Have you over got to the point in your mix where you really feel like you’ve lost complete control over what you’re doing?
I can hold my hands up and say that I absolutely have.
It’s a really terrible feeling and you realise that you have to untangle the mess you’ve made and get your mix sounding right again.
I would very often think… “If only there was a way to get my mix sounding the way it did (yesterday/2 hours ago/5 hours ago).” The time period is arbitrary and doesn’t really matter. It’s more about that sinking feeling you get.
Sometimes, I’d go back to the Pro Tools ‘Session File Backups’ folder and trawl through the backups to find a spot where I could pick up again and start moving forward, but pretty much everything I did resulted in time and energy lost moving in the wrong direction. Eventually, I’d get back on track but that little blip in the middle was no fun!
The ‘Session File Backups’ are great for something like a scenario where you’ve accidentally deleted a bunch of tracks and want to go back 5 or 10 minutes to the point that they were still in your session. Accidents happen and that’s no big deal. If, however, you’ve balanced all your faders nicely, added some tasteful EQ and taken the completely wrong approach with compression or “rebalanced your faders”, you’re in a bit of trouble.
Now, I want to share with you my very simple solution.
You know that ‘Save As…’ button? Use it!
You have your workflow and your system for mixing and I have my preferred way of doing things too. So, as I finish each stage of a mix, I ‘Save As…’ to a new file within my session folder. You’ll see labels like “EQ Mix”, “Compression Mix” or “Automation Mix”. The folder looks a lot like this:
This approach is in stark contrast to how I did things many years ago. I used to have one ‘.ptf’ (old school Pro Tools session file) that I would use to make all of my edits, prep my session and go through the various stages of my mixing workflow. That was a recipe for disaster that caught me out a few times.
The stages of your mix might be a little bit different to mine based on your workflow, but I highly recommend taking this simple approach. If you do, you can revert to an earlier version of your mix without wasting any time and move forward positively from that point.
It might seem very simple and intuitive but the best advice often is. Take it from me – this will really help you if it’s not something you’re doing already. As creatives, we sometimes like to skip ahead a little impatiently to the “more fun” parts of mixing. Session organisation and file management might not be that much fun, but I guarantee you that using this very simple tip will help save you from the potential frustration of ruined mixes.
So, of course, now I want to hear your confession…
Have you ever messed up a session and had to untangle the mess before moving forward positively?
What did you do to get back on track?
Leave a comment below!
professional sounding mix every time...
if you’ve ever ridden a bike then you have fallen off a bike and the same goes with mixing! these are great mixing training wheels. literally and figuratively. by making this part of your normal flow it will soon become second nature and the mixing will dramatically improve. this creates a repeatable duplicatable process the the kind you can refer to over and over again we’ve all had those embarrassing reality checks when we play our mix on another system and it sounds like poo- thanks for reminding everyone how important this is
Thanks Pat. I agree. Also – great use of the word “poo”.
I actuall do use this technique, but it took me a year or two for the idea to come to me. Great advice.
Exactly as you described! “Save As” is huge. I’m an IT guy, and many users don’t know what they’re saving or where the saved files go. Learn how to use this feature, at least in Windows machines and it will save a ton of ???? down the road. Rename, and FILE TYPE, and LOCATION are HUGE.
I couldn’t agree more, Brian. Thanks for giving your perspective as an IT guy and a Windows user.
It’s actually funny this article comes up now…it just happened to me…tracked a bunch of stuff…thought I was going in the right direction and then noticed everything seemed disjointed and I couldn’t put things to right no matter what I did…decided to take the song back to formula and start over….
but, instead of going right back to work on it..I decided to work on something else..different from this tune so when I go back to it..it’ll be fresh again…I think this is important because if you delve right back in you’ll end up making the same mistakes…so take a break….work on something else..if you’re like me you got plenty else to do…lol..
I like your approach Thomas. A change is as good as a break!
simple but really great tip , i dont know why i never thought of it before , i have lost a few tracks through this over the years and i still risk it today, when this happens i usually scrap the lot and start from scratch but not from now on i wont , thanks a lot for this one stephen. priceless tip
No problem Pete!
I really like your naming scheme. I’ve been saving as 01, 02 but after 015 you don’t know which version is which. Thanks for a great tip.
You’re welcome Michael. I used to name my mixes the same way but I lost track. Using the date and ‘Save As…’ for each stage of the mix really helps.
Stephen Hi. Another really down to earth practical piece of advice.
Yeah been there. I now take advantage of Logic Project Alternatives. At any stage you can create – and importantly give a (meaningful) name to – a version(or stage if you like) of the project mix. These alternatives can be recalled at will. This becomes very important when, for example, a “client” is reviewing a near completed mix – “yeah I like the vocals in this version but can we go back to the instrumentation sounding like it was a couple of versions ago” – happens more often than you’d want to imagine. So, having some manageable system for naming, saving and recalling versions/stages is vital……or failing that just tear your hair out hahaha George
Thanks George. Nice to hear the perspective of a Logic user. I’m sure your comment will really help others. Please don’t tear your hair out! 🙂