Let me tell ya, it's refreshing to finally see another youtuber in the producer community that actually understands the difference between headroom and dynamic range. The only thing that I do different is what I upload to beatstars. For me, only the trackouts are left at full dynamic range. The MP3 and WAV are exactly what they hear on beatstars. Typically anyone who is looking for the best quality possible is purchasing trackouts. Everyone else wants exactly what they hear on beatstars. In the rare instance that an artists complains about the MP3/WAV is simply an opportunity to up sell them on why it's important to get trackouts both for them and their engineer. I saw an engineer in the comments saying how they are frustrated with getting MP3/WAVs that are already mastered. I think most engineers are frustrated getting either of those files at all either way. They're better off educating them on the importance of trackouts instead of trying to convince them to buy more MP3s or WAVs. But definitely do what works for you and your business. But from my experience, giving out MP3/WAVs that aren't what people hear from your beat store causes more headache and devalues your trackouts. I also even included the master WAV/MP3 with the trackouts so that they have something to bump in the car.
I upload mine in the same exact way bro...you get what you pay for...in trackouts I have two folders both wet and dry as well as a master wav and a NON-mastered wav for their engineer to either use untouched trackouts or an untouched song trackout or vice versa if they are happy with my effects and mix ect.
@@oa6551 a trackout is each instrument and sound broken down into it's own wav file, so that the artist or engineer can make any adjustments they wish to a beat from dropping out hihats during a certain part, or changing the way a kick hits...It also allows the engineer to mix the instrumental on their own, especially useful for when adding vocals to the instrumental. I send two folders, wet and dry... WET is WITH the eq and other master fx on the master track, DRY is WITHOUT any master fx...no master EQ compression ect.
So in general: Beats or Online Platforms should be heard at: -14LUFS -1DB But for anybody wanting to use that beat: -6DB headroom (MP3, WAV/24Bit, Both Tagged and Untagged) and the mastered instrumental Right? I’m wondering so I can learn more about this, cause it’s fun making beats
This video helped me a lot, thank you so much! I was always a bit confused if its okay to have a bit of gain reduction when limiting to make the beat louder but this video helped clear it up. :)
Great tutorial, man. I learned this the hard way by getting chewed out by a session engineer years back. Never messed up trackouts again after that tho 😂
Thanks for this man I needed it I’m sitting on a lot of music getting it all ready I’m about to go all In but I wasn’t going to post the music like this I was wondering if I should just take the limiter off when tracking out the beat This cleared up a lot I appreciate this foreal.
Hey lifestyle, geat video but i'm still confused. If I send a beat out to an artist, can it be fully mixed with exception to pushing the limiting ceiling? Is that okay? e.g. track is mixed and final stage is to bring up threshold. I disable that on the master channel and just send it out just like that. Thank you!
@lifestyledidit So basically the beat people hear on your page can be mixed and mastered by you to make it sound loud and punchy, but the zip, wav, and mp3 should be at -6db for easy engineer edits and headroom?
Dang bro I always wondered about this when uploading beats to all socials and then the beat the artist gets, I give them a light version of mastering with landr is that okay though?
Since I learned a few things the only thing I use the limiter for on the master channel is to raise the volume for the demo/tagged version. It isn't doing anything but raising the volume. This way I know when someone leases or buys a beat it'll sound exactly the same except for the sound reduction. I level and mix in mono without the limiter. Sometimes I forget to turn it off while I'm making the beat but I just turn it off before I start fine tuning everything the way I want it. I really don't even do much mixing anymore outside of some light EQ and maybe some sound design stuff. Everytime I try to dabble into some of those mixing plugins I just mess things up. Lol Still do sometimes. I've only been using FL a few months so I'm still learning.
It takes years to learn just a little of what any DAW can actually do lol but mixing is extremely important and if you’ve only been doing it a few months then there’s a lot you should look into.
I understand the need for both versions as I am primarily a mix engineer but I produce. How would you go about setting that up through beatstars? Cause I'm always used to uploading a single file that's basically mastered.
Ekz Beatz if I am mixing / mastering an actual song, yes. But if it’s a beat for my site and I’m just trying to get it up to average volume for auditioning purposes, I don’t pay too much mind. In my case, the customer will get a copy with headroom, so I’m just pushing my tagged mp3 that will play on my site
thanks once again bro!!!i wish rappers that come with "mastered" beats could just understand its a hassle tryna mix and master a song with an already "mastered" beat!😢
Is that not why they should go ahead and purchase the stems which should be sent with and without effects? If they hear a beat they like and purchase it but then don't actually receive that version is that not deceiving unless clarified at the point of sale?
