also not a zip file that can be cracked by the usual means... A few of my colleagues at DJWorx are working on extracting the source files to see how it can be done...

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beats me
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by beats me » Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:36 pm

So for those who have actually gotten some stems files, are there songs that you feel are actually worth it or is it mostly songs you wouldn't get if they weren't in stems format?

Anybody use them with Traktor and a Traktor stems compatible controller? Next level shit or do they feel gimmicky?

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by S4racen » Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:43 pm

At the moment i'll reserve judgement, many of the files seem to be ok but not necessarily massively suited to the STEMS format, long elements of silence in individual STEMS etc.

I reckon more people will make use of them with their own productions than the commercially produced stuff in time...

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by Tarekith » Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:43 pm

I used the demo ones with my S8, and it works fine enough, intuitive at least. Honestly found them easier to use than remix decks, though you obviously get less control too. I was checking on Beatport to see what was available, and really nothing yet is my style of music which is why I went with some of the demo stuff NI sent me just to check it out. I could say the same about 99.999% of the stuff on Beatport though, I takes me months of trawling there to get enough songs I like for a new set. I'm a picky bastard though then it comes to buying stuff to DJ with.

From the sound of things at the NI forums, a lot of the Stems available so far are just repackaged Remix deck material. I expect this will change once the Stem Creator is available for anyone to use.
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by beats me » Wed Aug 05, 2015 9:03 pm

Good to know. Sounds like it’s not time yet to rush out and buy a NI stems controller (even with the discount) if you weren’t about to anyway.

I think the stems creator is going to be a mess for the average home producer in a rush to take advantage of it. There’s a lot of interaction between tracks in a final mix so I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as just soloing tracks to get the same sum result when all 4 are played at the same time.

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by Tarekith » Thu Aug 06, 2015 5:34 am

I think people need to get over the idea that it HAS to sound the same as the stereo master. Since the whole point is to solo and pick apart pieces of the tracks, it's not like you're going to be playing all 4 most of the time anyway.

Also, the creator tool has functions to help with getting the overall volume more comparable too, though I don't know the specifics yet.
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ekwipt
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by ekwipt » Fri Aug 07, 2015 8:11 am

It's a little misleading as they're not really stems but rather 4 different mix downs and not necessarily of the same mix.

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by Tarekith » Fri Aug 07, 2015 8:55 am

Err... no, they are stems and not mixdowns. What makes you think that?
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by ekwipt » Sat Aug 08, 2015 4:54 am

just from what i've read, maybe i'm wrong then

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by mark9white » Sat Aug 08, 2015 10:37 am

To split a stems file into multiple mp4s that you can bring into Ableton:

ffmpeg -i input.stem.mp4 -vn -c:a copy -map '0:0' main.mp4 -map '0:1' chan1.mp4 -map '0:2' chan2.mp4 -map '0:3' chan3.mp4 -map '0:4' chan4.mp4

replace input.stem.mp4 with the name of the stems file.

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by rbmonosylabik » Sun Aug 09, 2015 10:48 pm

Has anyone been able to build a working stem file without the creator tool? I've tried making an mp4 with the required 5 AAC discrete audio streams using ffmpeg, but can't get Traktor to recognize it as a Stems file, so it plays it as a normal stereo track.
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by Angstrom » Mon Aug 10, 2015 12:37 am

rbmonosylabik wrote:Has anyone been able to build a working stem file without the creator tool? I've tried making an mp4 with the required 5 AAC discrete audio streams using ffmpeg, but can't get Traktor to recognize it as a Stems file, so it plays it as a normal stereo track.
Not tried this but ...
$ ffmpeg -i ~/Desktop/bounce.wav -i ~/Desktop/drums.wav -i ~/Desktop/synth.wav -map 0 -map 1 -map 2 -c:a libfaac ~/Desktop/bounce.stem.mp4

This long command is telling ffmpeg that we have 3 audio input files and that we want them transcoded to aac and multiplexed into one file with the first file being the first stream.
https://splice.com/blog/native-instrume ... -it-works/

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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by rbmonosylabik » Wed Aug 12, 2015 4:09 pm

Angstrom wrote:
rbmonosylabik wrote:Has anyone been able to build a working stem file without the creator tool? I've tried making an mp4 with the required 5 AAC discrete audio streams using ffmpeg, but can't get Traktor to recognize it as a Stems file, so it plays it as a normal stereo track.
Not tried this but ...
$ ffmpeg -i ~/Desktop/bounce.wav -i ~/Desktop/drums.wav -i ~/Desktop/synth.wav -map 0 -map 1 -map 2 -c:a libfaac ~/Desktop/bounce.stem.mp4

This long command is telling ffmpeg that we have 3 audio input files and that we want them transcoded to aac and multiplexed into one file with the first file being the first stream.
https://splice.com/blog/native-instrume ... -it-works/
Tested and still can't get them recognized as Stems.

Here's the ffmpeg command I came up with
ffmpeg -i 01Bounce.aif -i 02Drums.aif -i 03Bass.aif -i 04Synth.aif -i 05Vocal.aif -map 0 -map 1 -map 2 -map 3 -map 4 -c:a libfaac -b:a 256k bounce.stem.mp4
Not sure if I'm missing something, I've tried tearing the demo Stems apart and can't find much difference.
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102455
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Re: NI's new 'stems' files in Live?

Post by 102455 » Wed Aug 12, 2015 5:18 pm

Possibly they need specific names, as mark9white posted, for Traktor to recognise it as a Stems file?

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