Hey guys,
Recently I ran into a problem of unbearable CPU usage within my DAW(Ableton 8.01). And to lower the CPU usage I figured I should Freeze some of the midi channels or to set up an audio channel and take the input from a midi channel and record the entire thing. I watched some of David Pensado's videos on youtube and I could see he only works with audio. Then I thought it might be a good idea to have everything as an audio but then also I am not sure how to approach it. Is it better to apply fx before freezing or recording or after? Is the sound going to be the same when u freeze it or record it? When I work I go back so many times and tweak knobs in the VST I use so I am not really sure how to approach this without going back many times and change things.
I thing this topic is kinda production techniques related so hopefully its in the right section.
Thank you in advance
How do you make a use of a freeze function in your DAW.
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- KVRist
- 56 posts since 2 May, 2013 from Canada
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- KVRist
- 152 posts since 25 Apr, 2009 from Taylorsville, KY
I just started using freeze in Ableton lately. Freezing renders whatever the track is, MIDI/effected audio, to audio. It sounds the same to me when rendering the whole project. If you need to change something, you can unfreeze the track, make the change and refreeze it. If the track is pure audio, I don't think you get much out of freezing it. Freezing tracks frees up computing resources because it doesn't have to run VST plugins or apply effects to a track while playing everything else, it just has to play back the rendered audio.
Roy
Roy
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- KVRAF
- 2147 posts since 30 Oct, 2006 from Australia, NSW
We do regular "save as" as we produce and freeze tracks and commit them to audio.Your final version of a track should be all in audio as thats where its ending up.This technique allows you to commit and move on with your track.Freezing is just commitment 
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Patches for PHASEPLANT ACE,PREDATOR, SYNPLANT, SUB BOOM BASS2,PUNCH , PUNCH BD
AALTO,CIRCLE,BLADE and V-Haus Card For Tiptop Audio ONE Module
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- KVRAF
- 8681 posts since 24 May, 2002 from Tutukaka, New Zealand
I don't use freezing at all. Just can't be bothered with it - it was all the rage when it first came out, but I still just see it as rendering to audio with one or two less button clicks (which is exactly what it is).
I personally just render channels or parts to audio. Which can give you some benefits over midi - there are quite a few powerful editing tools for audio nowadays, and I find myself more and more playing with audio parts - cutting, moving, gating, mashing up with bucketloads of FX, reversing etc.
There are times I'll render a whole channel from an analogue synth - mainly because I know I'm a bugger for constantly fiddling with knobs. I'll have an instrument line I'm perfectly happy with, but I can't stop tweaking and before I know it I've changed it to something I can't get back from. Save while the iron's hot.
I used to render with FX on, but more recently I tend to render dry channels and either run FX live over audio channels, or occasionally render FX as well, but separately. Even if I do render with FX on, I will always render a dry channel anyway - save as you go. Always have the originals, and if you've rendered FX on top, you can't go back. Well, you can, as most DAWs have infinite undo nowadays, and maybe that's where freeze has a time advantage. Separate FX saves your CPU, you can still Eq the FX separately (which I do quite a lot) and you can play with the stereo placement that little bit easier. It also means you can add FX onto FX that little bit easier. Basically, running everything back into their own full channels is just easier - aux returns are OK but I like more control - I used to do it with a mixer, and still do it in a DAW. And every now and then it's nice to be able to fart around with FX - things like reversing sections of it - can't do that if it's live.
It's good sense to save every project with all samples, dry audio and all midi. With various versions as you go - I tend to have between 5-10 version of any finished track. A basic ideas starter, right through to the final version. HD space isn't an issue any more, so saving audio and midi files doesn't cost you anything. CPU can be an issue (it is for me) so saving audio is the way to go.
Everybody does it differently though.
I personally just render channels or parts to audio. Which can give you some benefits over midi - there are quite a few powerful editing tools for audio nowadays, and I find myself more and more playing with audio parts - cutting, moving, gating, mashing up with bucketloads of FX, reversing etc.
There are times I'll render a whole channel from an analogue synth - mainly because I know I'm a bugger for constantly fiddling with knobs. I'll have an instrument line I'm perfectly happy with, but I can't stop tweaking and before I know it I've changed it to something I can't get back from. Save while the iron's hot.
I used to render with FX on, but more recently I tend to render dry channels and either run FX live over audio channels, or occasionally render FX as well, but separately. Even if I do render with FX on, I will always render a dry channel anyway - save as you go. Always have the originals, and if you've rendered FX on top, you can't go back. Well, you can, as most DAWs have infinite undo nowadays, and maybe that's where freeze has a time advantage. Separate FX saves your CPU, you can still Eq the FX separately (which I do quite a lot) and you can play with the stereo placement that little bit easier. It also means you can add FX onto FX that little bit easier. Basically, running everything back into their own full channels is just easier - aux returns are OK but I like more control - I used to do it with a mixer, and still do it in a DAW. And every now and then it's nice to be able to fart around with FX - things like reversing sections of it - can't do that if it's live.
It's good sense to save every project with all samples, dry audio and all midi. With various versions as you go - I tend to have between 5-10 version of any finished track. A basic ideas starter, right through to the final version. HD space isn't an issue any more, so saving audio and midi files doesn't cost you anything. CPU can be an issue (it is for me) so saving audio is the way to go.
Everybody does it differently though.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 56 posts since 2 May, 2013 from Canada
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- KVRer
- 15 posts since 7 Jun, 2013 from Cape Girardeau, MO
If this is huge issue to you then I would check out Studio One 2.5. You can transform instrument tracks to audio tracks very easily BUT you can leave the inserts active or inactive and also reverse it at any time back to an instrument track to adjust the instrument or MIDI. You can also do this with inserts on audio tracks as well. Cheers!
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- KVRist
- 353 posts since 22 Feb, 2004
Freezing can be very helpful when you're ready to bounce a project and have more control over where it peaks. Real-time synthesizers and effects are pretty fickle and can actually cause a difference of several dB decimals each time you play the project. By rendering them before-hand you'll make sure they always behave predictably and lets you adjust volume with greater detail.