Real quick, simple and incredibly useful video. Everything has been fully explained (except what they do on the engineering side to mix the beat; but far from the topic. Keep 'em coming!! Been wondering how loud I should make my beats!
So it doesn't matter how much headroom at first because you can gain it back down right? as long as a limiter/clipper wasn't originally used you can save the track to allow headroom?
What about if you use a mastering suite like Izotope Ozone or plugins in general (EQ, stereo widening, etc.) on the master bus? Should you also bypass those on the version that gets sent to artists or just bypass the limiter?
I feel like the artist should get what they heard when they purchased the beat. If they wanted to mix it up too much is that not why the stems are offered at an extra price which should be sent both with and without the effects?
hey Lifestyle, I really appreciate all your videos, you're a big inspiration to me, that's why I wanted to ask, what did you study? I'm bout to start my life at university and I really dunno what I wanna to study but sure as hell I wanna study something realted to music, thanks!
J for Judge what’s good! I did multiple years in studios and live sound (in theater) I learned a lot during this time, and every free second I would read audio books and online forums. Then UA-cam channels like the recording revolution
Hi champ, thanks for the video. QUESTION: Must we master the instrumental before re-mastering it along with the vocal, irrespective of the music genre? Or, is it better to do an instrumental, add the vocals (mix of course) before mastering them together? Thanks!!!
Will I have good results adding rap vocals over the "boosted" beat that has the limiter applied or no and just go with the stemmed version & have it mastered so I still preserve the dynamic range?
best bet is to always get something with headroom. Stems are always gonna be the best because you can mix the song as a whole since you have control over each part of the beat, but if you go with a WAV master file, I would ask the producer to re send it with headroom!
Apart from the loudness amount. For the file that gets sent to the artist, Do you mix the instruments with compression, side chains, fancy vst plugins or do you do a simple mix to just level out the sounds & leave the artist’s engineer to mix the instruments again? Where as the one that gets upload for streaming do you mix and master the instruments with all the fancy stuff or is it you just mix the instruments once, but send one file without the limiter and the other one with the limiter?
Personally if they got a engineer i just send stems with just leveling if not you then add your own effects and send the whole instrumental or the stems with effects
Today’s video was a simple one that many of us know, but I get asked so many times about how loud the beats should be on your site vs what gets sent out! Easiest way to think about it, ANY version that will go out to the customer (leave headroom) the version that plays on your website or beatstars player for auditioning (you can apply your limiting / clipping to get your desired loudness on the master) as this file wont be sent out. If you wanna see a video where I go in depth on gain staging check this video out. ua-cam.com/video/yG1rXSHXByk/v-deo.html Hope you all have a great weekend!
Thanks man, you too. Liked the video, Simple or not, I learned from it... Also, IF you someday are bored to Death, I would love a video about making a song from start to finish the way pro's do it , recording, mixing, mastering, exporting. How to's, Why's, When's. Not saying to throw out all trade secrets of yours, more like a General guide for beginners/advanced.... Have a Great weekend ✌️
This is a really touchy subject, because I've always uploaded my beats to Beatstars mastered, then I started uploading beats with headroom because it made more sense but then rappers started contacting me after the purchase telling me to send them, I quote, "the loud version from the website, the volume here is low, I want what I paid for", and these are rappers who drop projects, albums etc not beginners 🤔
Leave A Legacy that’s interesting, I never had that happen. Have you ever told them that it is better? And the benefits that come form Headroom haha? I’m sure the engineers would be mad
@@LifeStyleDidIt yeah, I've explained everything, but they simply wanted the loud version so I had to master the beat and manually send it to them 🤷🏼♂️
Give them what they ask for. If they are truly interested in getting the best version, they will buy trackouts. When exporting, your individual stems won't have the limiting applied depending on how you setup your export, but the MP3 and WAV will. Anyone purchasing the MP3/WAV will absolutely be expecting to buy what they hear. You'll get less complaints the few times you do, if ever, you up sell them on why it's important to buy trackouts and just discount them the difference from what they previously purchased. You've pretty much already confirmed this yourself with your own experience. Do what's best for you. Same goes to lifestyle...keep doing what's working for your company.
