Whole album in one DAW session ?

[Plendakor]

Would it be fine to load everything in a single session ?
And I mean, because it would be longer, would that require more cpu power or would end up being about the same ?

 

[JeffTD]

Super common. I do it a lot (sometimes break it up, really depends on my mood), Putney does it almost exclusively, a bunch of other guys on here I know do it most of the time. I'm starting to shy away from it just from a headspace/workflow mentality standpoint but I also have an EP I'm mixing right now in a single session so it's really just a mood thing.

 

[Joey.coldweather]

I do exactly that when working with prog bands where their albums are basically just giant songs. Sometimes its easier to work on the whole album rather then one song at a time. But I find my self separating songs when they really don't need to be in the same session.

 

[crillemannen]

Mix yes. Tracking no. Started mixing in one project a couple of projects ago. Savrs allot of time and eliminate the feeling of the songs differs from each other.

 

[Studdy]

Using the same plugin settings on all songs?

 

[Mago]

Mixing yeah, totally.

Tracking I usually have drums->edit/consolidate for whole album->new session->record guitars and bass w stereo bounce edited drums->edit/consolidate->backing mix for tracking vocals->consolidate vocals tracks.
Import into new session for mixing.
I just like it clean, at least for the "main" stuff of the album that doesn't change a lot throughout the songs.

If I have any special stuff I'll usually premix it and bounce it down to stems for the mixing session.
I guess I'd only go down for seperate sessions again, if there is REALLY a lot of different stuff going on between the songs, or if every song as various special elements that would make the track count explode if I had everything in one session.

 

[JeffTD]

Tracking is actually what I find it most useful for. Want to reference a part from another song quickly? Jump to another song because one is getting tough or you're using a similar setting for this particular overdub track on another one?

This also lets you apply blanket processing to the entire album in one go; drum sample bouncing, vcc/vtm processing if you don't run it in real-time, reamping, outboard processing, etc.

 

[Daybreak]

I do it like this too. If it's a track that I know differs a lot from song to song, instead of automating like a mofo, I just duplicate the trac and apply the changes directly on the track(s). As long as my computer can fix it!

 

[Via Noctis]

I like doing EPs and small projects in one session. I get a bit scared doing whole albums in one session. I did an album in one session that after all the overdubs and some overdubs needed different FX, if I remember correctly I ended up with over 70 tracks. It got real hard for me to follow what the hell what going on in the automation.

 

[crillemannen]

^^

I use trim in PT to set all levels before automation. All channels are on 0db by default before any automation. Keeps those big sessions a little bit cleaner and easier to overview.

 

[Terminus]

Using the same plugin settings on all songs?

Yeah, ftmp. I love having all the songs in one session, that way I dont have to open ten different project files to tweak one aspect of an ep or album. With metal it just makes it easier since most of the time the general tones are the same throughout an album.

 

[MetalSound]

i hate it because automation becomes hell in such big projects. i find it much easier to copy and paste channel settings or complete mixer settings within songs.
a ballad for example requires a completely different hall than a shredder song. so instead of opening 10 different reverbs i like to keep it simple and adjust everything for the individual song.
all the starting points (channel strips, compressors, eqs, etc.) are the same for each song of course.

 

[Studdy]

My thoughts exactly. I have enough automation on one track that it can be difficult not getting lost. Having the entire session in one session sounds great for a quick demo or something to get consistent sound. I think 12 tracks fully automated in one session is going to be to confusing for me to work efficiently.

 

[JeffTD]

You guys act like the shitty bands we record have songs that sound substantially different in the first place.

 

[rapucore]

You guys act like the shitty bands we record have songs that sound substantially different in the first place.

Haha made my evening

 

[Erik Monsonis]

You guys act like the shitty bands we record have songs that sound substantially different in the first place.

Today I've started an EP this way. They gave me the drum MIDI all in one large file. Every song is pretty different, but this way I'll be able to make it sound consistent even though it's folk black metal with loads of folk instruments.

Never tried it before but I'm loving the fact that when they start calling for changes I'll be able to change every song at once

And yeah, I use absolutely the same settings for every song in every release I do. Sometimes it can't be done, then I'll have to tweak specific stuff, but for the main part of it, it fits.

I hate automation, but it's something that recently has become one of my go-to techniques for a lot of stuff, so I guess I'll get used to it.

 

[JeffTD]

I would just bounce those VSTis out, pre-mix and group with similar instruments (Percussion, Strings, Horns, Choir, Woodwinds, Production FX, etc) and then hide/shrink the audio tracks and only use the groups.

 

[Mago]

I would just bounce those VSTis out, pre-mix and group with similar instruments (Percussion, Strings, Horns, Choir, Woodwinds, Production FX, etc) and then hide/shrink the audio tracks and only use the groups.

this.

 

[ze kink]

I'm getting back into it recently. Still track and edit in different sessions, but a single session makes mixing so much easier when you don't have to jump between sessions when making changes. And besides, Logic doesn't really have a fast and easy way to import session data, which also matters.

I think it's like if I was using tape, a desk and OTB; I'd also have the tracks going to the same channels with the same settings and inserts and so on. If the songs are wildly different, then obviously different sessions will probably work out better, but yeah.

 

[ArnaudM]

I did it on the last album I mixed and wonder why I have not worked this way before. I saved a lot of time. I track and edit different sessions, then mix all the songs in one giant session.