Product SiteDocumentation Site

Chapter 4.  Bouncing the Project

Once you've finished your song, you obviously want to export the piece so that people can listen to it without having to have your Qtractor source files. This process is sometimes called "bouncing" a track, or exporting a "mixdown" or simply "exporting" the song.
Since it's possible to have multiple sources contributing to your final product (external hardware synths feeding sound into Qtrator while soft synths play over pre-recorded audio files to the beat of a Hydrogen drum machine on another virtual desktop, for example) it would make no since to treat the exporting process in the same way as a wave form editor (such as Audacity) would. Qtractor's bounce process is literally to play all the sound sources in sync whilst recording what is playing back into Qtractor itself.

Note

Different people deal with bouncing and exporting in different ways, depending on their preference, their creative needs, and the capabilities of their computers. For instance, you could bounce each MIDI track individually to an audio track and then export all audio tracks into one self-contained track. Or you can simply set Qtractor to record and then play everything back into one audio track, which you then export.
There is no right or wrong way to do it. Either do it all in one go at the end or do it step by step. Usually the raw power of your computer will be the deciding factor.
To perform the final export of your completed work:
  1. Create a new Audio track: Track > Add Track
  2. Label the track, ie, "Bounce"
  3. Open the Connections window: View > Windows > Connections
  4. In the Connections window, connect the Master/Out of Qtractor to the Master/In of Qtractor, such that the output of all sound managed by Qtractor is being directed to the input of Qtractor for recording.

    Warning

    Be sure to disable any capture device such as microphones or unused line-ins. You'll be recording all the live sound going into Qtractor, so you don't want accidental line noise, hums, or room tone.
  5. Set the in and out points for your recording by clicking once on the top timeline at the point you want the recording to stop; a blue transport line will be anchored where you click. Scroll back to the beginning of your project and click again in the top timeline to mark the in point with an opening blue transport bar.
    Click the Punch In/Out button in the top menu bar to limit playback between your markers.

    Note

    If you do not set in and out points, you will need to stop the recording manually.
  6. Arm your Bounce track for recording. Click the Record button in the top menu bar.
  7. Make sure that your transport (playhead) is at the beginning of your track! When ready, press the Play button in the top menu bar.

    Warning

    Bouncing a track is a realtime process. Do not use your computer while you're bouncing a track!
When you've bounced your song to its own track, save the project! Solo the bounce track and listen to the recording for quality assurance, and then you are ready to export that track as a self-contained, distributable file.
To export a single track to disk:
  1. Select the track or tracks you wish to export. If you bounced everything into one track, then it will just be that track, which you can solo using the Solo button on the track controls. If you are exporting a project consisting of only in-project audio, then leave them all activated and continue.
  2. Choose Track > Export Tracks > Audio
  3. In the Export Audio dialogue, choose a location and filename for your file. Choose the range of what will be exported; you can export the entire session, or manually set a Punch In/Out range, or specify the range in timecode, frames, or bars/beats/ticks.
    If you have multiple output sources, choose the appropriate source (probably your Master Output).
  4. Click the OK button to begin the export.