NI Stems - multichannel format - anyone using w/ OT?

jamrod · 2015-08-06T19:13:00.000Z

Curious to know if anyone is interested in Native Instruments’ new multichannel format, Stems.

Now You Can Get Your Hands on Stems for DJing; Complete Guide - CDM Create...

At long last, the world of DJing is set to go from stereo to multichannel. And you can start today (in Traktor). Here's what you need to know.

I don’t really DJ w/ my OT, but this makes me much more interested in giving it a shot. Perfectly works as two decks of four tracks each. I keep seeing a lot of responses to Stems saying “this is nothing new”, but even if it’s been done before, establishing a widely used format for this seems like a pretty great development.

tomes · 2015-08-06T22:43:41.000Z

think you’d need some serious coding magic to make the OT decode what’s going on with their files…

as i understand it they are single files (mp4s i think…) which are decoded by software, not 4 actual individual stems.

would be nice though.

robotunes · 2015-08-07T02:23:16.000Z

i’m using the korg iOS apps gadget and ikaossilator, which save your tracks as wav stems inside ableton live projects. good fun.

jamrod · 2015-08-07T02:51:10.000Z

[quote=“” tomes""]
think you’d need some serious coding magic to make the OT decode what’s going on with their files…

as i understand it they are single files (mp4s i think…) which are decoded by software, not 4 actual individual stems.

would be nice though.
[/quote]

No as far as I know, it’s just a container for four stems + the stereo mix. I get that the OT can’t read this format natively, but seems like it would be trivial to convert it into separate wav stems.

tomes · 2015-08-07T13:26:53.000Z

well the code is open, right? so i’m sure someone will figure out a quick easy way to extract the elements - just as you said.

definitely be a cool way to grab pieces for remixing… it’s an interesting idea.

quadrica · 2015-08-08T00:10:06.000Z

I’ve tried to use stems in octa in beatport remix challenge (original tracks are provided in ableton and stems format). I’m convinced that it will be interestinx to experiment with stems in octatrack as a DJ, because usually there are 4-tracks in each song, octa = 4+4

Rusty · 2015-08-08T00:17:59.000Z

A while back I did grab a couple of Traktor controllers and the software, but it just wasn’t doing it for me… I also found it quite limited (LE Version, but still, limted playback slots etc)

NI Stems doesn’t seem very exciting at all to me, just a way to sell more add-ons / samples / DLC.

When I get some spare time, I’m going to look deeper into using two Octatracks as a DJ set as it is something I am interested in… I’m sure I should be able to come up with a smart way of organising everything…

One of my customers in Germany does exactly that / DJ’s with two Octatracks… I should hit him up for some ino as well sometime.

djenzyme · 2015-08-09T14:16:25.000Z

""Rusty"":

NI Stems doesn’t seem very exciting at all to me, just a way to sell more add-ons / samples / DLC.

Thats exactly what i think about the STEMS format. A few years ago Traktors ‘Remix Decks and Remix Sets’ were being pushed as the new format and I see this as another, more basic, interpretation of that.
The problem is that music is made to sound a certain way. Breaking that music down into parts is all well and good but when you add all the parts back together, they don’t sound the same as the original ! This was one of the failings of Remix Sets, and has already been confirmed in reviews of STEMS.

jackmate · 2015-08-10T18:00:55.000Z

there you go, an algorhythm will be the next dj…am i too old school?

personally i don´t know any artist who will provide stems of their music, the magic is in the mix…right?!

you´d have to produce these stems independently to sound good, though the mix of these stems will sound shite…

sampling is an art-form, why has everything to be accessable?
as a proper dj, you produce your own stems, edits, remixes, …non?!
or, you´d be smooth and kindly ask the artist for a stem