A Guide To Freezing and Bouncing in FL Studio

A Guide to Freezing and Bouncing in FL Studio Music & Audio Tuts+...
1 of 23
Tutorials
Music & Audio
Courses
Categories
Premium
http://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/a-guide-to-freezing-and-bouncing-in-fl-...
Jobs
Software & Tools
Blog
Series
By Sean Duncan, 12 Jul 2010

Tweet
Like
Freezing. Bouncing. Rendering tracks. Whatever you call it, it is a useful

part of music production because it allows you to free up CPU power for
more plugins and creates an audio file. While it's not a one-click solution,
bouncing in FL Studio is a process that is easy enough to be
straightforward but complicated enough to give the user a lot of control.
The first five steps may be all you need to know to get started with
freezing tracks in FL Studio, and you can check out the rest of this tutorial
to go in-depth with handling special circumstances.
To clarify, freezing a track means rendering that track as an audio file, and
then disabling the plugins. This tutorial is about doing this process in a
way that does not alter the sound of the track, and that allows you to keep
the plugins in the project file in case you decide to "unfreeze" and adjust
the plugins.
Example 1
Step 1: Project Data Folder
Before we begin, we can specify a folder to hold all our bounced audio
material for this project. Use keyboard shortcut F11, and navigate to
Project > General Settings, and click on the project Data Folder to do this.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
2 of 23
Step 2: Select Timeline

For this first example, I have a synth that is sent to a mixer track, which is
then routed to two other mixer tracks where it is being heavily effected and
modulated. It's an intro effects soundscape that is taking quite a bit of
CPU. I'll be using this to give an example of how to bounce a track with
effects.
First, navigate to the part of the Playlist where the section you want to
freeze is located, which in some cases will be the whole song or most of
the song. Regardless of how big it is, select the section, and be sure to
give enough space on the end for the sound to fade out. Muting the other
tracks is not necessary, but may help with determining where the sound
ends.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
3 of 23
Step 3: Prepare for Rendering

Open the Mixer and click on the Arm Disc Recording button for each track
you want to render, which in my case is the two effected tracks. Each time
you click this button, a dialog will pop up asking you to give a name for the
file. It won't render the tracks until later, but this will give it a name to have
ready.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
4 of 23
Next, go to the Mixer's dropdown menu, and select Disk recording >
Render to wave files. I recommend having all the options selected.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
5 of 23
Now FL Studio will render the files, and automatically save them in the
project data folder, with the names we specified. When it's done, check
the Playlist to see the files appear.
Step 4: Disable or Delete Plugins, Save CPU Power

To finish the freezing process, mute the midi and automation clips in the
Playlist or mute the plugins, and enable Smart Disable for all the
instrument and effects plugins that went into making this sound. This will
allow you to turn off the plugins and free up some CPU power, and you
could reactivate the plugins later by muting the audio clips and enabling
the plugins. Alternatively, you could delete the plugins and erase the clips,
but then you would not be able to go back and alter the sound.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
6 of 23
Step 5: Optional Finishing Touches

From here, you can choose to route the audio clips to the mixer however
you want. Another note is that because I used this technique, I was able
to get a separate audio file for both mixer tracks, and I took advantage of
this by reusing one or both audio files at different times in the
arrangement.
Perhaps you would like to signal that a track is frozen by noting it through
a certain color and icon.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
7 of 23
Example 2 Pattern freezing, Pre-FX bouncing

In the first example, we rendered a pattern post-fx. But often, you'll want to
freeze an instrument without the effects. At times you may want to render
a pattern that repeats itself in the song. We'll tackle both of these
situations in the next example.
There are two patterns. One of which is called IntroPad, which plays three
times, and the other is called sPad which plays once. The easiest way to
render this would be to select the whole timeline and render it all, and
sometimes the arrangement is so complicated that this is the best route.
But this time, we could save some hard drive space by rendering the two
patterns and then arranging the audio clips to match the song.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
8 of 23
You may have noticed in the image that there is an obstacle preventing us
from doing this disc space-saving plan, and that is that each pattern
instance has unique automation. This is automating an EQ in the mixer
FX. We can render the audio, one clip for each of the two patterns,
without the EQ to get the unaffected instrument sound. Then we can
reapply the same effects to the audio files and have the same sound.
An easier way to do this, however, is simply to route the instrument to a
blank mixer track and render the audio files without any mixer effects or
level/pan adjustments. Then, we'll route the audio files to the mixer track
that the instrument was originally linked to. This will freeze the instrument
plugin, but our automation and effects settings will remain intact and
tweakable.
Step 1: Route to Blank Mixer Track