This is a great tutorial ! Shoutout to @LifestyleDidIt I used one of the the free Scream kit that I downloaded from lifestyledidit.com. I used LS-Vox7, here is the demo beat I created and added the free Scream kit to it. Here it is if you want to check it out. soundcloud.com/vic-45/in-the-shade Thank you to @LifeStyleDidIt!!!!
Why would you send a tagged version too? So you mean when an artist buys your beat, they can go in and change up things like the effects, volumes, etc on that beat, and which one is that and why? Thanks man, I'm just learning about this process, and I have a million questions that I still need answered, but I just want to make sure that I get tgis thing right.
Before sending your beats to a mix engineer, should you send the individual stems? And if "yes", should you take off all your effects you've put on it (eg. EQ's, saturation, compression, reverb etc) so the engineer can apply their own effects?
Most engineers do prefer stems without any effects. Speaking from a bit of experience. Using dry stems just makes the mixing process a bit easier and sometimes we have our "secret" sauce that we like use.
Let me tell ya, it's refreshing to finally see another youtuber in the producer community that actually understands the difference between headroom and dynamic range. The only thing that I do different is what I upload to beatstars. For me, only the trackouts are left at full dynamic range. The MP3 and WAV are exactly what they hear on beatstars. Typically anyone who is looking for the best quality possible is purchasing trackouts. Everyone else wants exactly what they hear on beatstars. In the rare instance that an artists complains about the MP3/WAV is simply an opportunity to up sell them on why it's important to get trackouts both for them and their engineer.
I saw an engineer in the comments saying how they are frustrated with getting MP3/WAVs that are already mastered. I think most engineers are frustrated getting either of those files at all either way. They're better off educating them on the importance of trackouts instead of trying to convince them to buy more MP3s or WAVs. But definitely do what works for you and your business. But from my experience, giving out MP3/WAVs that aren't what people hear from your beat store causes more headache and devalues your trackouts. I also even included the master WAV/MP3 with the trackouts so that they have something to bump in the car.
I upload mine in the same exact way bro...you get what you pay for...in trackouts I have two folders both wet and dry as well as a master wav and a NON-mastered wav for their engineer to either use untouched trackouts or an untouched song trackout or vice versa if they are happy with my effects and mix ect.
Sorry for asking but what a trackout?
@@oa6551 a trackout is each instrument and sound broken down into it's own wav file, so that the artist or engineer can make any adjustments they wish to a beat from dropping out hihats during a certain part, or changing the way a kick hits...It also allows the engineer to mix the instrumental on their own, especially useful for when adding vocals to the instrumental. I send two folders, wet and dry... WET is WITH the eq and other master fx on the master track, DRY is WITHOUT any master fx...no master EQ compression ect.
@@JRegoMusic
wait so when u send them the trackout cant they just delete ur beat tag? Because hwen i sell beats i want my beat tag to still be on it
@@sadcache806 yes they can remove your tag with trackouts
Simple but much needed. Thanks mane!💯🙏🏾
ClassE Beats thanks for watching it bro!
This dude makes it so simple for you to understand without holding back all he knows
I'm a simple man, I see lifestyledidit I click and like without seeing the video #firstonetodoitfam
Jay Pereira thank you so much jay!
Yeeah it's true!
Word
@@LifeStyleDidIt bro you doing so much for the producers out here that you will only get more support my brother !!! bless up man
Thanks man you always drop gems for producers 🔥🔥🔥
Nikbeats production thank you!
Thank you bro! God bless you for spreading knowledge!
*Amazing and precise tips*
always providing the most useful content, chief !
Bouchay Beats thanks for watching!
Good to know! Thanks bro
Always throwing gems! Yes sir!
Ashuka MadeIt thanks G!
I actually never thought about it this way, thanks for the insight!
Aymen KHAMLICHI welcome bro!
Hey lifestyledidit, don't got much to say except your videos are great and your grind inspire me. Keep at it bro
Munya thank you so much! You’re support is appreciated bro
Good video man. People need to know this
So in general:
Beats or Online Platforms should be heard at:
-14LUFS -1DB
But for anybody wanting to use that beat:
-6DB headroom (MP3, WAV/24Bit, Both Tagged and Untagged) and the mastered instrumental
Right? I’m wondering so I can learn more about this, cause it’s fun making beats
Thanks man, now I finally know what to do
This is what I needed!
