Naming projects...

[HeadCrusher]

Hey there,
I guess everybody knows the problem: You just recorded a cool new riff and you're about to save it. But how do you name it?
Giving it shitty names that don't tell anything hasn't worked for me... Had to listen to a number of recordings if I wanted to find something special.
Naming it by date doesn't help either - I can't be arsed to remember exactly when I recorded a certain riff...
So how do you do it? Any suggestions?
Grtz

 

[Jackal_Strain]

I usually name them like this: "Slow heavy riff(110bpm), death metal style" or "Uptempor(180bpm) thrashmeta(slayer, testament)l style riff."

Those were just examples.

I get confused quite often too

 

[cobhc]

I get confused quite often too

don't we all?

 

[KeithRT99]

i just write whatever bs i can think of. it's probably a good idea to catgorize them somehow.

 

[JBroll]

I just number riffs and then when it's past midnight and I'm otherwise unable to think straight I piece things together into songs and then number them according to the riffs that went into them; since I have yet to play with a band that can keep up with me I haven't had much use for naming things in ways that anyone else will understand - if just using numbers was good enough for Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, etc...

Jeff

 

[Kenneth R.]

Since my style is to write songs (on acoustic guitar or unplugged electric), when it comes time to record said riffs, I write what they represent: Verse 1 GTR1 Clean Rhythm, Chorus 2 GT2 Distorted Lead etc.

This way when I go to the DAW's pool, I know exactly which one I want to delete and re-track when I'm not satisfied, or which one I want to apply settings to. For misc. riffs, I just write the kind of thing that inspired it, for example Dark Forest Riff etc.

 

[HeadCrusher]

LOL, I also got a "Dark Forest" Riff!!
That's a really old one though...

 

[006]

I usually label all my projects for my own little things like this:

dslkfj
3ghgsl
stuff
gay1
dkf444848
121212121
vnvnb
sroug
3098gh
g0832u083adl
lkfjsdlkfj
faggot
o23fsirg

The list goes on. Sure, it's not the greatest filing system, nor does it let me know what is within the project file, but hey, I don't give a shit.

~006

 

[Suicide_As_Alibi]

I usually label all my projects for my own little things like this:

dslkfj
3ghgsl
stuff
gay1
dkf444848
121212121
vnvnb
sroug
3098gh
g0832u083adl
lkfjsdlkfj
faggot
o23fsirg

You bastard, you stole some of my songs! Generally, I come up with vocal patterns at the same time as the riffs, so I fit some words and name them from that - but if I'm having a blank moment I either just mash the keyboard or pick a word at random and end up with stuff like ^that^. I use that method for naming folders on my computer too; I'm up to about 'things 8', 'stuff 14' and 'random 20'.

Steve

 

[madbutcher]

I have always just turned on the tv when I'm done writing and whatever show is on I name the song that.

 

[Kazrog]

I organize my projects in folders according to what it is (BACKMASK or Other) with subfolders for the intended purpose (preproduction, tone tests, etc.), and number my ideas but also put a nickname (musical or otherwise) alongside a dash, as follows:

Song 9 - Woodchuck
Song 11 - Acoustic Lydian

etc..

 

[MonochromaticStains]

key of song and tempo

Bm 112

and so on.

 

[Kenneth R.]

LOL, I also got a "Dark Forest" Riff!!
That's a really old one though...

rock on

 

[Razorjack]

Usually a track gets named after it's major influence or style ( eg, Beautiful Creatures/Lynch Robbed/Sleazefest/Death Groove etc) until it gets a final name.

 

[Zombietakeover]

Nuendo 3 is pretty good at keeping track of everything

 

[HeadCrusher]

rock on

Hey, actually I just realiced I called it "Run through the forest"
Anyway - quite similar!

Here it is: http://webs.schule.at/cn/Recording/Run through the forest.mp3
(Never mind the playing/sound - first take, just for fun! )

 

[CJWall]

I'm a 'name by date' whore, man. Everything I export out of Nuendo or save in Nuendo is dated. I'll put the date first and then a brief description:

(xx-xx-06 Guitar Only Riffs)

As a matter of fact, everything I've done is dated. Pictures, Text Files, etc.

Hey, it's gotta come in handy one day, right?

Police say: "Where were you 7-18-06?"

::looks at computer:: making music, see? I have this file dated 7-18-06, so I'm alll set right?

lol. it is a waste of time isn't it, haha.

 

[STINNETT]

I like to have lots of riffs right at my fingertips, and easy to sort out.
I create several folders. I have a "Riffs" folder. In that folder I have subfolders for different time signatures. 4/4 riffs, 6/8 riffs, Off-Time riffs, and a few others. "Off-Time riffs" is sort of my catch all for strange time signatures or polyrhythms.
When I save a riff in those folders I name it something descriptive llike "Snaky 8th notes in E" or something like that. Sometimes I name it as a band that the riff reminds me of and then add a simple descriptive word or two like "Suffocation Chug Riff".
I also usually record some drums to go with each riff using DFHS so that the MIDI is there if I need it. I usually write riffs for guitar and drums together and sometimes I even write the drums first so that's just how it works out.
If I write several riffs that are related but I don't do them in the same project, I'll just put them in a subfolder and call them riff 1, riff 2, etc.

I get pretty meticulous with it becasue I got tired of always clogging up my hard drive with random ideas that never made it into anything and got forgotten or wasted due to poor file management.

Another thing that I do is bounce the project to WAV files so that I can pull up my Windows Media Player and listen to a bunch of riffs without having to load up projects in Sonar.

There is nothing better than pulling up a riff that you did a year ago and being inspired to finish a song out of it.

 

[ReliXKeepeR]

1
2
3
...

 

[Hapexamendios]

I always name projects by date until I have a title for them. Individual tracks will get a number like "01 6505 pb -100" That's Track 1 with the 6505 patch played by pb and it's panned all the way to the left. The tracks then get saved with this naming system so I know immediately who played what track.

Well, that's my $.02.