First, let's reroute the instrument to a blank mixer track.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
9 of 23
Step 2: Select the Timeline

Then, we'll select the timeline. While you could go into pattern mode, I
prefer remaining in song mode and selecting the area in the Playlist, so
that I can manually adjust the timing if the sound has long release.
Then following the same process from earlier, select the Arm Disc
Recording button, and name the file the same as the pattern.
Step 3: Rendering the Files

From the Mixer menu, select Disc Recording > Render to Wave Files, and
wait for the file to render. Next, let's select the other pattern and do the
same process.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
10 of 23
After that, arrange the audio files to match the patterns.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
11 of 23
Step 4: Route Back Into the FX Track

Then select the audio clips and link them to the mixer track that the
instrument plugin was originally linked to.
Step 5: Muting and Disabling

Now that the routing is done, we'll need to mute the original instrument.
We should also select Smart Disable for the instrument in order to save
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
12 of 23
CPU. (sound familiar?)
Step 6: Optional Finishing Touches

Lastly, let's return the "blank" mixer track to its original blankness. Making
a habit of this will keep the mixer neat and clear. The easiest way to do
this is to navigate to the Mixer Presets folder in the Browser, and drag and
drop the Default.fst file onto the mixer track.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
13 of 23
Since we've muted the instrument, it doesn't matter how we handle the
midi clips in the Playlist. You could delete the clips if you want, but you
might want to stack the midi clips with the audio to have a visual
representation of the notes, or you may want to keep the midi on its own
track and mute it to visually show that its been frozen. The following image
shows what two visual techniques might look like:
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
14 of 23
Example 3, Partial Freezing

We've covered situations when you want to render a track with or without
effects, but there is a third option. What about situations when you want to
render a track with some of the effects? This is actually quite a common
situation. For example, you might want to bounce down a track for which
you're sure about the compression, but still want to be able to tweak the
EQ or Reverb. For this next example, I'm going to bounce the instrument
and its compression, but not the EQ.
Here is the track in the Playlist.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
15 of 23
Above is the mixer set up. As you can see, the track I want to freeze,
which is the Distort Reese track, has two other tracks routed to it, which
are Bass1 and Bass2. This sound is actually made up of two instrument
plugins being sent through their own mixer tracks with their own effects,
and then they are routed together to the same bus. I stand to save a lot of
CPU by bouncing these instruments.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
16 of 23
Step 1: Decide How Far

The basic idea is to decide how far into the signal chain to freeze the
sound? What should be permanent? What should be adjustable?
First, mute all the effects plugins you don't want to freeze, and be sure to
note the values of the level and panning of this mixer track. We'll need to
set the panning to center and the level to the default value, so that when
we route the audio back to this track it will be received by the EQ plugins
the same as it was before the bounce, pre-level and pre-panning.
A note about the level, however, is that if setting the level to the default
value causes the audio to clip, then you'll want to keep the level at the
setting it currently is, and then reset the level after bouncing. Resetting
the fader makes it transparent, so that it won't add or take away from the
volume of the track.
Step 2: Bounce
Next, Arm disk recording and render the audio file.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
17 of 23
Step 3: Mixer Routing, Flip the Plugins On/Off

