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Instructions on how to perform Internal Bouncing in your DAW

ProTools

1. In your Pro Tools session, create as many stereo audio tracks as you need stems. If some of your stems to be are in mono be sure to create mono audio tracks for them.
2. Assign your newly created stem tracks to a different available aux bus input.
3. Send whichever audio/instrument tracks are required for each stem to your newly created audio tracks. You do this by assigning the outputs of each audio/instrument to the same busses on the inputs of your newly created stem tracks.
4. Arm all stem tracks and record all the stems in once pass.
5. Select the newly recorded stem tracks in the region view & ‘export selected files as audio’ at whatever bit depth and sample rate your session requires.
6. Be sure when you export your files that you export them in the same sample rate and bit depth as your session.
7. Lastly, create a new folder, label it the name of your project then stems afterwards followed by the bpm of the song. Example ‘project_stems_bpm’. Place all exported files into the folder.

Digital Performer

1. The export feature for Digital Performer is pretty much the same as Pro Tools.
2. Create as many stereo audio tracks as you need stems, assign each one a different aux bus input. If some of your sessions tracks are in mono be sure to create mono audio tracks for them to create your stems.
3. Send whichever audio/instrument tracks are required for each stem to whichever stem bus using aux sends.
4. Arm all stem tracks and record all the stems in once pass.
5. Select each newly recorded stem track in the arrangement, control click on each file and choose export selected audio file. Be sure to make sure each file is exported at the same sample rate and bit depth.
6. Lastly, create a new folder, label it the name of your project then stems afterwards followed by the bpm of the song. Example ‘project_stems_bpm’. Place all exported files into the folder.

Logic

1. Logic is probably one of the easier DAW’s to create stems on for export into another system.
2. Disengage any inserts you may have on your tracks that you are preparing to make stems of. If you wish for your insert/fx to remain on a particular track, you don’t have to disengage.
3. Go to the file menu and open up the export to audio option.
4. In the export window, select all the tracks that you would like to make stems of.
5. Be sure to set the same sample rate and bit depth for your exported stems as your project’s session. Click ok.
6. A Window will pop up asking for you to choose the destination of your exported files. C reate a new folder, label it the name of your project then stems afterwards followed by the bpm of the song. Example ‘project_stems_bpm’. Click save and your Logic project will begin exporting all your tracks to the folder.

FL Studio

1. Make sure ever signal is routed to a mixer.
2. Switch off every insert effect on the mixer unless you want the stem file to be treated. Sometimes it’s a good idea to make stems without fx inserts and separate stems with fx inserts on.
3. Right click on every fader, press reset. If you want to keep your levels, skip that step. But you should definitely make sure, that every channel has some headroom and isn’t clipping. Repeat the step for all the pannings.
4. Make sure every mixer channel is labeled correct.
5. Be aware that Fruity is somehow “buggy” with some virtual synths. Trilogy for example plays a bit late, which gets worse if you raise the latency. So I always render at a as low as possible buffer setting. (FL7)
6. If you don´t want to render your send effects, turn them off to save some cpu power and make the rendering faster.
7. Go to File-Export-Wave File.
8. A Menu Pops up, where you can select where you want to save your File. As we want to split the tracks, just select the right folder and write the the song name.
9. Press Enter, A Menu pops up.
10. Set looping mode to “leave remainder” This way you make sure that nothing gets cut up, for example a long release of a note.
11. Quality: Select 512-point sinc. NEVER select Dithering. If you use TS 404 you can select “Alias free for TS404”. Select “HQ for all plug-ins”. Select “Disable Max Poly”.
12. Output: You should select WAV and not MP3. Only select MP3 if you really want to piss of your mixing engineer.
13. WAV: You shoul select “24bit float (0.24) here for a optimal sound Quality.
14. Options: Select “Split Mixer Tracks”.
15. Press Start. Every Channel will now be rendered to a separate wav. The name will be: “Song title_channel name”
16. Create a new folder, label it the name of your project then stems afterwards followed by the bpm of the song. Example ‘project_stems_bpm’.

Ableton Live

1. Highlight your song in the arrangement window from beginning of song to the end. Be sure to highlight between 5-8 seconds after your song is down just in case any of audio tracks have a long sustain.
2. If there are any insert/fx settings on your tracks, bypass them unless you want those particular tracks to be rendered down with insert/fx settings.
3. Click on the file menu at the top left corner of the arrangement window and choose the ‘Render to Disk’ option.
4. Inside the ‘Render to Disk’ option click on the Rendered Disk tab. This defines which tracks will be exported out of Ableton. Choose ‘All Tracks’, which will then export all your tracks out of Ableton.
5. Inside the ‘Render to Disk’ option look for Audio file tab. Click on it and change it to .wav file. Adjust your bit depth of the exported files to the bit depth of your session, or the bit depth of the sample clips you are using. For example if you are using all 16 bit samples in Ableton, then render your audio files down to 16 bit. If you are using 24 bit samples, then render your audio files down to 24 bit.
6. Once you are finished adjusting your audio file settings, click ‘OK’ at the bottom right corner of the ‘Render to Disk’ option. This will begin the process of exporting your individual tracks out of your Ableton Project for use on any DAW. A save to disk folder will pop up. Create a new folder, label it the name of your project then stems afterwards followed by the bpm of the song. Example ‘project_stems_bpm’.
7. Lastly, one thing to keep in mind when you are rendering your files is if any of your tracks in your project are in mono, you should render them separately as mono tracks. You would do this by choosing ‘mono’ in the Audio files tab in the ‘Render to Disk’ option under the file menu.

So this about wraps up this discussion on how to prepare your sessions to use/mix in another DAW. A few quick things to remember is always label your files, always make sure all your exported files start at the beginning of your song, even if there is dead space. This way, everything will line up perfectly when they are brought back into a new DAW system. And lastly, if there are any tracks rendered/exported/bounced down that you are not using, delete them from the stems folder. This will save whoever is working with them stem files time, and will make for a smaller stem file size when sending to another person, copying to drive or burning to disc.

If you need assistance mixing your project call us at 832-947-3762 or email [email protected].