Working on two mixes of the same piece concurrently

[mkindred]

Do any of you work on multiple mixes of the same piece? If so, what is your general approach, especially if you’d like to change some elements similarly within the both mixes after they’ve diverged?

My use case is pretty simple, and I already have a solution, but I’m curious whether I might be missing some hacks. I’m mixing a simple orchestral recording (I recorded AB and ORTF for stereo mains, plus a few spots). I’d like to do a basic mix with AB, and another with ORTF. So I will set base levels for both main pairs via region gain, and then automate faders for each set of mains. I can then mix the spots as appropriate for my preferred main pair (AB).

At that point, I can use mixer scenes to mute the appropriate stereo pair to hear (and export) each mix.

But what if I now want to change the spot fader automations for the ORTF mix only? I might use session snapshots to continue, but at this point, the two mixes have diverged, so anything else I might want to tweak (EQ or fader automation on the spots) has to be done 2x.

It seems to me that snapshots work well, but apart from saving a bit of disk space and being able to switch between them quickly, I don’t think snapshots give me any advantage over saving a new session.

[GhostsonAcid]

@mkindred

Do any of you work on multiple mixes of the same piece?

I used to, several years back. But eventually I realized that doing so was honestly quite cumbersome, and ultimately not very helpful to navigate.

I’ve since switched to a more ‘monolithic’ approach: I have the one, main ‘snapshot’ I edit, and periodically save snapshots, often with notes in parentheses to indicate why I’ve saved it, e.g.:

For me, ditching any ‘branching’-type snapshots has really, really made returning to mixes so much more enjoyable, as there is only one ‘valid’/‘main’ mix to return to per song! -No navigating a sea of ‘alternative’ edits…

But, still, with enough generic, Ardour-generated snapshots (as seen in the example above), I can still feel comfortable that I’ve at least got some ‘paper-trail’ in the relatively rare event that I want to track-down some previous mix, edit, or mix decision, or go back and start re-editing using an older draft, etc…

@mkindred

But what if I now want to change the spot fader automations for the ORTF mix only? I might use session snapshots to continue, but at this point, the two mixes have diverged, so anything else I might want to tweak (EQ or fader automation on the spots) has to be done 2x.

…
Now, at the end of the day, you’re looking to have a single, final mix, no? -Eventually sent to someone, or posted online, etc.? If true, then I’d at least consider focusing on maintaining just a single, main mix/edit, abandoning the idea of maintaining or cataloging a 100%-perfect, git-like change history.

However, do whatever you deem most comfortable for yourself.

-J