Here's a tough one... (for me at least)

[Black neon bob]

so here i am mixing a song, right?
mixing it a bit while recording, that's what i always do.. now here's the thing though:

I now am forced to split my project/song in to several project files.. meaning, i need more then one project file for one song...

So i split the song up due to RAM and CPU overuse if i use all the plugins, all the MIDI files with plugins on them, and all the VST instruments in one project file..

Here is how i do it for one song:

Project file nr. 1 - drums, bass, guitars, with all plugins that should be on them..

Project file nr. 2 - choirs.. they use a lot of RAM, and crash often, so i need them to be in a seperate file.

Project file nr. 3 - Orchestral instruments and synth.. again, to save RAM.. it works..

Okay, stick with me on this one, once i have done all that, and everything seems to sound right, i am exporting the number 2 and 3 project files as WAV files and import them into the project file nr. 1..
Now the song is complete right?


Here is my question..

Will this affect the sound when i master it? let's say i just use the L2 and the C4 on the master.. will these WAV files i imported be mastered as they should?

See, how i was thinking is that if i master them all in the same project file without dividing them all into seperate files.. things should be okay like normal right?

But now i have two WAV files, and a bunch of loose files in the project file (guitars, drums, etc)... will these WAV files be mixed properly? because they are kind of put together allready when i bounced them into the project file nr. 1.. not multiple MIDI files, but all loose MIDI files thrown into one WAV file..

Good lord, i just re-read all i just wrote down, and i hope i do make sense here, i am trying the best i can to translate this into english, but i hope you all got it..

anyway, thanks...

 

[Kazrog]

What DAW are you using? Why not just bounce to disk?

 

[KeithRT99]

i think you're saying you're making pre mixed stems for certain instruments then mixing the stems right? its alittle harder to make a good mix that way, but its not impossible. when i do movie clips and stuff i mix everything to stems like SFX, ambience, foley, music, etc. So its not unheard of in mixing.

 

[Black neon bob]

Shane.. i use nuendo..

Keith.. yeah man, that's it.. a bit harder eh? but are we talking about loss of dynamics or sound as well? or is it just harder to mix that way?

Cheers..

 

[The Grand Design]

I don't really know anything about this topic but I'm posting just to say that your music kicks ass bob. Fire at Dawn intro is legendary.

 

[Mikey Bolton]

I don't know exactly the system you are running, but from the info supplied on this project, the first thing I would do is mix the Choir to a L-R...you say it uses alot of RAM and crashes often! " Project file nr. 2 " DBG mix should be around 60% of the mix leaving 40% for vox...but I see you have "Orchestral instruments and synth" Mix them to L-R also...If you are running legit software and you think you have more than the alloted hardware to run this stuff, then get in contact with your supplier and make your case to them..otherwise use your system to around 70-75% any more than that and you are in trouble...I hope that helps some?

 

[Mendel]

bobby, could you post everything from your pc ? processor, how much RAM, etc etc.

 

[davormen]

not sure whether I'm missing the point, or everyone else is, but if I understand the question correctly - no, there should be no problems at all. They are all just wave files after all (even the "loose" ones), and you're just mixing them like you would mix any number of mono and stereo tracks... btw, I often have to do that bcs I very often deal with complex music w/long tracks, but I do that inside one project file instead of splitting it into multiple ones...

 

[Lord Lurion]

I'd go with Davormen's idea and bounce the wavs into the same project file. You only load the when you need them, but they are still within the project. Sounds more practical.

 

[Black neon bob]

Hey thanks everyone!!

Glad you all got my point then.. it was pretty hard to explain.. haha..

Davormen, thanks.. that's all i needed to know, if it remains the same quality, i am fine with it.. thanks all!

 

[KeithRT99]

it should be the same quality, it will just be alittle difficult to mix. like if you mix the guitars with the bass into a stem, then after everything comes together you want to turn the bass up, you have to go back and remix the guitar stem.

 

[Black neon bob]

Yeah, that's a problem indeed, i try to minimize that as much as possible though.. i'd be sure to get the basic instruments in one project file.. saves the hassle you just mentioned for most part..

 

[DougDoppler]

Hey BNB:

My suggestion would be to try and do as little EQ on the stems before bringing them back in, but of course doing all compression and various other stuff, that way you have the greatest chance of success tone wise. If you can keep it all at 24 bit or higher, and since it all gets bounced down to 16 bit in the end, no need to trip, IMO...

Also, for anyone who has a similar problem and wants to move their session, a clear solution is to grab your wave files. Just make sure that you "consolidate selection" by selecting the last beat from the last bar in the session in your wave editing window, click and drag all the way to beat one of bar one, and then select all the other tracks as well. What this will do is join all the segments of audio where you have done any punching in and make them one continueous audio file that you will proably want to rename so you can find in easily (sort by date) and then export all those files onto a drive or a DVD. This really is a great thing, so long as you make a track list and grab everything you need. It makes moving from ProTools to DP seamless as you are importing the wave files not session data...

Just in case anyone doesn't get why you want to consolidate selection, think about this. If you punch in on a track in the middle and punch out before the end, you have actualy created 3 wave files that if you import them will all try to line up at beat one, bar one. Without the session data (the ProTools file or Digital Performer file) there is no way to tell where the audio is supposed to go on the audio timeline. By consolidating the selection, they become one audio file and are preserved at their proper location. My last record started on Roland VS1880, got dumped into Pro Tools and in turn imported into Digital Performer (DP). Behind the scenes it is all wave files being manipulated by a program. Becoming program independent is a key way to be able to move your session easily. I will add that as much as I loathe Logic, the processor hit is supposed to be much less, and they use something called nodes so you can link your old Mac to the session and use it to absorb CPU hits. I am a Pro Tools guy and haven't done this, but I know that the Logic guys brag on the light CPU useage. The interface is astrocious upon my last visit...

Hope that helps!

Best,

Doug

 

[Black neon bob]

Oh yes!!

Hey thanks a bunch Doug, great explanantion, that way things will stay tidy..

Thanks for posting that!