Tracksheets

  • Thread starter Thread starter anUnquietSkull
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They let you know who's playing what on which track. Also, when and where.
 
I see. Are they organized by regular time, or measures? I'm asking because isn't this similar to having an arrangement window opened up in a VST/Logic environment and placing separate tracks on whatever time reference you have? If this is the case, then what's the point of the track sheet if everything can be done through arrangement windows and experimentation? I suppose I'm a bit confused about its role in the recording & mixing processes. Perhaps it's more preliminary before you actually start arranging things so you have some kind of plan? Thanks in advance.
 
Well, you see, the thing is, people actually recorded before there was VST/Logic type environments and some people still do actually record without computers...so to keep up with what instruments were on each track, they use track sheets...type of mic, preamp settings, effects used and effects setting, notes about placement, and all sorts of things can be kept track of this way....
 
...not to mention try scribbling a quick note on your computer at the heat of the moment of a rockin' take.... don't want to be wasting CPU cycles on unnecessary typing!

Long live old dinosaurs like myself who don't use computers to record!!! :D

Bruce
 
Interesting. A quick note, Nine Inch Nails posts track sheets on the archived portion of nin.com, for a couple songs off of the last album. That whole group is pretty computer savvy but they still use track sheets despite running a Pro Tools rig with their army of effects and synths. I guess track sheets are still used in high tech environments.
 
If you started your career pulling honest-to-Gawd reel-to-reeal multitrack tapes, and taking notes on every take on track sheets with a good old #2 lead pencil, you just never stop. I still use track sheets even though I'm tapeless now. Always will.

Track sheets used to be organized on a take-by-take basis using tape counter readings when I first started out, back in the days before timecode hardware was affordable by mere mortal man. I just write 'em up with the disk directory index (the "program number") these days. Used to be you'd note the tape counter offset reading, using the leader splice as 0, so you could spool right to it.

I don't care that I can take notes in Cubase. Takes too long. Got that good ol' pencil right there, and a clipboard with a space to put it all down, and I've learned to write without unfocusing my ears. I just flat can't do that typing...

It's still fun to pull an old reel off the shelf from my old room, open up the box, find the track sheets inside, and try to remember the day. Even though it's arguably bad form, I always stored the sheets right in the box with the reel. That was because my collaborators never could get used to labeling the boxes, or splicing on head and tail leaders and labeling the tape itself. So after they'd track, I'd find a bunch of blank tape boxes stacked all over the control room, with no heads or tails or markings at all, and have no freakin' _idea_ what it was, whether it was heads- or tails-out, or even if it had been used... What a timewaster.

I ought to scan my current track sheet and post it. It's based on my old one... At the bottom, it has a quote from the 1980 National Lampoon parody of the US Census form: "Fill out this form completely, or we'll fuck with your head until you bleed out the ears."

It worked pretty well getting my collaborators into line, most of the time, sort of. Maybe 50%, anyway. That, and my official policy of "If it's in a blank box with no track sheet and no leaders, it's gonna get treated as if it's blank tape, dammit!" And that's why I'm strictly a solo act in my new room, when it comes to engineering.

I still keep a pile of Sharpies and grease pencils by the board, even though there's nothing to label anymore... Just like the smell of 'em, I guess. I just wish that I could figure out how to store hard disk drives tails-out... (;-) Let's hear it for the dinosaurs!
 
I hate tracksheets.... I put on an adat, and bring up the faders, and within 1 minute, I have scribbled what is on every track on a piece of tape across my console..... Then If I really want to keep a record of it, I just hang the piece of tape on the back of a door in my control room.....It works for me.... Record keeping sucks (and kills rainforests):D

Joe
(very messy and unorganized studio owner):D
 
track sheets

I use track sheets on all of my sessions, there in a note book so
I can always go back a year if need be to find settings and other infomation that i used on a session. I got my track sheets and all
studio forms from a company called Patten Sound. Give it a try
they have software for all studio needs.
 
Hey skippy !

What you said about scanning a track sheet and posting it.

That would be a great help to me as I have no idea what one should look like.

FROZ
 
track sheets

Hey! Kermit ,those are pretty good track sheets!!!!!!


Thanks
 
I dunno. I record with Cubase but I still like to take notes on how a track was recorded. Even though the computer remembers its internal settings, I want to know what the signal chain was on the way in. Scrap paper is usually enough for my modest needs, though I love the idea of tracks sheets.

Nothing sucks like hearing something the morning after that MUST be punched into an otherwise breathtaking performance...and not being able to recall the setting on the compressor or the mic placement. You can twiddle with that stuff for HOURS trying to get it to punch in cleanly...or take a few minutes to note your setup to begin with.

Take care,
Chris
 
Hey there Kermit, I take music and recording classes at MiraCosta College. They have an awesome music department--state-of-the-art equipment--and classes are only $11 per unit. Bargain of the country. Except, er, they have Mackie consoles and NS-10s. Did I say state-of-the-art?
 
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