Multiple versions of mix in project?

does anyone know how or if it is possible to save multiple mixes in the same project? For example. I have mix that I like and I want to save it, but i want to try to improve upon it it. So I want to alter the mix. and lets say I hose it up. I would like to be able to revert back to the previous mix. I have on occasion saved a copy of the project with the mix I liked as another name and then continued editing. Basically having a backup of that version of the mix. Would very handy. Been working on a mix and got it soundeing good, but we are adding some vocals and I need to change the mix a bit so the singer can hear better. Then I will need to restore my previous work. Make sense?

Yep do it all the time. It is really handy. Just save the project as a different name in the same project folder.

so the answer is no?  have to save project with new name every time? bummer.  some of the new digital mixer (for live) can remember several mixes. If you dial it in at one venue you can recall it the next time you play there. was hoping this was a feature in the DAW. Oh well.  Thanks for the help guys!

TraceyStudios


so the answer is no?  have to save project with new name every time? bummer.  some of the new digital mixer (for live) can remember several mixes. If you dial it in at one venue you can recall it the next time you play there. was hoping this was a feature in the DAW. Oh well.  Thanks for the help guys!

That would be the equivalent of a template project in Sonar X1. You are asking to save in the same project different setups that will give you different mixes. You could by using buses that are setup differently, but it would be very limited.

The save as idea is the method used by most of us. It is not a burden. It is freedom. BTW when you save as you are only saving a very small file. The audio is not impacted by these saves.

scook


Yep do it all the time. It is really handy. Just save the project as a different name in the same project folder.

I wouldn't say it's handy at all. Snapshot of a mix, just like you can have EQ-snapshots, that would be handy. That would be a great feature. Then you could audition the different mixes after one another quite fluently. If that is too complicated, then a mix snapshot of a folder might be more controllable.
 
My workaround is: I bounce different mixes inside the project to a stereo track. I make notes about the most signifigant differences  between the mixes, and then I can compare those 4-5 mixes dry, or with Ozone in the master bus.
 
When I do my "mastering", I archive or mute all other tracks and operate only with those bounced mixes.

Yes this is what I've asked before. I'm surprised at this stage that the DAW save mix scenes or different versions of mixes (or maybe I just don't know how to do it) I've enabled versioning, now how does it work?

That would be a great feature, would save a lot of disk space, and would speed things up. (Similar to multiple automation files for one reel of 2-inch tape.)

Example: For a song I am mixing right now, I have one mix with vocals, full band (including steel guitar), and a string section; one mix with just acoustic guitar, bass, and string section; and another with acoustic guitar, bass, and solo cello.  To compare these quickly, it would be nice to open something like the Markers view and pick from a list of mixes.

This would be great for dance music producers, people do theatrical work, and it would be fantastic for TV, film, and advertising people.  If you have done jingles, you know how often you need different edits.

Everyone talks about how Sonar could make more inroads into large, professional studios—well, here's one idea.

I agree it would be nice and covenient. Mostly to compare mixes of current project easily. And to create alternate monitor mixes for headphones / tracking sessions etc.  Hey Sonar, if you listening...maybe a good suggestion for a new feature!!
 
They are able to do it with digital mixers.
 

Maybe I don't understand what you all are talking about. What would a mix include? When you say a mixdown and I assume you want different versions how would they be different?

I am looking at a mix as having plugins for example automation too. But if the plugins are on the tracks I'm not seeing how this could be done very easily.

I look at a mix as a discrete thing. Changing it to me requires more than simply adjusting fader positions. Usually I want everything back to zero if I am remixing. No FX no change of faders no EQ. Than I can mix from a pure beginning. I do this by opening up the original project.

At the end I have a single stereo wave file that I can bring into a empty project and any other file from other mixes and compare them if I want to.

I think we are really thinking in different ways for different types of music. If you look at mixing as part of the composition process I think I get what you want. Cubase has Play Order Tracks that lets one rearrange a song. But its still on a per project basis. If you are looking at it as simply getting the best out of a bunch of audio tracks I'm not so sure.  Nor am I aware of any other DAW that will do this.  

What I guess the wish would be, is like a digital mixer, every parameter is saved.
The  the Sonar mixer would have user saved pre sets. 
This would have to include any changes to your efxs bins/ busses to be like a digital recall mixer. 


I don't have a multi out interface , if I did, I would probably go back to mixing down on the 01v for this very reason. 

So save each mix as a different CWP file. Simple enough.
Mix 1: My Great Song - The Berlin Wall Mix.cwp
Mix 2: My Great Song - The Studio 54 Mix.cwp
Mix 3: My Great Song - The AM Radio Mix.cwp
Mix 4: My Great Song - The Its Early in the Morning and I Had Too Many Bong Hits Version.cwp
Mix 5: My Great Song - The Others Sounded Like Crap Remix.cwp 

  

I'm agreeing with John. I was wanting multiple versions of a mix in one cwp file. Since I couldn't, I starting saving versions in the project folder and don't see this as a problem. All nice and neat. Also, the bakers don't need to spend time programming the feature and making the product more complicated from a maintenance point of view. 

Nice idea TraceyStudios but I think we have a good way to do it already.

Sam

When it comes time for mixing I also tend to bounce the full mix to a new track in the project, with the output of the new track set to my hardware out (not through the Master buss.)

This way, as I create a new mix and save new versions of the project file, my latest project file contains a stereo bounce of all my mixes for a quick comparison. As long as I keep my naming straight I can then easily solo to find the mix I want, save and close the latest project file, and open the cwp file that corresponds to the mix I liked.

Of course, if I do a lot of back and forth this gets messy fast, but I seldom do more than a couple of versions of mixes for the same song unless I'm tweaking to someone else's taste and they aren't there for the mix.

What I do that is similar to what people describe here is save the project to a new CWP at different stages in the process. For example,

song_name_tracked
song_name_edited
song_name_cleaned
song_name_sweetened
song_name_mix_yyyy-mm-dd
album_name_masters_yyyy-mm-dd

Peace,

Tunes

I could have a song with all my plugin set the way I want them. Maybe i want Mix 1 to start with drums and no bass and bring the bass in later. Maybe on Mix 2 I want to start off with the string section, bring the bass in later and then the drums, so I don't want to start off with everything at zero after I've got everything eq'd and set just right. This is also a good way for presenting different mix variations to a client to see which one they prefer.