VSHY thanks for watching!
i love the vibe of the beat you have on this tutorial.
Beatz by Grey thanks!
@@LifeStyleDidIt no problem. hope you can also share a comment on my content.
Yo Lyfe, you dropped some knowledge! Much appreciated! 🙏
Thanks for those tips. Keep posting
MikeDolla Beats thanks!
I swear i was just asking my good friend about this topic. You just cleared up all my questions 🐐
Ad Wes lmao! Thanks for watching it
Exactly what I was looking for
This video helped me a lot, thank you so much! I was always a bit confused if its okay to have a bit of gain reduction when limiting to make the beat louder but this video helped clear it up. :)
Glad it could help out!🔥🙏
This! thanks g almost never mixed before watching this
This is a pretty dope video man... Thanks a lot for the helpful information
Good looking out my brother for the info.
needed this thanks bro💯
TAEO 🙏
It’s like you read our minds, great video ‼️
Beloved Melodies 😂 thanks for watching
Damn blud dis the most useful video on beatmaking I've ever watched
Thank you fr! Glad it could help
Thanks Fam ALways Helpful
I literally just bought a mastering plugin yesterday to help out with this. Your uploads are always clutch 👌🏾
Jae Walker Music thanks for watching bro!
which one bro?
ZnuteN Master Suite by InitialAudio
Needed this. This has been my issue for sooo long.
GTG Beats thanks for watching bro!
Good vid as always ! Stay Blessed 🙏
Kreatorz Studios thank you!
Very helpful tutorial🙏 Thanks boss!👊
Slim Chew Beats thanks bro
Love! ❤️
JiménezTV 🙏
Great tutorial, man. I learned this the hard way by getting chewed out by a session engineer years back. Never messed up trackouts again after that tho 😂
Billy Hoyle facts!😂😂
Thanks Lifestyle
Thanks bro!!
Thanks bro this helped a lot
Most underrated channel in music production imo
Elijah Johnson thank you so much!
Good video man, fr, thank you
thanks for watching!
Thanks for this man I needed it I’m sitting on a lot of music getting it all ready I’m about to go all In but I wasn’t going to post the music like this I was wondering if I should just take the limiter off when tracking out the beat This cleared up a lot I appreciate this foreal.
Outlndsh Beatz gotchu! Thanks for watching
Thx for sharing
Rishabh Raitka Music 🙏
Much love
Terry TheProducer 🙏
Hey man nice video thanks for sharing this. Can you do a video on showing how to upload the mastered track and the track that has head room?
@LifeStyleDidIt
U DA REAL MVP!!
J Cyrius thanks!
Awesome vid! Def worth a subscribe
melodyquick thank you!
Crazy beat btw
yo in jst one video iv gained so much useful information lol thanks so much dude
A Baharin thank you
oooo I needed this! thanks for these videos Dx
Loud AF 🗣️
Thank u👍🏼👍🏼
Finally someone who knows their sh*t!!
Hey lifestyle, geat video but i'm still confused.
If I send a beat out to an artist, can it be fully mixed with exception to pushing the limiting ceiling? Is that okay?
e.g. track is mixed and final stage is to bring up threshold. I disable that on the master channel and just send it out just like that.
Thank you!
Can you do a tutorial on how to trackout with a mastering chain on master since it doesn’t let you trackout with master effects on
@lifestyledidit So basically the beat people hear on your page can be mixed and mastered by you to make it sound loud and punchy, but the zip, wav, and mp3 should be at -6db for easy engineer edits and headroom?
Nice 👍🏽
Xv Beats thank you!
Dang bro I always wondered about this when uploading beats to all socials and then the beat the artist gets, I give them a light version of mastering with landr is that okay though?
Since I learned a few things the only thing I use the limiter for on the master channel is to raise the volume for the demo/tagged version. It isn't doing anything but raising the volume. This way I know when someone leases or buys a beat it'll sound exactly the same except for the sound reduction. I level and mix in mono without the limiter. Sometimes I forget to turn it off while I'm making the beat but I just turn it off before I start fine tuning everything the way I want it. I really don't even do much mixing anymore outside of some light EQ and maybe some sound design stuff. Everytime I try to dabble into some of those mixing plugins I just mess things up. Lol Still do sometimes. I've only been using FL a few months so I'm still learning.
