It all ends up as audio anyway...

[BRIGGS]

When do you bounce individual tracks to audio...before or after arranging?


I'm asking because I tried bouncing all tracks after a rough draft arrangement. It seems to take forever with my mobile i5. Maybe bouncing during the composition phase would make things smoother? I'm trying to maintain creative momentum.

Thoughts?

[MarkTarlton]

I usually only bounce tracks to audio when I'm running low on system resources, or if I want to do creative editing, like reverse or time stretching.

[BRIGGS]

I usually only bounce tracks to audio when I'm running low on system resources, or if I want to do creative editing, like reverse or time stretching.

So..a 'case by case' or 'as needed' basis...seems like a good idea.

[MarkTarlton]

another reason to avoid bouncing if you don't have to....is in case you want to change notes or arrangement....but one of the BIGGEST, is the way reason saves files, the audio embedded into the .reason file, which makes for very large sessions. I tend to save my work incrementally... so song title.01, song tile.02, song title.03 for a breadcrumb trail in case I want to go back, and that max's out my HD fast.

[boingy]

I tend to reach a point where the arrangement is pretty much done and the guide vocals are in and then I save a copy of the song to a safe place and then bounce everything down to individual audio tracks. Sometimes I go further and bounce multiple tracks down to one or more sub-mixes.

It's not usually for resource reasons. It just helps to focus my mind on the song and stops me fiddling endlessly with the individual instrument sounds. Once I've got the proper vocal in I can decide whether I need to go back to that saved copy to tweak anything. It's at this point that my motivation wanes a little which is why I have so many nearly-finished songs!

[BRIGGS]

I tend to save my work incrementally... so song title.01, song tile.02, song title.03 for a breadcrumb trail in case I want to go back, and that max's out my HD fast.

I might try that, thanks!

[BRIGGS]

I tend to reach a point where the arrangement is pretty much done and the guide vocals are in and then I save a copy of the song to a safe place and then bounce everything down to individual audio tracks. Sometimes I go further and bounce multiple tracks down to one or more sub-mixes.

It's not usually for resource reasons. It just helps to focus my mind on the song and stops me fiddling endlessly with the individual instrument sounds. Once I've got the proper vocal in I can decide whether I need to go back to that saved copy to tweak anything. It's at this point that my motivation wanes a little which is why I have so many nearly-finished songs!

I know right? Even if something sounds good, I sometimes try to improve it. <---- ocd kicking in

Knowing when to stop, is key to moving on to the next element. Not spending too much time on individual parts, can make things flow better.

I want to have enough creative energy left over to add some polish, before exporting the final product to audio.

[minilog]

Before arrangement. Shorter bounces = smaller file sizes and less wasted time. No sense in bouncing a couple hundred bars of something that repeats every 8 or 16 bars.

[BRIGGS]

Before arrangement. Shorter bounces = smaller file sizes and less wasted time. No sense in bouncing a couple hundred bars of something that repeats every 8 or 16 bars.

good points!!! thx