+1 on this. I still wish Ableton had a “Hide and Make Inactive” function like in pro tools so if you change the melody you could go back and change it if needed.
Well, in many Protools many functions are celebrated as a breakthrough that other programmes already had for years. The same with the function you mentionned: Right-click on a track and select “Freeze”. Then the midi-clip will be bounced to audio and the VST will be inactivated (saving you CPU power) but you can go back and unfreeze at every time!
he means hiding the track not freezing it
Well, but what’s so special about hiding it? You could easily drag your freezed clip at the bottom of your list of tracks in Ableton Live as well and mute it. Then it’s close to being hidden.
And if there is more than one track like this you can create a folder track containing all the “hidden” material.
Freezing a track still has it using up CPU. Hide and Make Inactive In Pro Tools voids the tracks of using CPU power. This can be applied to any number of tracks and just keeps the session looking clean. Very handy when doing mixdowns.
Yes.
Again, this still chews at CPU in ableton. I hide and make inactive probably 20-30 tracks in pro tools on some sessions. clients always change their mind on things and so do i when writing. A slight difference and more of a personal preference. i like both of the features. i just want them in one DAW.
Ah, OK, didn’t know that there is no CPU usage in Protools when the track is hidden and inactive. Well, then it sounds like a nice feature. Nevertheless, it’s arguable if this and some more special features will justify the (depending on which version of Protools you choose: much) higher price of Protools. For some people it will, for others it won’t.
Having clarified this, let’s hear some more production tips! 
Another one definitely is dragging one’s own productions (even if they’re unfinished) to an IPod and giving it a listen on different headphones and different speakers (e.g. at a friend’s house) whenever possible.
This may reveal sharp highs and problems with the low-end.
keep it simple, do not throw more things to improve the mix, improve your current sounds and make them sound big and phat.
My favourite production tip:
If you’re currently not producing, you’re doing something wrong.
I am studying, songwriting and music theory…does it count? lol.
That counts. If there’s a lack of inspiration listening to music with your DAW open can also count.
so in terms of organizing your sounds into templates do you have any advice, do you do it by genre?
Probably he does so if he’s into producing music of different genres. But normally, you probably won’t be into too much different genres. In terms of getting your signature sound and becoming really good at producing one kind of music it’s recommendable to focus mainly on this genre and not to produce every kind of music at the same time. Concentrate on maximally let’s say 3 genres.
When talking about templates here’s how I do it: When producing with Ableton Live you can save a template project containing the basics you always want to tart with. In my case this is a fixed drums-bass-melody1-melody2-FX1-FX2-vocals scheme without loaded plugins but with some effect return tracks ready to go. If you like you can already insert your go-to-plugins in the bass or melody tracks.
Btw: I labelled it “melody 1” and not “synth 1” as I don’t always use synths. Sometimes you will have a piano or something like that and therefore its name is meant to reflect it’s containing the melodic stuff.
As I don’t load in to much I don’t have to differenciate between different genres. But if you’re into several genres productionwise and always have your plugins and so on loaded in you might want to create multiple template projects.
I have them grouped into similar style sounds, lets says, one group is kick and snares, anothers cymbals, sustained bass, short bass, pads, quick synths, keys etc
in the end its what best work for you
This, All This!!!
When I first started producing I thought that making all these cool sounds was the best thing in the world, I spent hours designing them but really in practise most of them couldn’t be used because of the complexity of them. In saying this I don’t mean sit there and just throw a stock kick and snare and do nothing to it I say this in a practical meaning.
This is the biggest load of rubbish i’ve heard in a long time. Especially in the genre I usually work in it can sometimes take just 2 hours alone to make a kick, yes just a kick.
Do you think all the major artists including those underground kick ass artists get away making a track in 2 hours? I think not haha!!
You got it, bro!
Maybe not in 2 hours but in 4-5 hours you can finish the arrangement of a track pretty much. I do not know about how people produce but I have every single thing in my mind ready before I start. I have melodies running through my mind before I open my DAW. I know how the arrangement is going to be, it is just matter of picking the right sounds for it.
when he said 2 hours i believe he ment the writing/aranging
tbh some of my best tracks to date have come out in about 2 hours
please note though that im not talking about building sounds such as the kick or sound design…i tend to do those things at other times when im not writing/aranging
to me personally those times are completly seperate
i have times for sound design
and times for writing/designing
also the writing aranging is usually very rough 
it takes me about 20 hours total to finish a track to standard but the idea is on paper within 2 usually
That sounds reasonable and very similar to my style of working (separate times for sound design and songwriting…).
It’s also important to notice there is a lot of work to do in the beginning of music production in terms of forming your signature sound but the longer you’re into this the more of your favourite sounds will be ready-to-go. And you will also be much faster in finding the sound you’re looking for, of course.
That is true, Most of the time I try to come up with a melody where the peak part of the track happens and then build the track around it, which I find is the hardest to come up with a solid 5-7 minute track. Arrangement is the hardest.
What about resampling?
~
I don’t think I have ever used the freeze option I tend to resample the MIDI to and audio waveform after adding some EQ and compression or whatever other effects I’m looking to create and by doing so I end up deleting the original to save CPU power, of course I keep two copies in case I need to adjust or change anything maybe I just have a backward way of doing this, is there anyother way of saving CPU power besides the ones mentioned in this thread?