Link the audio file to the mixer track, and turn on the effects that were
turned off for the bouncing. Basically, what was off gets turned on, and
what was on gets turned off, and disabled. Also, adjust the panning to its
previous location and adjust the level if needed. This will result in having
the same sound before we began this process, the only difference being
that we save some CPU and we can't adjust the frozen plugins.
Step 4: A Special Situation
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
18 of 23
In this situation, much of the automation was recorded to the same

patterns as the notes, so we can't mute the Midi track in the Playlist. You
may be concerned about the notes in the track, but they will not cause
anything since the instrument is muted.
That's possibly all there is to know about bouncing in FL Studio. In the first
example I covered the basic process for freezing in FL Studio, and in the
other two examples I showed how to freeze without effects. Once you get
this down, bouncing tracks will take only a minute, and this can be a
handy technique to have available when the CPU starts getting
overloaded. Thanks to freezing, you can keep loading new plugins as you
need them.
Final Words
Aside from freeing CPU, there are other benefits to rendering tracks:
It makes the sound permanent. You don't have to worry about
accidentally changing it and it backs up your work for the future.
You can render groups/busses in order to make stems for mixers and
remixers.
You can further edit and manipulate bounced tracks with audio-
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
19 of 23
specific techniques like chopping, scratching,and stretching.
Tutorial Details
Difficulty: Intermediate
Length: Medium
Tags: Audio Production, FL Studio
Advertisement
Download Audio
Converter
www.avs4you.com/AVS-Audio-Conve
Compress 30+ Formats Easily & Fast!
M4A WMA WAV MP3 AAC FLAC AMR
etc
Advertisement
About the Author

Sean Duncan is an aspiring Drum N
Bass/Breaks emcee from Seattle,
Washington. He also produces Hip
more
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
20 of 23
Related Posts
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
21 of 23
5 comments
Best
john
Great tutorial! Very well explained.

Have searched for a way to bounce/freeze in FL for a while now, so thank you!
L. Scott Knight
Another way to render a synth pre-FX would be to insert an instance of Edison before any FX and
simply set it to record on play. You then can save the file and send it to the play list. You then route
the new audio clip to the same mixer insert and disable/mute the original synth. You can also record
post FX from the last FX slot (or route to another insert if full) but Edison can't record any mixer
automation so you have to use the above methodes for that.
Neural Neural
there is a way to freeze an automated pattern, without the automation. you have to go to the piano
roll, and when you are there, just go to the bottom panel (where you specift the note velocity and
panning), by right clicking on the left part (where in the piano roll are the actual notes) you can select
panning, volume, and any other automated thing that is in the pattern. select the one you want, and
the go to the options of the piano roll (the little arrow up left), and then to edit -> turn into automation
clip. i dont remember if it appears in the playlist, of if you have to click somewhere, but doing that
dettaches the automation from the pattern, and then you can freeze it too.
Bosh
How do you bounce just the signal of the effect? In my case I have a reverb on a synth automated
to become huge at the end of a section and I just want to bounce the reverb sound without the sound
of the synth along with it. I tried just arming the disk recording or whatever on the send channel
solely of the reverb but that still bounced the synth signal with it. Is there an updated way to do this in
FL Studio 11?
Gus Fring
Hectic!
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
22 of 23
Download a Free
Audiobook
www.audible.com
Try Audible with a free
audiobook. No Shipping, No
Waiting. Try Now!
Advertisement
Music & Audio
Back to Top
Categories
Software & Tools
General
Audio Production
Workshop
Logic Pro
Open Mic
Mixing & Mastering
Sound Design
Reason
News
Lectures
Recording
Ableton Live
Instruments
Composition
Music Theory
FL Studio
Web Roundups
Logic Pro
Browse All...
Browse All...
Teaching skills to millions worldwide.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM
23 of 23
Design & Illustration
Development
3D & Motion Graphics

Crafts & DIY
Music & Audio
Game Development
Photography
Mac Computer Skills
Business
About Us Blog Write for Us Advertise Suggestions Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions
2013 Envato Pty Ltd.
1/24/2014 10:39 PM

A Guide To Freezing and Bouncing in FL Studio

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

A Guide To Freezing and Bouncing in FL Studio

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

A Guide to Freezing and Bouncing in FL Studio Music & Audio Tuts+...

Music & Audio

Software & Tools

By Sean Duncan, 12 Jul 2010

Freezing. Bouncing. Rendering tracks. Whatever you call it, it is a useful