🎧 StemDeck: Local, Open-Source AI Stem Separation

StemDeck is a contemporary platform for stem extraction tailored for producers, musicians, and audio enthusiasts. It allows users to isolate specific instruments—such as vocals, drums, bass, piano, and guitar—to facilitate better transcription, practice, remixing, and general creative experimentation through an intuitive, interactive UI.

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🚀 Overview & Workflow

StemDeck is designed to be a private and cost-free alternative to cloud-based services. Instead of uploading your data to a remote server, everything happens on your own hardware.

How it Works

Supported Input Formats

• .mp3
• .wav
• .flac
• .ogg / .opus
• .mp4
• .m4a
• YouTube URLs (provided as a convenience for content you are authorized to use)

Privacy Note: StemDeck does not store, cache, or redistribute any of the content you process.

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🛠️ Key Features

🎚️ Advanced Audio Manipulation

The application features a waveform editor reminiscent of a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), offering:

• Visuals: Min/max sample rendering for all stems with a "gold" playhead overlay.
• Control: Zoom in/out, "Fit to Screen," and a draggable loop region on the ruler.
• Stem Management:
  • Lanes are aligned by stem.
  • Smart Selection: Clicking "all selected" toggles to a single stem; further clicks add/remove others.
  • Complementary Lane: When a subset of stems is chosen, a 7th lane automatically generates the "rest of the song" (Full Mix $-$ Selected Stems) for easy A/B testing.
• Exporting: Create a mix.wav of your selected stems using the ffmpeg amix command.

📊 Technical Analysis & Mixing

StemDeck provides deep insights into your audio files using professional-grade metrics:

• Tempo & Harmony: BPM detection via librosa and key/scale identification using Albrecht-Shanahan profiles.
• Loudness: Integrated LUFS measurement based on the $\text{BS.1770}$ standard.
• Peaks: Sample peak detection measured in $\text{dBFS}$.
• Mixer: Each stem has its own volume fader, mute, and solo buttons, plus a "monitor" mode.
• Metering: Post-gain RMS monitoring via Web Audio analyzers featuring peak hold and slow falloff.

⚙️ System Performance

The engine utilizes htdemucs_6s and automatically selects the most efficient hardware acceleration:

1. NVIDIA GPUs $\rightarrow$ CUDA
2. Apple Silicon $\rightarrow$ MPS
3. Fallback $\rightarrow$ CPU

If a process is taking too long, you can cancel it mid-pipeline; the app will immediately terminate the subprocess and wipe the temporary job directory.

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⚖️ Honest Comparison: Local vs. Cloud

StemDeck isn't trying to kill the commercial giants; it simply offers a different philosophy. No more subscriptions.

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❤️ Community Recommendations

The developers of StemDeck do not accept funding or sponsorships from the following entities. These are simply shared because they create wonderful things for the music community.

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💻 Developer Notes

For those looking into the source code, the project structure is organized as follows:

# Example directory structure
.
├── app/            # Core application logic
├── build/          # Build artifacts
├── desktop/        # Desktop wrapper configuration
├── docs/           # Documentation
├── scripts/        # Automation scripts
└── tests/          # Test suites

Whether you are a professional producer or a hobbyist, StemDeck provides the tools to dismantle a track and study its components without the friction of a monthly bill.