NAUPLY Stems tutorial: split a song into stems inside your DAW

The plugin

Step by step

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1. 1

   Load the plugin

   Load NAUPLY Stems as an instrument on an instrument (MIDI) track in your DAW, or open the standalone app. The separation models are installed with the plugin: nothing is downloaded.

2. 2

   Choose the number of tracks (PISTES)

   In the SÉPARATION card, PISTES sets the split: 2 = vocals + instrumental; 4 = vocals, drums, bass, other; 6 adds guitar and piano; 8 and 10 also split the drums. The number you pick is exactly the number of strips in the mixer.

3. 3

   Choose the quality (QUALITÉ)

   Rapide (fast), Qualité (quality) or Maximum: the cleaner the result, the longer the separation. The choice applies to the next separation.

4. 4

   Import the song

   Click IMPORTER UN MORCEAU… (import a song) or drag an audio file onto the window (WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, M4A, video…). The bar in the SOURCE card moves during separation, usually a few minutes per song; the detected tempo and key appear next to the file name.

5. 5

   Listen

   Start playback in your DAW: Stems follows its transport. The FORME D'ONDE (waveform) shows the position, lettered sections and detected chords; click to move playback, scroll to zoom. In the standalone app, use LECTURE (play) and STOP above the waveform.

6. 6

   Balance in the MIXEUR

   Each stem has its fader (volume in dB), PAN, SOLO and MUET (mute). Right-click a stem's name to open its actions: MIDI transcription, width, effects, edits.

7. 7

   Drag a stem into your DAW

   Grab a stem's GLISSER (drag) handle and drop it on an audio track in your DAW: the WAV file is placed there as is.

8. 8

   Export all stems

   EXPORTER LES STEMS (export stems) writes every stem to a folder. The current format is shown below it (lossless 32-bit float WAV by default).

9. 9

   Open the AVANCÉ panel (optional)

   The AVANCÉ (advanced) button, top right, opens four tabs: CALAGE (lock the song to the project tempo), LECTURE (playback), SÉPARATION and FICHIERS (files).

How many tracks, which quality?

To isolate a vocal or make an instrumental, 2 or 4 tracks are almost always enough: it is the fastest and most robust choice. 6 tracks helps when guitar or piano carry the song. With 8 tracks, kick and snare are pulled out of the drums, which keep toms and cymbals; with 10, the drums are fully split (kick, snare, toms, cymbals). It takes longer: keep it for drum work.

Changing the number of tracks re-runs the separation of the loaded song, instantly if it was already separated that way and kept on disk (AVANCÉ → SÉPARATION → « Garder les stems sur le disque », keep stems on disk).

If you hear artifacts (metallic hiss, traces of one instrument in another stem), switch to Qualité or Maximum before importing: separation takes longer, the result is cleaner. AVANCÉ → SÉPARATION → ANTI-ARTEFACTS fine-tunes this quality from 0 to 100 (Rapide = 20, Qualité = 50, Maximum = 100).

Lock the song to your project tempo

Example: a 120 BPM project and a 94 BPM song whose vocal you want. Import the song, wait for the separation, then open AVANCÉ → CALAGE tab and click CALER SUR LE PROJET (lock to project). The song is stretched, pitch preserved, so that its first downbeat lands on the chosen bar and every beat on the project's beats.

Start playback in your DAW: the song follows the project's bars (loops, jumps, tempo changes). A preview plays right away, then the high-quality render, which keeps pitch and transients intact, takes over.

If the detected tempo is half or double, choose ½× or 2× in Tempo lu (read tempo), or type the song's BPM by hand. For a song played without a click, beat-by-beat warping is chosen automatically. « 1er temps fort → mesure N » places the first downbeat, the ◀ / ▶ buttons shift by one beat and DÉCALAGE (offset, in ms) fine-tunes by ear.

« Exporter la voix calée » (export locked vocal) writes a file that starts exactly at bar 1: drop it on an audio track at bar 1. « Glisser voix » does the same by drag and drop, « Tous les stems » writes them all. While locking is active, each stem's GLISSER handle also gives its locked version.

Exported file formats

Everything that leaves the plugin, dragged or exported, is by default a lossless 32-bit float WAV at the original file's sample rate, with no clipping or normalisation, and the detected tempo written into the file. 24- or 16-bit WAV (with or without dither) and AIFF remain available under AVANCÉ → FICHIERS → FORMAT.

A stem can go above 0 dBFS, since the stems add up to the song: in 32-bit float nothing is lost, simply lower the fader in your DAW. Files are named after the song (song_vocals.wav, song_drums.wav…), and locked versions carry the project tempo (song_Vocals_120bpm.wav).

The AVANCÉ panel: playback, separation, files

LECTURE (playback): follow the DAW transport (on by default), metronome, A/B comparison with the original, waveform zoom, VITESSE (speed, pitch preserved), TRANSPOSITION in semitones, ANNULER / RÉTABLIR (undo / redo, Cmd+Z / Cmd+Shift+Z) and an A–B loop, snapped to beats if you like.

SÉPARATION: ANTI-ARTEFACTS, keep stems on disk, PISTES AFFICHÉES (hide a strip without muting the stem), tempo and key sharing with MidiBrain, and IMPORTER UN 2E MORCEAU (import a second song): right-clicking a stem then lets you replace it with the second song's stem.

FICHIERS (files): file format, stems as AIFF, mixdown (WAV or AIFF, with volumes, solo and mute), the detected chord chart as text, and « Nettoyer les stems modifiés… » to free the space used by edited stems the open project no longer uses. In the advanced view, each mixer strip also gains GRAVE / MÉDIUM / AIGU (low / mid / high EQ), HAUTEUR (pitch) and EFFETS… (effects).

Next: analyse a reference mix

Once a song is separated, listening to each stem of a reference is the best way to understand its mix: vocal level, where the bass sits, instrument width. Transplant Master, in development, will automate this stem-by-stem comparison with your own mix.

Frequently asked questions

How many stems can NAUPLY Stems separate?

From 2 to 10 depending on the PISTES setting: 2 (vocals + instrumental), 4 (vocals, drums, bass, other), 6 (plus guitar and piano), 8 and 10 (which also split the drums into kick, snare, toms and cymbals).

Are my songs uploaded anywhere?

No. Separation runs on your computer, and the models are installed with the plugin: nothing is downloaded.

Why does a stem go above 0 dBFS?

Because the stems add up to the original song. In 32-bit float WAV (the default format), nothing is clipped: simply lower the stem's fader in your DAW.

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