Project Nameing Convention

[sadicus]

I'm currently trying to organize some newer and some 10 year old projects (most never completed) so most is just audio to a click track.
Projects use to be  tracked, mix then export all from the same file.
What are some better ways to Organize projects and name them?

A few examples of the current file name hellscape :

007 Drop C  classical Guitar MASTER cwp
007 Drop C  classical Guitar PARTS cwp
062407 Guitar Drop D Gtr Spanish pick 01 cwp

 

[Glenn Stanton]

i give it a song name as the main project folder, then create individual projects as needed - record, vocals, solos, mix, master, etc. if you're creating parts of a song with your naming convention, that can work although i would tend to think of those more as tracks in my record / mix projects.

for my record and mix templates i use a numbering track name scheme "I01 KICK" "I02 SNARE" "I20 BASS" etc so a) i can easily sort to my "normal" ordering of things, and b) space to insert additional tracks in similar order - "I21 BASS2" etc. then when i export to tracks, then import into my mix template, the tracks are all pre-named and ready to go. 

in your case, i might label the tracks (in my system) "I30 GUITAR C DRP CLS" "I34 GUITAR D DRP ES PCK" etc etc so if i use the track sort command all my tracks get orderd as i would expect + additionally by Key and then type. a number could be inserted into the mix tro further refine ordering.

[Andres Medina]

Not sure if I understood right, but in case your audios are all in a single project file, but contain several songs, i would do this:

1. Move all audio tracks from each song to a dedicated folder.
2. Name the folder in a meaningful way for your purposes
3. On export, use the Source Category Track Folders
4. Configure your labels to include the relevant-desired information

[Glenn Stanton]

so the top level folder would be:

    My Song Project

then under that i may have:

        My Song Project - RECORD

        My Song Project - VOCALS

        My Song Project - MIX

so if i'm doing the recording phase (or i'm importing client files) - i use my recording template. get the "performance" materials done. then export those tracks. i also export a raw 2-track (perhaps with fewer instruments etc) to use as a backing track to record vocals (or solos etc). i export the vocals etc tracks.

then i open my mix template and import the recorded tracks.  finally i export a MIX 2-track for the mastering stage (which now that Ozone 10 doesn't have its own EXE, i'll likely setup a CW template for mastering with the O10 plugins etc).

for me this keeps things fairly neat - but - if i need to do something quick and dirty, i'll just open a blank template and do all the bits there - but anything i'm really going to product goes through the template process.

 

[Lord Tim]

^^ I use a very similar approach.

We typically have a crazy amount of vocal layers in our songs, so doing that with a full mix is asking for problems during tracking, so doing a temporary stereo mix of the project as a bed to track all of the vocals with is handy. Do all of your tracking, editing, etc and then import the finished tracks back into your master project.

The same for keyboards, especially if I'm doing a lot of orchestration - I can drop the latency way down if I don't have a whole project weighing things down on top of my keyboard tracks.

If I'm doing anything like drum tracking, I'll often do an original Drum Tracks project, then a Drum Edit one, so I'm not breaking the original performance by my edits. I'll often also do a Drum Quantize one additionally to that if I'm trying to lock stuff in with loops and sequences, etc.

But ultimately they come into a master project, and come mix time, I append Mix 1, Mix 2, Mix 3 - Radio Edit, etc after that.

Revisions have saved my ***** so many times over the years, as have backups!

[sadicus]

Many of these old projects were the equivalent of when you get an idea and press record on Ye Olde Tape machine. They are not songs yet but ideas that had no meaningful name. I thought "Godin E Aura Delay QT 05"  had meaning at the time lol
...yeah so what i use to call "MASTER" was actually tracking.
~ Thanks ~
this gives me a much better way to start organizing new projects.

Now, Any time a project is open I export out whatever is in it as a WAV with the exact file name for easy reference then convert it to MP3.

 

[Alan Bachman]

I usually put in a date with the song name.  For instance, I may have a version from years ago, then maybe some work later, and then some work later than that.

But even if it is not years apart, and just days or weeks, I have found it beneficial for way I do to have a date on the file name.  So for the folder, e.g.:  _______(Song name) 3-11-23.

I know sometimes you can tell the date from the properties information but I find it a lot easier to have the date in the name.

