Source Code Control

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SubRivers
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Source Code Control

Post by SubRivers » Sat Jun 16, 2018 6:54 pm

For the IT pro types - ever considered it for music ?

It's pretty funny to imagine checking in a take!

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philsmith
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Re: Source Code Control

Post by philsmith » Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:15 pm

I kind of do that with Logic, with the Project Alternatives. You can branch, but you can't merge. Also, no diffs, but that's really not going to work with binary files anyway.

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Re: Source Code Control

Post by Len911 » Sun Jun 17, 2018 11:34 pm

:? What?? What are you checking? Wouldn't a program need to be open source before you could add a control or a feature?
As far as comparing audio files and listening for the difference, you can do that in Wavelab. There are programs to edit the binary,
like a hex editor, but you need to know what and how to edit.
https://soundcloud.com/huck-sawyer-finn
Not an expert on contemporary music

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Re: Source Code Control

Post by philsmith » Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:13 pm

:? What?? What are you checking? Wouldn't a program need to be open source before you could add a control or a feature?
As far as comparing audio files and listening for the difference, you can do that in Wavelab. There are programs to edit the binary,
like a hex editor, but you need to know what and how to edit.
Source Revision Control systems, like git or subversion, allow you to save versions of your files, as the name implies, source code. I don't understand the reference to open source, it can be any source. What the OP was asking was if anyone thought about using one of those systems to manage changes in your song files. It's actually a pretty good idea. I was just pointing out there are a lot of features you can't use, such as merging or diffing, when you're dealing with binary files. A diff shows you differences between versions of a file so you can see what changes have been made.

Also, with most revision control systems, an initial file is checked in and then the changes are recorded. It would be great to do that with sound files, but not possible with git, subversion, rcs, or any system I'm aware of. Maybe the next generation.

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Re: Source Code Control

Post by SubRivers » Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:22 pm

yes - philsmith gets it

Len - source control angle is hard to get (git :) ) unless you have used it in anger - which is mostly programmers.

diffs are definitely out - only ears do that.

merges and branches are possible - if you look at it from the project level which consists of a bunch files in a particular configuration (i.e. a mix).

Be good to cycle back and forth and branch to do experiments.
maybe merge branches (which could be a nightmare)

However/If it is implemented it would be best if DAWs didn't bog themselves down with doing the git part of the solution - they would probably just hack something that ends up in bloat with projects loading slower/using more memory by keeping everything and introducing new opportunities for "chuck the keyboard" bugs.

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Re: Source Code Control

Post by philsmith » Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:20 am

I think you might be onto something here. At first I was only thinking about the audio files. After some reflection, that's not what I would choose to version. I'd version the mix, plugins and settings.

I did a little experiment, told git to ignore sound files, and committed the other project files. It works to keep versions, and is great for reverting. But, at least with Logic, the project data is kept in a binary file. No merges possible. It would be so cool to decide which changes to keep.

I think I might use some of this; great thinking! Thanks! I can't use much of the feature set, but at least it would give me confidence I could always revert to my latest commit. Or before. I wonder if I should check in the sound files, too. I think git always rewrites binaries, so there would be a lot of waste. OTOH, I could delete without fear of ever losing anything.

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