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language: en
updated-at: 2026-10-28
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App Store release pending

MixSift guide

# What four-stem separation gives you and what Other contains

Understand Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other as estimated groups, and decide which group can help with your task.

Updated 28 October 2026

## Four groups describe the output

MixSift separates a recording into Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other. These are estimated groups from a finished mix, not the original tracks from a recording session. A group name describes its intended role; it does not guarantee that every sound of that type has been captured cleanly.

![Conceptual diagram: a finished recording becomes four estimated groups; original session tracks have a separate origin.](/assets/four-groups-diagram.svg)

Estimated groups are not the original session multitracks.  
Original explanatory diagram. Vocals, Drums, Bass and Other can contain bleed; Other can contain several instruments. No processing result is depicted.

[View full-size diagram ↗](/assets/four-groups-diagram.svg)

- Vocals: the estimated vocal material. Some voice or reverberation can remain elsewhere.

- Drums: a combined drum estimate, not independent kit microphones or separate kick and snare files.

- Bass: the estimated bass part, not every low-frequency sound in the recording.

- Other: the remaining accompaniment group, which can contain several instruments together.

## Other is useful even when it is not one instrument

Guitars, piano, keyboards and other accompaniment may share Other. You can lower or mute that group, but cannot select one of those instruments independently inside it. If your aim is to remove piano while keeping a guitar in the same group, this four-stem output does not supply that control.

Other is also not proof of a clean “everything except the first three” subtraction. Overlapping sounds, ambience and separation artifacts can make the boundary imperfect. See [how the different output choices work](/guides/export-practice-mix-vs-stems).

## Choose a group for a practical question

1. Name the task: sing over accompaniment, play bass with the band, or hear the combined drum part more clearly.

2. Locate the relevant group. Mute or reduce it for a backing, or Solo it for study. Check Mute if a soloed group stays silent.

3. Listen in context before deciding whether the result helps. Clear temporary Solo selections before saving a backing balance.

One group may contain sound you wanted to keep as well as sound you wanted to reduce. That is a reason to make a smaller level change or keep the original for comparison, rather than assume the separation has revealed an exact instrument inventory.

## Four parts or one combined file?

Choose Full Stems for independent group files. Export Mix instead combines the chosen Level, Mute and Solo snapshot into one full-song WAV, AIFF or FLAC. A mix made by soloing Other is still that estimated group; it does not split its contents into additional parts.

For file choices and the local Mac requirements, use [the output guide](/guides/export-practice-mix-vs-stems) and [Support](/support). These guides describe the prelaunch product; a public download is not verified.

## Continue with a related guide

[Study the combined Drums part](/guides/study-separated-drum-part)

[Study Bass in context](/guides/study-separated-bass-line)

[All guides](/guides)

Audio processing on your Mac.

Prelaunch · Public availability unverified.