Suggestions for recording rehearsals

[skeptic38]

Hi guys,

 

I'm a complete Logic Pro novice, looking for suggestions/techniques/opinions.

 

I'm looking to record band rehearsals of approximately 3 hours in length.  Afterward, I'd like to go through, isolate the individual song performances, and create mp3's of the songs for the band members.

 

I made my first attempt last week.  I created one project, and stopped recording between each song.  When I was done, I went through, found each song, edited them to the best of my abilities, and then bounced them as individual mp3's.

 

So my question is, how would an experienced sound engineer accomplish the same thing?  Is there a more efficient way to do it?  I found it difficult to keep settings straight between the different songs, and thought that maybe I should have created a new project for each individual  song.  Problem is, that would take up too much rehearsal time.

 

Is there a way to split up one long (3 hour) project into individual projects?  Would that be the way to go if you could do it without too much effort?

 

I'm recording 16 tracks through a Mackie 1640i, onto a MacBook, using Logic Pro 9.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice and or suggestions.

[skeptic38]

Well, it's been 4 months.  I guess I'm either too dumb to be helped, or no one has ever attempted to do what I am trying to do.  

 

I've searched the internet for help, but have been unable to come across any answers.

 

In particular, I just recorded a 3 hour, 16 track session.  

 

I was able to figure out how to use Markers, and as such, have all the songs marked in the project.

 

Would love to copy all 16 tracks of a single song into a new project, and mix it from there.

 

Anyone know if that is possible, or am I going about this all wrong?

 

Just get me pointed in the right direction, and I think I'll start to pick this stuff up from there.

 

Thanks.

[Mania]

I am no pro but here is what i would do: i would have a big project with all the songs in it. I would open it up and cut out everything except the first song and do a ' save as'. Then not saving the project, closing and reopening it. Cut out everything except the second song and do a 'save as' again and so on...

[skeptic38]

I am no pro but here is what i would do: i would have a big project with all the songs in it. I would open it up and cut out everything except the first song and do a ' save as'.  Then not saving the project, closing and reopening it. Cut out everything except the second song and do a 'save as' again and so on...

Thanks, I could certainly give that a try.  My fear would be that I would accidentally delete something or move the project around by accident.  

I understand your technique.  Something tells me, though, that there is a way to just "slice" or copy the section I want (i.e. a particular song) and then copy it over to a new project without molesting the original too much.

I appreciate your time.

[triplets]

Your best bet is to stop recording after the first song. Then start recording again for the second after.

That way you can visually see when each song starts.

Then it's much easier to Save As and make individual projects. That's the way Logic works.

[skeptic38]

Your best bet is to stop recording after the first song. Then start recording again for the second after.

That way you can visually see when each song starts.

Then it's much easier to Save As and make individual projects. That's the way Logic works.

I have tried that.  And it does work.   

Problem is, if I'm not careful, I wind up skewing a track, and then it is out of time with the other tracks.

I'm thinking, and correct me if I'm wrong,  that I could "Split by Playhead" where the song begins and ends, then select all 16 tracks.  Next, I could open up a new empty project, and drag and drop all 16 selected tracks.  

The other option would be to stop practice after each song, and re-instantiate a new project.  

My thinking is that the latter is the correct way to do it, but was hoping to just set up Logic, and let it run.  Between guitar changes, amp changes and effects set up, I have enough going on.  

[triplets]

Next, I could open up a new empty project, and drag and drop all 16 selected tracks.  

No, that won't make the project self-contained.

You have to do a Save As and include Audio Files.

[skeptic38]

Next, I could open up a new empty project, and drag and drop all 16 selected tracks.  

No, that won't make the project self-contained.

You have to do a Save As and include Audio Files.

Thanks, I didn't realize that.  

What I'm doing now, is finding a song in the project, mixing the song, and then bouncing.  

Problem is, I usually need to change the mix settings for the next song, and the song after that.  After listening to my bounces, If I need to go back in, I have no idea where my original settings were, because I'm changing them from song to song.

[triplets]

If you like the settings on the previous songs, you can import all the plugins and automation with the Project import function from the Project Browser.

 

Here's what you do. First find the project with the Browser button on the top right.

Then click on Import.

Then select the plugins you want.

Don't select content because that will replace the audio files!

 

Somehow the attachments are in the wrong order.

[skeptic38]

Very good, I will give that a try.  

 

Thanks a ton for your time.

[tatane79]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the tips.

It would be great though that a future version of Logic proposes a dedicated functionality to split an entire rehearsal into as many projects as the number of tunes played during the rehearsal: it's always better to let Logic record everything during the rehearsal instead of having to manipulate it during the session.

 

Thanks guys, always cool to see that we're not alone with an issue!

 

J.

[David Nahmani]

Thanks for the tips.

