Freeze tracks and synths

The Freeze feature allows you to temporarily bounce your track, including soft synths and effects, to reduce the amount of CPU power needed. The Freeze feature also works for synths patched in the Synth Rack.

The following are the available commands for track freezing:

Freeze Track. Bounces the audio in the track to a new audio clip or clips, applies any effects, and disables the effects bin.

Unfreeze Track. Discards the bounced audio, restores the original audio to the way it was before the last Freeze or Quick Freeze command, and enables the effects bin.

Quick Unfreeze Track. Hides and mutes the bounced audio, restores the original audio to the way it was before the last freeze or quick freeze command, and enables the effects bin. Bounced audio is retained, however, and toggling between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

Quick Freeze Track. Only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick Freeze function redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio instantaneously and disables the effects bin.

The following are the available commands for synth freezing:

Freeze Synth. Audio from a soft synth is bounced and placed on the synth’s track. Output from the synth is disabled, as is the effects bin on the synth track.

Unfreeze Synth. Discards bounced audio, enables the synth and track effects bin. Bounced audio is discarded, and will be re-bounced if you choose Freeze again.

Quick Unfreeze Synth. Hides and mutes the bounced audio, enables the synth and track effects bin. Bounced audio is retained, and toggling between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

Quick Freeze Synth. Only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick Freeze function redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio instantaneously, disables the synth, and any effects on the synth track.

Note 1: An Unfreeze or Quick Unfreeze command restores the audio on a track to the way it was before the last Freeze or Quick Freeze command. Any editing you do to a frozen track is discarded when you Unfreeze or Quick Unfreeze the track.

Note 2: You control the bit depth of all rendering operations (bouncing, freezing, applying effects) in Edit > Preferences > File - Audio Data, in the Render Bit Depth field. The default value of 32 is the best for most situations. See Bit depths for rendering audio for more information.

To Freeze a track

Do one of the following:

In the Track view, click the track’s Freeze button .

Right-click on a track and select Freeze > Freeze Track from the menu that appears.

SONAR bounces the audio in the track to a new audio clip or clips, applies any effects, and disables the effects bin.

To Unfreeze a track

Do one of the following:

In the Track view, click the track’s Freeze button .

Right-click on a track and select Freeze > Unfreeze Track from the menu that appears.

SONAR discards the bounced audio, restores the original audio, and enables the effects bin. Audio will be re-bounced if Freeze is chosen again.

To do a Quick Unfreeze of a track

Do one of the following:

Hold down the SHIFT key and click the track’s Freeze button .

Right-click on a frozen track and select Freeze > Quick Unfreeze Track from the menu that appears.

SONAR hides and mutes the bounced audio, restores the original audio, and enables the effects bin. Bounced audio is retained, however, and toggling between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

To Quick Freeze a track

Do one of the following:

Click the track’s Freeze button .

Right-click on a track that you did a Quick Unfreeze on and select Freeze > Quick Freeze Track from the menu that appears.

Only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick Freeze function redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio instantaneously

To Freeze a soft synth

Do one of the following:

In the Track view, click any associated track’s Freeze button .

Right-click a synth track or a synth’s MIDI track, and choose Freeze > Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.

In the Synth Rack (Synth tab in the Browser), click the Freeze/Unfreeze button .

SONAR bounces the synth’s audio data to the synth track. SONAR disables the synth’s output, and disables the effects bin on the synth track.

Note 1: If a soft synth has been inserted to an audio track’s effects bin, the Freeze/Unfreeze button is not present in the Synth Rack for that synth. To freeze that synth, right-click the track or the synth’s MIDI track and choose Freeze > Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.

Note 2: A MIDI track can only be frozen if it is routed to a software instrument.

To Unfreeze a synth

Do one of the following:

In the Track view, click any associated track’s Freeze button .

Right-click a synth MIDI or audio track, and choose Freeze > Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.

In the Synth Rack, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button , and choose Freeze > Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.

SONAR discards bounced audio, enables the synth and the synth audio track’s effects bin. SONAR will be re-bounce the audio if you choose Freeze again.

To do a Quick Unfreeze of a synth

Do one of the following:

Hold down the SHIFT key and click any associated track’s Freeze button .

Right-click a frozen synth MIDI or audio track, and choose Freeze > Quick Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.

In the Synth Rack, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button , and choose Freeze > Quick Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.

SONAR hides and mutes the bounced audio, enables the synth and track effects bin. Bounced audio is retained, and toggling between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

To Quick Freeze a synth

Do one of the following:

Click any associated track’s Freeze button .

Right-click a quick unfrozen synth track or synth MIDI track, and choose Freeze > Quick Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.

In the Synth Rack, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button , and choose Freeze > Quick Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.

Only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick Freeze command redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio instantaneously, disables the synth, and any effects on the synth track.

To set Freeze options

Do one of the following to open the Freeze Options dialog:

In the Track view, right-click any track’s Freeze button .

Right-click an audio or synth track, and choose Freeze > Freeze Options from the menu that appears.

In the Synth Rack, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button , and choose Freeze Options from the menu that appears.

Choose options in the Freeze Options dialog box. For help choosing options, click the Help button in the dialog box.

Tip: All Freeze commands are also available in the Track menu.

Tip: To show or hide the Archive and Freeze buttons in the Track view, open the Track Control Manager and specify the visibility of the Track State group. For details, see Track Control Manager.