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File Preparation & Delivery

How to Export Stems in LUNA for Mixing (Step-by-Step Video)

Export clean, full-length stems from Universal Audio LUNA without losing the tape and console sound you built. Step-by-step settings plus DGUNZ's short video.

Bounce stems in LUNA video guide thumbnail by Mix & Master Engineers

When you book an online mix, your stems are the whole song as far as your engineer is concerned. If one file starts late, one vocal is missing its reverb tail, or a synth got printed at the wrong level, the mix starts with repair work instead of creative work. Clean, well-labelled stems let your engineer spend every hour on making the record sound bigger.

LUNA from Universal Audio is built to feel like a tape machine and console, so a lot of the sound lives in its channel strips and tape extensions. That is good news for your music, but it means you need to export with care so that sound comes along. This guide walks you through it, and DGUNZ's short video shows the exact steps on screen in LUNA.

Video: how to export stems in LUNA
Video: how to export stems in LUNA

▶ Watch the LUNA stem export video on YouTube

Before you export

  • Decide what stays on the tracks. If you used LUNA's tape or console extensions, or UAD plug-ins as part of your sound, leave them active so they print. Turn off anything on the main mix bus.
  • Render virtual instruments as audio first if you are unsure they will export cleanly. Printing them to new audio tracks is the safest route.
  • Name every track in plain words. "Lead Vox", "Adlib L", "808", "Keys" are far more useful than "Audio 14".
  • Check your buses. If a group of tracks feeds a bus with important processing, decide whether to send the bus, the dry tracks, or both. When in doubt, send both and label them.
  • Note the session tempo and sample rate so you can include them in your message.

How to export stems in LUNA, step by step

1. Save a copy of your session so you can experiment without risk. 2. Set the timeline range from the very start of the session (bar 1 or 0:00) to a point a few seconds after the last note, so every effect has time to fade out. 3. Select all the tracks you want to export. Include any aux or bus tracks you plan to send separately. 4. Open the Export/Bounce dialog from LUNA's File menu. The exact label can differ between versions, so follow the menu shown in the video. 5. Choose the option that exports each selected track as its own file, rather than one stereo mixdown. 6. Set the file type to WAV and the bit depth to 24-bit. 7. Keep the sample rate the same as your session. Do not convert it here. 8. Make sure the range covers the full song length and includes the tails you left in step 2. 9. Leave any normalize option off. 10. Choose an empty folder with a clear name, such as "SongTitle_Stems_120bpm". 11. Run the export and wait for every file to finish writing.

Prefer to follow along? ▶ Watch the video

Recommended export settings

  • File type: WAV
  • Bit depth: 24-bit
  • Sample rate: Same as the session (e.g. 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz)
  • Start point: Session start (bar 1 / 0:00) for every file
  • Length / tail: Full song plus a few seconds of tail
  • Normalize: Off
  • Master bus processing: Off (bypass anything on the main mix bus)

Common LUNA export mistakes

  • Tape and console sound missing. If you bypass the extensions before export, your engineer hears a thinner version than the one you love. Keep the ones that are part of your sound switched on.
  • Files that start at different times. Exporting only the regions on each track can trim silence from the front. Always export from the session start so every file lines up.
  • Clipping on the export. A hot channel strip or tape drive can push a track over 0 dBFS. Pull the fader down a little and export again rather than sending distorted files.
  • Effects cut off at the end. If the range stops on the last beat, delays and reverbs get chopped. Extend the range past the final note.

Check your stems before you send them

Open a new, empty session and import every file at the very start. Press play and listen against your rough mix. Everything should line up, nothing should be missing, and each file name should tell you what it is. When you are happy, zip the folder and send it.

From the studio: what LUNA sessions teach me

I have been mixing for 15+ years, and LUNA sessions usually arrive with a lot of character already baked in. That is a strength. The most common issue I see is that the tape or console flavour on the rough mix is not on the stems, so the files sound flat next to the reference. The second is a bus doing heavy lifting that never got exported. When I mix R&B records, that warm bus glue on the vocals is often the heart of the vibe, so I want it, or at least the dry tracks plus a printed bus. The same goes for gospel sessions, where choir buses and organ processing shape the whole room. My advice is simple: export what you hear. If the rough mix moves you, make sure the stems carry that same sound, and send me your rough mix too.

Stem export guides for other DAWs

Using a different DAW, or working with a producer who does? Each guide below has its own short video:

Ready for a professional mix?

Send your LUNA stems to our online mixing service and ask for a free sample mix so you can hear the difference first. You can compare packages and pricing or contact the studio with any questions about your session.

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About the author: Charles "DGUNZ" Alison is the lead mixing and mastering engineer at Mix & Master Engineers, with 15+ years of experience across hip-hop, Afrobeats, gospel, R&B, pop and more. He trained at Point Blank Music School (UK), is an approved Apple Digital Masters provider, and is a Top Rated, Vetted Pro engineer on Fiverr with 2,200+ client reviews. Meet the engineer · Contact the studio