Fixing old cues…with a technology barrier

[Vlad]

Okay, there should surely be a Forum category for “What on earth did I do to myself?’

Here’s my multifaceted issue: So at the moment, I have around 400 tracks (not counting edit types). The first 125 tracks are written in PT 7+8, the last bunch are written in another DAW that I prefer to use/like better. When I started out doing this, I had no idea where it would take me nor did I see the need for ‘Edits'(as I was getting great sales without the edits). Fast forward a handful of years, and I no longer have PT installed nor do I have Mbox2 (required for the old sessions)…..although I do have all of the session files. You probably see the question coming: do I buy a subscription to the current PT and print stems of all of those sessions so I can make edits (which I’m thinking can open old PT sessions, as per the Avid site)?

Probably a good thing to note that some of these old tracks weren’t ‘on target’ genre wise and mixes could use improvement, yet many of the good ones made a killing on the RF market when music was worth more than $20.

Is it worth the time and effort to deal with the older tracks, or should I let them exist as is and move forward? I’ve never been a fan of polishing xxxx (although I AM proud of that music), but wanted to hear other opinions….

Thanks for any insight!

@ Art, I had originally written this and submitted it and the post just vanished. If this shows up as a double, please delete the first as I have added to this one.

[Art Munson]

Profanity tripped the moderation queue. Fixed now.

[Vlad]

Yikes! Sorry, Art. No harm intended! Thanks for fixing it.

[OverDub]

You don’t need the session files to do timed 15,30, 60 sec edits. I do my edits from the main stereo mix anyway. If you wanted to do stems, then yes, you’d need Protools, but I’d check to make sure the latest version of pro-tools can open them. Doubtful all your plug ins and etc would still work the same as when you mixed them. I’d say do the timed edits, and let sleeping dogs lie. These days it’s a good idea to print individual stems to future proof your cues.

[Vlad]

Hey Overdub, thanks for thoughts. I had tried to do edits on a few of the cues with little success. A lot of these tracks were very musical and many melodic phrases were written over bar lines (not very editor friendly). I would have loved if it that had worked out. As regards the sessions, I’m not worried about the fx plugins as I can remix them and I always commit all vst instruments to audio before mixing anyway.

[woodsdenis]

Similar situation here, upgraded from PT and obviously PT 10 won’t open on new Mac system. However in going through 30 sec edits from Masters I have yet to be defeated in making edits in Cubase.

Crossfading is your friend !

[Michael Nickolas]

I also do my timing edits starting from the stereo mix. I use Sound Forge. The more you do, the faster and better you get at it. It can be hard when a melody line or cymbal crash crosses the bar, but it’s pretty rare that it’s impossible. Key is being able to hear how it can work and knowing all the software tools available.

[Vlad]

Thank you all for chiming in. I really do appreciate it! I will give it a renewed effort in DP (which has editing that is flawless) and see if I can salvage the tracks from the stereo mix instead of digging up the old sessions.

[MichaelL]

I will give it a renewed effort in DP (which has editing that is flawless) and see if I can salvage the tracks from the stereo mix instead of digging up the old sessions.

Vlad, I’ve had great success making edits from old stereo mixes using DP. Good luck!

[Vlad]

To all who responded….success!! I tried a few and had great results. Thanks for your input and fine advice. I was dreading digging up the old sessions, so this was a good solution.

I am always one to make edits inside the session, but this worked.

Thanks again

[Author]

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