Comment

Comment by Maurice Brines on September 29, 2009 at 9:56am

Wiezel, good point, but again any PC program can do that for us, but the main reason you may not send all the files mixed together is because you want individual tracks to work wih during mixdown. Stereo tracks, mixed down in any program is fine to use to lay down ur collaborated track to, but then you send your individual tracks(s) to the person doing the final mixing and mastering.

Say, for example, I lay down a CBG track and I include a tempo or click track for everyone to stay in synch with. I send the separate tracks to a drummer and he/she can elect not have the click track playing or can adjust the volume, so laying down the drum tracks is not interferred with (volume or mix-wise).

Many people have a preference to hear or not hear certain instruments when they lay down their tracks and sending separate tracks allows for specific instruments to be dealt with exactly as you point out in whatever recording device is used.

An additional benefit of each insrument sent as a separate .MP3 file is it means each file will be small compared to one large file.

Am I helping or confusing ? I want very much to assist and not hinder. Keep the comments a-comin please.

Comment by Weizel on September 29, 2009 at 8:40am

The good thing about Audacity, as Mr. Yates mentioned, is that tracks can be seperated, modified, etc. Mp3 files will have all tracks mixed together with no possibility of altering or silencing individual tracks.

Comment by Maurice Brines on September 29, 2009 at 7:20am

Hi Wes, might be some folks tho...like me, that doesn't use the PC. I use a coupla Roland VS-2480's in my studio. Hah, I also use analog tape in the studio. I do use Ableton Live too on the PC, but my preference is having actual physical faders nd knobs to turn.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting any specific recording device (Pro Tools, Ableton, Audacity, Reason, Al-in-ones, etc), only a common file format that everyone can utilze with what they have. Just tryin to think about using a common recorded file that can be imported to anything....like a PC or all-in one.

If I had a file that was uploaded in a .AUP format, I would have to bring that file into Audacity and export it as an MP3 or .WAV format all on the PC to be able to accept it into my Roland gear....definetly a limitation of mine by having Roland/Boss gear. Also, having an .MP3 file allows us a very small sized file to be exchanged.

The .MP3 is a low quality file, but can be used for working on parts to songs and when you send the final file, I suggest you send it in a .WAV file as that is the most common quality and best bit rate, as far as commercial quality recordings.

The person that is accepting the various .WAV files can assemble those files in whatever software or all-in-one box for the final recording. Keep in mind the final recording should be in a 16 bit Red Book audio file. This is the same format used on a commercial CD.

Just sum thoughts and I realize many folks have a particular process they use, but do keep in mind what files are exchanged so others are not limited, are able to collaborate, won't have to install a specific software program, and learn it to work on adding musical parts.

I hope this helps out a bit better. Ur thoughts are very welcome and this is a great discussion.

Comment by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on September 29, 2009 at 6:45am

Uh, guys, these files might get big. I just uploaded a 28MB file just now. I wonder if this is going to be an issue, especially if we start adding tracks. Perhaps we might want to upload individual tracks or something. This file was a 02m30s clip.

Any thoughts?

Comment by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on September 29, 2009 at 6:33am

Maurice,

Interesting thought tho Audacity is not proprietary and can be used on Mac, Windows and Linux. Its easily installed and can import and export MP3 (with free LAME extension), WAV, AIFF, GSM, Ogg, MP2*, M4A*, AC3* and WMA* (*with ffmpeg extensions. I think what we are doing here with Audacity it using it to mix tracks and edit easily. By having the files in tracks, one can enhance a track, loop it, apply effects, etc easily as well as add their own tracks.

Its really flexible and a very widely used editing software. Even Camtasia Studio recommends it. Not to mention its completely free.

Try it, I think you will like it. Really.

Comment by Maurice Brines on September 29, 2009 at 6:02am

This may have already been suggested; When you place an audio file up for collaboration, instead of placing them is some proprietary format (file extnsion of the recording software....like .AUP), place them in a .MP3 format, so that can be imported into any type of recording gear (PC or all-in-one standalone units). Use a file sending utility, like USENDIT (free on the web) to send a .WAV file as this file is the best quality to use for actual final recordings. Use the .MP3 for working with and exchanging ideas and use the .WAV for the final recordings collaborations. Hope that helps.

Comment by Tres Seaver on September 28, 2009 at 9:09am

railroaddon wrote:

having a hard time opening some of the music ,can't get at the sound,so I can't play to the tracks

Most of the audacity projects are uploaded as ZIP files: you would need to unzip them, and then open the .aup file from the File | Open menu in Audacity (or double click, if you have audacity set up to run for .aup files). Hope that helps.

Comment by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on September 28, 2009 at 5:47am

Hey guys, what about canned backing tracks? Any thoughts on those? I have a few [read: bunch] as mp3s I could post. Pro stuff too (not commercial).

Comment by Hip Bone Bellaire on September 28, 2009 at 2:44am

Thanks TED

Comment by Ted Crocker on September 28, 2009 at 2:35am

Craig, I think by posting here you should get an email notification as it is now a discussion you are involved in. If you wish to receive notifications from a group or discussion you have not posted in, there is an option up toward the top of the group or discussion page that says Follow Group. If there's a group or discussion you do not want to receive notifications from, click the link Stop Following.

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