# Programmer instruments for music - big files/location

**URL:** <https://qa.fmod.com/t/programmer-instruments-for-music-big-files-location/24283>\
**Category:** FMOD Studio\
**Tags:** unity\
**Created:** [May 23, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/programmer-instruments-for-music-big-files-location/24283 "2026-05-23T17:46:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johanenglund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ea924/32.png) [@Johanenglund](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Johanenglund)\
**Post date:** [May 23, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/programmer-instruments-for-music-big-files-location/24283/1 "2026-05-23T17:46:58Z")

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Hello

I’m working on a project that will need longer music files 5 - 10 mins and possibly 1.5h in total maybe even more.. Instead of loading them via the banks I’m considering loading them at runtime using programmer instrument. Is this a common approch and where should I store the files e.g., Assets/Streamming/Music?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Connor\_FMOD](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/qa.fmod.com/connor_fmod/32/3685_2.png) [@Connor\_FMOD](https://qa.fmod.com/u/Connor_FMOD)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 4:53am UTC](https://qa.fmod.com/t/programmer-instruments-for-music-big-files-location/24283/2 "2026-05-26T04:53:13Z")

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Hi,

It is hard to say if it is a common approach. I would suggest making sure you create the sound using `FMOD_CREATESTREAM` ([FMOD Engine | Core Api Common - Fmod::Mode](https://fmod.com/docs/2.03/api/core-api-common.html#fmod_mode)) otherwise the entire file will be loaded into memory:

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/uploads/fmod/original/2X/2/25dc8cee6d454fb8dc806967b482cc2c0c3e1edb.png)

The file can be stored anywhere that is accessible to the FMOD system. If you expose the path this would also allow users to load their own files as well.