Getting my tune ready for mastering - questions!

[CodeMath]

#1 Do I apply eq/compression to the needed channels BEFORE I render them or after when they are one big .wav stem?

#2 My stems originally came out at all sorts of different bpms - even though each stem was set at 140bpm before rendering, why is this? I can't even line them up in ableton. My buddy told my its better to send each individual channel into its own bus and record then find the files in the Recordings folder under Ableton Projects, these stems seem to work much better(they dont show up as crazy bpms) but I still have to add a -90ms track delay to many of the channels for them to stay on beat. Is there any way to fix this?

Other than those questions I think I have everything else set. just dont want to send it off to get mastered and it come back all fucked up and money wasted :/

[Brothulhu]

Unless you are paying to get it mixed too then there is no need for stems, a wav of he whole track with no effects on the master is what you need. If you re paying to get it mixed then I guess you need to render each instrument/sample to it's own stem with no eq, compression or other effects that are used for mixing rather than as a creative effect if that makes sense

[CodeMath]

Yeah im going to get it mixed by them as well - im too amateur with it right now to do it all myself.

So when I render each instrument, and put them in place in ableton some are off - the lead synth, and i believe the kick and snare are also, along with a piano sample making the song sound all screwed up. Im not sure how to render these to come out at the same exact beat....

[Disco Nutter]

You've probably turned on Live's auto warp function. Just make sure to turn off the warp feature on the stems and everything will align perfectly.

[CodeMath]

Its still slightly off, even with no warp functions enabled whatsoever anywhere :E I can record what it sounds like and you can compare that to the one on my soundcloud if someone actually wants to.

Im guessing I couldn't send the stems off have them mixed and mastered then load them up add track delay where its needed and record then export?

[daeMTHAFKNkim]

Hey can you do me(all) of us a favor?

You should post your song from how you had it...then post the version after mastering/mixing from whoever you got it from...that would be very bromantic of you to do.

[CodeMath]

Hey can you do me(all) of us a favor?

You should post your song from how you had it...then post the version after mastering/mixing from whoever you got it from...that would be very bromantic of you to do.

Thats the thing though - I dont want to send it off and pay $50 to get it mixed and mastered professionally and get the stems back and it be all fucked up. Im guessing a few ms delay can be tweaked and it'll be fixed but I want to make sure before I send the stems off. So I guess my current question is: If I were to add say ~90ms(what it usually takes to get it back on beat) track delay to the stems once I receive them from the mixing/mastering professionals, then record into one track and export that would there be any deterioration of sound quality?

Im working on Ableton 8.2.2.