Bounce and export
Everything renders offline: the real mix runs faster than real time, so plug-ins, stacks and channel strips sound exactly as they play. Playback is silent until the render finishes. Plug-ins see the transport playing from the start of the range, and every instrument gets its note-offs at the end. Delay compensation is removed from the start, so files line up with the timeline.
Bounce Project or Section
Section titled “Bounce Project or Section”File › Bounce Project or Section… (Ctrl+B) writes the full mix through Stereo Out.
| Option | Choices |
|---|---|
| Range | Whole Project (bar 1 to the end of the last region), Cycle Range (the default when Cycle is on), or Bars from–to. |
| Audio Tail | 0 to 30 s (2 s by default), for reverbs and releases. Silence at the end is trimmed. |
| File Format | WAVE (default), AIFF, or FLAC (lossless, about half the size). |
| Resolution | 16-bit (with TPDF dither), 24-bit (default), 32-bit float. FLAC has no 32-bit float: with FLAC chosen it writes 24-bit. 32-bit float AIFF is written as AIFF-C, which most applications read. |
| Sample Rate | The project’s (default), 44.1, 48, 88.2 or 96 kHz (converted with the high-quality resampler). |
| Normalize | Puts the peak at -0.1 dBFS (off by default). |
The file name defaults to the project’s, next to the project folder, with the format’s extension
(.wav, .aif or .flac). The options, format included, are remembered. MP3 and AAC are not
offered yet.
Every format holds exactly the same samples: a 16-bit FLAC decodes to the same numbers as a 16-bit WAV of the same bounce, dither included. AIFF and FLAC files import back into Marbble like any other audio file.
Export All Tracks as Audio Files
Section titled “Export All Tracks as Audio Files”File › Export All Tracks as Audio Files… (Ctrl+Shift+E) writes one file per track into a
folder, named <number> <track name>.wav (or .aif, .flac) after the track’s place in the
list. It has the same options as Bounce, format included.
- Each audio and instrument track plays alone through its own channel strip, fader and pan included and Stereo Out left out, so the files add up to the mix.
- A track’s own mute and the project’s solos are ignored.
- A summing stack is also exported as a whole, through its own strip, next to its subtracks. Folder stacks have no strip and get no file.
- Tracks without (unmuted) regions are skipped.
- Every file covers the same range plus the full tail, so they line up when imported elsewhere.
Export Selected Tracks as Audio Files
Section titled “Export Selected Tracks as Audio Files”File › Export Selected Tracks as Audio Files… (Ctrl+E) does the same for the selected tracks only: one file each, rendered and named exactly as Export All Tracks would, so a few stems can be redone without writing them all again. A selected folder stack stands for its subtracks; a selected summing stack writes its mix (select its subtracks too for their own files). Selected tracks without regions are skipped, and the dialog lists the files it will write.
Bounce in Place
Section titled “Bounce in Place”Track › Bounce in Place… (Ctrl+Alt+B on Linux and Windows, Control+B on macOS), also in the track and region menus:
- Renders the selected tracks through their channel strips, over the span of their regions,
into the project’s
Audio Files/. From the region menu (or when regions were the last thing you selected) it renders just the selected regions. - Each result goes onto a new stereo audio track below the source, with the same colour and in
the same stack, named “
(bounced)”. - Options: Audio FX (Channel EQ and plug-ins, on by default); Volume/Pan (off by default: the new track takes over the source’s fader and pan instead); Audio Tail (up to 2 s); Source: Leave, Mute (default; the track, or the regions when bouncing regions) or Delete.
- Instrument tracks bounce their MIDI to audio. A summing stack bounces its output, subtracks included. A folder stack bounces the mix of its subtracks, with its fader printed.
- It is all one undo step, plug-ins included when the source is deleted.
Export Region as Audio File
Section titled “Export Region as Audio File”Export as Audio File… in the region menu renders one region alone, muted or not, through its track’s Channel EQ and plug-ins, before the fader. It uses the same format options as Bounce.
MIDI files
Section titled “MIDI files”- File › Import MIDI File… puts a Standard MIDI File on the selected instrument track at the playhead’s bar, and further parts of the file on new instrument tracks. You can also drop MIDI files on an instrument lane, the track headers or the empty area below the tracks, or right-click an instrument lane › Import MIDI File Here…. An empty project takes the file’s tempo and time signature.
- Export: a region (region menu › Export as MIDI File…), a whole track (track menu › Export Track as MIDI File…), or the selection (File › Export Selection as MIDI File…).