How to export stems from Ableton Live

Before you export

• Work in the Arrangement. The export renders the Arrangement, not clips waiting in Session view.
• Name the tracks. The files take the track names. “3 Audio” means nothing to the person opening it.
• Mind group tracks. A group can be rendered as its own file beside the tracks inside it. Tell your engineer which is which, so nothing is added twice.

Export every track

1. Choose File › Export Audio/Video (Shift-Command-R).
2. Rendered Track: All Individual Tracks.
3. Render Start: the start of the song. Render Length: the whole song, plus a few bars for tails.
4. Include Return and Master Effects: off (see below).
5. Normalize, Render as Loop, Convert to Mono: off.
6. Sample Rate: the set’s own rate. File Type: WAV. Bit Depth: 24.
7. Choose an empty folder and export.

Export the master

Open Export Audio/Video again with Rendered Track set to Master, the same start and length, and the same format.

Check before you send

• One file for every track you meant to send, returns included.
• No silent files, and nothing clipping above 0 dBFS.
• Every file the same length, all starting at the same point.
• The master is in the folder.
• A note with the tempo, key and sample rate.

Common questions

Why do my Live stems not line up?

They were rendered from different start points. Render every track in one export, from the same Render Start, and import them all at the same bar.

Should I include return and master effects?

Usually no. Send the return tracks as their own files and leave master processing off, so the engineer can rebuild your mix and add their own.

What format do mix engineers want?

WAV at the set’s sample rate, 24-bit, every file the same length. Ask if they want 32-bit float.

Or let Lucid Lab do it

Lucid Lab runs the export in Live for you, then checks each file for silence, clipping, length and loudness and writes a report. It is free to read your set; export is part of Lucid Lab Pro. See Lucid Lab.