active projects - stored under cakewalk projects - artist - project name (version # sometimes) - (if needed) sub-project. exports to ozone folders which exist under each project.
 
cloud backups + 2 backup drives
 
inactive projects moved to large slow drive
 
old projects compressed into 7zip file and individual files deleted

I work in the default folder and when something is released I move it to a folder based on the year of release.  Around the beginning of a new year I do a cleanup moving the zombies to an attic folder.

In a related thought, thinking about hard drives, would it make sense to have an extremely large internal storage drive to store projects in the manner that you all decide upon (directory structure, etc.), and then have a backup drive that is raid equipped to immediately store backups of the internal hard drive's at the end of a hard day's night?  Also, I would think that the external raid drive should he huge as well.  One could use a personal network cloud drive as a backup if, like Craig notes, you are working from several computers and that could be raid equipped:
 
 https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Personal-Network-Attached-Storage/dp/B00EVVGAFI/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1473363907&sr=8-6&keywords=cloud+drive
 
A drive of this configuration might be a bit costly initially, but it could really save time and loss of projects in the future.
 
I, like Craig, have a huge backlog of projects from across the years, and I usually have several copies scattered across several hard drives and computers.  I need to organize these as well.  I have, in a lot of instances, started renaming projects with descriptive information since I often come back and re-work/revise older projects, i.e. "Twist and Shout_SPlat Sept 2016" indicating when I last worked on it since the projects worked on in newer versions of Sonar have additional features that were not available in the older versions. 
 
Just a few thoughts...
 
Regards
 
 
 

bitflipper
My method: every 10-12 years have your computer stolen along with backup drives. Clean slate. Things are much simpler now.

That's painful to read Bit...and I feel your pain...but appreciate your diffidence in adversity...
 
Garry

noynekker
 
. . . but, you're the bitflipper, I'm stunned, no offsite back-up ? Tell me you didn't lose it all. Theft is always a recurring nightmare for me, no matter how you organize your projects, interlopers with nefarious intentions don't really care.
 

Yes, I lost it ALL. Projects, keyboards, guitars, microphones, computers, amplifiers, monitors, cables, stompboxes. All they left me was my rack (which contained my audio interface among other things), which was probably too much trouble to drag away, a couple pair of headphones. two mic stands, some shakers and maracas. Not much of a rig for music-making.
 
My offsite backup had for years been a file server in the house, but that computer died and I couldn't afford to replace it. I was still making regular backups, of course, being more fearful of drive failure than theft. But the thieves took my external backup drive too.
 
I try to be positive in the face of adversity. On the upside, I now have a new synthesizer that I love, and a new computer. Still no reference monitors, but they did leave me some headphones!
 
And a chance to organize my drives better. This time I've got an SSD for sample libraries, adding another 500 GB of storage over the previous system. 1 TB for O/S and apps, and a full terrabyte for project files, as they no longer have to share space with samples.
 
For me, it's always made more sense to organize projects (and photos, too) chronologically. I may not remember the name of a project, but I'll usually remember when I created it, give or take a month. Since I only complete a few dozen projects a year (2016 will lower the average!) that makes a manageable search.

Hi, the following structure is what I am using.
But first some comments: The main idea is to be able to find the root of a final song or sample set easily by the folder structure, but having a clear separation between rough stuff, work in progress and finished stuff. My first computer language was BASIC - so I like numbers.
 
The structure for songs: Everytime I am Jamming around, I let SONAR record it. Sometimes I find something nice and this will go into the sub-folder (of) 110 or 120. My song ideas will go into a genre specific folder. Typically I note the code of the used hooks. Later on, I can easyly find the root idea via the original hooks and the first Jam.
Since I don't want to be distracted by other stuff, I start a new session for arrangement (300). The naming convention helps me to find the original song sketch via reverse going through the folder number (back to Song idea, Hooks, Jamming).
Recording (400) is a serious thing, so after written a song it will be recorded properly. This means to get guitars right, print VSTs to an audio track and patch the right synth sounds... The naming convention brings me back to the root. Same goes for Mixing (500) and Mastering (600)
It seems to be very oversized, but it is a great time saver, if you have to deal with a lot of projects...
 
Sampling
The idea is the same, going from the rough recordings to the finished sampler program. If I explained it right for a song, you will get the structure and the relationships easily. Otherwise: I have to explain myself better...

