Uploaded August 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In this video I demo a stage in one of my projects where I'm using Bitwig to flatten out most of my MIDI tracks to audio. While going through this process on my own project, I explain the various pros and cons of Bitwig-style audio flattening versus Ableton-style audio flattening.
Hopefully this video will convince you that it's needless to worry about losing access to Ableton's "freeze" feature. You gain so much more than you lose. Having done about four serious projects so far in Bitwig, I do not miss Ableton's freeze at all.
If you're encountering this process for the first time, it's a common technique used by many producers as they transition from "composing and arranging" a song into "detailing, mixing, and mastering" a song. By flattening (nearly) everything to audio, you enable all manner of creative warping and chopping. This process also enables you to delete all the CPU-hogging synth plugins from a project and make room for all the plugins you typically reach for during detailing and mixing.
(Big thanks to Robert Crawford for compiling this list of timestamps!)
0:00 - INTRODUCTION
0:45 - Baphy's Personal Workflow *
2:16 - Benefits of Instrument Selector when Bouncing to Audio *
3:07 - More Automations
4:14 - What to Keep & Why
5:36 - Track Preview
8:34 - A Few More Notes
10:41 - BOUNCING TO AUDIO
11:34 - Bouncing in Ableton
15:08 - Bouncing in Bitwig
19:25 - Bouncing Several Clips at Once
20:08 - Bouncing a Time Span & Use Case
22:10 - Project Organization Tips *
24:42 - Checking for Tail
25:36 - Bouncing in Place
26:50 - Hybrid Clips & Use Case
31:30 - Bouncing MIDI & Keeping Automations / Effects
39:05 - More Bouncing
58:51 - DEMONSTRATING LOADING TIMES
1:00:33 - Outro
In this video I demo a stage in one of my projects where I'm using Bitwig to flatten out most of my MIDI tracks to audio. While going through this process on my own project, I explain the various pros and cons of Bitwig-style audio flattening versus Ableton-style audio flattening.
Hopefully this video will convince you that it's needless to worry about losing access to Ableton's "freeze" feature. You gain so much more than you lose. Having done about four serious projects so far in Bitwig, I do not miss Ableton's freeze at all.
If you're encountering this process for the first time, it's a common technique used by many producers as they transition from "composing and arranging" a song into "detailing, mixing, and mastering" a song. By flattening (nearly) everything to audio, you enable all manner of creative warping and chopping. This process also enables you to delete all the CPU-hogging synth plugins from a project and make room for all the plugins you typically reach for during detailing and mixing.
(Big thanks to Robert Crawford for compiling this list of timestamps!)
0:00 - INTRODUCTION
0:45 - Baphy's Personal Workflow *
2:16 - Benefits of Instrument Selector when Bouncing to Audio *
3:07 - More Automations
4:14 - What to Keep & Why
5:36 - Track Preview
8:34 - A Few More Notes
10:41 - BOUNCING TO AUDIO
11:34 - Bouncing in Ableton
15:08 - Bouncing in Bitwig
19:25 - Bouncing Several Clips at Once
20:08 - Bouncing a Time Span & Use Case
22:10 - Project Organization Tips *
24:42 - Checking for Tail
25:36 - Bouncing in Place
26:50 - Hybrid Clips & Use Case
31:30 - Bouncing MIDI & Keeping Automations / Effects
39:05 - More Bouncing
58:51 - DEMONSTRATING LOADING TIMES
1:00:33 - Outro
