What do you do with muted/unwanted tracks in a project?

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

I am recording exclusively in GarageBand on iPad. I'm new to recording, and when I'm working on a project, I'm finding myself with lots of tracks that I don't use. There are a lot of vocal takes I use to build a comp. And sometimes there are guitar or other instrumental tracks that I have muted, either because I have a better take, or went in a different direction.

By the time I'm done, I have 10-20 muted tracks I'm not using. Part of me wants things to be neat and tidy, and that part of me wants to delete the unused tracks. Another part of me is anxious that I might run into a problem with my "good" tracks, and may still need the unwanted ones. That part of me wants to keep everything just in case.

What do you guys do with this? What are best practices? Does any of this matter? Do muted tracks contribute at all to the file size of a completed project?

 

[studio]

Make two mixes.
Then delete what you don't use.
You've already made the decision that they are not up to par for the tune, scrap em!

 

[Alex_C]

I am recording exclusively in GarageBand on iPad. I'm new to recording, and when I'm working on a project, I'm finding myself with lots of tracks that I don't use. There are a lot of vocal takes I use to build a comp. And sometimes there are guitar or other instrumental tracks that I have muted, either because I have a better take, or went in a different direction.

By the time I'm done, I have 10-20 muted tracks I'm not using. Part of me wants things to be neat and tidy, and that part of me wants to delete the unused tracks. Another part of me is anxious that I might run into a problem with my "good" tracks, and may still need the unwanted ones. That part of me wants to keep everything just in case.

What do you guys do with this? What are best practices? Does any of this matter? Do muted tracks contribute at all to the file size of a completed project?

I delete them but I used to keep them.
Make a copy with all the muted tracks.
Remove them from the original.

 

[Lou Tencodpees]

In Pro Tools I "hide and make inactive". In the event I ever want to harvest anything from them I make active.

 

[clayville]

I keep 'em while I'm working on things (except the "false start" takes and punch-ins), and hang onto them for a couple of weeks after I think I'm done. Then I delete the takes I didn't use and keep the project file with the tracks I actually did use in the "final" mix rather than just the final output. In many years of doing this I've rarely gone back through anything and re-mixed or re-worked it months or years later. And I do it anyway. But I'm just an amateur hack - no one is looking to reissue or remaster my opus. If I was on an iPad this approach might fill up my available storage in a hurry... but external storage is cheap, and it's generally a good idea to get a grip on a strategy in your process in a way that works for you. Unneeded Wav files add up in a hurry.

 

[loudboy]

I do a "Save As" every time I work on a song/project. I use sequential numbers, so it will be "Artist Song Title XX" - which keeps me sane. Reaper stores all audio files in a folder specific to that project, if you make that a preference, which I highly recommend.

So, as I progress thru the production, I'll discard things I don't need, knowing that I can always go back to an older version and retrieve it if I need it. Reaper also allows you to hide tracks, so that's another option.

The whole song folder is backed up, after every time I open it. This is Commandment One in recording, but everyone breaks it once and suffers the consequences. <g> Storage is cheap - I've got 49 separate client folders on a 1TB drive, most with multiple songs/albums, and I've only used about 70% of the disk.

 

[WireLine]

Muted, keep as you knew they had some value at some point
Unwanted, gone

 

[macanoodough]

I don't put out music, but I still don't trash anything I've ever written. If it's not a song it's a finger exercise. It's too hard to come up with stuff if you're going to trash ideas that suck. It's easier to sit back and listen to what's wrong with a sucky idea, and figure out how to make it work. Every idea may not be a song, but it may be something that bridges a gap, or makes a cool riff against the main melody, something. People like to say "Everything in its place..." but they forget that is only the 2nd part. The saying goes: A place for everything, and everything in its place". So nothing is trash, you just don't know where it goes yet.

 

[studio]

Currently, I found myself liking every answer so far!

No matter how diverse the answers are, they make perfect sense for the way one works within their project space.

Note to self:
I might come back and delete this post.....

 

[klasaine]

I know pretty early on if a track is gonna 'make the cut'.
When I know it's not happening, I fully delete ... as in I empty the trash.
I hate options. I commit.
*Other than reverb (and sometimes delay and compression), I print effects. That should tell you where I'm coming from.

 

[studio]

I know pretty early on if a track is gonna 'make the cut'.
When I know it's not happening, I fully delete ... as in I empty the trash.
I hate options. I commit.
*Other than reverb (and sometimes delay and compression), I print effects. That should tell you where I'm coming from.

Microphone on amp or direct to DAW?

 

[Dismalhead]

I record on a Zoom R16. I break my recorded songs down into parts - intro, chorus, verse, etc. Then I listen to each track and rate each part on a 1 - 10, and then compare each part between all the tracks I recorded. Some entire tracks don't have any sections over a 7. Those get deleted and don't even make it to the computer.

Sometimes when mixing I'll delete a track or two too - if I've heard it enough times and know I'm not gonna use any of it. I don't think I've ever deleted anything I regretted later.

 

[swervinbob]

Keep them for the “Greatest Hits” outtakes.

 

[klasaine]

Microphone on amp or direct to DAW?

Both.
I'm set up to mic amps but I also go direct with amp heads and cabinet IRs as well as amp sim software and pedal emulators. *I have all three of the UAD amp pedals (Tweed, BF, and AC30).

 

[codamedia]

By the time I'm done, I have 10-20 muted tracks I'm not using. Part of me wants things to be neat and tidy, and that part of me wants to delete the unused tracks. Another part of me is anxious that I might run into a problem with my "good" tracks, and may still need the unwanted ones. That part of me wants to keep everything just in case.

What do you guys do with this? What are best practices? Does any of this matter? Do muted tracks contribute at all to the file size of a completed project?

I keep them... unless they are terrible to begin with.

I use Studio One which has a "show/hide" option for the tracks. If I comp a lead vocal track from 5 takes, the 5 takes are then muted and hidden to keep everything neat and tidy on the screen, but they are still there if I need them.

 

[beagle]

Unused tracks take up space on the hard drive, backup drive, sometimes much more than the used tracks. They are deleted as soon as they become useless.

 

[Heartbreaker_Esq]

I keep them... unless they are terrible to begin with.

Uh oh - this means I should delete my final tracks too....

 

[hemingway]

Note: I record with a Zoom R16, no computer involved.

I ignore them. I don't feel the need to do anything with them. I don't know if using a computer makes a difference in that regard.

Once the final mix is done, it's done, I'm never going back to the raw files except with a gun to my head.

 

[Mr Doubleshots]

I mute and drag them to the end to keep them out of the way. Never know when you might accidently delete a section or track and need one of those muted ones.

 

[gnuyork]

Can't you hide them? It's been a while since I used GarageBand. But, likewise, I'm tracking my band, and there are a ton of takes. I'm using Logic, and I think (hope) there is a hide function.