How to bounce multiple tracks to one new track

[norfolkmastering]

I am struggling to get the bounce to tracks working as I want.

I have four mono bass guitar tracks which together make up the entire bass performance.  I used fader automation to decide which parts of which track I want.

I tried the following settings:

Destination: New Track

Channel Format: Mono

Source Category: Tracks (with the four desired tracks ticked)

Mix and Render: set as defaults

When I press okay, the result is four new tracks with exactly the same audio as the four source tracks.  I don't get a mix of the four tracks down to one new track as expected.  What am I doing wrong?

[msmcleod]

Specifying a source category of Tracks will create an individual track for each of the tracks.

What you want is a source category of "Entire Mix", with only the tracks you want bounced selected, and possibly the Bus options unchecked, e.g.:



If you're bouncing with FX, you might want bus FX/Automation included - if that's the case obviously leave them checked.  You may also need to select any Aux tracks if this is the case.

[AndyB01]

You could just route them all to a bus - presumably there's a reason you want to make a new track?

That being the case, selecting entire mix and the relevant tracks should work as above.

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks!  Yes I wanted the Bus FX and Automation switched out so that worked just fine.

What do you use the source category of tracks for?  You seem to get an exact copy of what you already have?

[msmcleod]

6 minutes ago, norfolkmastering said:

Thanks!  Yes I wanted the Bus FX and Automation switched out so that worked just fine.

What do you use the source category of tracks for?  You seem to get an exact copy of what you already have?

For bouncing a version of your track(s) with FX and/or automation baked in.

[Starship Krupa]

Unless I'm misunderstanding the goal, rather than using automation to put together a single performance from different takes, you might try using Cakewalk's comping features.

You cut the different takes into clips and then stitch the clips together to form one performance. You can move the clips around, copy them, adjust their levels individually, etc.

Then once you have them arranged as you wish, you can select the individual clips you want and bounce them to one big clip (with a right click).

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks for the further info.  Really helpful.  I tried comping but I found the editing and crossfading of the clips more difficult than working with separate tracks.  This might be lack of practice on my part so I'll have another going with the comping facility.

Thanks again.

[norfolkmastering]

Hello again.

So I spent some time trying to use the comping feature.  Can I ask your advice on one specific difficulty I am having.

Let's say I record a first take of the whole performance.  It's all fine except for one mistake part way through the take.

So I record a second take which starts a few bars before the mistake and ends a few bars after the mistake.

I then choose exactly where I want to changeover to the second take and where I want to revert back to the original take.

On T2, it's fairly easy to use the isolate function and drag to make the time selection of the part of T2 I want to use.

However now (I think!) I need to use the isolate and drag function on T1 from time zero to exactly the same time index as the start of isolate for T2.  This is not easy!

Is there a better way to do this and perhaps a Cakewalk video which shows how to do it?

[AndyB01]

Watch this and make notes

I still refer to mine every time I use comping.

Andy

[Starship Krupa]

A couple of bits of advice for getting your feet wet with comping in Cakewalk.

There are different modes of doing it. Speed Comping is (I think) unique to Cakewalk and is awesome for straightforward comping tasks like different takes of a single instrument/vocal. It takes some time to get used to how it works, some hitting the documentation and Reference Guide, maybe a YouTube vid or two.

For more complex things that include big edits, like copying entire choruses and multi-mic'd drums and pasting them around, I prefer to work in Manual Comping mode. That's the more traditional one, common to most DAW's.

You might want to start with just one of them and then explore the other at your leisure. IMO, Manual is more intuitive, Speed is of course faster. Like wayyyy faster once you get a handle on it. Speed can also be simpler just because it does so much for you. But if you're like me, you'll put a shiny spot on your Ctrl-Z keys while learning it.

I find that when working in Manual mode, it's often easier to switch off the Comp tool in the Smart Tool's options, and make good use of the Edit Tool rather than trying to get the Smart Tool to do everything. The Smart Tool is great because you don't have to explicitly switch it for things like moving and copying, but with great versatility can come a greater possibility of unintended consequences.

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks the video was a big help.

It's still a bit more complicated when you are not working with partial overdubs but I'm getting there!