Track layout hints

[GorillaProblem]

I'm hoping there's some old-school way of doing this cause
my way just plain sucks.
How do 48 track or digital studios keep track of multiple takes
so that they can easily retreave them at a later date?

For instance if I want to take a huge number of guitar takes and assemble the best
parts down into one track... is there some time saving way that studio engineers know of
that makes this process easier....

As I'm recording, I find that I've got a good take, but an hour
later when I go back to retrieve it, I've totally forgotten which track it was on or where in
the song it happened.

 

[Track Rat]

I chart the structure of the song along with the lyrics and print out one copy per take and then I grade each take (make notes on words out of tune, rate performance etc). Same for lead takes and so on. It makes it easier to make a comp.

 

[Sonic Misfit]

No high tech solution. A clipboard and some track sheets are more than adequate.

If you search back through the archives, I posted a PDF file with a track sheet that I use. Print out a bunch and go for it. I believe that my sheet is set up for 24 tracks, but you can make it even larger and use long paper.

 

[vox]

Yup, SM nailed it, tracksheets are the standard way to keep track of all the mayhem. It helps if you have them neat and nicely laid out too, not just scribbles on the corners of napkins, because you will want to archive them along with the raw tracks so that when you have to do the remixes for the 25th anniversary greatest hits box set, you can still understand them.