Collaboration Best Practices

[FuzzFace]

Fuzz? Send me the wavs!!!

Not there yet!

[Tony W]

^ I've got to stop editing posts, you're on top of this one Fuzz.

[Bluesberry]

I`m using a stand alone recorder. Is it good enough?  Will it work?

[Oldrottenhead]

the boss microbr  seems made for online collaboration.

whether it be importing mp3s or wavs into an existing song folder or adding your parts to an existing song.everyone has different approaches  and audiophile tendencies, for example in jemima's kite we tend to work with mp3s saved at 192kbps. tim will send his backing track and any additions will be done at 192kbps.

sometimes the separate parts are posted on skydrive for as all to have a go at mixing, sometimes i add my bits send to mike and he adds his bits and its done. using this method it is important not to use any mastering effects until the final take. and also to use tims first part as the template.

it helps to know the beat per minute too. not so you can play in time as drums are usually on the songs tim sends  but so you can sync your mbr at same speed.



for example, if tim sends me a song ( recorded at 140bpm and i import it into my mbr but my mbr is set at the default 120bpm, if i send him an mp3 or wav of my additions back to tim it can go out of sync, it is a strange thing as this doesnt always happen but it can. so if collaborating everyone have their brs at same bpm.

(update) apologies to bb here and a few others, when i do some of my own songs i dont use any rhythm or click tracks or bpm.  it's usually done to the the natural rhytms of my bodyclock , so if i start a collab and have not used drums it has to be the vulcan mindmeld im afraid.

working with mark, geir, tharek and tony i was introduced to the concept of sending the song folder with drums already programmed that way everyone involved is singing not only from but on the same hymn sheet. and resolves any sync issues.

in honker ken will send files at 128kbps , i'll sing over and master at 192kbps, i know that doesnt make it any better lol but i am fixated with 192kbps.

for alfredo and henwrench they must have every individual part in wav format but as you can see from their productions they have ears like bats.

im not really bothered as to how well produced a finished song is as long as it sounds good, for me it's about the song, if its a good song it will connect whether it was recorded in a state of the art studio or in a garden shed  next to a motorway,so once a song is done then i can get on to the next one no looking back forward ho and onto the future.

[Bluesberry]

im not really bothered as to how well produced a finished song is as long as it sounds good, for me it's about the song, if its a good song it will connect whether it was recorded in a state of the art studio or in a garden shed  next to a motorway,so once a song is done then i can get on to the next one no looking back forward ho and onto the future.

I quite agree with this statement.  Hear, hear.

[Kenneth]

Just keep the communication with the collabers Fuzz.

Oh, and have fun, if it's not fun, it's not worth it.

[Gnasty]

it helps to know the beat per minute too. not so you can play in time as drums are usually on the songs tim sends  but so you can sync your mbr at same speed.



for example, if tim sends me a song ( recorded at 140bpm and i import it into my mbr but my mbr is set at the default 120bpm, if i send him an mp3 or wav of my additions back to tim it can go out of sync, it is a strange thing as this doesnt always happen but it can. so if collaborating everyone have their brs at same bpm.

That was the best detailed explanation of how a collab should work. Even though i have never been out of synch with anyone yet, i will take Oldrottenhead`s advice on the BPm in the future...just in case!!

Unlike Greeny and a bunch of artists here who mix ever so well in their br`s, I am real crappy at mixing in the Mbr ,and don`t have the patience so i like using Audicity now cause i like looking at my wavs and determining the levels and it is easier for me. It also seems faster to format down to Mp3 so i can send it to who i am collabing with or throw it in my piepod and listen to what i have slowly done when i am out driving or at work. When Launched and i work together we just send each other wavs basically.

The first time round is a learning curve but then you`ll pick up on it by the second time around.

[Oldrottenhead]

Unlike Greeny and a bunch of artists here who mix ever so well in their br`s, I am real crappy at mixing in the Mbr ,and don`t have the patience so i like using Audicity now cause i like looking at my wavs and determining the levels and it is easier for me.

i must admit that i like to see what i am mastering, i use cubase sx2 for that but i find the mbr default mastering settings so easy to use and get to my ears more dynamic results. i find using daws for the final master leaves the songs a bit flat, but i do use them for final cuts ie fade in and out to tweak off the silence and noise at start and end but the mbr is now my default mastering device and i use various settings but never tweak them that is beyond my ken.

[Gnasty]

i must admit that i like to see what i am mastering, i use cubase sx2 for that but i find the mbr default mastering settings so easy to use and get to my ears more dynamic results. i find using daws for the final master leaves the songs a bit flat, but i do use them for final cuts ie fade in and out to tweak off the silence and noise at start and end but the mbr is now my default mastering device and i use various settings but never tweak them that is beyond my ken.

Sorry, i should of said, i like mixing down in Audicity, but still have to use the Mbr for the master.

For ever which one is best for the song is sweet and the icing on the cake!