Freezing MIDI Tracks

Projects that use soft synths can tax your computer's processing and disk resources. Freezing MIDI tracks allows you to convert each MIDI track to a .wav file, effectively taking your soft synths offline.

MIDI Track

Frozen MIDI Track

MIDI Track Data

Audio Wave Data

MIDI Messages

Soft Synth

Audio Buffer

Soft Synth Bus

Soft Synth Bus

Sub/Master Bus

Sub/Master Bus

Hardware Output

Hardware Output

Freeze your tracks when you're finished editing them. After freezing, you can adjust track volume and panning only.

NOTE Notes:

  • Only tracks that are routed to soft synths can be frozen. Track freeze is unavailable for tracks that are routed to MIDI devices or ReWire devices, muted, or armed for recording.

  • Any VSTi parameter envelopes you have applied to a soft synth bus track are also saved into the frozen .wav file.

  • The soft synth bus in the Mixing Console window is not frozen. You can continue to work with effects, volume, and panning on the soft synth bus.

TIP If you freeze your MIDI tracks and save your project as an Acid project with embedded media (.acd-zip), the frozen .wav files will be saved with your project. You can use this method to archive a MIDI project or share your project with a collaborator who doesn't have all your soft synths.

Freeze selected tracksClosed

  1. Select the tracks you want to freeze.

  2. Click the Freeze Track button on a selected track (or right-click a selected track and choose Freeze Track from the shortcut menu).

    The tracks are rendered to .wav format. Please note that render speed is dependent on the soft synth plug-in.

If you freeze a track that is routed to a multiport VST instrument, you'll be prompted to choose which port you want to freeze. VSTi technology does not allow you to freeze multiple ports.

MIDI track before freezing

MIDI track after freezing—all controls other than Mute, Solo, Volume, Pan, and Automation Settings are unavailable.

Edit frozen tracksClosed

After you freeze a MIDI track, you can adjust track volume and panning only. Trim and automation controls are available in the track header and Mixing Console.

These controls behave as they do on an audio track. For more information, please see "Adjust a track's volume" and "Pan a track" in Audio Track Controls.

A frozen MIDI track does not allow you to edit the following:

  • Moving, splitting, deleting, and drawing events are not available.

  • MIDI data — such as inline MIDI editing, continuous controller messages, SYSEX data, volume and pan messages, and voice changes — is frozen.

  • MIDI filtering is not available.

  • MIDI track properties cannot be edited.

  • The Chopper window is not available.

Unfreeze tracksClosed

  1. Select the tracks you want to unfreeze.

  2. Click the Freeze Track button on a selected track (or right-click a selected track and choose Freeze Track from the shortcut menu to clear the check box).