[Glenn Stanton]

yeah, some projects i want to put the version into the name - lately using "Two" "Three" etc appended after the song name. when producing and the client wants version by day (or even hours a few days few times) i use "YYYYMMDD" (or add "-HHMM" for time) so "V20230313" so it's sortable more easily. so, it may be something like "Song Name Two V20230217-1800.cwp"  "Song Name Two V20230217-2030.cwp" etc

[Lord Tim]

More realistic naming conventions:

Mix1.cwp, Mix2.cwp, Mix2-final.cwp, Mix2-final-revised.cwp, Mix2-ffs-definitelyfinal.cwp, Mix2-AAAARRGH.cwp, Mix3-killme-definitelyfinal-nomorechanges.cwp

😒

 

.... Mix4.cwp ☹️

[John Vere]

22 minutes ago, Lord Tim said:

More realistic naming conventions:

Mix1.cwp, Mix2.cwp, Mix2-final.cwp, Mix2-final-revised.cwp, Mix2-ffs-definitelyfinal.cwp, Mix2-AAAARRGH.cwp, Mix3-killme-definitelyfinal-nomorechanges.cwp

😒

 

.... Mix4.cwp ☹️

Have you tried Mix Recall ?  That’s what I use. Just the date. Save as new mix. 
Of course it doesn’t save deleted tracks but it will change all else including effects and instruments including all the settings and automation. 
I use general folders for holding albums that have names like “CWP originals 2023”. In there are all the project folders, lyrics and folders for finished masters and mp3 files. 
My songs retain the proper name which I do not change. There are dated backups elsewhere in different locations . 

[Andres Medina]

... one of the latest additions in CW was the use of labels and labels presets for exporting

It's amazing how easily you can export your mixes with just the right information.

I personally use this system:

• Fill the notes section of your project
• Name the tracks with meaningful information
• Create or use an existing label preset that recall the desired information

To get a reasonable exported short name track I use just Project Name + Track, but it's just my preference

 

[John Vere]

You used to be able to enter a name for the project in notes but that seems to have been broken with an update to the export dialogue. But yes it’s really easy to add or subtract to the export name. Like today I exported a backing track and I first left it in the original key of G. But then I made a second export that I transposed down a step and just add a F to the title. 

[Lord Tim]

8 hours ago, John Vere said:

Have you tried Mix Recall ?

Yeah:

Saved Mix Recall Presets:.

Mix1, Mix1, Mix2final, MixARRRRGH, Mix💩☠️, etc

☹️

 

No, just kidding! Mix Recall is fantastic - my project, Time to Fly, in the Cakewalk demo projects uses Mix Recall for different versions of the song, and it's great for dumping out a bunch of variations for you during export, while you're off having lunch. Good for a picky client 😉

Edited March 14, 2023 by Lord Tim

[Tom Taylor]

... I came up with a file naming format a while back, in an attempt to sort several year's worth of confusing filenames.
It works very well - for me at least - but it's difficult and time consuming to suddenly change over to a system like this. 

As someone once said, you either pay for having to do it now, or you pay later for not having done it ...   Anyway, here's the format:
 

Cakewalk File name format:

Field 1:    The Song / Project / Template name

Field 2:     The Date in yyyy-mm-dd format

Field 3:     Category, 3 char. signifying:      DEM – Demo, idea, sketch,  TRA -  tracking,  MIX – mixing,  MAS – mastering,  PRT – Project template, TRT – Track template

Field 4:     Version/Take number

Field 5:     File extension:  Cakewalk file extension eg .cwp, cwt etc.

Fields are separated by underscore characters

EXAMPLES:

3rd take of ‘MySong’on July 28 2022 would be saved as:                                  MySong_2022-07-28_TRA_03.cwp

5th Mix of ‘MySong’ recorded on Nov 12 2022:                                                     MySong_2022-11-12_MIX_05.cwp

1st Recording of ‘A7GtrRiff’ demo on October 19 2021:                                  A7GtrRiff_2021_10_19_DEM_01.cwp

 3rd version ‘StringQuart’ Project template made on March 4 2022:          StringQuart_ 2022_03_04_PRT_03.cwt

Any thoughts ?
Cheers,
Tom

[Andres Medina]

On 3/13/2023 at 7:29 PM, John Vere said:

You used to be able to enter a name for the project in notes but that seems to have been broken with an update to the export dialogue. But yes it’s really easy to add or subtract to the export name. Like today I exported a backing track and I first left it in the original key of G. But then I made a second export that I transposed down a step and just add a F to the title. 

