Forgive my terminology it is what i use in the day job -revision-
Since forever when i work out songs and mix them down and make changes i just keep the one file and keep working through it. Always on the assumption that the project will only get better.
This isn't always the case now is it?
Does Reaper natively, or do any of you have a workflow for moving onto a new mix of the same song without sacrificing the last mix you were happy with and without doubling up on audio files by making a copy of a project folder and stuff. Hopefully that makes sense to you all?
WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 5:33 pm
Forgive my terminology it is what i use in the day job -revision-
Since forever when i work out songs and mix them down and make changes i just keep the one file and keep working through it. Always on the assumption that the project will only get better.
This isn't always the case now is it?
Does Reaper natively, or do any of you have a workflow for moving onto a new mix of the same song without sacrificing the last mix you were happy with and without doubling up on audio files by making a copy of a project folder and stuff. Hopefully that makes sense to you all?
I did you what you do, up until the Jongleurs remix project - then all I did was Save As v0.1, 0.2, 0.3 etc as I go, so I could go back to the last version at any stage. Just saves the work file but doesn't touch all the audio bits. You do want to avoid the "Clean project directory" function if you're doing that, seeing it'll work from the current file only and may nix stuff you used in earlier mixes but aren't currently deploying.
Armistice wrote: ↑Tue Oct 26, 2021 7:11 pm
I did you what you do, up until the Jongleurs remix project - then all I did was Save As v0.1, 0.2, 0.3 etc as I go, so I could go back to the last version at any stage. Just saves the work file but doesn't touch all the audio bits. You do want to avoid the "Clean project directory" function if you're doing that, seeing it'll work from the current file only and may nix stuff you used in earlier mixes but aren't currently deploying.
All that 100% ^^^^
Just sequentially rename each new mix in the same folder.
I do what Greg does...either add a numeral or letter at the end - sometimes the date if there's some significance to that.
it's a VERY small file to generate at the end of a session.
Ok cool. I will give this shot. next time i go to remix something. It makes sense. I am a habitual "clean project directory" kind of guy while tracking though. Once i am done getting what i want and it sounds good I hit that clean project directory and get rid of the garbage. I don't comp vocals or quilt together guitar tracks, i track till i get it right and blow out everything else. I can count on one hand the amount of time I ever went back to previous takes to snag something for a final cut.
I too iteratively add project files to the same folder.
One thing that I do differently is that I maintain 2 folders: 1 for tracking and comping and 1 for mixing.
So I'll do however many takes I need to get an instrument recorded in the first folder; then render out the mono stem and move it to the second for mixing.
With this strategy, I'm able to clean both project directories whenever I need to without worrying about getting rid of something important, and the mix folder only has the actual files that are involved in the mix.
vomitHatSteve wrote: ↑Wed Oct 27, 2021 12:52 pm
I too iteratively add project files to the same folder.
One thing that I do differently is that I maintain 2 folders: 1 for tracking and comping and 1 for mixing.
So I'll do however many takes I need to get an instrument recorded in the first folder; then render out the mono stem and move it to the second for mixing.
With this strategy, I'm able to clean both project directories whenever I need to without worrying about getting rid of something important, and the mix folder only has the actual files that are involved in the mix.
Interesting. I like the idea of this too. A few extra steps.
Though aren't you still effectively doubling up on hard disk space kind of? So even if you clean the project directory your still using twice the space? Maybe i am misunderstanding something?
I comp guitar tracks all the time. I almost never get a complete take. I'll go for a verse or a verse and a chorus or whatever... depends upon what it is and if there are natural breaks where comping is possible. Sometimes I get all the way through...
But (a) I'm often using different guitars in different sections - there's not always a continuous guitar track anyway (b) I'm usually down the clean end of the distortion spectrum - I'll maintain that it's a touch harder to get an acceptable track when you're playing clean-ish (c) my songs tend to be longer, although not always (d) I'm not thrashing power chords, I'm usually doing picked arrangements of some type or other featuring newly learnt bits and pieces and chord shapes which I've only just invented and haven't been playing for 20 years, so they're not drilled into muscle memory just yet.
Armistice wrote: ↑Wed Oct 27, 2021 6:09 pm
I comp guitar tracks all the time. I almost never get a complete take. I'll go for a verse or a verse and a chorus or whatever... depends upon what it is and if there are natural breaks where comping is possible. Sometimes I get all the way through...
But (a) I'm often using different guitars in different sections - there's not always a continuous guitar track anyway (b) I'm usually down the clean end of the distortion spectrum - I'll maintain that it's a touch harder to get an acceptable track when you're playing clean-ish (c) my songs tend to be longer, although not always (d) I'm not thrashing power chords, I'm usually doing picked arrangements of some type or other featuring newly learnt bits and pieces and chord shapes which I've only just invented and haven't been playing for 20 years, so they're not drilled into muscle memory just yet.
ETTO
When I'm doing my heavier or punkier stuff I tend to try and get my two basic rhythm tracks from start to finish in one take.
While you have to be really accurate when you're double tracking heavier muted rhythms to stop it sounding like a mess, once you've got your basic technique dialled in its easy enough to do. I agree tracking clean rhythms is harder, particularly if there's any intricacy to them as yours often do.
Some of my most recent stuff has had guitars in different tunings on one track. I started using DADGAD on my tele when I was playing on one of Alison's songs and then I just left it there, wrote a few DADGAD songs and left the other guitar in standard and just found some voicings to match - was a fun challenge and I came up with some surprisingly interesting things.
I record guitars, drums, anything, like I'm playing live - one take blast off. If I have to do it again I do it again. Little imperfections and nuances are rock and roll.
Greg_L wrote: ↑Thu Oct 28, 2021 10:40 am
I record guitars, drums, anything, like I'm playing live - one take blast off. If I have to do it again I do it again. Little imperfections and nuances are rock and roll.
Same here, for the most part. If I'm sitting tacet for a big chunk of the song, I'll stop recording and pick it up again when that voice/instrument has something to play. Same if that part doesn't come in until later in the song...I won't just sit there listening to the song in silence until I come in like the triangle player in a high school orchestra
Interesting. I like the idea of this too. A few extra steps.
Though aren't you still effectively doubling up on hard disk space kind of? So even if you clean the project directory your still using twice the space? Maybe i am misunderstanding something?
Probably closer to 30-50% more HD space this way. The tracking project will have 3 takes of a part, which I'll comp and render down to a single final take in the second project.
Regardless, I have a 4TB drive and 6TB drive in that computer. I'm not worried about space. (I recently added the bigger drive. It's about 1/3 full with me having straight copied over everything from the old one, and I still don't know what to do with the smaller drive)
