Is there a big advantage to mixing in wav instead of midi

[kevvvvv]

I always mix in midi because I play in midi.

Should I be converting my midi tracks to wav first and then mixing down as wavs?

Will it make a big difference?

Your thoughts welcome.

[pljones]

One potentially huge issue is that MIDI isn't sound... Your synths may sound different each time they process the same MIDI instructions, depending on the amount of randomness they include in their algorithms (and I like some rather random stuff...). That will mean your mix may not sound the same the next time -- even though you've not changed anything. And you may, therefore, want to keep tweaking... I get "most of the way there" in MIDI - general balance, etc, but for mix/master sessions, audio files.

[kevvvvv]

interesting
never thought of that before

[Distorted Horizon]

You can use heavier plugins if you bounce to audio.

For example compressors. You may want to use excellent Klanghelm Mjuc here and there. When building a song, it'll eat lots of cycles you could use for synths for example. But when you make a song and bounce the stems, suddenly you have almost all the processor power to use only for those mixing tools

[MogwaiBoy]

Staying in midi means it's more convenient to "go back back to the mix" and tweak notes/placement/arrangement if needed.

Another disadvantage is that bouncing waves increases the filesize of the project overall.

But some synths and generators use insane amounts of CPU, so might be worthwhile 'printing' them to wave file and re-importing anyway - then you can devote CPU to mixing duties.

[V0RT3X]

I always mix in midi because I play in midi.

Should I be converting my midi tracks to wav first and then mixing down as wavs?

Will it make a big difference?

Your thoughts welcome.

My experience in an actual recording studio kind of went like this. The engineer would start by recording the artist playing the composition with little to no processing. Once they got the performance captured the way they want, then the engineer would start to shape the mix with dynamic processors, effects, EQ etc.

However being the artist and the engineer makes things a bit tricky. I usually mix while I create but your mileage may vary because it can get pretty tricky trying to keep up with all the processors on a track.

If you find freezing kills your creativity because you want to go back and change a note, or automation then maybe consider buying a UAD-2 System.

Since it's all powered by it's own DSP system you can use it's high quality mixing processors to mix your plugins.

[Boone777]

Committing to wave (bouncing or render) also makes you move forward. It's nice to be able to tweak but at the same time it can make you develop a case of fuckarounditis. Working on a timeline it's a good habit to comit.

[V0RT3X]

Committing to wave (bouncing or render) also makes you move forward. It's nice to be able to tweak but at the same time it can make you develop a case of fuckarounditis. Working on a timeline it's a good habit to comit.

Having a concrete goal with a due date is always the smartest way to work. Workflow is so important.

[Aleatoriac]

I render to audio as soon as possible in case the dev sells out to Apple

[RichieWitch]

I usually bounce MIDI tracks to audio as soon as my CPU meter hits 50%. That's about the point where I start to notice small glitches in the audio processing. Usually bouncing the drum and percussion tracks through the drum bus will get me back down below 10%.

I save a copy of the project before the bounce in case I need to go back and change the drums for some reason later in the production process.

[V0RT3X]

I render to audio as soon as possible in case the dev sells out to Apple

[murnau]

Keep a project with your midi but for the mixing bounce all to wav. Also consider in a few years you maybe not have the same plugins, daw, operating system, or computer.

Another good reason for bounce to audio is to prevent yourself from overdoing things and let you concentrate only to mixing while you are in the mix phase.

[MogwaiBoy]

I render to audio as soon as possible in case the dev sells out to Apple

Post of the Week

[Atza]

Many of soft synths (especially EDM oriented) use many filters,evolving delays and modulations that they never render the same output. If you freeze tham you will have output that is always the same and you can treat it like any other audio (guitars e.g.).
I often make mix and than when i render it is different due to rando character of synths I explained. So if I want to get predictable and constant output i always render synths and use wav instead of midi.

[Distorted Horizon]

Committing to wave (bouncing or render) also makes you move forward. It's nice to be able to tweak but at the same time it can make you develop a case of fuckarounditis. Working on a timeline it's a good habit to comit.

I have a "stash" -folder where I drop instrument tracks with their midi files. And of course I turn those tracks off (or mute.. depends about the DAW. Doesn't use cpu at all anyways) before I drop them there.

This way I can always wake them again, make the tweaks and bounce to audio again. Though this all takes bit of time and effort so it needs to be a horrible mistake/issue that I want to go that tweaking again

Only issue though is that project files take crapload of space from my hd. And when I export the song, the stems alone take something between 2,5gb - 5gb. But at least I have the song in a format, that it doesn't matter if I sell the synth license or DAW etc.