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Stem separation

Stem separation lets you isolate broad musical components from one source file.

What it can produce

Available stem types:
StemContent
AllFull mix (no separation)
VocalsIsolated vocals
DrumsIsolated drums
BassIsolated bass
OtherEverything except vocals, drums, and bass
No VocalsKaraoke/instrumental — drums + bass + other
No DrumsVocals + bass + other
No BassVocals + drums + other
Drums+BassRhythm section only

How it works

The Meiji Sampler platform includes a separate stem separation binary which is loaded on-demand the first time this feature is needed. This free add-on is approximately 100MB. To save disk space, it is not included with the base install. If the Stems Addon is not available for your platform or the published bundle cannot be verified, Meiji Sampler stops before installing it and shows an installation failure. The base sampler still works; only stem separation is unavailable until a verified add-on bundle is published for your platform.

When to use it

  • isolate drums from a mixed loop
  • remove drums so you can layer your own
  • extract vocal or bass material for chopping

Tradeoffs

Stem separation is powerful, but it is not magical. It works best when the source material is already reasonably clean. It’s normal to hear some artifacts. Meiji Sampler uses the Demucs htdemucs model for source separation.