How do you guys handle large projects?

[abaga129]

I might finally have a band other than my own coming to record with me and actually pay me a decent price so I wanted to ask something out of curiosity. How do you mix whole albums and keep a consistent sound throughout. Do you mix one song and use it as a template for the rest of the album and make asjustments for each song? Do you save vst and channel presets? Do you mix each song separately? Or maybe you guys use completely different methods.
I could also use some tips on how to speed things up when working with multiple songs because I'm used to spending a week or more on just one song...

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[egan.]

I generally, with the band, decide on a song which we'll mix first that defines the sound of the album. From there I use that as a template. Lots of things won't change much from there.

 

[abaga129]

Okay cool. That's what I figured. I assumed since everything will be recorded through the same equipment on each album, the same processing would be neccesary

 

[JeffTD]

Unless the songs are drastically different in terms of the tracking or tones (like genre blending or having some parts/song use an entirely different drum kit or something), I track and mix entire EPs and albums in one session the whole way through.

 

[K Odell]

I track all the songs in one session generally.

 

[abaga129]

Will tracking everything in one session be heavier on the computers performance or will it not matter since there are only the same number of tracks at once?

 

[amarshism]

One session.

 

[Trevoire520]

All in one session, has never given me any hassle on my setup which up until recently was very modest.

 

[Keregioz]

I'm also about to mix a whole album for the first time. All in one session sounds convenient but it scares me for some reason. I never considered it until this thread actually..
Thanks, something else to be stressed about, because I didn't have enough already...

 

[bryan_kilco]

I've done whole projects in one session before and also new sessions for each song. My last recording was a 2 song demo for my own band. Go figure, something strange happened with the OH mics between the 2 songs. Either something got moved or gain knobs got turned. Seriously pissed me off after spending a while getting a mix together then applying the template to the next song and finding out something was wrong.

 

[bryan_kilco]

I'm also about to mix a whole album for the first time. All in one session sounds convenient but it scares me for some reason. I never considered it until this thread actually..
Thanks, something else to be stressed about, because I didn't have enough already...

This is another reason why I don't like doing it all in 1 session. If, for some random reason, that session file gets corrupt....eesh! Of course, you'd be backing it up constantly, but still. Nothing like having a drummer ready to uppercut you through the ceiling after finishing a tough song and then telling him he has to do it again.

Sorry for double post.

 

[Bay Studio]

+1 on the "all in session"

 

[xFkx]

This is another reason why I don't like doing it all in 1 session. If, for some random reason, that session file gets corrupt....eesh! Of course, you'd be backing it up constantly, but still. Nothing like having a drummer ready to uppercut you through the ceiling after finishing a tough song and then telling him he has to do it again.

Sorry for double post.

you can always track in separate sessions, then consolidate them into one album session

 

[bryan_kilco]

you can always track in separate sessions, then consolidate them into one album session

Yep, that's another thing I've done. Just that some songs will have extra guitar layering/overdubbing/etc which I guess I should just prepare for all that and have the extra buss's set up and ready to fly.

 

[abaga129]

I'm glad I posted this because now I feel a lot more confident about it. All in one. Here we go.

 

[mickrich]

Logic makes this very easy.
I have a template that covers most possibilities re tracks so lots of extra guitar tracks, 8 vocals, 8 bv, 8 "free" tracks for extra stuff, 4 software instruments etc etc.
When I mix the first song I use Logic's copy/paste audio configuration and the next song will have an identical mix, including all plugins, sends, bus assignments etc.
A whole album in 1 session sounds crazy to me.
Too much possibility of something going wrong.

 

[nialldoran]

yeah all in one is a crazy idea for me too for working on a long detailed project. if its just some cold call of a client singing and playing acoustic guitar or something then one session no problem,

as with mick mentioning that logic makes it easy, protools' import session data is extremely helpful, you import the data from one session to another, and it replaces the channel and processing without changing the audio, wonderful tool, this is how i keep consistency across multiple sessions

 

[drew_drummer]

Session per song; multiple backups of everything. All seeded off of the first track that I mix, for consistency.

 

[scorpio01169]

I'm so lucky I dont have to worry about those issues....tracking all in one seems to be the logical solution for your problem. Good luck and congrats on your new second job.

 

[Arsonstudios]

i keep everything in seperate sessions. i use pro tools "import session data" function to get the same settings to start with.
i once worked on an ep in one session and it was a pita when i tried to edit. it gets quite slow because of the length/amount of audio data. also automation was annoying.
certain effects might be automated in one song but not in the others etc...