Best Practice?

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konradh
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2011/05/05 22:21:14 (permalink)

Best Practice?

OK, so you have a project with a number of MIDI tracks, some virtual instruments, and some audio (like vocals).  At some point, all the VIs and MIDI will be recorded to audio.  At this point, some tracks will be duplicated in a sense (audio version and MIDI version, for example).

Is the best practice to keep all the tracks (MIDI, VIs, and audio) in a singel project, or do most people save the source and then save a second copy of the project that has only the audio tracks?  I am thinking of saving the project with everything, then deleting everything but the audio tracks and saving the audio-only project as a different version.

What is the most common or best practice?

Thanks.
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    jamescollins
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    Re:Best Practice? 2011/05/05 22:31:42 (permalink)
    I think it's best to keep everything in the one project. Either freeze instead of bounce, or bounce to audio, then mute and hide the relevant midi tracks (go to track manager to show/hide tracks).

    I should also add that another great feature of X1 is the new 'Description' tab in the Inspector. I find this really useful for archiving etc. You can write detailed notes about every track for future reference and have all your notes right there in your project. It can save so much time when you have to tweak things in the future. Priceless.
    post edited by jamescollins - 2011/05/05 22:35:22

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    rbowser
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    Re:Best Practice? 2011/05/05 23:42:42 (permalink)
    konradh


    OK, so you have a project with a number of MIDI tracks, some virtual instruments, and some audio (like vocals).  At some point, all the VIs and MIDI will be recorded to audio.  At this point, some tracks will be duplicated in a sense (audio version and MIDI version, for example).

    Is the best practice to keep all the tracks (MIDI, VIs, and audio) in a singel project, or do most people save the source and then save a second copy of the project that has only the audio tracks?  I am thinking of saving the project with everything, then deleting everything but the audio tracks and saving the audio-only project as a different version.

    What is the most common or best practice?

    Thanks.


    Konradh, Jamescollins already gave you an excellent response - I'm here primarily to underline what he said.  Keep your project with everything in it-MIDI files, synth racks etc - but once you've bounced to audio, mute and archive your MIDI tracks, turn off the synths, and hide the tracks with the track manager, so you can do your final mix in the realm of audio.  But later when you open the project, everything you need is still in there.  NEVER delete your original work!

    Randy B.

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    ...wicked
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    Re:Best Practice? 2011/05/05 23:51:44 (permalink)
    That's how I work. When the MIDI gets all bounced down, I put all the MIDI tracks into a "MIDI" folder and hide it. I then turn off and archive my "Soft Synth" folder, which has all the audio components of those tracks (I don't use instrument tracks).

    It's a tiny bit of housekeeping when the changeover happens, swapping out my MIDI tracks (like, say "Kick Drum") with the audio equivilant, but I use that time to switch my brain from "musician" to "mixer" mode. Then when I sit down to mix everything is clean and apples-to-apples. 

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    tyacko
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    Re:Best Practice? 2011/05/06 08:07:50 (permalink)
    I tend to freeze the synth's but allow the effects bin to be accessible.  This way it is like it is audio and can have effects added/changed/removed like it was bounced down.  If at some point I realize that I wanted to tweak something in the midi (which has happened) I can simply un-freeze the track, make my changes and apply the freeze again.

    That is how I work and consider that my "best practice".

    Tom

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    konradh
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    Re:Best Practice? 2011/05/06 09:12:56 (permalink)
    Great advice.  Thanks everyone.
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