Apple Loops Storage

[augustheat]

Greetings!Between Logic Pro, Garage Band, and Soundtrack Pro, I'm looped out on my system drive.I can't help but think I have doubles of this and that all over the place. Does anyone have a surefire method of organizing all of these loops, deleting the duplicates, and storing them on an external drive to free up HD space?Blessings,

[mazz]

As a general rule, it's best to have your loops on a hard drive that is not your system drive. Optimally, it's best to have a hard drive that you record on and another that you store your loops on. Both of these drives should not be your system drive. If you have a laptop, then Firewire drives are recommended (USB 2 will work but Firewire is recommended). If you have a desktop, internal SATA drives are the best if your hardware supports that protocol.In Mac OS you can do a Spotlight search on the extension of the Apple Loops and sort by name (don't know what the extension is, don't use them much). This will show you all the duplicates you have.There's a piece of software out there that's pretty nice and versatile called Audio Finder. You can buy it as a download and it does lots of things above and beyond searching such as auditioning all types of audio files (even REX files), setting loops, etc. etc. I believe you can use it to find duplicates as well. You set up an initial cataloging of all your drives (takes a while if you have a lot of drives), then you can sort and give the files keywords (bass, cymbals, flute, etc.), and so on.If you store your loops with your project (in other words, make a copy and store it in your project folder, some software does it automatically, others you have to do it manually), you might end up with a lot of duplicates but your projects will always be able to find the loops, even if you accidentally delete the original. Just back up your projects to DVD when you're done and get them off your hard drive. If you need to re-load the project, all your loops will come back up because the project knows the exact path. This will save you time when that producer calls and wants a re-mix of that tune to play on TV in 2 days!!We had a discussion about this over lunch at the Rally: I record all my tracks as audio files before I bounce my final mix. This way, I can go back and do tweaks on the mix and I don't have to load all my virtual instruments (I turn them off as I track). It also frees up system resources for more plug-ins on your audio tracks for mixing. Another advantage, IMO, is if your system crashes and you lose plug-ins or VIs, you always have your audio files (because they're backed up in at least 2 places anyway, right? ) I recommend this practice. Others may disagree. Your music is a valuable asset. Protect it as best as you can with whatever strategies you feel are the best for you.Have fun!Mazz

[augustheat]

Mazz:As always, quite informative!Thanks!

[djdeweese]

mazz - very helpful, thanks for the advice.August Heat - I also have a lot of Apple loops, and when backing up my drive this week I noticed that even the Jam Pack loops from Apple, which I installed using the factory installation procedures, were stored in different places in the Library folder! If the Apple installers even put loop packages in different places, how are users supposed to keep track of where they all end up?!? Anyway, I appreciate your question.

[anne]

"We had a discussion about this over lunch at the Rally: I record all my tracks as audio files before I bounce my final mix."Nice idea Mazz - I lost 2 very long songs this year because of not backing properly. Great advice as usual, my friend.

[mazz]

Quote:mazz - very helpful, thanks for the advice.August Heat - I also have a lot of Apple loops, and when backing up my drive this week I noticed that even the Jam Pack loops from Apple, which I installed using the factory installation procedures, were stored in different places in the Library folder! If the Apple installers even put loop packages in different places, how are users supposed to keep track of where they all end up?!? Anyway, I appreciate your question.Do the installers for Jam Packs give you the option of where to store the actual loops or do they just put them in the Library automatically? Maybe try "custom install" if you get the option.This is the problem with some of the Apple stuff which is designed for the "layperson" as opposed to the professional. They insist on installing things on the system drive because it makes it seamless for the user but it just ends up trashing up your system drive with a lot of things that really should be on a different drive.Is it possible to put an alias to the loop folder in it's location in the Library and put the actual folder on another drive. Would the software see it? It might be worth a try. This way you could have all of your loops together and not spread out all over the place. I know this can be done with the SAGE folder for Stylus RMX, which is the folder that contains all the libraries and converted files for Stylus.If you try it, let us know how it comes out.Mazz