Quick way to bounce a track in Garageband

metasixstring wrote:

I was introduced to this term "bouncing" as a mean to render a midi file to an audio file; is that all bouncing is?

that would fit the definition, though you could also bounce audio tracks (or multiple, and mixed tracks of audio and MIDI data).

the term comes from the analog days when a typical home recorder might have only 4 tracks with which to work. one might record on three of them, then mix them down to the fourth track (bounce them) to have those first 3 tracks free for more recordings.

metasixstring wrote:

I read it is better(easier?) to work with audio files when mixing than with midi files.

as stated, this isn't correct, it's nether better nor easier to work with Audio rather than MIDI (in fact in some respects MIDI is far more flexible).

when it can be true is if you're working on a project that taxes your hardware too much, however simply locking the MIDI tracks alleviates this issue (once the track is locked and the freeze-files are created, there's no need to drag them into the project, or delete the MIDI track, they are already being used instead of the MIDI data).

additionally, if you find your self in need of working with the MIDI data to alter it, you simply unlock the track, make the changes, and re-lock it (them) to create a new freeze file.

In addition to what HangTime wrote - converting the midi files to audio files will increase the size of the project considerably. As midi tracks are much easier to edit, I prefer to keep the midi tracks as software tracks to save storage and to be able to see the score for the track.