FOR FUCKS SAKE - RAW TRACKS ARE NOT "STEMS"

[egan.]

I don't understand why anyone would disagree with wanting everyone to use the jargon of audio engineering correctly on (what has become) an audio engineering forum. Even if it's harmless these words have meaning and even hobbyists should be interested in knowing the proper meaning of terms.

 

[BLOODROOT]

someone should make a sticky thread with a list of jargon for the noobs.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

someone should make a sticky thread with a list of jargon for the noobs.

Might not be a bad idea. A dictionary with terms like quad tracking and Fredman style could be helpful to avoid confusion.

 

[cyril_v]

Come up with a short n sweet name for this and people would be more inclined to use it in place of stems.

 

[ThatGuitarGuy]

I agree with all of this.

If I were in their place I would want someone to correct me if I'm wrong. I was lucky enough to have people teach me properly in the past and I'm still learning and seek after the proper terms so that I don't get into a bad situation.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Come up with a short n sweet name for this and people would be more inclined to use it in place of stems.

Like... "raw tracks"?

 

[ThatGuitarGuy]

Come up with a short n sweet name for this and people would be more inclined to use it in place of stems.

No.

You can't just up and create a different name for something that is known throughout the industry. These terms are much bigger than this tiny forum. If you went out into the real world, people would laugh at you.

Even if you're not going out into the real world, you shouldn't be so stubborn, lazy or naive to not go by the right name even if you know what the right name is.

 

[cyril_v]

Like... "raw tracks"?

Too long.

Call them djents, it'll catch on fast.

No.

You can't just up and create a different name for something that is known throughout the industry. These terms are much bigger than this tiny forum. If you went out into the real world, people would laugh at you.

Even if you're not going out into the real world, you shouldn't be so stubborn, lazy or naive to not go by the right name even if you know what the right name is.

Only joking man, relax.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I don't understand why anyone would disagree with wanting everyone to use the jargon of audio engineering correctly on (what has become) an audio engineering forum. Even if it's harmless these words have meaning and even hobbyists should be interested in knowing the proper meaning of terms.

Even if you're not going out into the real world, you shouldn't be so stubborn, lazy or naive to not go by the right name even if you know what the right name is.

Yup. In the internet, it's easy to shrug it off and say "yeah, whatever, you know what I mean" and keep on truckin', because you know, everyone does that.

But say you're an intern at a studio and mix up terms. They correct you, you take it as a lesson learned and that's that. Now you know better.

Of course they're just words, but it also reflects one's general attitude. Yeah, I might act like a bit of an arrogant dick at times, but if I fuck up and someone more experienced and skilled than me educates me on the matter, I swallow it up and consider it another thing I now know.

It's not a shame to learn as you go. We all do that. Just try not to disregard the lessons you learn along the way, even if it's something as tiny as the meaning of the word "stem."

 

[Shinozoku]

Ooooohhh...

That would explain those files I got...

Yeah >.>

*goes to write to his good buddy in Oz again*

Definitely a good idea for newbs like me. It took me weeks to learn that ITB meant "In The Box", and I learned that from George Massenburg!

 

[Mago]

I think the general problem with these terms is that now, with all the home recording going on, people who have never been in these kind of circles can provide files for "pros" to be worked on.
That's the reason why there's a lot of confusion going on with stems, raw tracks, consolidating, bouncing, what mastering is, that tuning and editing isn't part of the mixing process ect...

Guess that is the price for the AE's to be able to get more work overall...

 

[Paulie!]

Might not be a bad idea. A dictionary with terms like quad tracking and Fredman style could be helpful to avoid confusion.

+9000 and 1

 

[hoehlentroll]

why not use the german word? just another german word like "über", "angst" or "kindergarten" we have a word just for that it's called "spuren" plural and "spur" singular
or what about "instrument tracks"?

 

[tobin1]

Haven't read much of the thread and totally agree with the initial topic, but has anyone taken into account language barriers? Possibly someone with english as a 2nd language uses the term like that a good percentage of the time possibly? Just tossing that out there :]

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Haven't read much of the thread and totally agree with the initial topic, but has anyone taken into account language barriers? Possibly someone with english as a 2nd language uses the term like that a good percentage of the time possibly? Just tossing that out there :]

At least in Finnish it's a directly borrowed word, 'stemma' or in plural 'stemmat', which means pretty much the exact same thing as in English - the part of an instrument, vocalist or a group of those in a concerted/polyphonic piece. In popular music it's often loosely used when referring to background vocal lines in general, though. Still, definitely not raw tracks

 

[AudioGeekZine]

could also say source tracks or just mix(-ready) files.
I prefer raw tracks as the term.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

And if "raw tracks" seems impossible to say or type for whatever reason, "multitracks" is also quite widely used.

 

[Melodeath]

I agree with this thread, though I had no idea because I don't download any "stems" from here. But it reminds me when I got a stem mastering job that turned into a stem mixing job, because while all the mixdown stems sounded pretty good and balanced on their own, the balance between stems (when you imported each stem) were totally off haha

Yeah, it may be petty, but it's always nice when proper jargon is used, otherwise the terms have no use. That's what language is. If everyone uses a term incorrectly, then the term has no use; until enough people misuse it in the same way that it becomes part of the lexicon and added to the dictionary haha

 

[AllanD]

How you just call 'em "raws"...

 

[Melb_shredder]

Going to have to chime in here...
At the end of the day, a lot of people here have invested in this 'business'. This is an occupation and a profession, and like all professions, there is jargon and words that are related to it so that you know EXACTLY what some one is referring to in that field. Raws and Stems are two completely different things.

If you don't know the difference, just ask, if you make a mistake, you will be corrected. You learn and move on. Not much shits me more than people getting lazy about using correct NON-interchangable terms when it will take you all of a minute to find the correct definition and the right way to use it.

Raws are just that.. RAW and UNPROCESSED...
Stems are generally PROCESSED GROUPS of tracks...

I too had the SAD case where I was quoting a STEM mix and was then explained that I would be given DIs etc... That's not professional and incorrect. I can excuse it and correct the person and hopefully they don't make the same mistake again. But perpetuating it or acting like it's no big deal is crap... It's a small fix, and it's with most things not just these 2 words.

/rant... Takes a deep breath