It would be great though that a future version of Logic proposes a dedicated functionality to split an entire rehearsal into as many projects as the number of tunes played during the rehearsal: it's always better to let Logic record everything during the rehearsal instead of having to manipulate it during the session.

 

Thanks guys, always cool to see that we're not alone with an issue!

Here's what I do: record everything into a single Logic Project. Then copy the project file (File > Save As) giving the new copy the name of the first song (Song 1). Now edit Song 1 to contain only the section that pertains to Song 1. Repeat for each song. Make sure I save all those copies in the same project folder so all the projects use a common Audio Files folder containing the audio file recording of the entire rehearsal.

[skeptic38]

Hi David,

 

Thanks for that suggestion, it makes sense. The problem I see, however, is that after a 3 hour session, the file is HUGE. I've seen them anywhere from 12 Gb to 20 Gb depending on what settings I've used. So you'd have to have a drive with a lot of space, and time to copy a large Gb file several times. We usually get 20 to 30 songs in during a rehearsal.

 

Make sure I save all those copies in the same project folder so all the projects use a common Audio Files folder containing the audio file recording of the entire rehearsal.

 

Just curious, would you really need to do this? Wouldn't the audio file be copied to the new file when you use Save As? If so, why the need to have a common Audio Files folder?

[David Nahmani]

The problem I see, however, is that after a 3 hour session, the file is HUGE. I've seen them anywhere from 12 Gb to 20 Gb depending on what settings I've used. So you'd have to have a drive with a lot of space, and time to copy a large Gb file several times.

No: the Logic file you're copying is tiny. The audio file is huge, but you're not copying it. Make sure you save your project organized as a folder.

[skeptic38]

No: the Logic file you're copying is tiny. The audio file is huge, but you're not copying it. Make sure you save your project organized as a folder.

 

Ahhhhh, I see . Now that makes sense. And wouldn't take a lot of time.

 

Thank you, David

[David Nahmani]

You're welcome!

[tatane79]

Thanks, David. Will follow your proposal.

[David Nahmani]

Make sure I save all those copies in the same project folder so all the projects use a common Audio Files folder containing the audio file recording of the entire rehearsal.

 

Just curious, would you really need to do this? Wouldn't the audio file be copied to the new file when you use Save As? If so, why the need to have a common Audio Files folder?

Hi skeptic38, just saw that question now, I suppose by now it's clear but just to answer it anyway, the idea is to avoid copying the audio file. So you save your original rehearsal-recording project organized as a folder containing the rehearsal project file and an audio file folder, then you make copies of the rehearsal project file inside that same folder so that Logic does not make any copies of the audio file. All Logic project files point to different parts of the same unique long audio file.

 

If necessary you can then create individual audio files for each project. For example open one of the individual song project files and control-click the audio region that was trimmed to only that song and choose Convert > Convert to New Audio File. That creates a new audio file of only the size of that single song. Now open the project audio browser, select unused and press delete on your keyboard (do not delete the audio file itself, only delete the reference the long rehearsal audio file). Save that project organized as a folder but in another location. Repeat for all individual song projects and once you're done you can delete the main rehearsal Logic project folder including the audio file folder containing the long rehearsal audio file. Each individual song project folder is now self-contained and has its own smaller audio file.

[robinloops]

Project alternatives are another option. Save project with name like ‘entire rehearsal’ then make an alternative for each song. Then go back and edit each alternative to contain only the song it’s supposed to. Then, if there are any of the songs you want to keep an editable version of, export them to a new project. Once you’re done making your mp3’s and exporting any alternatives you want to keep (as project file for individual song), move the large ‘entire practice session’ file to your backup drive (if you don’t have one yet, you’re gonna need one of you plan on doing a lot of recording).

[skeptic38]

Project alternatives are another option.

 

Thank you, I haven't come across Project alternatives yet, didn't know they existed. I'm still running Logic Pro 9 (long story, has to do with my analog mixer.) Is the Project Alternative option a Logic 10 feature, or has it been around a while?

[David Nahmani]

Personally I don't like project alternatives. Yes they are a Logic 10 feature. The main reason I don't like them is because I have had instances when corruption in one project would ripple to all the project alternatives, which never happens with independent projects. Once bitten twice shy. There are other reasons too, in this instance I prefer to have individual project folders each one the size of one song rather than one single project folder the size of the entire rehearsal recording with one single project file containing the multiple alternatives.

 

It's mostly a workflow preference so I suggest you try it for yourself to determine wether you like it or not. I know I don't.

[robinloops]

I never used alternatives before 10 so I don’t know, but I think they are new to 10.

 

If you haven’t already posted about it, let’s get to the bottom of why an analogue mixer is prohibitive to upgrading logic (in another topic of course).

 

Also you can put your system info in your signature so it shows at the bottom of your posts.