"Mailing In" the parts

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 7 Jan 2009 1:55 pm

Finally bit the bullet and added a firewire i/o to my analog/digital hybrid project studio (analog i/o to digital recorders). So...I'll be able to "edit in the box" now...Which means I'll have to be thinking outside of my comfort zone.

It'll give me an excuse to start a little boutique project. I'm giving some thought to a remote collaboration. Many of my associates track in their own studios and "mail the parts in".

Anyone here compile an entire project that way? It sounds doable, but I'm sure there are pitfalls.

Want to share experiences, good/horror stories?

h

Orville Johnson · Post by **Orville Johnson** » 7 Jan 2009 4:39 pm

I've never done a whole project that way but I've done several sessions "thru the mail". It's really pretty easy nowadays. Almost any DAW will accept .wav files so everyone doesn't have to have the same software as you, and if you're scrupulous about your bitrate/samplerate settings so you can minimize the amount of times things have to be converted you should be able to get a good sound (assuming your project mates use decent mics, pres, etc. and good recording practices). The only problems I've had were minor and easily correctable.

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 7 Jan 2009 5:23 pm

Thanks Orville,

I've been tracking and mixing with a Mackie 8 buss console for years. There were times I had to borrow an additional set of hands... "mute that channel NOW!!"

I'm looking forward to playing around. The learning curve looks reasonable. I've recorded a few test tracks and I can get audio in and out of the box. The bigger challenge will be integrating all this new capability into this existing studio, and most importantly, making sure that it helps, not hinders, the music.

cheers,

h

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 7 Jan 2009 6:20 pm

I have an old pickin buddy who now lives in Florida. For the past couple of years we've been playing on instrumentals together. I'll pick a song using BIAB and Cakewalk or some midi file off the net and put it in Cakewalk. I'll add my parts and send it to him and he'll put in his parts and send a copy back to me.
Lots of fun.

Randy Reeves · Post by **Randy Reeves** » 8 Jan 2009 4:39 am

mailing parts is very doable. I have been jamming with players from several countries. the compatibility is surprising. any pitfalls are the same as a live collaboration. Wav and mp3 are the typical formats for Export and Import. specify stereo or mono tracks and bit rates.
go for it. you will have so much fun.

Ben Strano · Post by **Ben Strano** » 8 Jan 2009 4:59 pm

The only thing you and your cohorts HAVE to do is make sure that the files are time-stamped. However, the easiest way of doing this is to make sure that after you finish recording your part consolidate your files from 0:00:00. This way when your buddy brings your part into his session you he puts it at the very top of his session and it will guarantee line up with the rest of the parts. If everyone involved makes sure that all of their files start from zero it will go smooth as silk.

robert kramer · Post by **robert kramer** » 9 Jan 2009 10:04 am

Yes, very important to make sure your musicians start their track from 0.00.00. I had a 30 sec. track divided into 10 sec. sections that needed funk bass on the middle 10 sec. section. Even after advising the bass player to send his file from 0.00.00, he only sent his 10 sec. part. After working a good 2 hours, I couldn't align his 10 sec. part (called nudging in Pro Tools) with my 30 sec. track. If he had sent the entire track with his 10 sec. part in the middle it would have dropped right in.

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 9 Jan 2009 4:15 pm

+1 for Ben and Robert....zero start is the way to go....

Ben Strano · Post by **Ben Strano** » 10 Jan 2009 12:10 pm

I have done whole records via email. It works great!!

It is not my favorite way of doing it. But make sure that everyone records at the same sample rate and consolidates their files from zero and you will have a blast.

Robby Springfield · Post by **Robby Springfield** » 13 Jan 2009 8:25 pm

A lot of my work right now is done this way. One thing that happens is there is sometimes a small difference in the way tracks line up with other computers/software. To eliminate headaches, I have found that including a piece of the count off with your exported tracks helps insure that who ever is mixing/receiving the files can line things up visually and audibly. Starting with a zero time line and consolidating your tracks is part of the process but doesn't guaranty a perfect match. I work with a friend that has the same software as myself, but there is still a slight difference do to latency and plugins issues.

Beard Guitars · Post by **Beard Guitars** » 14 Jan 2009 5:47 am

Very interesting and quite helpful.

Howard Parker · Post by **Howard Parker** » 14 Jan 2009 5:53 am

I hate when I use the wrong login

Thanks for the tips folks. I've been spending some time with the users docs, quick start guide and video. I can get audio in and out of the box. Heck, I've even messed with the automation so, all is good.

It's heading down to zero this weekend. Looks like an opportunity to spend some quality time in the studio.

I'll be messing around with reconfiguring a Mackie 8 buss and a bunch of patch bays....

If I'm lucky I might have time to actually make music.

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 15 Jan 2009 2:04 pm

We have been taking it up another notch here, which is really easy. Using IChat, we have a live, two-way video feed to communicate during the session. Just recently we did overdubs with legendary mandolinist Sam Bush, Hank Singer on fiddle and guitarist Chris Leuzinger in Nashville. The client was able to sit in the control room here in Denver and have direct input on the session in Nashville with no travel costs.

The world is really small right now...

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 16 Jan 2009 3:29 am

John Macy wrote:
The world is really small right now...

And there we have it !

ICHAT , don't forget to turn it off when you are done with the session though

Lights, Camera, Action > Record !

whoda' thunk this would have ever happened when we were recording into our Wollensaks !

tp

ps, don't forget to put the mute button on when you are listening in on a business conf call, especially when your wife comes in the room

Orville Johnson · Post by **Orville Johnson** » 16 Jan 2009 5:02 pm

The average person's "apprehension of the groove" has changed a lot since the late 70s. The disco era introduced the metronomic groove to pop music. Generations of people have now listened to an awful lot of rhythmically precise music and its become part of our musical culture.

Orville Johnson · Post by **Orville Johnson** » 17 Jan 2009 3:02 pm

I think the biggest tendency we need to avoid is the one about broad generalizations relating how music is made to its value as music. i've done a lot of session work and i've heard great music made in many different ways. What matters is the end result and if it communicates something to us thru its musical voice.

I remember when synthesizers were the devil, then samplers, then drum machines. Click tracks will make my music sound mechanical! (Uh,no, playing with a click track is a skill you have to learn and, if you do, it is just as capable of making your music sound better) If you go back to the thirties, recorded music itself was going to put all musicians out of work and some people refused to record their music because of that fear. Their stuff is now lost to history.

This modern way of recording we're discussing here doesn't preclude any old fashioned way of 5 guys in a room playing music into some mics. It just offers more ways and more tools do try and accomplish the thing that we're all doing. Trying to get some music out of our heads and onto a viable medium to communicate those ideas. Rant over!