Yeah just turn the mix volume of that plugin down or it will change your sound way too much. Did this mistake too when I was new
It takes years to learn just a little of what any DAW can actually do lol but mixing is extremely important and if you’ve only been doing it a few months then there’s a lot you should look into.
What kind of files do i need to send to the artist i sell the beat for? And how it would look like in his end?
nice!
Afridi Hassan thanks!
I understand the need for both versions as I am primarily a mix engineer but I produce. How would you go about setting that up through beatstars? Cause I'm always used to uploading a single file that's basically mastered.
Helpful vid
idk beats thanks!
Nice video like always, I have a question though, do you aim for certain RMS when limiting the beat or just gain reduction?
Ekz Beatz if I am mixing / mastering an actual song, yes. But if it’s a beat for my site and I’m just trying to get it up to average volume for auditioning purposes, I don’t pay too much mind. In my case, the customer will get a copy with headroom, so I’m just pushing my tagged mp3 that will play on my site
Today only i was thinking that where's the new tutorial by my Senpai
And here you are
THANKS.....
Badetheproducer thanks for watching bro!
i like your vids , :) help alot
is it okay to just have the melody a bit under 0 db and just jack the kick over 0 sb and add a soft clipper to level it back and clip the kick?
thanks once again bro!!!i wish rappers that come with "mastered" beats could just understand its a hassle tryna mix and master a song with an already "mastered" beat!😢
G for real
Sfiso Thwala thanks for watching!
@@LifeStyleDidIt thank you for giving us endless knowledge bro!✊
Is that not why they should go ahead and purchase the stems which should be sent with and without effects? If they hear a beat they like and purchase it but then don't actually receive that version is that not deceiving unless clarified at the point of sale?
@@BR-vd2ux but some download free beats of which are already mastered.
that's the hassle.
Did you use exhale for the background vocals on the beat?
Real quick, simple and incredibly useful video. Everything has been fully explained (except what they do on the engineering side to mix the beat; but far from the topic.
Keep 'em coming!! Been wondering how loud I should make my beats!
Which waves plugin pack do you have?
So it doesn't matter how much headroom at first because you can gain it back down right? as long as a limiter/clipper wasn't originally used you can save the track to allow headroom?
So the joints we send to customers can have tags?
What about if you use a mastering suite like Izotope Ozone or plugins in general (EQ, stereo widening, etc.) on the master bus? Should you also bypass those on the version that gets sent to artists or just bypass the limiter?
I feel like the artist should get what they heard when they purchased the beat. If they wanted to mix it up too much is that not why the stems are offered at an extra price which should be sent both with and without the effects?
Best
hey Lifestyle, I really appreciate all your videos, you're a big inspiration to me, that's why I wanted to ask, what did you study? I'm bout to start my life at university and I really dunno what I wanna to study but sure as hell I wanna study something realted to music, thanks!
J for Judge what’s good! I did multiple years in studios and live sound (in theater) I learned a lot during this time, and every free second I would read audio books and online forums. Then UA-cam channels like the recording revolution
Hi champ, thanks for the video.
QUESTION:
Must we master the instrumental before re-mastering it along with the vocal, irrespective of the music genre?
Or, is it better to do an instrumental, add the vocals (mix of course) before mastering them together?
Thanks!!!
@lifestyledidit I hope you answer this question, I've the same doubt 🙏🙏🙏 please guide
Loud enough that my neighbors can hear it
and what bout rms or lufs bro i wonder if there is a standard for loudness in this case?
what level should it be for UA-cam? 0db? or leave headroom?
Yes...I was taught you want to go no pass 6 db....but I learned sometimes you may need to go 5 db
Where do you get ur drum kits from? If u don't mind me asking
Will I have good results adding rap vocals over the "boosted" beat that has the limiter applied or no and just go with the stemmed version & have it mastered so I still preserve the dynamic range?
best bet is to always get something with headroom. Stems are always gonna be the best because you can mix the song as a whole since you have control over each part of the beat, but if you go with a WAV master file, I would ask the producer to re send it with headroom!
I was thinking this, I could just imagine a rapper/singer having to yell over a bricked waveform with lots of post-gain
Appreciate that.....Just listening to different opinions.....