I have the complete sets of fields (at least in my system)... see pics

[sadicus]

~ Thanks, I really appreciate all the helpful suggestions!
...so I just need to pick a naming convention and stick to it.
As each Project is opened, re-name using the new Naming convention and make sure the Folder + Projects + Exported Audio are all the same.
 like what @Tom Taylor listed, I need to figure out some meaningful shorthand for all this info!
The BAND name will tell me what playing style is happening. (Heavy, Classical, Orchestral, Quad Tapping,, etc.)

1) How dangerous would it be to rename Folders and Projects outside of Cakewalk, Would it mess with the linked Audio?
Some projects are outside of a folder and there are a few loose "Audio" folders that's one reason I'm trying to get this figured out.

The names for the different Tuning is a challenge, open for suggestions.
Semantics is an issue Like "KEY" for Legend or symbols not the key of the Song.
Capo, with a K makes more sense since "K" is not a musical note, but ...well look up that word.

2) can we use "(6}" or "[8]" in a file and Project name?

TAGS NECESSARY IN FILE NAME
BAND - SONG - DATE - GUITAR + STRING# - TUNE- CATEGORY - VERSION
 

TAG IDEAS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A-440Hz
STRING #
6S = Six String  / Nylon = 6SNY / Acoustic = 6SAC
7S = Seven String
8S = Eight String
QT - Quad Tap

TUNE

6S ..................................................................................................E.-A-D-G-B-e
6S Drop D (E down to D).....................................................D-A-D-G-B-e
6S Drop C (E down to C) Capo 3rd Fret at (A-e) .......C-C-D-G-B-e   / Open Strings (C-A-D-G-B-e)
6S HSB (Heart Shaped Box)...............................................D-A-E-A-C-e
7S............................................................................................G-C-G-C-F-A-D
8S.................................................................................F#  B  D  A  D  G  B   e

drop D = dD
6S drop C = 6S dC c3a-e (this looks atrocious! lol)
Godin(6) drpC 3rdFrtCapo

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Example (Old Version)
FOLDER: 2019 Epics Godin 1
                                    2019 Epics Godin 1.cwp
                                    2019 Epics Godin 1.wav

Example (New Version)
 FOLDER: Elef Luna Oscura 2019-04-30 Godin dD DEM 01
                                    Elef Luna Oscura 2019-04-30 Godin dD DEM 01.cwp
                                    Elef Luna Oscura 2019-04-30 Godin dD DEM 01.wav
 

8 String Guitar Project

Example (Old Version)                     qt_agile8_mosquito_sketch01_MASTER.cwp

Example (New Version)                 QT Mosquito 2012-10-02 Agile 8S dD TRK 01

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by sadicus

[Glenn Stanton]

Delivery Recommendations 070711 https://naras.a.bigcontent.io/v1/static/delivery_recommendations_for_recorded_music_projects_final_09_27_18_0

some ideas on naming conventions (a bit dated perhaps)

PT Guidelines v22b1.doc (grammy.com) http://www2.grammy.com/PDFs/Recording_Academy/Producers_And_Engineers/PTGuidelines.pdf

Grammy Naming Conventions – Meyer Audio Tech, LLC https://meyeraudiotech.com/index.php/grammy-naming-conventions/

The Recording Academy is the leading society of music professionals | RecordingAcademy.com https://www.recordingacademy.com/producers-engineers-wing/technical-guidelines

 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Glenn Stanton

[Base 57]

FWIW... The date a file was created and the date it was last modified are integral parts of a file's properties. So, adding either of those to a file name is only for people who are members of the department of redundancy department.

[Glenn Stanton]

the reason someone includes the date in the file name is to avoid issues where downloading the file changes the file date stamp to whenever you copied/downloaded etc. and some files, if you open in an app with auto save can modify the date modified (DoRD 🙂 ) so if the date of: mix complete, mix approval, master, master approved is important to preserve across people and systems, insert YYYMMDD (and even HHMM) is light enough to add. "My Song MIX 20230102 APPRV 20230201 blah blah etc" or better - share metadata in a related text file 🙂 )

Edited March 18, 2023 by Glenn Stanton

[sadicus]

 

Quote

- share metadata in a related text file

This is also something that works well. Just making a text file with all the song info and only a few important tags in the file name. or both.
Both favorites. When the power goes out it won't matter anyway.
~ redundancy department.