The basic idea is that we want to develop simultaniously, but at different locations a piece of music.
start with a track, share, and each musician adds his own tracks and shares the result.
We have done some using the exporting stems option.
Initially we had the software aka daw open : use what you know best. But that is slowly moving into: What does Frank use, because what he makes always sounds good, and when you send something to him it always comes back better.
I have searched the forum - saw PBurk might have a method.
I have not yet experimented. Looking for don't and dos
*Share the session data structure ?
*Share snapshots ? ( Under ZFS that would be the option)
+Export stems and share ?
People with restricted travel will benefit , not our argument: ours is more having spare time at the same time, getting a location ..
Please chime in ! and lest make the location recording manual
Regards
Frank
Frank W. Kooistra
- MMB32C 9.1, AD/DA: Motu:1248, 8A, 8D, Monitor8. X-Touch,, Mini M1 11.6.2, venture 13.3plugins melda fabfilter harrison No Harrison CP-1
06-21-2020, 06:12 AM (This post was last modified: 06-21-2020, 06:13 AM by madmaxmiller.)
(06-21-2020, 05:25 AM)Frank Wrote: Please chime in ! and lest make the location recording manual
GIT came to mind... but then everyone needs to learn how to check out/check in and what branches are...
Being non-destructive, it should suffice that everyone holds the set of audio files locally and only the small session file is sent around, plus the new audio files if any where created.
All theory, didn't collab in the real world.
MMM
Linux throughout!
Main PC: XEON, 64GB DDR4, 1x SATA SSD, 1x NVME, MOTU UltraLite AVB
OS: Debian11 with KX atm Mixbus 32C, Hydrogen, Jack... and Behringer synths
I've been involved with remote studio projects for about 7-8 years now.
There are now 6 studios working together and 3-4 others that provide tracks from
time to time. I guess I could take some time and outline our process for the curious
but I just go ahead and provide some of the steps we use and other considerations
here while I'm online:
- The most challenging part for us has been getting all participants, who did not have
previous recording/mix engineering experience, up to a comfort level so they could
submit their performances to a mixdown hub (my studio). This involved visiting them
and helping to setup a reasonable studio - choosing and setting up equipment and
helping them use it. As I've read here recently, it seems that this step is still one
that will need to be accomplished.
- Once all participants can record their performances, they must get it to a point of
sharing. We've used an online repository where all members can FTP tracks up and
down using "FileZilla", an easy to use drag and drop file transfer app. There are
also other cloud based options available to accomplish this task.
- We've conducted periodic meetings via Zoom to discuss song arrangements and
other song related concerns. We also share song charts and other documentation
via email.
- Those of us who are comfortable in the art of mixing can download tracks from
the online repository and craft mixes and add additional parts according to our
Zoom calls. We then upload any new/changed tracks to the repository and send
out MP3 mixes to one another via email (WAV files are generally to big to send
via email and MP3 files are good enough to use for progress updates).
- Songs are (usually) introduced as rough demos, submitted by the author. They
are in MP3 format and sent out via email. Everyone involved with that song then
joins a Zoom call to discuss its arrangement and possible parts to play. While all
performers consider and ball-park their parts, the drummer works one-on-one
with the song's author to craft up that part of the song's foundation. The drummer
then uploads a stereo mix to the repository.
- At this point, all other participants can download the drummers tracks so they can
work on demos of their parts. All new tracks are uploaded to the repository. And,
as they are available, they can be downloaded by anyone who would like to craft
up their own custom mixes for review.
- At some point the person taking on the role of mix engineer (it used to be me,
but now 3 other persons have become proficient at the task) will put out mixes
for all to critique. Working with the song author, changes will be detailed so that
performances can be refined if necessary. More uploads to the repository.
- A 44.1K / 16-bit WAV is eventually exported for long term review while other
songs are worked on for the project album. Followup tweaks can be made to this
mix and it will, eventually, be exported in 24-bit for mastering with the rest of the
project album.
That's the overview. It took a couple years for the to become what now feels to be
a natural process considering that, in the beginning, I was the only one who actually
had any real-world experience as a mix engineer and only about half of the other
participants had every recorded in a studio environment before.
