Audio Recording

If you are using Adobe Audition for your recording projects, then you should read this guide to avoid costly mistakes in the long run. Below are some common beginner mistakes in creating multi-track projects that you should avoid:

1.) Loss of multi-track session file.
2.) Disorganized recorded tracks.
3.) Untraceable recordings – not using correct filename or indistinguishable file name.
4.) Not using correct sample rate during recording.
5.) Not using correct bit depth during recording.
6.) Not doing backups of multitrack recording project – when there are hard drive failures or hardware related issues in your computer then your music project will be gone.

Several versions of Adobe Audition were released and get used by a lot of home studio producers. However, this tutorial will emphasize on the older version (Version 1.5). But the practice is still applicable to recently released versions. The objective of this tutorial is educating the beginner the best practices in creating and doing backups of multitrack recording project. Let get started:

Best Practices when Creating a Multi-track Project

If you are creating a multitrack project using Adobe Audition, you should:

1.) Be using the best sample rate and audio bit depth.
2.) Record in mono only to save digital hard drive space.
3.) Observed proper track assignment. Actually in a multi-track audio mixing project; it is done by combining all the mono tracks to produce a stereo mix down such as shown below:

If you have noticed, there are 8 tracks in the sample multi-track project shown. Each of these tracks are distinct, hence they are assigned with different track name. These mono tracks are placed in their assigned location in the stereo field using panning techniques. Aside from panning effects, you can implement other effects to each of those tracks. These effects can be EQ, compression, reverb, delay, etc. The purpose of applying effects is to make your mix as clear, dynamic and perfectly sounding as possible. As you have seen, since the track is mono, there is only one channel in the mono waveform (mono is one channel recording). The sample rate and bit depth for each of these recorded tracks is 24-bit and 96KHz. You can record your tracks waveform in mono/24-bit and 96KKhz by configuring your recording software before doing any recording session. Bear in mind to observe proper recording techniques such as recording clipping prevention. Finally during “mixdown” process; all mono tracks are combined/summed up together with all the applied effects and settings. The result is a single stereo waveform as you can see in the above screenshot. To prevent mistake in the mixdown process which can also be costly during the mastering stage; you should observe correct audio mixing levels and headroom. You will then forward this resulting mixdown to a mastering engineer.

4.) During tracking stage, you will be asked by Adobe Audition what filename needs to be assigned to each of your track. It will also ask where you will be saving these files. Below are some recommendations:
a.) Create a folder for each project in your hard drive (ideally in the data drive/partition where it contains the biggest free space, NOT in your Windows/System Drive). For example; if the name of the song is “This is my song”, you can create a folder named as “This is my song multitrack project”. The objective is to easily identify multitrack projects from other projects you are doing.

b.) Place all recorded tracks ONLY inside this folder. Do NOT place any recorded tracks for the project outside this folder or in other places in your computer.

c.) Assign a correct and descriptive filename to your recorded wav file tracks. For example: vocals_mono.wav means it is the vocal track.

5.) During multi-track mixing stage, you will be asked by Adobe Audition about the filename of your session and where to save it. Below are some recommendations:

a.) Name the session with the title of the song you are working. If you are working with the song entitled “This is my song”, the filename can be “this_is_my_song.ses”

.ses is the file extension of Adobe Audition session files, the multi-track project file.

b.) Save the session file ONLY to the folder that also contains the recorded wav tracks.

This is how your multitrack project files should look like inside the project folder containing the most important elements (the recorded tracks and the multi-track session file). Note: If any of these files are missing, then your multi-track project cannot be loaded. If your Adobe Audition version includes “locking” of tracks; then use it to speed up your multitrack session especially if you are using a lot of effects.

Best Practices when doing backups for your multitrack project

Accidents can happen without any warning. For example, if you are working with your computer and suddenly the hard drive crashed. It is important to have some backups of your multi-track projects. Below are some important tips:

1.) Buy a separate external hard drive. It should be larger than all of your combined hard drives that your computer is using. This will ensure that you will not easily run out of backup hard drive space. One of my favorite for small scale application is a 1TB external hard drive such as the Hewlett Packard HP Portable 1 TB USB 3.0/2.0 External Hard Drive.

2.) Copy and paste the project folder (screenshot shown above) to the external hard drive and do backups frequently. If you are working on a daily basis, then doing backup on a daily basis will be fine.

3.) This is very handy because if the current computer hard drive will crash, you can still run your multitrack projects in the external hard drive as long as the project folder contains all required tracks and the multitrack session file. It is the primary reason why they should be placed together ONLY in a single folder. Read this post if you are interested in how to backup your hard drives to save important mix and master.