Category: Editing Tips / Creative Audio

You are cutting your new showreel. You want it to feel energetic, cool, and premium—like the Nike commercials you aspire to edit. But you can't use Kendrick Lamar because YouTube will mute your video. So you go to a stock music site. You type in "Energetic Hip Hop." You find a track. It starts cool, but then… that cheesy synthesizer melody kicks in. Or the vocals start singing about "Reaching for the sky."

Suddenly, your reel feels like a corporate HR training video.

The secret to fixing this isn't finding the "perfect" song. It's Remixing. Modern stock libraries like Artlist and Epidemic Sound now offer Stems (separated audio tracks). Here is how to use them to strip out the "cheese" and build a custom score that fits your cuts perfectly.

The Problem: "Stock" Structure

Most stock songs follow a rigid structure: Intro -> Verse -> Chorus -> Bridge -> End. Your reel doesn't follow that structure. Your reel is chaos. It needs 10 seconds of high energy, a 3-second pause for a sound bite, and then a massive drop. If you just drag the full .wav file onto your timeline, you are a slave to the composer's choices.

The Fix: Download the Stems

When you hit "Download" on Artlist (Max) or Epidemic, don't just grab the "Full Mix." Look for the option to download Stems or Variations. You will get a folder containing:

• Drums.wav

• Bass.wav

• Instruments.wav (The usually cheesy part)

• Vocals.wav

Workflow: The "Remix" Method

Now you are the producer.

1. Kill the Melody The number one thing that makes stock music sound "cheap" is the lead melody (often a generic guitar or synth).

• The Move: Mute the Instruments or Melody stem. Keep only the Drums and Bass.

• The Result: Instantly, the track sounds cooler, moodier, and more like a "bed" for your visuals.

2. The "Percussion" Cut Need to cut a fast montage?

• The Move: Isolate the Drums stem. Chop it up. Loop the snare roll. Create a "build-up" that lasts exactly as long as your montage needs.

• The Result: The music hits the beat exactly when your video cuts, because you moved the beat.

3. The "Drop" Trick You have a really impressive visual moment (like an explosion or a slow-motion reveal).

• The Move: Cut everything except the Bass stem for one second. Or cut everything to silence, and just let the reverb tail ring out.

• The Result: Dynamic range. It creates a "breath" in the edit that makes the next shot hit harder.

Summary

Don't let a cheesy synth line ruin a great drum beat. Stop using the "Full Mix." Download the stems, delete the parts you hate, and rearrange the parts you love. Your reel will sound custom-scored, and nobody will ever know it came from a $15/month subscription site.