Just freeze the synth (not the track)

M_Glenn_M


What!? Evolving timber? This could be one of the stronger reasons. Why would a synth do that?

garrigus


Another reason may be where you're using a soft synth patch that has an evolving timbre that may be different with every playback. It's best to freeze that so the frequencies don't change during mixing.

Because LFO's & other modifiers might be on some random re-generation and you won't get the same sound twice


And that's timbre, not timber 

Bristol_Jonesey

Because LFO's & other modifiers might be on some random re-generation and you won't get the same sound twice 

Yep, and the changing frequencies could make it more difficult to nail down your project mix.


Scott

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Aggg! I froze the track and found you can't go back to Midi.. WTF!
I waited too long and the auto copy is the same.

Bristol_Jonesey


Just freeze the synth (not the track)

You should be able to unfreeze and go back to MIDI.

Here's what I do btw:
- make a copy of the MIDI track
- freeze the copy to generate an audio track
- copy the frozen audio to a new track
- archive the original MIDI track and the frozen copy

I've been burnt too many times by going back to older projects only to find that one of the following has occurred:
- the MIDI synth no longer works, is not available, plays the sound differently, or 'what sound'
- the frozen track cannot be unfrozen

My approach works for me because at least I know I have a permanent copy of the audio the way I heard it when I was composing the MIDI track.  I also like to know I have that original MIDI track archived should I need to work on it further.  Keeping the frozen track might seem redundant, but I like to have it around just in case.

At the end of the day I trust no synth, no software, no bundle backup or older disks etc. to be able to recreate the audio sound from its components.  I always, always render that audio as my ultimate fallback situation.

So, freezing a synth turns the midi into an audio track?

Here is a good explanation http://www.cakewalk.com/D...=EN&Req=Mixing.23.html

redbarchetta


So, freezing a synth turns the midi into an audio track?

Essentially, yes.  Whichever audio track has the MIDI tracks being routed to it, receives an audio clip that represents that MIDI and its corresponding synth.  The audio clip is special in that you can unfreeze it to get back to your original MIDI clip state.


You really don't want to be editing the generated audio because then you either compromise your ability to unfreeze it, or you lose any audio edits when you do unfreeze.  This is one reason why I made a copy of the generated audio so that I have a better chance of leaving that special audio clip untouched.  And as I mentioned above, I always maintain a copy of the original MIDI track so that any vertical editing I do across all tracks are also applied to that original MIDI file.

Freezing synths is a good function, but you just need to be careful with it and understand the consequences of your editing actions thereafter.

I assumed the same thing. Just unfreeze it.
I hit freeze and it made the audio.
I then hit unfreeze and was given nothing.
Not just a blank clip, nothing.
Freezing again brought back the audio at least.
Perhaps going Edit- undo might have worked?

If you are using a Simple Instrument Track, split it.