I know I left out a ton of what might be considered "critical" details.
Ask me questions and I will certainly provide details!
For individual tracks - guitar, vocals, bass, percussion, keys - we generally export
MONO stems of each track, as 32-bit WAV files. This provides the best resolution data
that will be imported to any other DAW being used by other remote participants.
The only exception is for drums. Drums are exported as a STEREO stem, again as a
32-bit WAV. And, oh yes, we're talking 44.1 k for all tracks as most projects have
been slated for CD mastering.
Because the resulting file size of a 32-bit WAV track (20-70 MB, depending on the
length of the song), we had to use an externally managed storage solution, which
incurred a cost. Reimbursement for this solution is included in the total cost of the
project. Today, more economic solutions are available - Google Drive being one of
them. However - There is a limit to the amount of data that you can store there
for free and these working audio files (and video files, if the project calls for them)
eat up that limitation quickly. So a paid-for solution may be required for modest
sized projects. Both methods require storage management - there is no way
around that chore. Someone will need to archive (via external disk or DVD) and
purge files from the exchange storage repository periodically to abide by the usage
agreement with the storage provider.
When it comes to exchanging mix sessions, we've used external USB drives and
USPS, UPS, etc. It is quite impractical to upload and download the volume of
data taken up by all the individual performance tracks, revisions, session
snapshots, backups, etc that build up at a mixer's local DAW. The most practical
way to share sessions, we've found, is to copy the entire session, or project of
sessions, out to a USB hard drive (or SSD) and sent it out to whoever has been
designated to work on the final mix. There receiving studio simply copies these
sessions onto their own drives and starts up the session to move the mix forward.
The exception is for the studios that are currently using a non-Mixbus DAW -
two studios using Audacity and one studio using a Tascam PortaStudio. These
participants need to export all their tracks as stems, either raw or processed
(depending on their ability to select and commit usable processing), in 32 or
24-bit (as supported by their "DAW"). The overall size of session data still applies
to them so they, too, need to send out USB drives to the designated mixer.
As stated in my previous post - all mixes and individual performances are
distributed, via email, as MP3 files. This is, by far, the most convenient way to
get ideas back and forth to one or many participants.
One last tidbit... I made a comment, in another thread on this Forum, that our
remote project group uses different versions of Mixbus. This is for different reasons,
all justified by the participating studios. Some of us have multiple versions of
MB and or MB32C installed and ready to use. I have every MB and MB32C
version installed that the other remote studios run so I can accommodate any
of their incoming sessions - this includes running both Linux and Windows (the
one MAC OS studio is "on its own".). This has been done to avoid any issues that
might come up when trying to run someone's session in a different version of
Mixbus and has proven to be trouble free to date.
I decided to jump ahead a little and raise a topic that is critical for remote recording: Communication and Organization
When multiple studios are working on a common project the who's-doing-what aspects
get out of hand - very quickly. To keep sanity it's important to have a method in place, that everyone follows, regarding communication. The project lead will also need
to up his/her game in terms of organization.
I'm going to attempt to attach (2) document types that we currently use with our
remote recording projects. The first is an MS Word type file. This records details of
our weekly Zoom calls and tasks that need to be carried out until the next call.
The second is a Project Worksheet (MS Excel type). This helps to track all the plans
and work carried out for the entire album project.
Give them a look-over and post your questions/comments/etc. to this thread.
As mentioned in my previous posting, "Organization" is a key process to the success
in running a multi-remote studio Project. Here (attached) are some details regarding
how our Project/Song file system organization is laid out.
As always, comments and suggestions are most welcome!
(06-27-2020, 07:10 AM)Frank Wrote: Thanks do far
I have not been able to give extensive attention sorry
tend to give you insight on how we have develeoped : I see analogies and differences , but all things we can learn from each other
Plan to explain my history etc
regards
Frank
Not a problem, Frank.
I'm happy to discuss this topic, in detail, with you (and others) when you have time.
I think the result, as a reference manual is a worthwhile effort.