• 100 Jamming – Rehearsal
  • 100-101 Date of Jam
• 110 Hooks
  • 110-100-101-001 Best Riff ever!
• 120 Rhythms – Bass
  • 120-100-101-001 BattleHits
• 200 Song Ideas
• 200-100 Doom
  • 200-100-001 Masterpiece xyz (100-110-001/004/009)
• 200-110 Ambient
• 200-120 Industrial
• 300 Song Arrangement
  • 300-200-100-001 Masterpiece xyz Version 01
• 400 Song Recording
  • 400-300-200-100-001 Masterpiece xyz Recording
• 500 Song Mixing
  • 500-400-300-200-100-001 Masterpiece xyz Mix 01
  • 500-400-300-200-100-001 Masterpiece xyz Mix 02
• 600 Songs Final Versions
  • 600-610-500-400-300-200-100-001 Song Final Steams
  • 600-620-500-400-300-200-100-001 Song Final Tracks
  • 600-630-500-400-300-200-100-001 Song Final MIDI
  • 600-640-500-400-300-200-100-001 Song Final Documentation
  • 600-650-500-400-300-200-100-001 Song Final WAV
• 700 Sampling
  • 700-710 Samples Rough
    • 700-710-101 Sample Session xyz
  • 700-720 Samples Edited – Looped
    • 700-720-710-101 Edit xyz
    • 700-720-710-101-100 Cut and Rename
    • 700-720-710-101-110 Looped – Edited
      • 720-720-710-101-100-110-001 Nasty Pulse
      • 720-720-710-101-100-110-002 Red Noise HiHat
    • 720-710-101-120 Arc Versions (Zip)
• 730 Sample Programs MPC
  • 730-720-720-710-101-100-110-001-01 Keygroup Nasty Pulse
  • 730-720-720-710-101-100-110-002-01 Drummap Red Noise HiHat
• 800 Archive
• 900 Learning
• 900-100 Sonar Tipps and Tricks
  • 900-100-100 Sample Editing
  • 900-100-100-001 Article xy

Remember: If you have time to lean you have time to clean sort your stuff...

bitflipper
My method: every 10-12 years have your computer stolen along with backup drives. Clean slate. Things are much simpler now.

I marked your terribly bad fortune, for which I'm truly sorry, as helpful as a reminder that this kind of thing sure can happen.

And, I use Code 42's CrashPlan relatively cheap subscription for real-time backups on site and off site. Has saved me many times, mostly from accidental user error or system hiccups. I DO however turn the backup off while tracking as I've found Sonar locked up a few times while Crashplan was "protecting" my files.
 
Hang in there great one!

The physical order and location of completed projects, current work, idea snippets, live sound, and whatever else you have - can all be objectified as data fields in a database, where finding things can be done via searching the database, down to whatever level of detail you created in the design.
 
You may not be able to create a column for 'snappy jazz feel vamp' or whatever, but you can store details about completion date, synths used, artist/client name, instrumentalists who played on which project, song style, whether or not the project is tied to some work-related article, etc.....
 
One of the utilities developed by a forum member provides an automated spreadsheet of various details obtained by reading project files (CWP) - you can look at the utilities sticky post to see which utility I am referring to - this could provide data about projects on each of your computers, and could be fed into some database that would include the location information on which project resides on which computer, etc..
 
I guess the best thing to do is to figure out some sort of balance between how important it is to have such information, balanced against the effort in obtaining whatever level of granularity you actually need.
 
The thing about using some sort of a database is that you can retrieve it in any grouping detail that you wish, down to whatever level of detail is captured with the columns in that database.  It would be far easier to tweak the SQL to retrieve desired data than to try to invent some giant spreadsheet and get all the way done only to find that it needs to be done differently.
 
Then again - if you decide that nothing created prior to 2010 matters, then you can archive that stuff and move it off to some offline location and then not worry about it, until such time as you decide that 2007 WAS a good year after all, and then you bring that set of files back into your active storage scheme.
 
Bob Bone
 

I have things ordered two ways.

First songs I'm practicing, learning go into a songs folder and I cycle through them.

Most of my Sonar work is just recordings that happen on a single date. I name these projects YYYYMMDD format followed by band name.

I organize exports similarly but in a different folder. 16 bit. 24 bit. MP3. The folder name the exports are in matches the project name but goes in a different place. This makes backup of mixed tracks simple.

USB drive for each project and saved as a CWB file.