keeping records of recordings...

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microchip

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Greetings...

I am almost completed with my album that I have created through my computer. When it is done, I will be releasing it under my own label I have created.

I would like to know form others who may have released albums how they keep a back up or spare copy of all the items involved. For instance, should I just make a master copy of the music once I get it mastered, or should I also be backing up all the info from Cakewalk and all the individual tracks as well for possible need in the future? And what about the creation of the album cover? Are people backing up all the info on those to onto something other than the hard drive?

Thanks,
D.
 
CDR dude. At $0.30 apiece there's no reason not to back up tracks of all your projects. Granted 700MB a disc isn't much, so 1-2 CD's per tune is usually required. DVDRAM will be great but is still expensive.

On a side note, I used t zip all my stuff up and burn it to CD, which would save about 30%...i.e. I could put a 1GB project on a 700MB CDR. Then one unfortunate day I realized that if you scratch a CD with a zip (or any other) archive, you can lose the *entire* archive, and not just a few files. Ouch.

Slackmaster 2000
 
music: the CD's would be a good "backup", but if a studio ever asks you to come up with an "extended dance mix" you'll be glad if you have all your cakewalk files (etc.) also!

If you put a lot of work into the CD cover I'd backup it too. CDR is my favorite way to make backups.

-Shaz
 
I back everything up to CD-R. I track to ADATs but transfer the tracks into the computer for editing, usually in either Cakewalk or Vegas. I'll save the Cakewalk project and the wave files of each song of to CD-R. If all the waves and project (of an individual tune) are to large to fit on a single CD-R, I put half the waves in one folder along with the project info and the other half in another folder and save them to two CD-Rs. I keep all of this together with the ADAT tapes and the track sheets with all the notes on how I tracked everything (which mics on what and through which pre amp, settings, etc..). If I need to go back to the project for whatever reason, I just make a new folder on the computer and reload all the data from the two CD-Rs into that folder and reopen it. No problem. IMHO, CD-Rs will be around for a long time so in say ten years I should still be able to get back into my stuff. That's something to consider when it comes to long term storage of your media.
 
Dude, back everything up. All your Cakewalk bundles, all your alternate mix .wavs, all your individual tracks, before you've added any kind of destructive effect, EVERYTHING. You'll be so glad you did.

And back everything up twice. Especially when dealing with CDRs, because they're so fragile.

YMMV, but I personally have a little scheme where I put one backup disc into a binder by my computer, so it's at my fingertips if I should need it, and leave the other in a jewel case. I put that disc into a CD tower, and don't touch it again unless the copy in my binder should go bad for some reason.

It's a paranoid backup scheme, but with backups it's kinda hard to be too paranoid.
 
Hmmm... cool idea... I've been always backing up ADAT projects to other ADAT tapes, but once I get all the bugs out of my comp... I think CD-R is a great way to handle ADAT archiving....

CD-Rs are a heckuva lot cheaper than ADAT tapes!

Thanks for the excellent idea, Track Rat!

Bruce
 
Amen to backing everything up twice!!! Keep one in a safe place where no one will be touching it, that way you know it won't get damaged and your project lost.
 
It sucks that CDRs only hold 650 MB, though. Drives me nuts. I've been thinking about buying an external firewire or similar hard drive expressly for backups.

I actually have a Castlewood ORB drive that I've been using for backups. It's a cheap, relatively fast drive (probably about 1/8 of hard disk speed), that uses zip-disk sized cartridges that hold 2.2 GB each... and it has a SCSI connection with an included USB adapter... The drive cost about $150, and the cartridges cost 20 bucks each, so it's pretty affordable and can easily hold a whole session on a disc. The downside to this format is that it's relatively new, and I have no idea what sort of lifespan it has. There an article on it here .
 
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