Native Instruments has released Stem Creator, previously available as a beta release, as a free download for Mac & Windows.

Stem files use the .mp4 container format to store the four individual stems of a track within a single file. Using the file extension .stem.mp4, this single file can be managed just like an mp3 file.

Here’s a video intro to the format:

Here’s the Stem Creator demo video:

You can create a STEMS format file in three steps:

1. Save four musical elements of a track as separate audio files;
2. Import them into the Stem Creator Tool;
3. Adjust the compression and export.

This creates a stem.mp4 file, ready for creative mixing with compatible software or hardware.

Stem Creator is a free download from NI’s Stems site.