hardware track projects

[mson]

one question for the hardware heads :

how do you manage to work on different projects ?
do you have some datasheets for efx,eq on mixer, aux ... ?
do you take photos of all parameters ?
do you work only on one project at once ?

cheers

[Opuswerk]

I write down patch names and in my DAW MIDI channels.
For mixer settings and some more complex analog patches, i simply take a picture and save them in the same folder as the project file. Unfortunately, some of the magic only happens once, so i try to always record one take of the track in it's current state to get a reference and catch the magic moment. Somehow it gets me to finish stuff much faster.
One more thing. Once you know your gear, it gets pretty easy to simply recall the settings. You can never really EQ as finely on a mixer as you can on a desk anyways, so there's no point in remembering exactly that setting.
Trust your ears, and your fingers .

[Hades]

pretty much same thing here.
I write patch names and numbers in the title of my tracks, or in the name of my clips.
If there are external FX used, I will add that too, with the dry/wet setting if needed.
sometimes that gives me long titles, yes
I do usually record most of my external midi-stuff as audio clips as well, even if I know they aren't 100% finished.
It gives me a reference if I somehow can't find back everything I haven't written down.

[optX]

first off all : very hands-on questions! =)

I don`t have analog synths but some outboard effects like compressors or spl stuff or preamps. When I use it for mixing I use recall sheets. Some of them are premade and downloaded, some of them are selfmade and some of them are just sheets on which I write "parameter X +5" or so.

On the other hand I often use the outboard fun to make a something sound nicer or different. Everything is patched on a patchbay so I can create chains on taste. It`s more like subtle sounddesign and relates to the producing stage. This way I have nicley processed sounds which I print back into the DAW and can mix later on itb. It´s like recording a guitar through EQ and compressor, makes itb mixing easier when already working on good sounding material.

Actually I prefer mixing totally itb, it`s faster for me and I don`t have to worry about losing recall sheets (what happens more often than it should). Anyway, my Ins and Outs of the audio interface are patched to the patchbay (half normalized) and certain Outs are fixed to certain hardware, like Out 1/2 goes to Charisma. In the DAW the interface Outs are labeled that way so I always know what`s going where.

[steevio]

generally i work on one tune at a time with the modular, but it usually only takes me a few hours to write and finish a tune, and now i'm used to it, i can write 4 or 5 tunes similtaneously (sequentially) i just record a jam for an hour and chop it up into seperate tunes

also i do exactly what Opuswerk does, if ive got something happening thats really nice while i'm jamming, i record a short clip of the magic moment so that i know what it should sound like when i'm recording it for real, and before i record it for real, i'll check out the short clip with the spectrum analyser, and check its RMS to make sure there's nothing weird going on that i cant hear.

before i got the modular i would take approximately one month + to write a tune and so sometimes i would work on two at a time, i just kept a book with patch names and thats it. like Opuswerk says once you know your kit inside out, you can simply memorise the settings and it only takes a minute to put everything back to where it was.
i hardly use EQ so the desk isnt a problem for me, and if i do need to EQ something i just use my ears, i can listen to a whole mix and EQ the whole thing in 30 seconds, this would be more difficult if everything needed EQ, but i just get the sounds right at source.

with an all hardware set-up i just treat the whole studio like one instrument which needs a quick tune-up (as in balancing everything in the mix ) before i start playing, and with practice that only takes a minute.

i suppose another thing is that i dont get too anal about getting things exactly the same every time, slight variations are nice, and i usually record 5 or 6 versions of everything and pick the best one, sometimes i deliberately make them slightly different. this helpe to keep the tune fresh in your head, you're not just listening over and over to the same loops till you get sick of them

[mson]

yeah sorry for these hands on questions
Thanks you for sharing your workflow

[optX]

yeah sorry for these hands on questions
Thanks you for sharing your workflow

hands on questions are good questions!

[sorgenkind]

32 channel desk, 5 compressors, 4 effect racks, 5 patchbays, sequences and samples on the MPC, samples on the Yamaha rack sampler, patches on 2 synths, patterns on the 909 and the MD:
I used to make pics of the desk, pics of the compressors, had a excel file for the patchbay routing and, also in excel, a “visual” way to visualize the song on the MPC.
Having started to work on different projects, I had to streamline my workflow and have recallability. I also figured out that the new live act I want to prepare (after 3 years hiatus) would have been way too complicated with hardware, so I went almost 100% ITB.
Now it’s maschine, waldorf Q and maxforlive. Sold pretty much everything I had (909, 106, alphajuno2, moogerfooger 101) and swapped the outboard for a yellow waldorf Q. feels good to me.
I have been f*king around with gear for one year and a half and got 3 tracks done, 2 of which have already been trashed.