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I was just perusing the Sonar Forum, and Craig Anderton had the following tip. Don't Make the Same Mistake I Made with Older Sonar Projects
I've been cleaning up my hard drive of old projects to determine what to keep and what to delete. Sonar has had zero problems loading files from even 17 years ago, but plug-ins are a different story: no, I don't have the 32-bit version of Guitar Rig 1.0 still installed...
A while ago I figured out that any backup needed to include rendered, audio tracks of anything using virtual instruments and/or plug-ins, but this experience just reminded me of the importance of making sure everything exists as standard audio files in addition to whatever else is in the project, so I thought I'd pass that observation along.
I think this is excellent advice for anyone who has used any DAW for many years and through many upgrades, and for the ability to more seamlessly switch to a different platform should the need arise (such as what many Sonar users are now doing).
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
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Yeah, it seems like extra work, but may be well worth the effort some day.
Thanks for sharing
Make your sound your own!
.. I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
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Extra work? That's the point of doing recordings in the first place, to make a hard, physical copy of anything you never, ever want to lose. My live band recordings go back to my time in the Air Force in Japan in 1965 when I bought an Akai reel to reel. Fast forward to about 12 years ago when I got into Biab and digital recording. My final multitrack audio mixes along with the final master stereo files are all sitting in two external HD's and DVD's. Right now I keep doing the HD dance every few years, copying and recopying to newer drives.
Some years ago I read about the problem society is having and is going to continue to have about how to store any kind of information long term meaning decades and even centuries, not just next five years. Well bound books can last a very long time and so can vinyl records but digital? What format? What equipment to keep when it keeps changing all the time? What's our great-great grandchildren going to do with a CD 75 years from now? Can a CD even last that long? I read something about the layers separating after 10-20 years or whatever. Are we going to put a thumb drive in a safety deposit box so our kids can retrieve it 25 years from now? What would they plug it into then?
I have no clue. Anyway, absolutely create your final mixes as pure wav audio files and keep them outside of your computer.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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I've also worried about digital retention for the future and whether you can even access the information.
Federal records are currently printed before being shipped for archive, but I read recently they are going digital soon. It will be interesting if in the future it is easier to research early US history, for example, with ledgers, books, maps, and hand written letters, than the history from our digital age.
John Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 2x2TB, 1x4TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 2x1.5TB, 2x2TB, 1x4TB SATA BB2024/UMC404HD/Casios/Cakewalk/Reaper/Studio One/MixBus/Notion/Finale/Dorico/Noteworthy/NI/Halion/IK http://www.sus4chord.com
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I started my duo with backing tracks back in 1985. At that time Standard MIDI files hadn't been invented yet, so I was doing everything on a Yamaha sequencer with proprietary MIDI files.
Since computers were also unreliable on stage back then, I had everything recorded on cassette tapes and used them for my backing tracks.
Time went on, the Yamaha sequencer broke, and the new models used the brand-new Standard MIDI file format. I lost the data for over 300 songs.
So I started doing everything on computer using Master Tracks Pro and those 'new fangled' SMFs.
But in time when better options for playing sequences live on stage, I re-recorded what I thought I needed out of those 300 MIDI files as I phased out the Cassettes, and about 200 were too old to worry about, learning a new song would be more productive and take about the same amount of time. I still miss some of those songs as they wouldn't be good as a regular now, but an occasional 'blast from the past' would be fun.
Since that experience, I save two copies of everything, whether it is audio, MIDI or both. First copy in the proprietary file format of the app I'm using, and another in standard file formats like WAV and Standard MIDI files.
If a new standard appears, I'll convert right away while the old gear still works.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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I had a personal run-in with a limitation directly relatant to this a few years back. While it’s time consuming, and it does take some extra work it absolutely pays off in the end.
Cheers,
Deryk
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Journeyman
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John, I think your post (and Craig's tip) are so important that the entire thing should be in boldface.
I still have a couple of Mac's from the 1980's that I have saved solely to provide a path back to music I recorded in the 1980's.
I tried (and I try) to end up with "standard" audio files, but the volume of what you produce tends to leave you (me) with a "Sophie's Choice" type decision: Do I spend my (limited) time archiving prior work or chasing new ideas?
Decades later I still struggle with this dilemma. Digital makes it tougher IMO. This may be trash (even to my family), but it's decidedly not trash to me
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Although I don't use a lot of plugins, for the few times I do, I render an audio track. I know in the fairly near future I can access audio files to reconstruct a project, even if I no longer have or use the plugin or DAW that created it. After that, it's anyone's guess.
BIAB 2024 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 6.5 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6; Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus Studio 192, Presonus Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors
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That's another good thing about MIDI and hardware synths instead of soft-synths.
MIDI has been around since 1983 and the first MIDI messages and files are still compatible today. After 24 years, MIDI has become a standard.
Hardware synths simply need to be working and have MIDI messages sent to them. And the MIDI sound modules (without moving keyboard parts) seem to me to be incredibly reliable. The Roland MT-32 and the Yamaha TX81z that I bought in 1997 still work perfectly today. And so do the half dozen synths I purchased since then.
Keyboard synths? I've had 50/50 results. The DS-8 I bought in 1987 works fine as a MIDI sound module, but a couple of the keys don't work so I can't use it as a keyboard. The Korg i3 that I purchased in 1993 still works fine.
I have a couple of hardware samplers that work fine too.
So unlike software synths that get orphaned by computer OS upgrades or plug-ins that are no longer supported, I haven't lost one single sound from all my hardware synths/samplers. Buying a new synth just adds to my library of sounds. A couple of my synths like the Edirol SD-90 and Roland XV-5050 have many thousands of voices each with bank after bank of sounds. Sometime the problem is choosing what sound I want with so many good ones to pick from.
Of course, there is more than one right way to make music, and YMMV, but this works for me.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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