recording ITB vocals on a separate session to save on CPU

[dj_who]

i was wondering if this is a bad idea.

i've done it a couple of times and like the results. but i'm wondering if there are any issues as far as bouncing too many times.

what i do is:

record the music (with just a scratch vocal) and then mix with a bunch of plugins and my cpu meter almost max. i mix with nothing in the 2 buss to wav 24 bit 44.1.

then i start a new session, import the music mix wav, now i add all vocals. doubling and parallel compression ect. here my cpu is almost maxed again. i then mix with a comp for glue in the 2 buss to wav 24 bit 44.1

THEN, i start a NEW session. i import the new music/vocal mix. and master using a bunch of stuff in the 2 buss. thats when i bounce to 16 bit mp3.

so would bouncing this many times "deteriorate" the wav files?

thanks

[Kiwiburger]

Bouncing digital files is lossless. But it sounds like hard work - and only worthwhile if your DAW has track limitations (like Protools).

With a decent DAW like Cubase, it's easier to simply move all your backing tracks into a folder to clear some space on the screen. You could render a backing track and then disable all other tracks. That means that your CPU and disk are only streaming a single stereo audio file.

I'm not sure why you are struggling with CPU issues. Tracking audio is mainly disk activity. Are you slapping plugins on every track or something? Try to track without plugins. Or if you really need to hear some reverb or something, set up a group bus so that you only need one instance.

With something like Cubase, it's important to realise that Mute doesn't stop an audio track from streaming. You need to Disable the track. Otherwise the system resources increase as you add more tracks.

[5down1up]

never worked for me ... not in fact of a quality loss during the bounce but for the reason that i dont have access to the single tracks to mix it " right ".

if its working for you its not a problem.

[amost]

Originally Posted by 5down1up

never worked for me ... not in fact of a quality loss during the bounce but for the reason that i dont have access to the single tracks to mix it " right ".

if its working for you its not a problem.

yeah I've tried that with subbing out drums as a stereo pair & then importing that pair into another session that was about CPU maxxed, never got it right.

[dj_who]

thank you for the replies.

Are you slapping plugins on every track or something?

not on every track but enough of them. i do the group thing but i also like plugs on some individual tracks as well. also my PC isn't the fastest. :( so by the time i get to doing vocals, i'm pretty much maxed.

i would love to upgrade to cubase sx because that has track freeze and that would make my life easier.


thanks again !

[Kiwiburger]

You can still freeze your tracks manually (export audio, import it).

But you don't really need plugins on everything while you are tracking vocals, do you?

[dj_who]

i've done the freezing manually thing but its a pain. i often decide i want to change something and then i have to bring back the original track again.

i usually mix as i go, so i wind up accumilating plugs.

[Kiwiburger]

It's not a great idea to mix before you have your vocals in place.

All you need for the vocal guide track is a basic beat, and some padding so the vocalist can pitch. Maybe some bass, but that can throw off the vocalist pitch if excessive. I like to use virtual instruments that I know are pitch accurate.

I don't think you really need any plugins to get a good guide track in place. Once you have your vocals all compiled and edited, and your system resources are freed up again, you can go crazy.

[dirren]

If you know exactly what sound you are going for the mentioned approach can be considered. I've worked on difficult drum tracks (lots of edits) in a separate session, bounced to stereo and then used that in another "mix" template session. But then again, that's when i've had a pretty clear goal for where I was heading with the drums. I'm not sure I would do it with vocals though.

/Matt

[lawrence_o]

I always make an instrumental "demo" mix which I import for tracking vocals.

That way, I only have 1 track for the music and I can focus more on the vocals.
Then, I make a selection of the best vocal takes, apply some pitch correction and timing corrections if necessary.

I then bounce 1, 2, 3, ... submixes of e.g. Lead 1, Backings, choires etc.
These, I import back into the musical arrangement to do the final leveling, mixing etc.

Works everytime. No loss of quality. Note that I do bounce the vocals WITHOUT any effects or EQ! I do that in the arrangement.

Regards
Lawrence

[espasonico]

I do that very often because of latency in LE. But waht I do is to import the vocal tracks to the Big session. Sometimes I bounce the BVs and import the bounce.