Apart from the loudness amount. For the file that gets sent to the artist, Do you mix the instruments with compression, side chains, fancy vst plugins or do you do a simple mix to just level out the sounds & leave the artist’s engineer to mix the instruments again? Where as the one that gets upload for streaming do you mix and master the instruments with all the fancy stuff or is it you just mix the instruments once, but send one file without the limiter and the other one with the limiter?
Personally if they got a engineer i just send stems with just leveling if not you then add your own effects and send the whole instrumental or the stems with effects
And no limiter
Why should we not run into red? I feel like it sound cooler sometimes?🤔
Today’s video was a simple one that many of us know, but I get asked so many times about how loud the beats should be on your site vs what gets sent out! Easiest way to think about it, ANY version that will go out to the customer (leave headroom) the version that plays on your website or beatstars player for auditioning (you can apply your limiting / clipping to get your desired loudness on the master) as this file wont be sent out.
If you wanna see a video where I go in depth on gain staging check this video out. ua-cam.com/video/yG1rXSHXByk/v-deo.html
Hope you all have a great weekend!
Thanks man, you too. Liked the video, Simple or not, I learned from it... Also, IF you someday are bored to Death, I would love a video about making a song from start to finish the way pro's do it , recording, mixing, mastering, exporting. How to's, Why's, When's. Not saying to throw out all trade secrets of yours, more like a General guide for beginners/advanced.... Have a Great weekend ✌️
What about mp3 should you have those loud as possible or leave headroom for the artist ?
Good Vid, my G! #Headphones
Bizz Says lmao😂😂
This is a really touchy subject, because I've always uploaded my beats to Beatstars mastered, then I started uploading beats with headroom because it made more sense but then rappers started contacting me after the purchase telling me to send them, I quote, "the loud version from the website, the volume here is low, I want what I paid for", and these are rappers who drop projects, albums etc not beginners 🤔
Leave A Legacy that’s interesting, I never had that happen.
Have you ever told them that it is better? And the benefits that come form
Headroom haha?
I’m sure the engineers would be mad
@@LifeStyleDidIt yeah, I've explained everything, but they simply wanted the loud version so I had to master the beat and manually send it to them 🤷🏼♂️
Leave A Legacy 💀😂
Give them what they ask for. If they are truly interested in getting the best version, they will buy trackouts. When exporting, your individual stems won't have the limiting applied depending on how you setup your export, but the MP3 and WAV will. Anyone purchasing the MP3/WAV will absolutely be expecting to buy what they hear. You'll get less complaints the few times you do, if ever, you up sell them on why it's important to buy trackouts and just discount them the difference from what they previously purchased. You've pretty much already confirmed this yourself with your own experience. Do what's best for you. Same goes to lifestyle...keep doing what's working for your company.
@@Inflightmuzik Completely agree with you man, thank you for the detailed response! 🙏🏼
This is a great tutorial ! Shoutout to @LifestyleDidIt I used one of the the free Scream kit that I downloaded from lifestyledidit.com. I used LS-Vox7, here is the demo beat I created and added the free Scream kit to it. Here it is if you want to check it out. soundcloud.com/vic-45/in-the-shade Thank you to @LifeStyleDidIt!!!!
So when I’m mastering a final song, would putting a limiter on the beat and a maximizer on the master fader in the same session be a bad idea??
Same question.
is this still accurate for the volumes
Gems (x)
Does this only apply for trackouts or also for mp3 and wav files where you just have the whole beat in one not tracked out?
KidnxtDoor anything that goes to the customer!
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
so when sending an artist a beat, i should never use a limiter? what if i put the limiter on 0 to leave headroom, is that still an error ?
When you mix you don't use a limiter at all
Why would you send a tagged version too? So you mean when an artist buys your beat, they can go in and change up things like the effects, volumes, etc on that beat, and which one is that and why? Thanks man, I'm just learning about this process, and I have a million questions that I still need answered, but I just want to make sure that I get tgis thing right.
Everytime I do this I feel like my track is clipping like my speakers just start tripping even my headphones too
it's the little things
Before sending your beats to a mix engineer, should you send the individual stems? And if "yes", should you take off all your effects you've put on it (eg. EQ's, saturation, compression, reverb etc) so the engineer can apply their own effects?
Depends. You could send wet and dry stems. Only if you wanna put in that extra work.
Most engineers do prefer stems without any effects. Speaking from a bit of experience. Using dry stems just makes the mixing process a bit easier and sometimes we have our "secret" sauce that we like use.