Print Tracks Before Mixing

[Studdy]

Anyone here print some/most tracks before mixing? Or are most of you leaving the plugins on the track. Not all tracks but tracks that are being heavily altered. I dont mean putting a hi pass filter on a track. I tend to print guitar tones once i get it 99% there. Also drum samples on new tracks.

Examples;

1. Print guitar tones before mixing when using amp sims.

2. Auto tuned vocals

3. Drum samples (Printing triggered tracks to a new track before mixing)

4. Vocal Delays and FX

etc.

Obviously if you are short on cpu printing makes even more sense but i wondered what people tend to print to new tracks. Thanks.

 

[LiberaScientia]

Yeah, the first thing I do when I'm mixing stuff with DIs only for guitars is get a nice tone for each of the tracks and print them all. Helps a ton for me since I have a shitty computer and I use X50 and TSE 808 on high quality for most metal tones.

Although when I'm using MIDI drums I tend to just leave EZdrummer there without printing so I have more flexibility if I want to change a snare/kick sample or whatever during mixing.

 

[AudioGeekZine]

I consolidate my edited tracks but I don't print fx too often. I might print samples, not likely though. I will print vocal tuning and noise reduction. I'll print outboard effects.

 

[Fluffbot]

I never print anything with FX, at least I haven't had the need to yet. I'm sure if CPU starts to become an issues i will.

As of now I print all my triggered tracks, and everything post-edit (slip edited guitars/drums, etc.) My OCD tends to be the cause of most of it, I'm sure my computer can handle it haha.

Printing synths/strings also, i find Kontakt to be a CPU hog and when you have around 10+ different orchestrations, it just doesn't work unless you print.

Can't say I've ever printed anything that isn't synth, guitar, or drums.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I think I may need to start printing before mixing and even before tracking other instruments.

I have a PC that me and a buddy built just about a year ago. It's pretty boss, yet I get crackling in Reaper when running at 125 samples with a Profire 2626. I've actually posted about this here a few times trying to resolve the issue. It's very annoying and when I have to turn the buffer up past 125, I feel there is too much latency for me to properly track anything.

Someone mentioned my firewire card or whatever ...... and that I should have a TI installed, which I do not.

 

[C_F_H_13]

I print all soft synths/midi drums, drum samples, and auto tune. I basically print anything that if I came back 2 years later to revisit a song, I wouldn't have to worry about some sounds not coming back cause a particular plug/sample bank doesn't exist on my machine anymore.

 

[JeffTD]

I print everything. I even bounce to stereo files when possible (OH, room, rhythm gtr, backing vox, etc).

 

[EOC]

never, i use everything in real time (except when using outboard of course) it gives me freedom to go back and forth. I know it is a double edged sword but i like it that way

 

[Studdy]

I print everything. I even bounce to stereo files when possible (OH, room, rhythm gtr, backing vox, etc).

Hey jeff can you explain a little more in detail your workflow. Do you get the mix 90% there. Then print everything and balance? You must use some realtime inserts/plugins while mixing?

Thanks dude.

 

[Jordon]

I print nearly all of my time-based or filter effects on guitars and sometimes on vocals, with the exception of drum and vocal delay and verb returns. I'll print any effects that are stylistic or integral to the part, like distortion on a vocal passage, or a delayed guitar line where the guitar plays off the delay. I also sum multi-mic'd guitar and bass cabinets, drums (top and bottom toms for example), and will "EQ-to-tape" for a lot of guitar and drum tracks, with the goal being to commit to a sound as early as possible, eliminating variables that I may get hung up on during the mix process. Basically getting rid of the Rabbit Hole issue I seem to come across when given too many options. If you have an overall picture of how the project should sound from the beginning, and have done decent preproduction, this saves a lot of time and second-guessing further along in the process.

Basically, when I go to mix, I don't want to have to worry about playing with delays and chorus effects, etc.

There really isn't any wrong way to do it, it's all about the workflow that fits your style the best.

EDIT: One thing I've been doing for the last 2-3 projects is getting the mix close, focusing on the vocal, then I'll do a Save-As and print all of my vocal processing. I've been doing this mainly to free up processing power, but there seem to be some workflow benefits as well as allowing me to run through the few pieces of nice outboard that I have without having to worry about where I'm using it. For example, I love my LA2A on vocals (who doesn't?), but I also like to use it on bass and mono drum room mics, so that workflow allows me to do so.

 

[crillemannen]

I mix a whole album in one session but i do like to keep midi stuff out of the mix session so usually program and bounce in another session --> import. Other then that i bounce snare cause of using a HW compressor, tuned track such as bass and vocals. Other then that not that much. I don't see the point, mainly cause im still on PT 9 with no offlinebounce haha!!! And my computer can handle allot of processing so i don't feel the need to do it cause of the CPU load.

 

[JeffTD]

Hey jeff can you explain a little more in detail your workflow. Do you get the mix 90% there. Then print everything and balance? You must use some realtime inserts/plugins while mixing?

Thanks dude.

It happens after I'm done editing and getting ready to prep the mix, I just like to have as few tracks as possible. I know things like hard panned guitars, rooms, overheads, etc are going to get the same processing, so instead of having 2 mono tracks panned left and right you just get one stereo track with the raw gtrs prepanned. That way all 'guitar bus' processing gets applied to the stereo track and I can automate a track rather than a group.

 

[schismatic]

I don't print them, but as I use Reaper I will usually freeze each buss once i've got into the right ballpark e.g. if I have 4 tracks of guitars, 2 left and right, I'll do a stereo freeze.

After freezing, I often still add some plugins, maybe an EQ for touching up here and there, sometimes some very light compression for glueing but nothing too much. I don't tend to freeze my send tracks (reverbs, delays etc).

This all just helps my CPU cope a bit better and I feel much better about having to blend 4 or 5 tracks (effectively stems) together, rather than 40 or 50. It's just simpler, you're working with much less which is nice.

Like Jeff, I apply the automation to a buss.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

The real-time bounce trick in Cubase saved my life.

 

[K Odell]

I print any all VSTi's along with any tuning or tones such as reamps and what not.

 

[Sloan]

I typically always kept stuff realtime, but lately I've been getting into printing and I love it. Committing to a sound early on is very powerful in terms of workflow and sanity. It lets you actually mix rather than just tweak sounds for 2 weeks.

 

[Machinated]

printing is good. make decisions and when you know they're right, commit. its impossible to mix a bazillion tracks with loads of shit going on. the more simple you make things, the less you have to think about and the easier you'll find mixes.

committing is the hard part, but arguably those decisions are the most important ones in the whole process.

 

[Nuno Filipe]

The only things I print is the effects/keyboards/strings that was written on MIDI. I usually work with drum software and beside having a fast machine, the workflow of printed drums it´s much better and of course doesnt suck so much ram as working in real time with Vsti´s.

 

[greyskull]

I Print Amp emulators, Soft Synths, drum triggers and any vocal tuning.

And/Or anything which bogs the system down.

 

[HOFX]

I only really print amp sims, maximum oversampling / quality, also VCC / VTM max oversampling. This is both to save CPU and to lock in a tone. Once you discipline yourself to lock in a amp tone, it makes other mix decisions so much easier / quicker.

However, I do A/B the amp tone against a reference track, and invest time into getting it right, but then, like I said, have the discipline to lock it in. Reaper's Freeze functionality makes this very easy.

I never freeze drum VSTi because sometimes I need to go in and adjust individual bleed to room/overhead channels or drum tuning - plus it doesn't consume much CPU.