How to Export Stems as Ready-to-Open DAW Projects (REAPER, Pro Tools, Logic & More)

You just finished producing a track. You have 20, 30, maybe 40 stems bounced out. Now you need to send them to your mixing engineer who works in Pro Tools. Or maybe you are the mixer, and you just received a folder of stems from an artist who works in Ableton. Either way, the same tedious process awaits: importing every single stem, aligning them, naming tracks, color-coding, and trimming silence. For one song, that is 15 minutes of your life. For an EP, it is an hour. For a full album across multiple collaborators and DAWs, it is a genuine time sink.

What if you could skip all of that? What if you could drop your stems into a tool and get a ready-to-open project file for REAPER, Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Cubase, Bitwig, or Studio One — with clips already placed on the timeline, silence stripped out, and tracks color-coded?

That is exactly what StemSlicer does. And in this article, we will break down exactly how stem export works for each supported format.

The Problem: Manual Stem Importing is a Workflow Killer

Every producer and engineer has been through this. You receive a folder full of stems — Kick.wav, Snare.wav, Vocals_Lead.wav, Synth_Pad_01.wav, and so on. To actually start working, you need to:

1. Create a new session in your DAW
2. Import each stem onto its own track
3. Make sure every file starts at the same point so timing is preserved
4. Name each track to match the stem
5. Optionally strip silence so you can see the actual musical content
6. Color-code tracks so you can navigate the session at a glance

Now multiply that by every DAW in the chain. If your mixer uses REAPER, your masterer uses Pro Tools, and you produce in Bitwig, that is three separate manual import sessions for the same set of stems. The audio is identical — only the project file format changes.

This is the problem StemSlicer solves. You process your stems once, and it exports project files for all six major DAWs. Open the file, and you are ready to mix.

The Three Export Formats, Explained

StemSlicer exports three types of project files, each targeting different DAWs. Here is what each format is and which DAWs support it.

What About FL Studio and Ableton Live?

FL Studio and Ableton Live do not support AAF, RPP, or dawproject imports. For these DAWs, StemSlicer exports one clean WAV file per stem with silence already removed. You can drag these directly into your FL Studio playlist or Ableton arrangement view. Since the silence has been stripped, the files are smaller and the actual audio content is immediately visible.

How StemSlicer Actually Works

The process takes about 30 seconds for a typical session:

1. Drop your stems in. Drag a folder of WAV, MP3, FLAC, OGG, AIF, or M4A files into StemSlicer. It handles batch processing, so you can load an entire session at once.
2. Configure silence detection. Set the threshold (how quiet counts as silence), minimum silence duration, and padding (how much audio to keep around each clip edge). A real-time waveform preview shows you exactly where the cuts will happen.
3. Export. Choose your output formats and click export. StemSlicer generates the project files for every selected DAW format simultaneously.

The exported project files are complete and ready to open. Tracks are named after the stem files. In REAPER, Bitwig, and Studio One, tracks are color-coded automatically — StemSlicer detects instrument types from the filename (kick, snare, vocal, bass, guitar, synth, etc.) and assigns appropriate colors.

Who This Is For

Producers sending stems to a mixer. Instead of sending a zip of raw WAV files and hoping the engineer's intern lines everything up correctly, you can send a ready-to-open .rpp or AAF alongside the stems. The mixer opens the file and everything is already on the timeline.

Mixing engineers receiving stems from clients. No more spending the first 20 minutes of every session importing, naming, and organizing. Ask your clients to run their stems through StemSlicer before sending, or do it yourself when files come in.

Artists working across multiple DAWs. If you produce in one DAW but mix in another, or if you collaborate with people on different platforms, StemSlicer lets you generate session files for every DAW involved without repeating work.

Sample pack creators and beat sellers. If you distribute stems or multitracks, including ready-to-open project files adds real value for your buyers. Process once, include project files for REAPER, Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase, Bitwig, and Studio One alongside the audio.

Why Not Just Use "Strip Silence" in My DAW?

Most DAWs have a built-in strip silence feature, and it works fine for a single session in a single DAW. But it has limitations:

• It only works inside one DAW. If you need project files for multiple DAWs, you are doing the work separately in each one.
• It does not create project files for other people. You cannot run strip silence in REAPER and hand the result to someone using Pro Tools.
• No automatic track colors. You still have to manually color-code everything.
• No batch processing across stems. Most strip silence tools work on one track at a time.

StemSlicer does all of this in one step: silence detection, clip placement, track naming, color coding, and multi-format project file export. Process your stems once, distribute to any DAW.