The Art and Theory of Bouncing Your Audio and Midi Channels

#MusicProduction #FreezeAndFlatten #Bounce
Today we talk about bouncing audio. Specifically if I recommend it during the production and/or mixing stages of a track. After talking the theory we jump into the DAW and I show you the ways I do it and some things to watch out for and consider (signal flow considerations mostly).

[@Baphometrix]

You really should consider just bouncing to 32-bit (float) and make sure the "Dither" option is NOT checked. Now you have a carbon copy of the original signal, with zero worries about any peaks over 0 on your meters (even if you're bounding PRE fader.) I'll never understand why Bitwig offers 24-bit as the default for bounces. The original signal is always 32-bit float, and when you bounce to a fixed sample rate like 24-bit, you're asking Bitwig to do downsampling and you should always dither when you go from floating to fixed point. And if you go to 24-bit and DON'T realize you should dither, then you're adding truncation distortion, which is far worse than dithering noise. Why deal with any of those bad additions (dithering noise or truncation distortion) for a BOUNCE? Just carbon copy the audio at 32-bit float with nothing added and tons of headroom above 0 dBFS for any peaks that might be overshooting 0 dBFS.

[@ProduceWithMe]

I understand your logic and tbh that is the smartest thing to do always from a true DSP perspective.
I think the counter to that is that you sit 1000 people in a room and play them the 32 bit versus the 24 bit or even say the 16 bit without dither most people won't be able to tell a difference assuming there is no digital clipping occurring prior to output.... To be perfectly honest the only time I've really been able to audibly hear a "problem" without dither is on a bounce to 16 bit with delay and reverb tails and even then I don't think most listeners would even notice or care

[@Baphometrix]

@@ProduceWithMe Heh, you don't have to convince me about "best theoretical" versus "what's practical" and "listeners don't notice most of the things we producers/engineers obsess over" 😙That said, disk space is plentiful and cheap, and 32-bit float saves you time and simplifies your workflow. Especially in Bitwig where we can just Bounce > Deactivate any given track to flatten it to pure audio. (And then hide deactivated tracks.) Your project stays clean, your audio stays exactly the same, and you can always re-activate the original deactivated track to fix problems you find later (deleting the bounced track and then re-bouncing it when you're done tweaking the original.) You can even save some steps by making 32-bit float your default value for the Bounce dialog. (This is a feature I asked for back when we were still in version 2.x)

[@youlemur]

​@@Baphometrix "disk space is plentiful" - nope, it never is, no matter what you do (if we're talking also keeping it cheap)

[@ahteha8010]

Plz explain. My project settings are 24/48
You say bitwig work in 32 bits float
I dont understand.
I thought my project 24 bit, so i bounce and render to 24 bit and its ok..

[@tudorgheorghe4532]

4:54 😊😅

[@Hello-pl2qe]

I like to bounce but keep the original track next to it but muted to reduce the cpu. If I change eq or add any plugins I work from the bounced audio track but once I'm happy I usually drop all those same plugins onto the original vsti track, make final tweaks and then one more final bounce. As I get closer to a final mix stage I'll drag all the bounced audio tracks next to eachother but leave all the original virtual instruments tracks muted. That way there's always the option to change an instrument, but also its not very cpu heavy if you decide to unmute and work one vsti track at a time. Of course things change slightly with modulation or reverb everytime you open it but not enough to worry about.

[@tudorgheorghe4532]

Hi ! Please mention 10 check list for when and way should commit to audio clips? I will start with few myself and let you continue; 1.production elements and tonalities,2 good blend of instruments choice and texture!3.gain minus 18 db dogital scale....4...

[@Artek604]

17:40 - instead of stacking the bounces like a lego, you could loop the 8 bars of MIDI once, bounce the resulting 16 bars and then loop the 2nd half. That's how bouncing in Clip Launcher actually works if clip is looped.

[@brianbollmantennis]

Makes Perfect Sense, I know personally I'm just set in my ways but that's actually a really smart way to go about it

[@peterkoval]

not a big fan of bouncing. i like to keep the midi, as other parts are added or changes, I do think it's reasonable to go back and make minor changes. just me... plus I like to see the midi notes when playing other instruments against it.

[@realtonaldrum]

Check my approach: th-cam.com/video/fdBm-bWkglA/w-d-xo.html

[@realtonaldrum]

JUST BOUNCE IT, MAN! 4:40 JUST DO ETTT!

[@maximusprime8021]

What about setting your gain at -18 dbFS before bouncing?

[@realtonaldrum]

Actually. You don't need to make a Graveyard-Group track. - I've done this as well before. - You can create a Group Track. Yes. And then you have to put your Plugin-Instrument Tracks and your bounced Audio Tracks in it. - You go to the Arranger View and click right-click on the Group Track (Which is normally a grey bar with some visual content in it) and change "Group View Content" into "Master Track Content". - Then this grey bar disappears. Your Group Track becomes visually a Audio Track. (Maybe Midi Track as well, haven't tried it yet). - You can deactivate your Plugin-Instrument Tracks now. And keep your bounced Audio-Track, but you'll need to put it now into the Group-Master-Track with the "Master Track Content"- View, we just created.. This way it should be possible to not even adjust your send levels again! :)

[@realtonaldrum]

And it's actually possible to bounce the grey Group Bar as well. - So, you can deactivate everything that is inside that group afterwards without having to make a dead "Graveyard"-Group Track. Because you will now use the bounced Group-Audio in the Group-Master-Track. - Which is more handy that way, I think.

[@bci3937]

@@realtonaldrum Interessting can you show us an Example?

[@ProduceWithMe]

@@realtonaldrum haha like someone else said you got to make a video of that.... I'm old and probably set in my ways but I'd love to see that in action/a more efficient approach

[@realtonaldrum]

@@ProduceWithMe oh thanks. ok. what program do you use to record? need to check

[@ProduceWithMe]

@@realtonaldrum I use OBS now that I'm on PC... but for something like this you don't really even need the audio so I think something like VLC has a simple screen record

[@bestdisco1979]

Is it possible to loop a bounced clip ?